> My Little Alchemist: Friendship is NOT Science > by AppleJack96 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Transportation and Transformation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “DAMMIT!” yelled Ed the steel blade on his auto-mail arm flashing as it flew towards father. Father just raised his hand in Ed’s direction and opened a portal not entirely sure where it led, however this had little relevance to him as Ed fell through the portal. “BROTHER!” Cried Al “Bring him back! Bring him back now!” Al Clapped and bought his hands down on the floor raising a spear from the ground and charged towards father, Father turned around the portal still in his hands and he threw it in Al’s direction “Oh dear” thought Al as the world before him faded to blackness “For the last time Pinkie ah don’t want another cake” grumbled Applejack “But this one is super tasty special cake” Said the spring pink earth pony “it’s my first solo attempt at making an MMM” “Well ah’m terribly sorry but you stuffed me full of every other kind ‘o cake in the shop!” Yelled Applejack Just then Twilight walked in with Spike riding on her back sitting in the crevice between her wings, “sorry I don’t have much time to talk, I have so much to do today,” She said “I’ll just take a milkshake and cupcake to go” “Can do Twilight” Said Pinkie hopping away “How’s it goin’ Twi?” Asked Applejack “Not very well I have two days, to finish my report on the harmony spell which turned me into an Alicorn in the first place, then I have to attend a wedding to read the vows because Princess Celestia is busy today, and Princess Luna is on an urgent errand for Princess Celestia, I don’t even know what I have to do at a wedding!” Panicked Twilight “I just have so much to do!” “Here you go Twilight” Said Pinkie “How much?” Asked Twilight “Don’t’ you worry, Your Highness” said Mrs Cake, who was standing in the door through which Pinkie had just entered, “But…” began Twilight” “Don’t worry, Your Majesty” Said Mrs Cake, “But…” Twilight Tried again “Really My Dear, just take it” Said Mrs Cake “It’s the least we can do for the newest Princess of Equestria” “Fine” Said Twilight defeated “Here you go Spike” And she passed him the cupcake and picked up the milkshake with her magic and began to drink as she left, Out in the street Twilight turned to Spike, “I hate it when people treat me differently because I’m a princess now, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be Princess of yet,” she said dejectedly “oh come on Twilight lighten up, it’s only the people who never really knew much about you before that are treating you differently” Said Spike attempting to cheer her up “I suppose your right, Anyway I was wondering if you fancied coming to Fluttershy’s with me because I need her help with part of the report” Ed fell to the floor before Truth, “Welcome Edward Elric” Said Truth “Why am I here? Am I… Dead?” asked Ed “Not Yet” Said Truth “but you will be soon if you do not act fast” “What do you mean?” Panicked Ed “Open the gate, Edward Elric and pass through, for it is your only chance of survival” Stated Truth “What do you mean?” Repeated Ed “The one who calls himself Father has hit you with a portal, but it was not an ordinary portal it was, a magical portal that will…” “WHAT DO YOU MEAN MAGICAL!?” Yelled Ed, “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MAGIC!” “Oh but there is, however if you do not pass the gate now this magic will kill you because your present body cannot hold the power,” said Truth “Fine, but one last question” Said Ed trying to be calm “And that is?” Asked Truth “what do you mean my present body?” queried Ed “all will make sense in time just pass through the gate and I shall meet you on the other side” “Ok” Said Ed and walked firwards towards the gate and prised it open and small hands reached for him and began to take him apart by unravelling him from his feet up “as long as this really does keep me alive” thought Ed as the last part of him unravelled "AAHHHHHHHHHH" came a loud scream from the Carousel Boutique "Oh my gosh that sounded like Rarity" said Twilight breaking into a gallop Moments later Twilight and Spike crashed through the doors of the Boutique to find Rarity huddled in a corner, a large suit of strange looking armour and a small Alicorn colt lay on the floor in the centre of the room, the colt had strange looking armour plating on his front right leg and his rear left leg, it appeared to be of a similar style to the suit of armour. "Are you OK Rarity?" Asked Spike. "Just fine Darling just a little shocked is all," Said Rarity "Uuuhhhh, Don't call me short..." muttered the Colt, seemingly asleep, he then suddenly opened his eyes and attempted to leap to his hooves, however the armour plating seemed to be much longer than the other legs and he fell abruptly into a heap, he looked around and saw Rarity and Twilight and yelled in surprise, and then the armour began to stand up and bumped it's head on the roof "Who are you?" asked Twilight "i believe the colt's name to be 'Brother' or at least that is what that beast in the armour was calling him" whispered Rarity "Um... Excuse me?" Asked the Armour "where are we?" "Why your're in Ponyville" Said Rarity "I've never heard of anywhere called Ponyville," Said the Colt, attempting to get to his mismatched hooves and failing again, "It's in the valley below Canterlot" said Twilight "What's Canterlot?" asked the armour "The big city in the mountains, Home to the Princesses of Equestria," Prompted Rarity "Never even heard of Equestria "You gotta be pulling our legs with that one" said Spike "Oh My God! it's a Dragon!" Cried the Colt "But Brother, These horses are talking too" Said the Armour "True but Truth warned us about that" Replied the Colt "He never said ANYTHING about dragons" "How rude of you to call us horses" Said Rarity we are pony's "May I ask your names?" said Twilight The Colt pointed his right 'Hoof' at his chest, "I'm Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist, Part of the state Military in Amestris. "And I'm Alphonse Elric his younger brother" Pitched in the Armour "Alchemy did you say?" asked Twilight an eyebrow raised "yeah why?" replied Ed "Alchemy is a strange form of magic, and I wish to learn it but my books have very little detail on the subject" said Twilight simply "Well i would teach you but first I'm gonna need some chalk or a pen," Said the Ed Twilight levitated a small piece of chalk from her saddle bags towards Ed, He reached for it with the armoured leg and grasped it with the digits on the end of it. He then began to trace, from memory, the transmutation circle for the transmutation of the cold weather auto-mail he was currently using. "right now stand back" he said, as he pressed his front legs to the circle along with the rear armoured leg once the light faded Twilight looked at the circle, in the centre Ed was sat the armoured legs were now shorter and had no digits. "probably gonna regret that before long" Ed said looking longingly at the end of his hooves Ed threw the chalk back to Twilight "Alright here you go miss..." "Sparkle, My name is Twilight Sparkle, but I'd rather you call me twilight." Twilight Replied "right now for you Al" Said Ed Turning on the spot Ed clapped his front two hooves together then pressed them against the armour, the same bright light ensued as before when Ed was using the circle, but this time the was no circle. Before a large pony in metal armour stood where al had been "and you're done" Said Ed, Smiling "Right, but aren't you forgetting something" Said Al "Oh, yeah," Said Ed "umm,,, do either of you know how we can get an audience with your leader?" > Chapter 2: Train Rides and Fashion Boutiques > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed sat and stared out of the window onto the large orchards whizzing by as the train gathered speed. "Seems like we always end up on a train" Said Ed casually, his metal limbs tucked beneath himself, they had been wrapped in bandages to avoid suspicion "What do you mean?" asked Twilight "Well back where we come from the only way to get around is by train as there are few roads connecting the big cities to outlying villages such as our home town" Replied Al "Speaking of which where do you come from?" Quizzed Twilight "It'll take to long to explain twice, so would you mind just waiting until we arrive?" Answered Ed "OK, but is there anyway you could explain why you are an Alicorn?" Asked Twilight "Because they are really rare and ,including you, there is a total of only five in known Alicorns on the planet" "Couldn't even if wanted to" Relied Ed simply "we are not of this world and we don't normally look like this" "Oh..." Said Twilight looking nervously at her hooves, unsure of what to do next "But it's not all bad" Said Al optimisticly "I'm sure that your princess will be able to help us" Ed lifted a hoof and placed it on Twilight's shoulder "I promise we won't hurt you," He said we just don't know where we are and who we need to see, all Truth said was 'find the four princesses and all will become clear to you" Twilight lifted her head, looked into Ed's golden eyes and decided that she should trust this pony "looks like we are almost there" said Twilight as she turned to the window and saw the tallest tower of Canterlot Castle "we should drop in to a boutique on the way,, because I can't show you to the princess like this" "why not?" Asked Ed "you have to get a shirt and some trousers to cover those metal legs" Said Twilight "I may not have have reacted very much, and Rarity, well I'm surprised she wasn't screaming the place, down but the Princesses are going to be extremely shocked by them" "Right, but what about You?" Ed Whispered to Al "We can just say I'm wearing the armour like we normally do" Said Al "Of course you are" Said Twilight "...Unless there is something you aren't telling me" "No, no, of course not" The brothers said almost simultaneously Once the trio arrived at Canterlot, Twilight directed them towards a small shop on a corner that seemed familiar to Ed "Hello, welcome to the Carousel Boutique, Canterlot branch how may I help you..." the Blue coated Salespony stopped mid sentence as she looked up at the customers, One of which she recognised, the other two a complete mystery, however the small golden maned Colt, was an Alicorn which meant he was Royalty "Hello Princess Twilight, and who is your Coltfriend?" Asked the Salespony "Whoa, wait what!?" shouted Ed ,guessing 'Coltfriend' was pony speak for 'boyfriend' "I am not her Coltfriend!" "Oh, sorry my mistake" Said the Salespony blushing "I just thought because you're both royalty..." "No, he's not my Coltfriend" Said Twilight her face going a deep shade of maroon "Can you help him find some suitable clothing to wear to meet the Princess" "Wait who said anything abo... mmphff" said Ed Hos sentence falling short as Twilight stuck her hoof over his mouth "But of course your Highness, right this way sir if you please" Ed followed the Sales pony through endless rows of clothes and fabric until they reached a dressing room "if you could wait here sir, I will come back with various types of clothing, to see if you approve" She said as she began to turn "Wait" Said Ed " may I ask for enough cotton to make a long jacket?" "Of course sir, I will return shortly" She said as she walked off into the aisles A few minutes later she returned a bundle of black and white clothes tossed over her back including a roll of cotton clutched in her teeth. She