//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: The Root of the Whole Disaster // Story: The V-Team // by Reizthefakebrony //------------------------------// The story that Starlight told to Zade's group ended with a grave silence. The group of four demonic ponies finally came to know truth behind that twisted world, the disappearance of the Elements of Harmony, Celestia, Luna and Cadence, how Twilegion Spadeus was born, the Order of Harmony and the Inquisition. Before Starlight even began to tell her story, they knew already that what they were about won't be a pretty fairy tale. But they never expected it to be this tremendous. Zade and his companions were visibly astounded, but not in a good way. Jace was petrified upon thinking about he implication of the story, Sera was chilled like she never was before. Zade and Chris were just disturbed. As for Starlight, she was reasonably shaken and yet she tried to remain composed. Thorax approached her and put a hoof on her shoulder while the gray coated hooded mare just looked somewhere else, apparently annoyed by that. "Holy shit..." Zade murmured. "L-look, we didn't doubt you told us the truth but... THAT'S what it IS?" Chris asked incredulous. "I... I'm feeling uncomfortable like no other," Sera said bewildered. "Because I never thought that a cheerful fantasy world can became actual a worst world to live in." "This is beyond fucked up." Jace said. "So Twilight fused with her friends and the princesses and became a alicorn equivalent of Regime Superman." "Ehm... What?" Thorax looked confused. "Ok, that was obscure and inappropriate," Jace said apologetically before turning to Starlight. "But what about your rebellion? Did you had tried to reach Twilight or any of the fused ponies?" "That was what I am trying to do even now," Starlight said seriously. "In the middle of this chaos, had found some of the opportune occasion to talk with any of personalities who were imprisoned in that shell that is Twilegion and convince the to return..." She paused. "But without any result." She looked down, probably pondering. "Still, I had a plan regarding her." "What plan?" Zade demanded. "In the Changeling's Kingdom," Starlight explained. "Queen Chrysalis possessed the throne with the ability to nullify the magic of everypony and everything who tried to enter in her realm. I had intended to use that or anything related to it as way to stop Twilegion. Unfortunately it and almost anything similar belonging to Chrysalis got destroyed during the Inquisition. However, there was some remaining shard of the changeling's nullifying artifacts and magic. I needed them." "Hey, question here." Jace said. "You said that every villain got royally killed by Twilegion. That will include Chrysalis. So... How did you even know about that?" "I hate to say that... But I had asked help..." Starlight turned toward the gray hooded mare, scornfully. "To the last creature I would had even tried looking for." The four ponies turned their attention to the coated pony, with Thorax looking equally scornfully at her. Jace suddenly recalled something that he heard before. "Now that I'm thinking about, your voice sounded familiar," Jace pointed out. "Just remove your cloak already." "Tsk. To think I would had get ordered around like that." The gray coated pony said. Reluctantly, the mare grabbed her own hood and revealed her face. Her appearance was that of a dark-green maned mare with emerald eyes and a gray coat. While Zade, Chris and Sera looked at her with annoyance due to the mare looking a little arrogant, Jace was the only one who froze up in shock upon seeing her. His three friends didn't even know why. ".... Is that a joke?" Jace asked. "We didn't had even met face to face before," The mare said, slightly annoyed. "And yet you are already give me some nerves." "Starlight, can you just telling us who is she before Jace will start another rant?" Zade asked, wanting to avoid another one of Jace's antics. "You had to apologize but I had forgot to mention that," Starlight explained. "When Twilegion defeated Queen Chrysalis, she was firstly stripped of all her powers and turned her into a earth-pony. She was also about to get killed but I and Thorax ended up saving her and, of course, arrest her for her crimes since she was also responsible of our current crisis." "I hate to say that but... There she is," Thorax said apologetically, pointing his hoof at her. The four demonic ponies went wide-eyed, not expecting that coming from Starlight and Thorax. The situation got even more absurd in a very wrong way. "Is that mare... What we think she is?" Sera asked. "You better believe that," Chris said resigned. "You are Chrysalis!?" Jace shouted shocked. "And what if I am?" Chrysalis asked. Jace looked at Starlight. "Why the hell you are asking help to the one who had screw you over to begin with!? Is like the time in which Celestia sent Discord against