Beyond Earthend

by Brony For life 7

A Welcome Return

The Tribe was still in a celebratory mood, only too ready to take on the next challenge. They were only waiting for the order to strike. During the wait the hunters were getting offerings for Almighty and so scavengers were still searching the rest of the ruined castle to see if they could find anything that would be of use.

Whenever the hunters returned more units would be reborn via Matter. It wouldn't take long for the tribe to be at it's peak once more. Now almost every unit was returned to the tribe, the only ones missing were the Kibapon and Toripon, the only animal riders. Besides this the army was fully stocked, now wanting to evolve the units into rarepons for the far future.

In the middle of adding the newly acquired offerings the scouts returned carrying something with them, they were running as fast as their small feet could carry them to Meden .

"Meden, Meden! Look what we found!"

"Hm? Oh my.." What she was looking at was a mask. The mask was unlike anything they've seen in terms of hero masks. It had a split of purple and orange for the back color, purple on the left and orange on the right. The centerpiece was made up of a crescent moon beginning to take over a shining sun. The moon looked to be made out of diamond with clouds made of onyx partially covering it. The sun was made out of orange sapphire with rays made of gold coming out of the sides. From the shape it the mask was just a starter.

To say it was stunning would be an understatement. Not only did it mean that they may be able to bring back the Heropon, it was also another confirmation that Patapon roamed these lands once before. Maybe they came close to finding IT, but had to return to the other side of Earthend. Either way they felt it was a sign that they made the right decision on breaking through.

"This is an amazing find!" Meden began while taking the mask from the scouts. "To think that we would find such an item in this run down castle." She stared at the mask for a few more moments before continuing. "You have done a great service to the tribe this day, you two should rest up and join the others for supper."

With a small cheer they dashed to the dining area to feast with the rest of the tribe. Meden was now heading to Matter, as she arrived she looked to the sky.

"Kami we have found the item that will insure a swift victory!" With that she held the mask to the sky. Kami seemed to accept the mask as it began to float out of her hands. In no time at all the mask began to give off a bright white light. This caught the attention of several
Patpon. They came to regret looking as the light became blinding.

"MY EYE!"

"IT BURNS!"

"WHAT IS THAT!?"

As the light died down the mask was no longer in the air, it was now on the eye of a Patapon that appeared with the fading of light. The Patapon was currently on it's back sleeping, completely unaware of his situation. The other Patapon were going to try and wake him up until the princess walked to him.

"Welcome back Hero."

When she said those words the Heropon awoke in a fright.

"What happened? Where am I?" He seemed to be panicking. "I-I just defeated a huge monster, then..." Looking around he saw that the others were giving him strange looks.

"I guess it's over now." He looked to Meden, then the princess and asked. "How am I alive?"

To that she grabbed a nearby reflectively clean plate and faced it to the Hero.

"I see, a new mask. Then I really did pass for a time." Hatapon and the three Yumipon that were along with him for the past journey felt a shock at finding out just what happened to him.

"Well then." Heropon looked to the sky. "What do you need me to do now?"

A slight breeze blew as Kami gave an answer that only he could hear.

"Alright, well I'll be seeing you all later." With that he headed for the barracks for a bit more rest. As he left the camp slowly returned to normal, with the sounds of hammer hitting anvil and ingredients being chopped into a stew. As everyone settled back to routine Meden and the princess returned to their huts. They would need the rest because soon they would be taking another town for their tribe.

The main six, Spike, and with much hesitation Discord were in the throne room of the castle. Celestia and Luna were in their respective seats. They had called for a meeting to hear what Luna and the ground units saw the other day.

"I don't know why you needed me to come along. I was enjoying my little vacation." Celestia was about to reply but Fluttershy beat her to it.

"Discord, I need you to really pay attention to what's about to be said. This is a matter of Equestria as a whole." Everyone, Discord included, was surprised to hear how brash Fluttershy was being. She wasn't acting her usual shy or nervous self.

This seemed to strike a cord in the draconequus as he remained silent until Celestia spoke.

"Thank you Fluttershy. Now the purpose for this meeting, as many of you know, is to discuses what we have learned about the Patapon and how we should retaliate." With that she allowed for Luna to speak.

"From what I have seen, and the reports from the Celestial Troops we are dealing with a monumental threat. The Patapon can attack without ever seeming to run out of energy as well as take several fatal blows without flinching." She gave a pause to see the faces of most turn to shock.

"Their infantry can fire hundreds of projectiles at once and the melee fighters can punch through wood as though it were paper. With their speed and strength with only a few units we could not stand our ground. This brings me to their form of attack."

"The drum commands?"

"That is correct Twilight. What I was told is that after a four drum 'command' the Patapon will attack, defend, etc. The troops have discovered what some of the commands seem to do." With this she began to conjure some imagery magic for demonstration.

"So far we have heard four drums." The magic showed the words PATA PON DON and CHAKA.