handed him the cotton, which he then placed to on side, and he then picked up a black shirt that had white trims around the ankles "do have any trousers in the same style?" Ed asked "why sure, I'll just go and get them for you" She replied When she left Ed clapped his front hooves together and placed them on them on the cotton she had provided, blue lightning crackled around him and then where the cloth had been was a long red cloak and on the back was a strange symbol which looked like a snake curled around a cross "here you are sir" said the salespony as she returned with Ed's requested trousers hanging across her back "great, thanks" he said happily "that'll be ten bits please" said the salespony "um... I think that Twilight is paying" said Ed "OK" said the salespony and the two began to walk back to the front of the shop where Al and Twilight were waiting "Six bits please" said the salepony "wait a minute you just said ten to me!" Cried Ed "but this is Princess Twilight Sparkle I can't charge her full price" Said the mare "just drop it Ed" Said Twilight her head held low as she levitated six golden coins toward the the Salespony And the trio left the store and went back out into the street, Ed wearing his new suit, and they began to head towards the Castle > Chapter 3: Finally at The Castle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed, Al and Twilight finally arrived at the castle, after Ed and Twilight being questioned every which way they went, mostly about which country Ed was from and when could they expect another royal wedding, etc. no matter how much Ed and Twilight insisted they were simply friends, the ponies of Canterlot would simply not be pacified. "Shall we go in then?" Asked Twilight "I'm ready" Said Al "Same here" Said Ed "just as long as these Princesses are nothing like Fuhrer Bradley" he added quietly The three then walked directly towards the gates, and a chill went down Ed's spine as the guards stared down at him and Al, deciding to leave them be, considering they were with Princess Twilight it was no problem to them. "WHO ART THOU?" came a booming voice from a balcony just ahead where sat an alicorn, with a navy coat, and a mane that seemed to be made from the night sky itself. "Princess Luna, these two are visitors from a far off country" Said Twilight as rehearsed on the train "They have requested an audience with all of the Princesses, I sent a letter to the Princess just yesterday requesting our visit" "WE REMEMBER SOMETHING LIKE THAT" Replied Princess Luna in the same booming voice Ed put his hooves to his ears in an attempt to stop them ringing and them felt a cold touch on his left shoulder, similar to that that he had come to expect from rubbing his shoulder with his auto-mail, and turned his head around to see a pure white alicorn, her mane looked like the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), taller even than Al, with her gold-shoe-covered hoof on his shoulder "don't worry" she whispered to Ed "Truth told me what happened" "What?" Asked Ed confused "you know Truth?" "but of course" The white alicorn replied, smiling gently "follow me to the throne room and I will explain" and with that she removed her hoof from his shoulder, and walked away "Luna please come with us" "But Tia" Said Luna "Please, Luna there is not time for this" Said 'Tia' "Twilight, you too, and bring Alphonse with you" Once in the throne room, 'Tia' ordered the guards out of the room and called Twilight and Luna over the four thrones at one end of the room, where already waiting was a pink alicorn, who upon spotting twilight ran to her and began doing a strange dance while singing, although Ed struggled to make head or tails of what they were singing 'Tia' cleared her throat loudly and sat in the throne with the highest back, and the other three slowly moved into place, Luna taking the slightly shorter backed one, The pink alicorn the next one down, and finally Twilight the smallest throne that looked like it was newly fitted "So Edward, Truth sent you to meet us and here we are" Said 'Tia' "However before we begin, I would like to welcome you to Equestria, and formally introduce ourselves" she rose from her seat "I am Princess Celestia, Co-Ruler of Equestria and Princess of the Sun" "I am Princess Luna" Said Luna, rising from her throne "the other Co-Ruler of Equestria and Princess of the Moon" "I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, however most ponies call me Cadence " Said the pink alicorn, as she stood "Ruler of the Crystal Empire, princess of Love" "And I am Princess Twilight Sparkle" Finished Twilight, also rising to her hooves "I am newly appointed and so do not reside over any domain" "And now for you" said Celestia "you must formally introduce, yourselves as we have" "OK, I am Edward Elric, State Alchemist of Amestris" Said Ed,There was some whispering between Luna and Celestia at this statement "And, I am Alphonse Elric his younger brother, I am not however a State Alchemist like my brother" Said Al "Can you repeat what you said Edward?" Asked Celestia "I am Edward Elric, State Alchemist of Amestris" Said Ed, puzzled "Amestris, you say?" Said Luna, staring at him in disbelief "Yeah, Why?" Asked Ed casually "I happen to know of Amestris" Said Luna "Really!" Said Al, excitedly "yes it is is a small nation, that happens to exist on a parallel plane to Equestria, connected only by the gate of Truth, It is one of three locations it is possible to get to, one the other two being Ponyville, Miss Rarity Belle's Boutique being on the arrival spot, should you manage to successfully traverse the gate" said Luna "what is the other location? Besides Amestris that is" Asked Ed "A strange place called Berlin, where no magic at all is possible" Replied Luna "You also mentioned Alchemy" Said Cadence, speaking for the first time since introductions "what exactly is that?" "Alchemy can be summed up in one simple sentence" Answered Al "Which is?" Asked Twilight The brothers looked to one another and nodded "All is one and one is all" the brothers said exactly in sync with each-other "And what exactly does that mean?" Asked Cadence, confusion clearly evident on her features "The all is the world, and the one is me" Said Ed simply "That means that the world is a continuous cycle of death and birth, destruction and creation, and alchemy is part of that flow, the destruction of old, to make way for the new" Said Al "Alchemy has three stages: Analysis, Deconstruction and Reconstruction" Said Ed "An alchemist uses a transmutation circle to tap into the energy from the planet's crust and flow power in the circle to allow these three stages" "Take the average human for example...." said Al, trailing off as he realised that none of the audience knew what a human was "um... bad example, let's just try a practical demonstration brother" "OK, Do you have any stone we could use for a demonstration?" asked Ed "GUARDS" yelled Celestia, in the royal Canterlot Voice, which she rarely used, and a group of guards came charging into the room "I need you to fetch a large stone from the Royal Gardens and make it quick" She ordered Minutes later the Guards returned carrying a large stone between them, their magic colours fusing into a muddy brown colour, the moment the rock touched the floor, Celestia ordered them back out "Here goes" Said Ed, as he bought his hooves together, a loud, resounding CLOP! filled the room, and Ed Pressed his hooves against the cold stone, blue lightning flashed around the room, and, there where the stone had been, was a statue of the four Princesses, each was smiling down at the room A great applause came from the four, as they saw what Ed had made, Luna was Smiling, Celestia had a tear in her eye, Cadence just sat with her jaw hanging, and Twilight had the look of someone who was in deep thought "I thought you said the circle was essential" said Twilight "It is, unless you've seen Truth" Said Ed "Anyway" Said Celestia "returning the conversation to the matter at hand, You will need somewhere to stay while you are in Equestria, Truth said he would send the two of you back when you are needed" "Can we stay with Twilight?" asked Al "Yes, if that is OK with Princess Twilight, I will allow it" Said Celestia, as she turned to look at Twilight "I wouldn't mind, but there simply isn't enough living space for four at the Library" "Four?" asked Al "Yes of course I forgot to introduce you to my personal assistant Spike while we were in Ponyville" Said Twilight, "but he does live with me" "Um... how about Rarity, that way we are close enough to the gate's exit that if anyone else manages to get through we are there already to help" Suggested Ed "I guess we'll have to find out if she will allow it when we get back" Said Twilight "I just hope we get a better reception this time" Joked Ed > Chapter 4: Parties and Living Arrangements > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon arriving back at Ponyville Ed, Al and Twilight were met with a huge party, courtesy of a certain pink earth pony mare "Wow" Said Al "it's been such a long time since anyone has thrown a party in our honour" "Guys, you need to act like you are one of us" Whispered Twilight "How do you mean?" Asked Ed "You need to say, anypony where you would normally say anyone, otherwise it will arouse suspicion, the same with everyone and everypony" Said Twilight quietly "HiI'mPinkiPiewhat'syourname" said a hyperactive Pink pony next to them "Uh... What?" Asked Al "She said her name is Pinkie Pie, and asked who you are" said a blue, rainbow-maned, pegasus who was hovering above them "oh and by the way I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all Equestria, and future wonderbolt" "I'm Edward, but I would prefer if you called me Ed" Said Ed "And I'm Alphonse, his younger brother, I prefer to be called Al" Said Al "Cool" Said Rainbow "So do you guys have somewhere to stay in town?" "Oh, yeah that reminds me, sorry gotta go!" Said Ed hurriedly, befor running off into the crowds "Where's that Rarity Pony?" thought Ed, he picked up his pace, weaving through the crowd, he eventually found her in a heated conversation with an orange mare in a Stetson, while a pale yellow pegasus hovered above them, looking rather worried about the argument "Rarity!" shouted Ed as he got closer, Rarity stopped talking and turned to face Ed, as the blonde coated colt attempted to stop and fell, face first onto the footpath at her hooves "Who are you?" asked the orange mare, her tone still rather angry because of the arguement "I'm Edward, but most ponies call me Ed" Said Ed, as he rose to his hooves, Rarity dusting his jacket with her magic as he stood "I could ask you the same question" She looked him over, she could not however see his wings, as they were folded beneath his jacket, "A new unicorn in town, huh, wonder how Twi'll take it, Ah'm Applejack by the way, some like to call me AJ, but Ah prefer Applejack" "Twilight said I was an alicorn"Ed pointed out "But an alicorn has wings and a horn" Retorted Applejack "Oh, then what are these" Said Ed as he flexed his wings and gave them an experimental flap, having not actually tried to use them before he found it strange how instinctive he found it "Oh my, that makes a total of five alicorns on the planet" said the yellow mare, speaking so quietly that ed only just managed to hear her "And the only known alicorn stallion!, you mustn't forget that Fluttershy " Said Rarity, speaking up for the first time having given up dusting Ed's jacket after