Tirek, Luna summoning Nightmare Moon, or even giving the Infinity Gauntlet to Yuki Terumi. Are you sure that is a good idea?" "Although I don't know the other reference, I know what you mean," Starlight pointed out and then narrowed her eyes. "But she is the only one who can lead us to her remaining pieces of her nullifying magical artifacts," "They had no choice but trust me, you flaming loud mouth." Chrysalis retorted impatiently. "Besides, you four, don't even think you are so different from me. From that I know, you may be just be as villainous as me. Only amateurish." Starlight and Thorax glared at her. Sera, however, stared at her silently for a moment, before her face changed into a crazed, intimidating one with slasher smile included, startling the former queen. "You got a problem?" Sera said in tranquil fury with a intimidating glee, only to be stopped by Zade. "We have no time for this." Zade reminded and then looked at Starlight. "Look. Just make things clear to the other two, let me first expose our current goal: We want to find a way to get back to our world. That's all what we wanted." "Look, I will help you to return to your world," Starlight said. "But unfortunately all the knowledge regarding dimension travelling resides in Neo Canterlot Castle." She paused. "Additionally, Twilegion is hunting you down, right? Which means we are in the same boat." She then sighed heavily. "There's not much choice... If not helping us." Zade shrugged his shoulders. "Ok. Let's do that." The other three demonic ponies and Thorax became dumbfounded upon hearing that. Starlight and Chrysalis, however, were just slightly surprised. "ZADE, WHAT THE HELL!?" Chris, Sera and Jace said at the unison. "Starlight, are you serious!?" Thorax demanded. "Starlight, you a real hypocrite. And you were reluctant to ask my help." Chrysalis remarked. "I know what I am doing," Starlight retorted. "Zade, We didn't even learned to control our powers properly," Chris said astounded. "Are you out of your mind!?" "You are seriously thinking to drag us into a suicide mission!?" Sera asked, clearly upset. "You had easily accepted a mission before even considering what that implies." Jace said worried. "What were you thinking!?" "Just consider what Twilegion would do in this moment," Zade said seriously. "And how much we are involved in this story even if we didn't wanted to. Do we have any choice?" Being mentally cornered, Chris, Sera and Jace pondered about what they faced before and what they had to do from that moment forward. They were hesitant at first but then looked at him and nodded in agreement. Jace, however, has still something to say. "But seriously, you could had at least talked to us before accepting her proposal," Jace remarked. "What if we had not enough time for that since we are still hunted down by the Order of Harmony?" Zade demanded. "We don't even know enough regarding the places of this world, so escape and wander aimlessly in this world is a really bad idea." Jace was about to respond but then stopped and gave up. "You got a point." "I still think is a stupid idea," Sera said. "We don't know how to control our powers properly." "Starlight, there is a problem with that," Thorax said worried. "The rest of the Insurgence won't take you decision so lightly. Even if Chrysalis was made powerless, your recent decision to bring her with us is still bad enough since some of our comrades were outright against that and they were already starting to doubt about your sanity." "I know that," Starlight replied regretfully. "But you know, Thorax. I am-" "Ok, as desperate as Twilight, yada yada," Zade interrupted her. "Look, Starlight, assuming if you had no choice, let me at least guess what you want to do. You want gather those nullifying shards to make Twilegions powerless, right? Then how you intend to do that? By using them to make a weapon or something?" "Something like that, but not a weapon," Starlight explained. "But rather a seal." "A seal? As if to seal both Twilegion and her magic?" Jace inquired, almost getting were her reasoning was going. "At least we don't banish her to the moon," Starlight responded. "I just want to seal her in order to at least fix the damages committed by her while having time to find a way to defuse her and save Twilight and the others." She paused. "However, that will be a real ordeal," She pondered about something. "Especially... Since there is something wrong with her magic." "What do you mean?" Chris asked. "Is like... It was tainted, corrupted... Binding that of Twilight and the others to it's will," Starlight said hesitantly. "It's too complicated, but I think is related to the artifact." "Guys, I know is not the right time," Jace said. "But-" "But what?" Sera said, expecting something stupid from him. "Can we at least have a image of that artifact?" Jace asked. Starlight took a moment to think recall something and then nodded. She headed toward