//------------------------------// // Pathfinder // Story: Quest for the Past // by Ekhidna //------------------------------// Chapter 7: Pathfinder "What do you mean you know what attacked Zecora, Lyra?" Twilight asked her old magic kindergarten friend in the safety of her private study while Spike and Bonbon sat quietly at the side. "Exactly that, Twilight," Lyra responded with some unease under the cold stare of Twilight. "Zecora said a two-headed wolf attacked her, right? That's a Greater Murk Wolf...," Lyra then pulled a drawing from her saddlebacks of the fearsome creature. "This is the monster that attacked Zecora yesterday." Twilight took a hold of it with her magic and examined it for several seconds. "It does match the description Zecora was able to give us," Twilight frowned. "How and why do you know this creature and from where, Lyra?" "..." Lyra took in a deep breath. "Twilight... what I'm about to tell you may sound like crazy talk, but I assure you it is true. I already told everything to Bonbon after I came back. So please, let me tell you everything before you say anything, okay?" Twilight sighed as she sat on her haunches. "I don't have much of a choice as it stands anyways. I promise I won't say anything nor interrupt you until you are done, Lyra. 'Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye'" Lyra sat down, too, as she opened her saddlebags and proceeded to pull out several dozen drawings and a particular trinket that instantly caught the attention of Twilight and Spike. "His name is Pantheon... my friend." ---------------------------------------------------------------*************************************** Manticores howled in pain. Timberwolves ran for their lives. Hydras did their best to fight back or flee. Cockatrices and Cragadiles ran. The residents of the Everfree found themselves outmatched by the newly arrived creatures in every possible way. These monsters knew no fear, only hunger. Only bloodthirst. Not even an Ursa Major proved to be a match for their seemingly endless hordes and voracious mouths. For five days the creatures that called the Everfree Forest their home and territory found themselves beaten down and surpassed by powerful newcomers. And for five days they had been defeated and pushed back; their fallen devoured by ever-hungry jaws and teeth and fangs. The creatures of the Everfree knew they were no match for these... monsters, no matter how hard they fought back or how many of them were brought down. They were outmatched and now they were little more than prey. They ran. ---------------------------------------------------------------*************************************** "And that's how I managed to get back," Lyra said looking at a wide-eyed Twilight. "I think the monsters of the Rift were able to follow me somehow... I... I must've made a mistake on my trip back. Pantheon said the monsters never left the Rift because they didn't know how to leave it." "Lyra..." Bonbon whispered watching her friend's expression drop. Twilight shook her head before her gaze went down to the drawings and the statue of Pantheon. She stared at it for several seconds before looking at Lyra. "... I believe you, Lyra... This... this is... wow... I... I can't even begin to--" Twilight was cut short, her attention alongside those in the study by screams and terror-filled shrieks, followed shortly by the Panic-Belle's loud strumming and rumbling. Without even thinking it, Twilight teleported herself and her companions outside her castle to find chaos all around Ponyville. Ponies were running for their homes; most of them running back out carrying shovels, bats, even spears and knives as they were headed towards the eastern edge of town. Above in the sky the same scene was playing with pegasi flying as fast as they could trying to gather thunderclouds or forming attack formations lead by Thunderlane, Flitter, and Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus noticed Twilight and dived down to meet her midair. "Twilight, there are hundreds of monsters coming out of the Everfree Forest and are heading this way! What the hay is going on!?" She shouted just before flying up as Thunderlane called for her. "This is my fault...," Lyra said seeing the utter chaos and borderline panic all around her. "Not it is not!" Bonbon stated. "Whatever is happening right now is not your fault, Lyra!" "Yes, it is! If I hadn't followed my ambition... if I... if I... hadn't met Pantheon then Zecora would be fine and none of this would be happening!" Lyra responded, tears filling her eyes. "Lyra, listen to me," Twilight said using one wing to embrace the mint colored unicorn. "We can investigate what caused all of this, but for now we have to protect Ponyville!" Twilight embraced her tighter. "Please, you're the only who knows those monsters, I need your help to protect out home." Lyra stared at the lavender Princess for several seconds before replying. "...Y-You're right. Let's go then!" Using her magic, Twilight lifted Spike up and sat him on her back before the three mares rushed to the eastern border of the town. It didn't take long for them to arrive and what they saw made them stop dead in their tracks. Timberwolves, manticores, cockatrices, cragadiles, hydras, bugbears, and many other monsters by the hundreds running towards Ponyville. They even saw a pair of Ursa Majors and a few Ursa Minors... and even a couple of semi-adult dragons carrying a bloodied Steven Magnet. "READY WEAPONS!" Thunderlane shouted at the top of his lungs as ponies, donkeys, sheep, and bulls prepared their whatever they had with them to defend Ponyville. It was right about this moment when Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie arrived on a cart pulled by Big Macintosh, also carrying in it the Cake family, Granny Smith, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Appleboom. "Twilight, what in tarnation is