his wings had moved it " Rarity, me, my brother and Twilight need to speak to you" Said Ed "Sorry Girls, must dash, we can finish this up tomorrow" When Ed and Rarity arrived back to the group Al was standing off to one side, while Pinkie was dancing a strange quick dance that caused her to leap from side-to-side, while waving one of her front hooves in the air as though it were a lasso, Twilight was face-hoofing and Rainbow was nowhere to be seen, Spike however had turned up and was dancing alongside Pinkie "Hey, brother you're back" Said Al "Hey, Twilight is there anywhere the four of us could go privately" Asked Ed "But of course, we could use the Boutique" said Rarity When the four arrived, Rarity waved them into the kitchen and took a seat at the table "Now what is it that you need me for?" asked Rarity "We need someplace to stay" Said Ed "And this shop is right on the exit to the gate, this mean is anyone follows us through then you could be in danger" "However if we stay here you would have two extra sets of hooves about the place and we could keep an an eye out for people we know crossing through the gate" Said Al "Hmm... well I could use the extra help, what with work and then looking after Sweetie Belle, I hardly get any time to just pamper my self" Said Rarity 'And the shorter one is kind of handsome' she added in her head "If you could look after Sweetie Belle, I would allow it" "Well then it's settled" said Twilight "you two can stay here as long as you help Rarity, look after Sweetie Belle" "Sounds good to me" Said Ed, smiling "Al loves young ones" "Well guys, I need to hit the hay" Said Twilight, yawning "I'll see you all in the morning" And she left Later that night Ed lay on one of the spare beds Rarity had, His eyes shut, trying to sleep, but a single memory kept playing in his head "Welcome Edward Elric, when you are let out of here you will be in a land called Equestria" Said Truth Smiling At Ed " when you arrive you should immediately seek audience with the Princesses "what do you mean Equestria?, and why do I have a hoof instead of a hand? and why do you look like a horse?" Asked Ed "One: you are among the first Humans to completely traverse the gate and as such you have ended up in a new land, two: to compensate for this I have, made your body that of the locals, and three: because I mimic your body shape and form I too have taken on this form" Replied Truth "Makes sense, but why am I here?" Asked Ed "Because you have successfully traversed the gate" Said Truth "You did however faint about half way through so you will not recall any of the knowledge that I had to offer" "But..." Ed began It's to late your time is up, just remember see the princesses, Shorty!" Shouted Truth the Portal began to fade from Ed's vision slowly being replaced with a small colourful shop where two ponies stood shocked by his sudden appearance... 'these last two days have been so weird' he thought to himself 'But I wouldn't have missed it for all of both worlds' > Chapter 5: Revelations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a week since Rarity had agreed to let Ed and Al stay at the boutique and things were running fairly smoothly, Al spent most of the day playing with Sweetie Belle and the other two founding members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders , while Ed had been learning to fly with Rainbow Dash and learning simple levitation spells with Twilight, things were looking up for them all in all That was until now when it had been raining all day, Ed, Al and Sweetie Belle were all stuck inside "Can't we just..." Began Sweetie "No" Interrupted Ed "But, Brother you didn't even wait 'till she finished what she was asking" Said Al "Sorry, but she's been asking all day if, Applebloom and Scootaloo can come over, and we are not going out to fetch them in this weather" Said Ed "But i was going to ask if we could play a board game" Said Sweetie "like what?" Asked Ed "How about... Marenopoly?" Suggested Sweetie "What's that?" Asked Al "It's a game where you have to move around the board by spinning a spinner to find out how many spaces to move, and buy famous streets in Canterlot using this fake Marenopoly money" Explained Sweetie "OK, fine" Said Ed "I suppose there is nothing better to do" About half an hour in to the game Ed was winning and Sweetie Belle was a close second, Al was struggling to roll the dice as his hooves were to large and clunky to be able to properly use the spinner, Ed and Sweetie found it easier due the fact they could use simple magic to turn it, Al finally gave up saying that it was too hard for him to spin it, and Ed and Sweetie finished the game off, Ed finally being Victorious "well now what do we do?" Said Ed, throwing himself on to his back with his hooves in the air Just then a loud bang and a scream came from down the hall "that sounded like Rarity!" Shouted Al, and the three of them stood and bolted for the door The three ran into Rarity's workshop where various designs where hung upon mannequins, before her stood a strange earth pony colt, his coat was black with strange red designs from his back down his forelegs, his head was bald and his tail was black, his cutie mark depicted a snake easting it's own tail "I'm going to enjoy eating this one" He said, he then stopped and sniffed the air "I smell the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother" Realization Dawned on Ed and Al "Hey, Gluttony!" Shouted Ed "Funny we should see you here, Fullmetal Runt" Said a Feminine voice from behind Ed There was a loud crash in the hall, and a muttered curse, then Twilight and Applejack burst into the room "What in tarnation is goin' on in here!" Asked Applejack looking ready to buck somepony up "Can I eat them Lust?" Asked Gluttony "Leave only the Fullmetal Runt and his brother Father has 'special' plans for them" Replied Lust "Twilight get Rarity and Sweetie Belle and go, we can deal with this!" Ordered Ed "But..." Started Twilight "Just do it!" Yelled Ed "I don't want anything to happen to you or Rarity!" "What's the matter Runt, fallen in love?" Mocked Lust "Shut up!" Ed yelled and Clopped his fore-hooves together and and threw his Hooves against the solid wood floor and a cannon rose in front of him "Twilight, GO NOW!" and the cannon fired at Gluttony forcing him into the wall opposite them "OK" Said Twilight, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she lifted Rarity to her feet and put Sweetie Belle across her back and bolted for the door Applejack and Rarity in close pursuit "All right" Said Al "it's just us four now" and he clopped his hooves together gave the armour hands again, before clapping with the new hands and producing spear which he swung for Lust with "Dammit!" Shouted Ed "For once I actually wish the Colonel was here, he could use his flames to kill you again!" "Too bad for you" Said Lust, smiling "But at least you have me!" Said a voice from the doorway, Ed turned and saw Twilight charging a spell, he sidestepped and a fireball flew from the tip of her horn and hit Lust square in the chest, sending her flying into Gluttony, both of them fell into a heap on the floor "I thought I told you to go!" Shouted Ed,clopping his hooves again and causing a net to rise from the floor and trap Lust and Gluttony on the floor "I just could't leave you two here on your own!" She Argued, she heard a clap and saw a blue flash from where Al was, she turned and saw him standing there a spear lay on the floor by his hooves, unable to determine what he had actually transmuted she turned back to Ed "I mean really how can you expect me to leave!" "I don't know why..." Said Ed, his voice trailing off as he saw Lust raise a hoof and point it in Twilight's direction "Get down!" Al yelled and leapt towards Twilight knocking her down but having his head knocked of in the process, His body clattered to the floor in front of Twilight, and all she could see inside the armour was a small circle drawn in red on the collar of the armour "What!" Cried Twilight in horror "where has Al gone!?" "I'm right here" Said the body, Twilight screamed and ran to the helmet and levitated it towards herself, she look inside it "But this makes no sense!" she cried "where is your body?" "Inside the gate" Al stated "sorry no time for explanations!" Said Ed "we've still got to deal with these two" and with that he clopped his hooves and smashed them against the floor boards, a large hoof extended fro the wall in a flash of blue light and smashed into the point where Lust and Gluttony were tied up, ripping the net, and sending them flying across the room Gluttony roared and ran towards Ed, mouth wide open Ed clopped his hooves again and swiped his left hoof against his right leg, a large metal blade extended from the original point of contact and extended up the leg, the connection to the plating finished before the knee, Ed raised his Leg tucking the hoof itself under his body and waiting for impact,the spike his Gluttony's chest straight on and Gluttony roared in pain, as the spike penetrated his Philosophers Stone and breaking it clean in two Gluttony began to turn grey starting at his rear hooves "But I didn't get to eat her" He said as he turned to dust, Lust fell to the floor and raised her hands "I won't resist, just take me prisoner" she insisted "How do we know we can trust you on that?" asked Al, having finally put his head back in place "I promise" Replied Lust "And just as with Greed I never tell a lie" "Fine, but you've got to wear these" said Ed, as he placed hoof restraints on her fore legs that meant she would be unable to lift her hooves high enough to use her 'ultimate spear' "Fine, but I just want to say one last thing Fullmetal" Lust said "Father knows where you are and he's coming, there is no way you can stop him from taking over this world and our own, so you may as well give up" "Never" Said Ed "as long is there is a breath left in my body, I will not let him take over either world" "Then your end will come faster than you could ever want it to, Runt" She said simply, Ed gritted his teeth at the last statement, but did not attack Twilight's horn glowed with magic and she and Lust disappeared in a flash of violet light,Twilight Returned moments later in another flash "She is now in the Canterlot Castle dungeons in solitary confinement, She will be muzzled and tied up so that she can only move far enough to eat, drink and do the other necessary things a pony's got to do" "Right" Said Ed, nodding "Are you going to explain why the armour is hollow, but Al is still in there?" Asked Twilight "and why you have those metal legs in the first place?" "OK, but please don't tell anypony else" Said Ed "You got that?" "Naturally" Said Twilight "Everypony has secrets" "OK here goes" Said Ed, and together Him and Al recounted the story of the failed transmutation that resulted in their current bodies, as they told the story Twilight's expressions varied between sorrow, anger and empathetic, tears began to build in her eyes and when Ed and Al finished their story, tears were streaming freely down her face "Hey, don't cry this is our mistake and we must always bear these reminders" Said Ed, gesturing to his metal legs and Al's metal body "How can you stand there, tell that story, and not cry?" Shouted Twilight "It's such a bad thing to loose your parents in the first place! but to loose your mother twice that's just..." She stopped mid-sentence attempting to choke back more tears "This metal body stops me from showing any emotions