one of the bookcases and looked at the last shelf. She then glowed her horn, pulled out a scroll and opened it on the reading desk. "Keep in mind," Starlight said. "I showed that to the remaining scholars, asking about his powers but none of them knew about that or even know it even existed. I don't know I draw that correctly, but that is what it looked like." Zade and his companions gathered round the reading desk and took a look at the scroll. There's only the image of the aforementioned artifact being depicted on it, being draw in ink. It was a spherical object, being suspended by a weird, metal spiral below it. That was just a illustration and yet Zade felt something familiar on it. He brainstormed about it's shape and similarity to what he think he saw it's form somewhere else when Jace suddenly fell back with a scream, startling the present ponies. "WHOOAAA!" Jace collapsed on the floor, with his face being stuck in horror. "Oh, for the love of...!" Sera muttered as she and Chris rushed at the flaming pony. Zade just remained where he was, visibly freaked out by that but not too much. Starlight and Thorax slowly approached them with a worried look while Chrysalis was mostly startled. "What the heck was that for!?" Chrysalis said, almost feeling a heart attack. "Jace?" Starlight asked worried. Zade returned his attention to the image, feeling some hint lurking in it's form. "Why did this thing reminded me of a trading card?" "You could had just avoided to scare us like that, Jace," Chris said sternly. "Jace, what's wrong?" Sera asked. "THE FUCKING MIRARI!!?" Jace howled incredulous. "What kind of Equestrian moron would bring to Twilight something-" He stopped his sentence, having realized something. "Wait a minute," He rose up, with a very angered expression. "I think I know who the Stranger really is." "What?" Sera looked perplexed. "But you never met him before," Starlight replied. "How can you be so sure about that?" Without any warning, Jace furiously stomped his hoof on the floor. "Is that bastard Julius!!" That accusation made the other three demonic ponies and Starlight shiver. While Thorax and Chrysalis didn't know what Jace was talking about, the other three ponies knew what he was referring to. The memory of the rusty crimson maned marble gray, arrogant earth-pony easily wormed through their minds. "Jace, you can't be serious." Sera said. "Trust me, every damn arrogant smug who is also a consultant has more probability to be the master mind," Jace replied convinced. "Is Real Enemy Detector 101." "For those who don't knew what he was referring to," Zade explained, looking at Starlight, Thorax and Chrysalis. "Julius is a gray pony with mysterious power us that we had encountered during our escape from the castle and was almost getting us killed." "Yeah, don't even get me started with the part in which he slammed us against the ceiling," Jace then sighed, scratching his head. "What is this asshole calling himself again? Fortem Virtue?" Thorax gasped. "Fortem Virtue? Are you talking about Twilegion's consultant?" "Really?" Chris and Sera said at unison, incredulous. "See? I was right!" Jace replied but then took a moment to consider his statement. "For most part." Sera noticed Zade being still calm after what he heard. "Why you didn't look so surprised. "To be honest, I felt something like that coming." Zade admitted. "Think about that. The way he talked about Twilegion when he said he would left her do the rest. Normally, a consultant would had just told us something like 'That she may had mercy of you' or 'You will face her judgement'. For a consultant like he, he talked like he was sending her to do his job." Starlight went wide eyed. "You mean that Twilegion is under his control?" "No, I'm saying that no consultant talked like that," Zade assured. "Not in front of her, I mean. Julius had to keep his own agenda under profile, whatever the hell it is." He then looked back at the image. "Jace was right about he artifact itself." He then turned at Jace. "Is the Mirari the thing that I saw in a card. Am I right?" "Yeah, pal," Jace said, still incredulous. "And I can't believe that is the artifact Starlight talked about. No wonder no one knows anything about it. It doesn't belong in this franci- ehm - I mean world." "Are you sure of what are you saying?" Starlight asked. "Is there something that you didn't had shared to me when I was possessed?" "Oh, yeah." Jace said with a serious expression. "In my world, that would be just card to play, but if that is the case... Then the situation is far more grave that we had imagined. You have no idea of what the Mirari is capable to do. I have gathered enough knowledge in a story called Magic The Gathering to know what it is." "Just spill out the beans already," Sera said. "The Mirari," Jace began. "Is a powerful and yet dangerous powers that had appeared on Otaria, a continent located in the world of Dominaria. It