happening!?" Applejack asked as she and her friends made their way to the lavender alicorn. "I'm not entirely sure. Lyra?" She turned to face said mare. "I don't see any of them, Twilight. Something isn't right here," Lyra answered as her eyes darted all over the line of charging monsters. "STEADY! READY THE CLOUDS!" Rainbow Dash bellowed for the sky. A second later a line of pegasi holding thunderstorm clouds came forth ready to rain lightning on the coming monsters. "ON MY COMMAND!" Twilight grunted as she charged her horn with magic alongside almost every other capable unicorn. A flash of light at her side followed by another two magic surges indicated that Starlight and Trixie had just arrived as well. "SET! FI---!" "DON'T FIRE!" The surprisingly overpowering voice of Fluttershy cut Rainbow Dash short as it broke the concentration of unicorns and made almost everyone lower their weapons. A second later the first line of monsters hit the defenders of Ponyville... and ran whimpering and cowering past them. As more and more monsters flooded into Ponyville, the inhabitants of the town were left confused beyond belief. For several minutes they allowed this to continue until no more monsters came out of the forest. A cold, eerie silence fell all over Ponyville as the usually vicious monsters of the Everfree whimpered in fear and terror. Then everyone felt their blood freeze upon hearing a distant roar mixed in with an unnatural shriek that held nothing but hunger and bloodlust behind it. "...S-Spike... take a letter..." Twilight said feeling her legs tremble. Only Lyra stood firm, her eyes glued to her statue of Pantheon. ---------------------------------------------------------------*************************************** "An Icathian... You are a Godsdamned Icathian!?" Rumble said from his seat as he pointed at Jax. "Please, Rumble, stand down. This is not the time to fight among ourselves," one of the three Grand Summoners pleaded earning a disgruntled huff from the Yordle. "Jax, if you will?" "...Yes, I am an Icathian... and up until the death of Malzahar and Kassadin, I am the last one," Jax sighed. "It is as Vessaria explained: I am the founder of the League of Legends alongside my old friend, Ashram. When Icathia was consumed and destroyed by the Void, we knew it was only a matter of time before the stupidity and arrogance of our people marked the destruction of Valoran itself. We fought and planned for centuries until we saw the opportunity and chance to form a bulwark against the coming Void." "The Rune Wars," Ryze mused. "Precisely. Taking our chance we founded the League of Legends under the pretense of peace and the solving of dispute in the Fields of Justice: power, wishes, and desire were promised to be fulfilled in order to attract the most powerful and steadfast warriors, creatures, magicians, ruffians, heroes, and whatnot Valoran had to offer. We succeeded." "Oh? Then I guess having half the Champions and half of Valoran dead is a majoooooor success, ain't it?" Ekko snapped. "The League was a success... but the Void... it arrived before any of us had predicted. With a few more years the League of Legends would've held its own valiantly against the Void, and won," Jax explained. Silence raigned in the room. "Now what?" Caitlyn asked. "Now we fight and hold the line until our final weapon is completed," Swain answered. "We cannot seal the Void from our world; that much has already been proven. But we might be able to seal Valoran from the Void." "Isn't that the same thing, bird brain?" Illaoi asked. "Not quite," Swain retorted. "Our best course of action is to seal Valoran away from its home dimension into a pocket one; a place that not even the Void can reach instead of merely putting a wall on the Void's way." "Can that even be done?" Diana asked with clear doubt in her tone. "We don't have any other choice now. All we can do is fight to gain enough time for the Summoners to figure it out," Jax said. Pantheon got up gaining the attention of everyone. "And who is going to lead us in this battle. You?" He pointed his spear at Jax. "...That's the idea. Yes," Jax answered. "I serve Targon, my spear and shield belong to him," Pantheon then hit the ground with the bottom oh his spear. "I shall follow you, Jax, The Grandmaster at Arms, for as long as Targon allows me," at this Leona also stood up and surprisingly so did Diana and several other champions. "Lead us to victory or to a glorious death, Jax. The Last Icathian. Leader of the League. Voice of the Champions. None shall find you wanting." Pantheon hit the floor with his spear once more. "GHOST!" Pantheon shouted again upon feeling his spell recharge once more. He was now far beyond the limits of know territory. He had left the borders of the Twisted Treeline and his furthermost mark hours ago. Yet now instinct guided him as well as corpses and remains of several dozen creatures. His blood was boiling. He could feel it. He was nearing. But he was still too far behind to his own liking. "Clairvoyance!" He yelled as his eyes glowed blue, revealing everything to him two kilometers ahead of him: still no traces of live monsters. "Lyra...," he whispered her name. He had been alone for so long and the little mare had installed in him a long forgotten desire for companionship and comradery. He had long since made peace with himself and had changed from being the Avatar of War his long-lost God, Targon, had turned him into. Without his initial motives, goals, and ideals, Pantheon had managed to be more than just the spear of his God. He had learned to live, to feel, to miss, to love, to cry, to laugh, to remember, and to regret over the countless centuries he had been alone. He wasn't going to let Lyra die and be left alone again. He owed her too much. She... she was his friend. And he was going to save her, selfish as his desire may be, but she deserved to live. Chapter 7 end.