at all, I can't cry" Said Al "But what about you Ed, You have a body that can cry, but you won't! Twilight wailed "I just can't" Replied Ed, his head held low "Why not?" Twilight Said, finally managing to control her crying, but her voice still shaky "I don't want to talk about it" He muttered "I suppose we'd better get this placed straightened up, or Rarity's gonna kill us" he said slightly louder and in a clearer voice "Don't change the subject" Said Twilight "I have nothing more to say" Said Ed, and he clopped his hooves, and again smashed them against the floor, the walls and floor all re-formed as they were originally, he then walked around the room, straightening mannequins and repairing sewing machines, while Twilight stood watching him, unsure of how to feel, part of her was angry at him, but the rest of her just felt bad for him "Brother..." began Al, as Ed pushed past him and walked out the front door of the building into the pouring rain... > Chapter 6: The Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed splashed through the streets of Ponyville. he had his hood pulled as low as it would go, but thanks to his horn, that wasn't far, his blond snout extended just beyond the hood and he could feel every raindrop collide with it, he turned his head to the heavens "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!" He yelled at the top of his lungs "Why" he said again his voice falling to less than a whisper, as he lowered his nose to the floor and for the first time since his mother died, he cried He wept for the losses he and Al had suffered due to his own mistakes, he wept for the world they had left behind, and most of all he cried for Winry She was the only person he truly missed, without her he could never have made it to where he was now, it was her who gave him his Auto-Mail and he could not live without her "WIIIIINRRRRRY!" He cried "ED!" He heard her shout "Is that you?" "Well of course it's me" He Said "Oh sweet Celestia, are we glad we found you" She Said Ed opened his eyes, his vision a blur, and looked up at her, It wasn't Winry, It was Twilight "Oh, It's just you" He said closing his eyes again and fell back to the floor "Leave me alone" "No" She said firmly "Just leave me, I'm not worth your trouble" He muttered "Yes you are!" Twilight argued "Why am I!" Shouted Ed, losing his temper by this point "It's my fault Al's in his armour body! It's my fault that Rarity was almost killed tonight! It's my fault that Winry is probably crying again!" "You are most defiantly worth my trouble!" Retorted Twilight "Al has forgiven you for body, Rarity could have defended herself, by the way Granny Smith is taking care of her, and this Winry character, she would be crying for the loss of both of you!" "But why am I worth it to you?" Asked Ed Twilight's face turned a bright red, she leaned in as though she we about to whisper in his ear, and then suddenly pressed forward giving Ed no reaction time whatsoever and kissing him full in the lips, now it was Ed's turn to turn the colour of beetroot, as she turned away shyly, worried about rejection Ed just sat, his eyes glazed, and his mouth uttering silent words "Ed?" Asked Twilight "You... You... Kissed me..." Spluttered Ed "Yeah..." Said Twilight sheepishly Ed didn't know how to react, on one hoof he had just been kissed by a horse, but on the other, he had just been kissed by the kindest, most caring creature he knew he opened hi mouth to say something, but all that came forth was a strangled gurgling and a few garbled words, although Twilight did manage to make out a few of them: time, think, pony, maybe Ed then turned and ran towards Sweet Apple Acres, to go and meet Rarity and Applejack to make sure they were OK Twilight just sank to her haunches in the middle of the road, and watched him go Upon arriving at Sweet Apple Acres, most of the rain had stopped, thanks to a rainbow coloured streak currently making it's way across Ponyville, giving way to the first rays of sunshine from Celestia's sun, as Ed stepped onto the porch of the farmhouse, a small red and yellow blur flew from the door and sent him flying to the floor "Oops, sorry Ed" Said Applebloom "It's all right, no harm done" Said Ed, standing up "Good ta hear" Said Granny Smith, as she creaked her way into the over to the window "You must be Edward, come on in, Applejack and Rarity are waitin' for ya" Ed walked into the small kitchen where Applejack and Rarity were sitting round a table, Rarity was sitting, a cup of some kind of fruit tea levitating before her in a blue glow, while Applejack had her nose in her breakfast, Pancakes with some kind of rainbow coloured jam on them "Hey guys..." Ed said, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof "Hi Ed" Said Applejack, lifting her muzzle from her breakfast "Good morning darling" Said Rarity "Sweet Celestia, you look look you tried to sleep in a bush or something!" "I'll have to say or something to that" Yawned Ed "I haven't slept at all" "Well you go on upstairs an' rest up" Insisted Applejack "Sure, I just have one thing to ask you first" Said Ed "OK, go ahead my dear, we are all ears" said Rarity "Has Twilight said anything to you, about me?" Asked Ed Rarity shook her head, and Ed saw her nudge Applejack with her elbow, but Applejack just turned the same shade of red as Twilight had just minutes before, Rarity then facehoofed "Just as I thought" Said Ed "Wait, Ed, She really does care about you" Said Applejack "She just doesn't know how to tell you" "Well she just tried" Said Ed " And believe me, I am really not sure on what to do now" "Well, obviously you need to talk to HER about it" Said Rarity "I suppose you're right" Ed yawned " I need to get some sleep see you later" > Chapter 7: Return Home for the Promised Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed awoke to a quiet house, the darkness shrouded the room he had slept in like a blanket, save for a slit of brilliant white moonlight coming through a crack in the curtains. He raised a hoof to brush his hair back out of his eyes, and then used both hooves quickly put his hair into a ponytail, as he could not be bothered to carefully plait it He gave a large yawn and raised himself from the bed, stretching his legs and wings as he went, he staggered into the hall and down the stairs to the only tap in the whole farmhouse, he filled a bucket with freezing cold water and plunged his head into it, hair and all, and held it there for a few seconds while he thought about what a mess his life was, he had been ripped from his home country, scratch that, his home world, and sent to this strange world he carefully raised his head from the bucket, picked up a towel that was kept near the tap and dried his his face and hair, as he turned he saw Applejack standing just outside the house staring up into the sky "You OK?" he asked, as he sat beside her "Yea' Ah'm fine" She replied, sighing "you sure?" Asked Ed "Sure as Ah'm the Element of Honesty" Said Applejack "OK" Sighed Ed "I kinda have to go, I need to speak to Twilight about what happened last night" "Sure, jus' don't forget where we are, It's nice to have a visitor ever' once in a while" Replied Applejack, smiling Ed turned and left Sweet Apple Acres, once onto the main road he sped up to a gallop, heading for town, the moon hanging at the centre of the sky above him, illuminating the road ahead, he slowed to a trot upon arriving in town his hooves clopping gently on the cobbled streets When he arrived at the library he knocked carefully, pale blue aura surrounded the door and it opened revealing Princess Cadence, Twilight was sat at a nearby desk, her head in her hooves "Who is it?" Asked Twilight her voice muffled by the desk she was leaning on "It's me" Said Ed, Twilight raised her head at his voice and turned to face him, there were dark rings around her eyes and it was obvious she had not slept Ed walked over to her and put his 'flesh and blood' hoof around her shoulders "I'm sorry Twilight, I was just confused yesterday night, I had no idea what to think" He pulled her in for a hug "It's OK, It was a bit sudden" muttered Twilight, She looked ready to cry "But today I had a dream, It was a strange dream, you and my childhood friend were there, you were both looking at me and I was confused, both of you confessed love for me, but in the end I chose you" Said Ed, Twilight gave him a confused look, He sighed and continued "I have never really been good with words, so I'll let Cadence tell you what I was trying to say" "He feels the same Twilight, but as he just said, he really isn't good with words, I only know this because I am the princess of love, so I can tell" Said Cadence, smiling Twilight threw her hooves around Ed, and pulled him in for a kiss, the difference was, this time both parties were enjoying it, rather than being nervous "Really Ed?" Asked Twilight "Really" Replied Ed "Um... Twilight?" Said Al, sticking his head round the door frame, ruining Ed and Twilight's moment "Spike has a letter for you" He said, sheepishly Spike walked into the room carrying a scroll, Al following close behind, A purple aura surrounded the letter and it moved just inches away from Twilight's nose as she read it aloud "To my dearest student Twilight Sparkle, I have recently heard from Princess Cadence. She sent me a letter informing me about your feelings for a certain somepony and I am pleased for you. However I will have to warn you, Truth says he must return home before the promised day, It is however entirely up to him if he wishes to return to Equestria afterwards and Truth will send him back if that is his wish, yours faithfully Princess Celestia" Twilight dropped the scroll, tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, and she threw her hooves around Ed's neck, he placed a hoof carefully around her back and held her close, "Don't worry, we'll be back before you can say All is One and One is All..." his voice trailed off as he began to fade from between her forelegs She fell to her haunches, "All is One and One is All" She said to herself and began to cry Ed fell to his knees and pushed himself up with his left arm, he was in Winry's room, he could recognise the smell of Auto-Mail oil anywhere, he stretched out his right leg and left arm, he then gathered some metal from about the room and clapped one hand against a metal hoof and bought them down on the gathered metal, blue lightning flashed and his arm and leg were returned to full length and size, his fingers and toes all back as they should be He flexed each finger and toe in turn to make sure he had made the connections properly, afterwards he turned his attentions to Al who had not moved since they arrived back, he rolled the metal shell over and the light was gone from the eye holes "Al, AL! Wake up for Celestia's sake!" He Yelled, He then covered his mouth, Had he really just said that? Ed than clapped and turned some of Winry's older clothing into clothes that would fit him, for as It was he was standing as naked as the day he was born, and anyone could come barging through the door, after pulling on the new clothes, he transmuted Al's pony shaped armour back into it's usual form, the lights came back on behind the eye holes and Al raised his form from the floor "Brother, I saw my body!" Cried Al "It was there I could have taken it! But taking it would mean abandoning you when you need me the most" "Thanks for not leaving me Al" Said Ed "I will never leave you, as long as you need me, I'll be here" Said Al, and although