"Depending on the order of the drums played the Patapon will react." Now commands were shown. PON PON PATA PON = Attack and so on. The exceptions were DON DONDON DONDON and PATA PON PATA PON.

"We have seen the commands for attack, defend, jump, and retreat as well as two others that we do not have names for." Two other commands of DON DONDON DONDON=??? and PON PON CHAKA CHAKA =???

"From what we've seen the first can summon earthquakes. Though we are not sure if that is all it's capable of. The second, while not visually doing anything but cause the Patapon to squat, causes a massive increase of magic in the Patapon to be stored." Pinkie raised her hoof.

"Yes Pinkie Pie?"

"Why not call them summon and charge?"

Luna stared at Pinkie for a few seconds. She gave the most obvious names for them, but they has somehow eluded Luna until now. The image now showed DON DONDON DONDON=Summon and PON PON CHAKA CHAKA =Charge. Pinkie gave a big smile as her names were added.

"Don't forget about the March command." Twilight added.

The List now consisted of March, Attack, Defend, Retreat, Jump, Charge, and Summon. Just about every command. With the list still up Luna continued.

"We know the commands, now how they attack. From the sounds of things, these commands can only be given after the army have done the last command."

"Sort of like a call and return?" Twilight, again interrupted.

"Yes, precisely. Until the last order has been carried out, a new one cannot be given."

"And they follow along wit them drums in a beat, right?" Applejack commented.

Another nod from Luna. "They fight to the beat of their drum. And that drum comes with a whole song of it's own. While no pony in inclined to fight in the same beat, I have been told that many couldn't resist the song and waited until it was 'their turn' to attack." This caused Rarity to speak up.

"While I have to agree with how catchy the songs are, can't you just use earplugs to fight off the music?"

"I'm afraid not. If one was to wear earplugs then they would miss the commands that are given. Leaving them to guess what is going to happen next." Now Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Why didn't you just blast them all away then?"

To this Luna gave a shiver. "As I arrived to see how our ponies were handling the situation I saw several wounded lying on the floor. Thankfully no pony had any fatal injuries, but I was enraged. When I voiced it, something happened." Luna gave pause at the not so distant memory. "The world stopped."

Everyone in the room, except Celestia, was stunned as Luna continued. "Everything was still. The music stopped, the clouds were solid, even my four hooves were frozen in place. I was aware of the pause. That's when 'He' spoke to me." Another round of surprise as they realized who 'He' was.

"What he said to me was an offer. To give up, or fight on. Naturally I would of continued to fight, to help reclaim our land. But then he showed me something." The list of commands changed to the image Kami gave her. The image sparked something inside the ponies present, a sense of fear.

"These three were promised to arrive if I stayed. As much as I despise it, the three gave me a chill. I felt that if I had stayed, it would be the end of our ponies. So I decided to cut our losses and retreat." With that the image disappeared as the room fell silent.

"Well what are we going to do now?" Almost everyone else asked.

"We have two options." Luna began. "We believe that the Patapon camp is still in the Everfree. This is due to the fact that they came out of the forest when the attacked." Another magic illustration. It showed the forest and Dodge Junction, with a large red arrow coming out of the forest. "We can search the area to locate their camp, though I have an idea of where they may be specifically."

The image now had the old castle ruins in place of the map. "Here, in the ruins, would be a perfect spot to crate a new settlement from the crumbles of an old one. If this holds true then we can attack them directly. They will have the advantage in numbers and territory but they won't see it coming. That or we can reinforce the surrounding lands and wait for them to attack us giving us the numbers and territory advantage, though they will be better prepared for a fight." The images depicted both options, one with a large red circle around the Everfree, and another with smaller circles around the nearby settlements.

"Whatever we choose ponies will most likely me wounded, or worse."

After some thinking and small discussion just about everyone agreed on setting up in the next closest area. While the mane six wanted to go along, it was much to dangerous. They did allow two to go along, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Mostly because neither would back down. But also because they seemed to most battle-ready should it come down to it.

"Is that all then?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Discord will be heading to Appleloosa on the next train. Accompanying them will be several lunar and celestial solders. I will also be with them to make sure they return safely. We will build a wall of reinforced stone to try and keep them back for as long as we can. If all goes well they will stay as they are now, allowing us more time to prepare."

With the conference finished everyone began to leave. Luna went to get the solders ready as Celestia went to call for the materials needed to build the wall. Applejack, Rainbow, and Discord all went to the train station. Discord was held back for a moment by Fluttershy.

"Discord, please try to control yourself out there." She seemed to be back to her normal self.

To this Discord faked being hurt. "Oh, well I'd never lose control of myself. Just the thought-"

"Discord." Fluttershy interrupted.

"I'll be sure to keep myself in check" He said with a small smile.

She returned the gesture. When everyone had gone to do as they planed a massive amount of magic was felt by all. The source being the Everfree Forest. It was the feeling of a mighty being waking up, the feeling of the Heropon's return.