has the powers to turn the bearer's desires into reality but it has also a very corrupting power. In fact it caused intense longing in those who saw it, driving every creature mad with the obsession to owning it, consuming their minds. On Dominaria, it had cause so much devastation, caused wars of biblical dimensions, creating horrible abominations and almost always killed it's bearer." Starlight gasped, horrified. "Oh, goodness." "Is that true?" Thorax asked distrustful. "That means that Twilight and the others will also..." Starlight stopped, fearing for the worse. "Oh, no." "I don't think so," Jace said. "You said that the Stranger, being the ass-" "Jace, the language." Starlight interrupted him annoyed. Jace paused for a second and then continued. "Whoever Julius think he is, took the Mirari with him and disappeared before Twilegion started her Inquisition. Which means she didn't had tapped it's power another time after that, so she didn't risk to die... I guess." He sighed, feeling awkward. "However, that doesn't help the fact that the alicorn is powerful enough to crush us..." He then became shocked in realization. "And I had realized that Julius has still Mirari artifact with him!" "That's not good." Chrysalis commented, worried for other reasons. "I can't believe a thing that was printed in a playing card based on a commercial product being actually a real thing." Sera said in bafflement. " "And undeniably the cause of this mess," Zade replied bluntly. "Twilight ended up using it without knowing it," Starlight said, with a fiber of raising anger. "That Julius... Is all his fault!" Chrysalis gulped upon thinking something that Jace said before. "So the bearers who wielded that power actually... Died in the end?" "You had seriously thought for a second to want something as dangerous as this?" Chris asked. "Not if it end up killing me." Chrysalis retorted. "I value my life. Even more since I am currently powerless." "Well, duh," Jace mocked. "Said the former queen who thought that invade Equestria and put Twilight on the edge being a great idea." Chrysalis only scowled at him and was about to start a argue when a strong, almost intimidating male voice coming from the doorway spoke. "I see that you know something about the scourge of my own world. Yet I found quite bizarre hearing from a creature like you." All of the ponies turned to the doorway, noticing two other ponies stepping inside. One of them was brown maned marine-green taller stallion, wearing a cape made of vines and two black iron shoes, carrying a strange stone axe on his back and a intimidating expression. The other was a black maned pale-gray mare, also wearing two iron shoes while carrying a bizarre granite staff on her back. She was a little calmer and average compared to the male one. The two stopped a few inches away from the other ponies and the looked at the four demonic ones. "I had encountered monsters like you before," The stallion said. "One dreadful and defiant after another. From the deadliest warriors to the most terrific abominations... But you, in comparison, are just a bunch of cretins who can't control their powers properly." "What's that?" Jace said irritated before Chris stopped him. "We didn't came to fight," The mare said with a calm and yet slightly tough voice. "We were merely tracking down you four." "Granite Hail," Starlight said to the stallion, recognizing him, causing the four to look at her surprised. "Wait, you know him?" Chris asked. "He's a ally of ours," Starlight said. "And she is his sister, Silver Will. They came to help us during a surprise attack, three years ago." She then went wide eyed, recalling what he said. "But wait a second. How did he know about the artifact if he wasn't present during that event?" Chrysalis pointed out. "... You are right," Starlight looked at Granite, taken aback. "You didn't told us that you know about that." "Brother," Silver said. "Isn't this the moment to tell them truth regarding the Mirari... And us?" "About what?" Starlight asked. "Listen to me," Granite said. "We have this form, but we don't came from this world. And most of all, we were dead." "We got both resurrected in this form by a someone who asked our help," Silver affirmed. "However, our resurrection is not what we wanted. After this mess is over, we will return to the embrace of death." "..... You can't be serious," Starlight said incredulous. "You are seriously coming from another world too?... And what do you mean with being dead?" "What they said is not so unfounded?" Zade said. Starlight looked at him. "What are you trying to say." "A pony from Equestria cannot possibly know anything about the Mirari, which was brought from another world" Zade said before pointing at Granite. "His world." "..." Granite remained impassive. "Just who are you, Granite?" Zade asked. Granite remained silent before looking at them with a very serious expression. "Call me Kamahl."