Ed Could not see a smile he knew it was there "Right, first things first we need to get to Central, then we need to go to the Third Laboratory and find that Bearded B******d, and stop him so we can get back to Equestria" Said Ed Al looked at him and nodded "Right, let's get going then" As the two ran from the house to the train station, Ed was still lost in thought 'don't worry Twilight I'm coming back for you' > Chapter 8: Pride is Forever... and so is Gluttony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed and Al soon tracked down the group they had been travelling with prior to the incident with Father, the group consisted of: Hoenheim, Scar, Greed/Ling, May Chang, her pet panda Xiao Mei, Yoki, and the four human-chimeras: Zampano, Jerso, Darius and Heinkel Upon arriving May performed an amazing flying tackle at Al and sent the suit of armour flying, Ling greeted Ed with a hearty 'hello'while still stuffing his face, Yoki and Scar showed no emotion towards the pair, while Hoenheim greeted them warmly, Ed refused to warm up to him, still giving him the cold shoulder "Hey Dad!" Shouted Al, getting up from the floor "Hello Alphonse, hello Edward" Replied Hoenheim Smiling Ed just huffed and walked in the opposite direction, to lost in thought to pay much attention to Hoenheim Twilight lay on her bed crying, Cadence sat by the bed trying to comfort her while Spike sat over in the corner looking worried and unsure of what to do "He will come back, I know it" Soothed Cadence "How can you be so sure?" Twilight demanded "You forget I can sense love as well as spread it, he truly loves you, he will return" Cadence replied It had been a few days since Ed and Al's return to Amestris and everything was going fine, It was early evening and Al had gone searching for a train the group could sneak onto to get to central, he heard a sound above him and looked up, there was Gluttony "I smell him! I smell the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother! He's here!" He shouted and pounced down from his vantage point onto Al, and pinned him down, Al could have sworn he saw the shadows moving towards him but then his body pulled at his soul and he lost 'conciousness' Ed had been sitting in the village, eating, Heinkel sitting on one side, Darius on the other and they were both lecturing him on how he had been treating his father "If I could have one more moment with my fath..." Began Darius "JUST SHUT UP!" Shouted Ed "You should at least ask him why he..." Started Heinkel "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK LION KING!" yelled Ed Just then Ed stood up and walked away from them into the nearby woods, he saw Al standing there, but something seemed off to him "Hey Al what are you doing out here" Asked Ed The armour turned to face him, but instead of seeing the usual glowing white orbs behind the eyeholes, Ed saw strange purple eyes, which he was sure he had seen before Ed smiled and looked towards 'Al' "Hello there.. Pride" "Hello Fullmetal, how was your trip?" Mocked Pride "Pretty good actually..." Said Ed, to Pride's Surprise "I was actually thinking about going back when this is all over" "Well then I will just have to make sure you don't get that chance, a spear of solid shadows flew towards Ed, he clapped and tapped his arm before bringing it up in front of himself for defence, the hand and lower forearm were as black as coal, but around twenty times harder, the spike Pride had sent flying for Ed, collided with the arm and was reflected in the opposite direction "It's him Pride, It's the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Shouted Gluttony, who was hanging from a tree "Hmm, I see you have picked up a few tricks from Greed, Although it won't be enough to keep you alive for long" Mocked Pride "I don't plan on fighting you for that long!" Shouted Ed, quickly dodging to one side as more spikes flew in his direction "Nor I you" Replied Pride, casually "You have to give me my body" Argued Ling, "I can detect their presence!" "Tough call kid, but since I can see them I don't need your help" Replied Greed, cockily Just then a blue flash appeared in the trees ahead of them and all of the lights in the village went out "Ah Jeez, Just when I was starting to have some fun" Said Greed "Now can I take control?" Asked Ling "Sure but just don't go running off with MY body" Replied Greed "Ha, now you can't use your shadows" Laughed Ed "Don't think you have the upper hand just yet, Gluttony can still sense you" Said Pride There was a dull thud behind Ed, and he felt warm breath on the back of his throat. He swung a blackened blade behind himself, he felt it slash through something and felt the warm feel of blood on his skin "GAAAHHHH!" Cried out Gluttony "He cut me Pride, please let me eat him!" "NO GLUTTONY, Father needs him alive!" Shouted Pride "GAAAHHHH!" Gluttony cried out again as a blade, connected with his back this time "Ed, were here to help" Said Heinkel's voice, It was gruff which Ed took to mean he was in his chimera form "You go with gorilla-man and get to safety" Said Ling "We'll handle this one" "No wait, Pride I have one question" Said Ed "Which is?" Said Pride, bored "How did Gluttony survive? I killed him in Equestria, but here he is now fully healthy as though it never happened" Demanded Ed "I can answer that one" Said a new voice, it was Hoenheim "When you defeated the Gluttony in that place, it was simply a clone, produced from a single soul extracted from Gluttony's philosopher's stone" "So that means that Lust is alive too?" Asked Ed "No, your commanding officer in the military made sure of that" Replied Hoenheim "But there was a lust there" Said Ed "Ah... I suppose it is possible that homunculus kept at least one copy of each of his children" Said Hoenheim "of course not including Wrath or Greed, since they are human-homunculi" "Right makes sense" Said Ed, A thought suddenly clicked "Say the Lust from the other world found a way to break free of her bindings what would she do?" "I suppose she would head for the point that the gate touches that world, why?" Asked Hoenheim "Dammit, Is there anyway to get just a message through to them?" Queried Ed Hoenheim paused and thought "No, however If your friends in that world are as strong as you say, they should have no trouble at all defeating it" "Princess Celestia!" Shouted Twilight, crashing through the throne room doors, she skidded to a halt, there, standing before the princess was brilliant white alicorn pony however a dark shadow seemed to constantly emanate from him "Hello Twilight Sparkle" Said the pony, despite it's distinctively effeminate body, it had the voice of a colt "Hello my faithful student how can I assist you?" Asked Celestia "Do you have any books on alchemy?" Queried Twilight "Try asking at the Royal Library" Replied Celestia "Alchemy you say?" Asked the pony, turning to Twilight, a large grin evident on it's face although no eyes were visible "Who are you!?" demanded Twilight "It's OK my student, this is the one Ed referred to as Truth" Said Celestia "Some call me God, others call me the World, some even call me the Universe, but I am the All, this of course means that I am you" Truth said, the large grin still visible on it's features "Run along to the library my dear student" Ordered Celestia "wilight made her move toward the Library when a tall black earth pony mare crashed through the doors and charged Twilight down Twilight clattered to the floor before Truth Truth looked down at her and the smile instantly disappeared "I'm sorry princess but I cannot be involved in the affairs of the mortal, so I must take my leave" Said Truth, and then it disappeared Princess Celestia raised herself to her full height and stood in front of Twilight "If you wish to harm my student, you must go through me!" Said Celestia, he great horn charging with an arcane mystical type of magic Twilight had seen Celestia perform only once before, but Twilight had attempted it several times before, It was dark magic Black flames tinted with green and purple flared from Celestia's eyes "GO BACK FROM WHERE YOU CAME FOUL CREATURE!" Shouted Celestia, the room echoing with her rarely used Royal Canterlot voice Lust fell to the floor and rolled, the magic blast missing her by an inch, a maniacal laugh escaped her lips as she raised a fore-hoof in the direction of the two princesses when a bolt of blue fire knocked her to the floor and Princess Luna swooped down to the floor by Celestia "Oh this fight just got more interesting!" Said Lust, grinning > Chapter 9: Lust Is a Sin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight dived to her left as a long pointed spear extended from Lust's hoof, narrowly missing Twilight's head "You can't keep it up for ever princess" Said Lust, her words dripping with pure venom Twilight knew she was right she looked towards Princess Celestia, who gave Twilight a quick nod. Twilight's horn lit with a vibrant purple glow, a large golden spear extending from the tip "Begone foul creature, go back to where you came from!" Yelled Twilight, purple lightning crackled around her, great magical winds picking up papers and other small items from around the throne room, the spear then shot from her horn and collided with Lust head on. Lust Screamed "AHHHHH, You miserable Pony!" She Cried "I can't believe it, these creatures were supposed to be weaker than humans!" "You obviously don't know who you are dealing with!" Twilight's voice echoed through Lust's mind "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Of Magic!" The wind died down and Celestia and Luna opened their eyes, both Twilight and the black mare had gone Ed had followed Darius and Hoenheim back to the village, still not happy about leaving Al behind, when a group of the villagers ran past carrying lamps, looking for the source of the blue light that had put out all the lights in the village "No wait, you can't go that way"Said Hoenheim, moving to stand in their way "Why not?" Asked one of the villagers, Ed found him strangely familiar, but couldn't put his finger on where he had seen him "Because there are monsters out there and we are bringing this young one back out of the way, we have Ex-military associates working over that way, and we think you should stay out of their way" Said Darius, Pointing to Ed when he said 'young one', to which Ed kicked him in the back of the leg "So we are going anyway!" Said one of the villagers pushing past Hoenheim and Darius, four others followed him, but the rest turned back toward the village listening to what Hoenheim had said there was some muttering among the group, some of the more frequent words Ed could pick out were, 'Really?' 'Monsters' and 'Shorty', tow which he gritted his teeth and said nothing Twilight raised herself to her hooves, only to see they were not hooves, but hands and feet, with toes, and looked at her surroundings, only to find there was nothing. just a vast white expanse, the only visible thing around was a large stone gate with strange inscriptions all over it, and Truth, kneeling before the gate She then realized how cold she was, she looked down and saw that she had no fur, no clothes and no wings, she reached up in order to confirm her suspicions, she had no horn either "Welcome miss Sparkle" Said Truth, "Umm, where am I? And what am I?" Asked Twilight "You are standing before the portal of truth, and you are a Human" Replied Truth "But what about my Wings and Horn, and why am I a human?" Twilight Asked "Humans have neither of those things, and you are a human because you are on the Amestrian side of my portal" Explained Truth "you are here be cause you MUST help Edward Elric, he cannot do this on his own" "But what about Equestria?" Asked Twilight, her breath quickening as she began to worry "You need not worry I have already told the Princess of my plan, that is why I was at the Canterlot Castle" Said Truth Calmly "But..." Began Twilight "The Princess will tell people you have gone to visit, prince Edward's homeland and Introduce your self to his father" Interrupted Truth Twilight, her questions all answered fell to her knees unsure of what to do now "I shall send you to the village where Ed is staying at the current time, be aware though, time passes quicker in Amestris" Said Truth "Right, how do I leave for this village" Asked Twilight "Leave that to me" Said Truth, and Twilight's Vision faded to black Ed sat in the village his head resting on his fist, in the pose of 'the thinker' statue, A bright blue flash in front of him broke his concentration, and there on the floor was a girl, probably about his age, she was naked and her hair looked like... "Twilight?" he asked, blushing furiously "Ed?" she asked groggily, she pulled herself to her feet and Ed looked away, his face turning almost as red as his jacket "Twilight, umm... your'e... naked" Said Ed, His face finally reaching the same colour as his jacket "So?" Asked Twilight "It's not Socially acceptable to walk around like that here" Now it was Twilight's turn to go red Ed took off his jacket and threw it towards her, "put that on, and then we'll go and find some clothes for you" He said Twilight drew the coat around herself, It was slightly too short in the sleeves, but at least it covered her up "Right, I know where I can get some materials" Said Ed, Ed then took her hand and began to guide her through the village > Chapter 10: Introductions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed and Twilight wandered through the small slum town, Twilight pulled the jacket tighter around herself as a light breeze began to raise the hem above her knees. Ed suddenly stopped and lead her to a tiny shop on the left side of the street, which sold a multitude of fabrics in almost every colour imaginable Ed paid around 30 Cenz for a roll of purple fabric and some leather scraps, and carried them out to a nearby alley A quick clap and flash of blue later and there was a long lilac gown decorated with Twilight's Cutie mark, and pair of leather slippers "Put those on" Said Ed, turning away and guarding the end of the alley while she changed "Done" Twilight announced, Ed turned around and admired his handiwork "You look pretty good" Said Ed smiling cockily A loud boom shook the floor, and Ed turned he looked towards the forest, where flames were licking the skyline "Dammit" Said Ed "Twilight you stay here, I have to go help Al and Heinkel" "But Ed..." Twilight began "No time to argue, just wait here" Interrupted Ed, he pulled her into a hug and ran off towards the flames "Princess!" Shouted Rarity, as the her and the other four elements ran into the throne room behind her "Whatever is the matter?" Asked Celestia "Where's Twilight?" Demanded Rainbow Dash "She sent herself through the gate and is currently residing in Amestris with Edward" Replied Celestia calmly "Amestris?" Asked Applejack "Edward's homeland" Said Celestia "She has gone to assist Edward on the promised day" "The Promised Day, What's that" Asked Fluttershy her voice barely audible "The Promised Day is when an evil man plans to open his world's gate, and absorb the power of their God" Replied Celestia "Is there any way we can help?" asked Pinkie, speaking up for the first time, having been bouncing around the throne room "The best way you could help is to get spike up here, and bring the elements, the five of you can stay in the sun tower until The Promised Day is over" The Sun Goddess rose from her seat "Now if you would like to follow me I will show you to your temporary quarters" "AL!" Ed yelled as he slid into the clearing, smoke and flames choking the cool night air around him, he saw spike of shadow heading straight for him and dodged with milliseconds to spare "Stay back Edward" said Hoenheim throwing an arm out infront of Ed "Why should I?" Ed asked "my brother needs help!" "I'm sorry but this was his idea" said Hoenheim, red lightning crackled around his feet and large chunks of stone raised from the floor and encompassed Al and Pride "NO!" cried Pride and launched his shadows in Hoenhiem's direction just as the hole in the dome sealed, and the spears faded to nothing "Why did you do that?!" Shouted Ed, Hoenheim looked at him shoo his head and walked off "Where are you going you B*****d?!" Cried Ed "what about Al?" Hoenhiem turned back and Ed could see the tears in his eyes, "I didn't want to do it, but it was the only way" Said Hoenheim "and besides it was his idea" "and what happened to Gluttony" Asked Ed, struggling to remain calm "Pride absorbed him to gain his powers" Said a rough voice behind Ed, who turned and saw Heinkel, a small cut on his forehead bleeding profusely "Maybe we should discuss this back in town" Said Ling, dropping from the only tree in the clearing that wasn't on fire "Agreed, but first we need to snuff these flames" Said Ed, he clapped his hands and smacked the against the floor the air around them seemed to get thin for a few seconds, and all the flames went out "there now we can go" Twilight walked along the main street a bag of fruits hung loosely on her left elbow, those being the only things she had see that she recognized as food, she heard yelling from a small food bar by the side of the road, she turned to see who it was and, she saw Ed arguing with an older man that looked just like Ed, if he were taller and had a beard, whom she assumed must be his father "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO ALONG WITH IT!" shouted Ed "I had no choice he asked me to do it" Said Hoenheim, calmly "umm.. hello?" Said Twilight "Oh hi Twilight" Said Ed rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed "Oh hello" Said Hoenheim "I suppose you must be a friend of Edward's?" "Umm... yeah" Said Twilight nervously "No need to be worried" Said Hoenheim "I'm Ed's father, my name is hoenheim, May I ask yours?" "Yes my name is Twilight Sparkle, I am a princess where I come from" Twilight Said "Interesting, Ed seems to be meeting a quite a few members of royal families recently" Said Hoenheim "are you from Xing" "No, I'm from a land know as Equestria" Said Twilight "Oh... Hmm... How's Celestia" Said Hoenheim "Wait you know Princess Celestia?" Asked Twilight puzzled "Why yes, Truth introduced me when I was younger, after I accidentally became Immortal as I recall" Said Hoenheim his brow ridged in concentration, attempting to recall the exact conversation "How come you never mentioned this before?" Said Ed "It never seemed Important" Said Hoenheim, he turned back to Twilight "now you say you are a princess of Equestria, this means you have passed through the gate, passing the gate from the Equestria side provides the knowledge of advanced magic, and the basic principles of Alchemy. These two combined should allow you to do Alchemy without a circle and without clapping your hands as Ed does, try thinking about something you know really well and touch this stone" Twilight closed her eyes and put a hand on the stone and closed her eyes, she concentrated on Ed's pony form that she had grown accustomed to, there was a flash of purple light that shone even through her closed eyelids and she opened her eyes, there in front of her, on Hoenheims palm, was a statuette of herself and Edward when they were In Equestria together "Wow that's amazing" said Ed leaning forward in his chair to get a closer look, he couldn't believe the detail in the statuette, all the markings on his jacket were present and correct "Dammit, now somebody else has my power, and to top it off she bettered it!" Yelled Ed, Twilight couldn't help but smile as he said this, Ed seemed to deflate where he sat, and sat in silence for a few moments and then a a thought occurred to him, "If that's the case would I not be able to do the same since I went through both ways I have knowledge of both advanced alchemy and advanced magic?" "It's possible" Mused Hoenheim, Ed bent down to the ground and touched his palms on the floor he then raised them from the floor pulling with it a small stone dagger "Oh man this is awesome, I can't wait to show Al when he gets out" Said Ed "I do however doubt that Alphonse will possess this knowledge due to the fact that only a certain amount of memory can be bound to the armour and Truth would not stop his memory working purely to provide him with extra power" Said Hoenheim "That makes sense" Said Ed "but is it possible that these memories may become entangled between, I mean it almost seems that I am providing his body with the basic Nutrition and sleep it needs, I know I've seen it" "I don't know the only way to find out for certain is to get his body back and see" Said Hoenheim > Chapter 11: The Undead Legion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edward, Twilight, Hoenheim, Ling, and Lan Fan were all heading through the alleyways of central, Twilight's right hand was held tightly in Ed's left. The five of them were headed straight for Central Command, hoping to sneak in the south entrance, However when they arrived the Military Police were firing in at Briggs Soldiers, who were guarding the entrance "Dammit" said Ed, raising a hand to his forehead in defeat "Wait didn't Al say there was an entrance in the Third Laboratory" Said Ling who was currently in control "Yeah you're right" said Ed Ling Turned to Ed, he opened his eyes and revealed the purple eyes beneath "Unfortunately this is where we split" Said Greed, his personality taking over "I have some business in there" He turned and ran up the wall and out of sight before Lan Fan had any time to see where he was going "Young Lord!" She shouted "Stay with us" Ordered Hoenheim "If you go after him you will hurt yourself, you are not used to the auto-mail yet" "We could use your help anyway" Said Ed "OK, the young lord will come back eventually" Said Lan Fan, looking at her auto-mail arm "Let's head to Third Lab then" Said Ed "Hello girls" Said Princess Celestia, as she walked into the suite the Element's were sharing "Howdy Princess" Said Applejack, raising herself from the bed she had been resting on "I'm afraid it's not good news" Said Celestia "I have learned from Truth that some time ago a large Minotaur, by the name of Sloth had come through the gate, Long before Ponyville was established as a town and has been digging a tunnel around Equestria and this tunnel was the form of a circle, with Canterlot at it's centre. Now if what Ed had told us about Alchemy was true then this could spell disaster for the whole of Equestria, Even worse than the chaos of of Discord" "Worse than Discord" Said Rainbow Dash, hopping off the cloud she had bought in with her "Man that's gotta be bad" "worse than Discord USED to be" Said Fluttershy gently climbing off the seat she had been sat on "Quite right" Said Celestia, she turned to Pinkie Pie who had been uncharacteristically silent for the whole time, but she was on her bed her rear hooves hanging over the edge swinging back and forth, listening intently, as was obvious but the look of extreme concentration on her face "Also I had Shining Armour map all of the bloodiest wars, as Ed said he had back home and when the points were joined it looked like an Alchemical Circle" "Oh oh, you mean one of those Transmcmuffin Circles he kept talking about right?" Said Pinkie bouncing on the spot a fore hoof in the air "I think you mean a Transmutation Circle Pinkie Pie" Said Rarity "I believe that is what he called them" Said the Princess "So... you want us to go and blow a whole in the circle so it doesn't work right?" Said Rainbow Dash, who was now on the floor in front of Celestia, flapping her wings in anticipation "No, as I have discovered, simply breaking the circle will not be enough. We have to break it at it's core" Explained Celestia "which I have reason to believe is hidden beneath Canterlot in the Crystal Caverns, in which my adopted niece Princess Mi Amore Cadenza had been sealed by Queen Chrysalis" a hint of bitterness in her voice as she spoke the name of the Changeling Queen "But where is the entrance?" Asked Rarity "Surely somepony would have noticed a Minotaur in Canterlot" "The entrance is in the foothills below Canterlot, not far from Ponyville" Said Celestia, she walked over to the window and pointed a fore hoof down to the valley, and there was in fact a large mine entrance "Great let's go!" Shouted Rainbow, jumping into the air and flapping her wings "Not so fast, Rainbow Dash" Said the Princess, golden magic enveloped Rainbow and lowered her to the floor "We must get you some equipment, otherwise Applejack and Pinkie Pie would be left behind, this is of course assuming Rarity can perform a simple teleport spell on herself" "Twilight did teach me to teleport, however I can only do so for short distances" Said Rarity, looking impressed with herself "Good, now Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy must use ropes to carry Applejack and Pinkie Pie" Instructed Princess Celestia Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded, Fluttershy did however need a sharp look from Rainbow before she nodded enthusiastically "Good when you are ready then you may leave, Oh and take Spike with you so you can send me letters on updates in the situation" "Understood" Said Rainbow, Saluting, and the five left the room, headed across the hall to Spike's room Ed ran in front of the third lab and screamed at the guards "Help Scar's after me and he's trying to kill me!" he flailed his arms pointing to a nearby tree that, Scar had put his head around The group had met Scar on the way but after a short argument it was agreed that saving Amestris was more important, and so here he was now As the guards turned to aim their weapons at Scar, Ed's metal arm connected with their skulls knocking them out stone cold "Come on!" He called The others gathered behind him, Twilight reached for his flesh and blood hand, then the group began marching through Laboratory Three, many researchers looked terrified by Scar but said nothing Ed suddenly stopped in front of an expanse of plain wall and thrust his hands against it, blue lightning flashed revealing a large room which already looked battle worn, Ed marched straight across the room and began opening the large stone doors there. A long pale arm began extending from the gap and stanched at Ed's face, Ed leaped back and the door was pushed open completely revealing a large group of one eyed humanoid creatures Ed's arm flashed and a blade appeared there connecting with the creatures chest, the creature looked at Ed, gave a gurgled cry and stepped backwards the blade no longer piercing it's chest "Help me..." it said in a rasping voice Scar's hand flew for another red lightning flashed and green blood flew, but the creature still stood firm "Having fun?" Asked a Doctor standing behind the group of creatures,a gold tooth flashed as he spoke "They're my Undead Legion, Puppets created by me and a sliver of Philosopher's Stone at their core enough that they will never die! Mannequin Soldiers un-dying and faithful only to myself and Father" "Seal the exit!" Cried Hoenheim "On it!" Said Ed he bought his hands down on the floor and a flash of light later a wall was in place "No way out now..." Said Scar "Better than the city dying" Said Ed "Agreed..." Said Scar "LET'S DO THIS!" shouted Ed > Chapter 12: Envy! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The entrance to the Crystal Caverns loomed in front of the Mane 5, crystals glittered in the sun and Spike was already hard at work trying to pry them away from the walls "Spike c'mon now, do ya really need all those gems?" Asked Applejack "It'll help to have snack on the way" Replied Spike, "You can't fight on an empty stomach right?" "But only you can eat them" Pointed out Rainbow Dash "I suppose your'e right" Groaned Spike, and dropped all but a small handful "Can I put these in your saddlebag Rarity?" "Of course dear" Rarity replied "Now let's go" Said Rainbow, she threw a rope down round Applejack and secured it to the saddle she was currently wearing, meanwhile Fluttershy did the same to Pinkie Pie as she weighed less than the muscular farm pony. "Ready everypony and dragon?" Asked Rainbow, they all nodded and began to move into the cave Ed chopped the head off another undead soldier, a spurt of green blood splatted against his face, the soldier fell to the floor only to be replaced by several more, Ed backed up and his back collided with Twilight's she had discovered that most of her offensive spells still worked in this body and was shooting fireballs at the creatures "They just keep coming!" cried Ed, suddenly he heard a soft click and the wall he had sealed blasted inwards with a rush of fire, a few soldiers were blasted backwards in the process. Once the dust cleared Ed looked towards the hole and there stood Lt. Col. Mustang and Lt. Hawkeye "Looks like we arrived just in time" Said Mustang, smugly "What are you doing here?!" Yelled Ed "Helping" Mustang replied, he clicked and the room around the team lit with fire, all the soldiers fell to the floor, charred The gold toothed doctor began to look worried "Envy! I require some assistance" He called "Hello runt" Said Envy, looking in Ed's direction, he continued to scan the room "Hoenheim, so nice to see you, Ah your girlfriend from the other world how cute, and... You... You b*****d Your the one who killed Lust. You can wait FullMetal Runt, I have some business with this one" "Ed, you take your friends and go on ahead, Lieutenant Hawkeye and I will keep Envy distracted" Ordered Mustang "But..." Said Ed "GO!" Yelled Mustang, pulling on his other glove "I have a score to settle" "you think you can stop us now? HA!" Laughed Envy "You humans really are stupid" CLICK! BOOM! "How does it feel to have your tongue turned to charcoal inside your mouth?" Asked Mustang "You B*****d!" Cried Envy, leaping for Mustang, CLICK! BOOM! a charred body was now flying towards Mustang, Red lightning flashed and Envy swung a fist for Mustang "GO!" Mustang commanded Clicking again and Envy's arm crumbled and fell to the floor Ed ran to the other end of the room and peered through the doors the gold toothed doctor had gone, all he could see was a wide tunnel with a low ceiling, various pipes and tubes lead into the darkness. He waved the rest of the party over, when they arrived he took Twilight's right hand in his left while Hoenheim, Scar and Lan Fan bought up the rear. They began walk along the corridor their feet splashing gently in small puddles of the liquid leaking from the pipes > Chapter 13: To Swallow a God > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mane 5 galloped at high speed through the crystal caverns, Rainbow flew overhead with a lantern clamped tightly in her jaw "jus alil furfur" she said The tunnel ended and they found themselves in a large dome shaped room, small tunnels branched off in all directions and a large Minotaur sat in the centre of the room, drawing patterns in the dirt "Such a pain, must deal with ponies who discover circle" it groaned "wha... who are you?" asked Rarity "Sloth, the fastest homunculus" It replied, it raised itself to it's hooves and began striding towards them chains clinked on the floor as he moved "Really?" asked Rainbow smirking "that almost sounds like a challenge" Sloth lowered it's head and charged toward the group, Rainbow shot up out of harms way, the other five didn't stand a chance and were thrown heavily into the cave wall "NO!" cried Rainbow, she accelerated as fast as the small space would allow and just as she was about to collide with sloth she stuck her rear legs forward and kicked it hard in the face, Sloth reached out and grabbed her by the wings and threw her hard against the wall. There was a loud crack as she collided, she slid slowly down and lay motionless on the ground. "Rainbow Dash!" Cried the other ponies and Spike "Ugh... Such a pain..." groaned Sloth "Silly ponies... Sloth is fastest" Pinkie Pie grabbed Rarity and started pumping her tail rapidly as she had Twilight's during the changeling invasion. However it did not fire off bolts of magical energy as it had with Twilight, but instead the gems in the walls of the cave began glowing, the light becoming ever brighter by the second. "GAAAH" cried Sloth clutching at it's eyes, it backed away as it did it tripped on it's own chains and crashed to the floor causing a small crack to appear in the floor, as Sloth stood it stomped its hooves in anger, causing the crack to grow longer, it began to charge, this time though the girls realised what was happening before it did and had just enough time to move before sloth crashed into the wall forming more cracks which spread to meet those on the floor, more crack spider-webbed outwards reaching the ceiling of the cave "Stop" cried Fluttershy "your going to bring the roof down on us all!" the usually timid pony now looking both angry and fearful at the same time, Sloth roared and charged again this time directly for Fluttershy, who just stood and watched in terror before a rainbow coloured blur threw her to the ground as Sloth collided with the wall behind her "Rainbow..." asked Fluttershy looking up and seeing a bruised and beaten Rainbow Dash lying on the ground at Sloth's hooves, her feathers were bent and one of her wings looked broken. As sloth pulled his horns from the wall the cracks finally gave way and rocks began falling from the ceiling. "Girls to me!" shouted Rarity who was now standing by Rainbow "I've never tried this but it's our only hope" she said, her horn glowed brightly and suddenly they were all at the crystal caves entrance watching as large chunks of crystal and stone fell to the floor sealing any way in or out "well I guess that's that" said Applejack Suddenly a bright red light shone out of the cave between the rocks, and they suddenly felt weak at the knees "Huh, what in tarnatio..." was all Applejack managed to say before passing out "Applejack..." muttered Rarity before she too fell unconscious "Girls..." Fluttershy wimpered, she then fell down her eyes slowly sliding closed Pinkie pie and Rainbow both collapsed fell against each other, Rainbow broken wing sticking out sideways pointing into the air Ed awoke in a dark room the only light came from a hole in the ceiling and only illuminated a small circle where Father sat atop a simple stone throne "YOU B*****D!" shouted Ed charging at him, a pillar of stone rose from the floor and knocked him to the ground. "Hmm... good to see you still have some fight in you, I was beginning to worry that my soldiers had gone too rough on you" Said father not even looking up at Ed "Brother is that you?" asked Al's voice from the corner "Fullmetal... where are you? I can't see a damn thing" came Mustang's voice from elsewhere "Al, Mustang... Who else is here?" Asked Ed "Your friend from beyond the gate, Twilight Sparkle, tour alchemy teacher Izumi Curtis, and your father Van Hoenheim" answered father simply "although I no longer need Hoenheim's assistance since you bought me a much more useful sacrifice as she allows me to join the circles across both worlds" "Both worlds... you mean you plan to destroy Equestria as well!?" asked Twilight "Of course I do, it requires a huge amount of energy to summon the worlds gate, and besides I also wish to absorb the power of your goddesses too" replied Father "You B******D"! called Ed again "There is nothing you can do now" said father "The time has come to activate the circle" "Not without a fight it's not!" shouted Ed, climbing t his feet, he charged for father only to be knocked back again "I told you it is too late" said father, Just then the whole room lit with a a red energy, Ed was forced to his feet, along with the other five sacrifices, and a large purple eye appeared on each of their chests, dark tendrils extended from each eye which Ed now recognised as their own gates Fathers black form disappeared in the bright light and was replaced with that of young man somewhat resembling Ed, possibly a younger Hoenheim, although Ed could not be sure, as the light faded the sacrifices gates closed, and Ed stumbled and fell, Twilight ran to his side and helped him from the floor, Al stayed where he had fallen and did not get up "Finally, the most powerful being in all of both worlds is within me, I have the power to create suns" said Father he raised his hand, a small yellow-orange orb appeared there "there is nothing I cannot do!" "I think you may want think again" said Hoenheim "Why, I have swallowed god, and the goddesses of Equestria "their power is my own now, there is nothing you can do to stop me" "Just as you have been able to separate your soul into eight pieces I have split mine in two" explained Hoenheim "it was a perfect split half the Xerxes citizens stayed with me, the other half travelled to Equestria, we both performed the same rituals, spreading souls to set points in the land, in just the right places to create a circle to reverse what you have just done, and return the souls of each land to their rightful bodies" Father laughed "but you have no circle, you must have a circle for the power to flow correctly" "True, but in Amestris and Equestria, I have the most powerful circles of all, their moons" said Hoenheim "But how you plan on activating the circles" said Father "On this side the moon moves naturally and the solar eclipse will form the circle, meanwhile in equestria my own 'homunculus' will raise the moon, I think you'll find that his skill is great enough" said Hoenheim simply "and who might your homunculus be?" asked Father "Non other than Prince Shining Armour" replied Hoenheim "he is not a homunculus like yours though he is a living breathing pony, a full 'human' Transmutation, creating both a new body and putting a portion of my soul into him, as I understand he got married a little less than a year ago to a Princess Mi Amore Cadenza" "Shining Armour?" Asked Twilight, confused. "He's my brother" "You are correct Twilight, however your parents never told you he was an adoptive brother did they," Said Hoenheim "I believe that would explain why he bears little to no resemblance to the rest of your direct family" "If you're quite finished" Said Father, bringing the attention back to himself "I have no use for you or your power any longer" The sun in the palm of Father's hand began to expand just as the moon reached it's peak in the sky and suddenly the orb winked out of existence "it's time" Said Shining Armour he stood from the seat he was sat at, all of his subjects in the crystal empire lay slumped on the floor. He reared onto his back hooves and bellowed "IT'S TIME MY FRIENDS!" Suddenly a bright blue lightning strike rose from the top of the crystal palace and looking to the south he could see four more pillars of lightning meaning that the circle was working "No... What... Have... You... Done!" yelled Father, taking deep breaths between each word. "I am restoring life to those you have stolen it from," said Hoenheim "without them you cannot keep that which you call god contained" "I... I will not... give up... so easily" stammered Father, his breathing becoming more ragged "I disagree" Hoenheim said simply, just as Father threw his head back and all the equestrian and amestrian souls poured out from his mouth. The souls of the amestrians flew out through the hole in the ceiling and the equestrian souls flew towards Twilight, colliding with her chest and disappearing. "NOOOOOO" screamed Father "I will not give up this power" "You're too late, dwarf" said Hoenheim "It's time to end this" > Chapter 14: The Beginning of the End > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Father collapsed to the ground,his breathing heavy and ragged, "You... I need your power" he said, pointing to Hoenheim, he then dragged himself from the floor and charged towards him, arm outstretched and plunged his hand into Hoenheim's chest. Hoenheim grunted in pain and looked Father dead in the eyes "Damn you" muttered Hoenheim "You're even more stubborn than I remember. The only thing you failed to take into account is that I have a connection to all of my souls... those that you have absorbed already are working against you" "Why don't you just give up!" shouted Ed, "You're through, there is nothing left you can do" "You are wrong Edward," said Father, "directly above us is an army. With it I can produce a new stone without a second thought" "No!" cried Izumi and Twilight in unison "You b*****d!" yelled Ed, he clapped and bought his hands down on the stone floor a spike extended quickly from the floor, however it dissipated before it collided Twilight raised herself from her position on the floor only to collapse and black out, Ed turned to see her hit the floor just in time "Twilight!" He called, the situation suddenly forgotten, he ran to her and placed his hands on her shoulders and gently shook "Love, such a human feeling," said Father a small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips "You might see it as weakness Homunculus," said Hoenheim "But it is the one of many things that makes us humans so brilliant" "Hmph... I don't see how it matters anymore, I have absorbed the power of God and you still believe you stand a chance," said Father, grimacing as Hoenheim's souls worked against his every movement. He spat at the ground a crimson liquid pooling and forming into a stone. "I'll have to go on without these pathetic souls, they are of no use to me." "You monster!" shouted Al, he held Mustang down so as to stop him from trying to fight too, however Mustang raised a gloved hand and snapped, only sparks rose into the air "Did I get him?" asked Mustang, preparing to click again "No Colonel," answered Al "Your gloves are too damaged." "Dammit, so I'm blind and useless," He groaned holding his hands to his eyes Father let out a deep laugh "You humans really are pathetic aren't you, now if you are quite finished, I have some business to attend to," He raised his hand and the ceiling collapsed, as well as the ceilings of the floors above opening out to the surface and father began to rise on a stone pillar forming from the ground below him "Look after her till I get back," requested Ed of Izumi, "I'm finishing this now one way or another," he clenched his automail fist and raised it to the sky "All we ever wanted was our mother back, We performed the illegal transmutation, we had a hand to play in this," he clapped "and now it's our turn to end it" he bought his hands down to the ground and began to rise skyward on a pillar of stone, he arrived in the courtyard just in time to see a platoon of Briggs soldiers collapse and Father regain an upright posture, as their souls bonded to his stone. "YOU B*****D!" shouted Ed, his usual arm spike forming as he ran. He swung his arm at Father's face, only for it collide with an invisible shield and bounce off. Ed leapt into a backflip, planting his hands on the ground as he want. A cannon formed from the point of contact and Ed landed feet first on top of it just as it fired, the large stone projectile simply glance off the shield, Ed gritted his teeth and used his alchemy to prepare another shot, his newer innate skill taking charge, as he forgot all about clapping and just kept up a heavy assault "EDWARD ELRIC!" Ed turned to see the source of the call, only to see a stone bolt fly past his face, shaving a few millimeters from his golden bangs as it went "Major Armstrong?" Ed asked, the dust around him preventing him from seeing anything "The very same" said a flexing silhouette, just before another bolt flew past "Concentrate all fire on the man with the golden hair!" came a loud order from a female voice, Ed recognised as belonging to general Armstrong, Major Armstong's older sister "Avoid hitting Fullmetal at risk of dismissal" "Yes sir!" came a unified shout, the sound of gunfire filled the courtyard and Ed flung himself to the ground, scraping his metal hand against the floor and raising a spear into the air, throwing it directly at Father "ENOUGH!" yelled Father, an explosion ripped throughout the area around himself, flinging Ed backwards. ED felt himself collide with something hard and he lost consciousness Meanwhile in the basement of central command Twilight suddenly woke up a bright light filled her irises as she began to levitate above the ground, her hair grew longer and pony ears appeared atop her head. Large purple feathery wing sprouted from her back as she floated ever higher "Twilight?" said Izumi, suprised by her sudden transformation "I have to go and save Ed" Said Twilight, her wings began to flap and she rose faster. "Alphonse, grab Mustang," ordered Izumi, she clapped and placed her hands on the ground and rose out after Twilight she stopped a floor above where she handed Mustang into the care of Hawkeye then continued rising, getting to the surface she saw ed pinned against a wall his metal arm broken and his flesh arm impaled on a spike, Twilight flew above hurling bolts of purple energy at Father, her rage evident "Brother!" cried Al, Ed looked up, a trickle of blood ran down his face from just above his right eye, his ponytail was matted from a large split in his head, defeat was evident in his eyes. "A...Al" stammered Ed, his breathing was ragged "Please... help... her... Al..." His breathing becoming weaker by the second. Just then Twilight screamed out in pain as one of Father's attacks finally hit it's target, she collapsed to the ground a crimson stain appearing on her dress. "NOOOOO!" Ed screamed Al stepped forward towards Father, all gunfire in the area ceased as Al strode towards him "First you try to kill every living thing in Amestris, then you beat my brother to the point of near death and top it all off you injured Twilight! I have had enough of you!" Al yelled, his anger evident despite his metal body. "It's time for you to face up to what you've done!" Al clapped and lowered his hands to the ground a line of spikes rose from the ground in front of him impaling father "Alphonse, the attacks are starting to get through!" General Armstrong called to him "He must be weakening" "You fool, this is only the beginning," laughed Father