//------------------------------// // Preface - Volume 6 - Soujourns and Steeds // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// In our previous volume Arc, having concluded Trixie's trial, informs the princesses of Earth's extreme size in comparison to Equestria. Lending advice to Lead Sage Sunburst, he makes suggestions on ways to shorten the time to locate Princess Celestia. After the meeting, Arc invites Princess Luna to his base for a bit of a rest. She shares a meal with him after which she tells him how exactly she became a princess. The pair watch the orphans playing behind the base. Wanting nothing more than the opportunity to run and play, Arc shrinks her down to foal size. Overjoyed, Luna joins in the fun as Arc takes a nap. Sadly, rest is not in the cards, as he is attacked by Tempest in his dreams! As she mortally wounds him, Arc makes her promise not to hurt anyone else, as her fight is with him! She agrees as Arc "dies". Awaking, Luna offers to shelter him at Canterlot Castle. He refuses, saying Tempest would only hurt others in her attempt to get to him. They make their way to the base's armory to see the Hammers about the damaged weapons. Luna is overjoyed to be reunited with her old friends and agrees to sign off on the cost of replacing the weapons. Meanwhile, Trixie and her new friend continue on toward prison. As they stop in the middle of nowhere, the two Royal Guards pulling the cart attempt to finish what they started during Trixie's interrogation! As one guard moves toward a shadowy figure standing in the middle of the road, the other opens the wagon to kill the pair! Seeing the guard wants Trixie's blood, the stallion moves to protect her! As the guard calls for his companion, he is surprised to see the robed figure approach instead. He is even more surprised when he sees the remains of his companion! Trying to escape the figure slices off his hind legs before finishing off the guard. Absorbing his soul, he turns back toward Trixie and offers her the power to free herself and her friend. Sadly, Trixie agrees and takes the Alicorn Amulet from the figure known as The Dark One. It immediately warps her mind! Swearing revenge on the one who ordered her imprisoned, he levitates up to a cloud to rest before marching off to Canterlot. The stallion, freed from his chains runs to Ponyville to warn the Hero of Light! Meanwhile, Arc invites Luna to spend the night. Agreeing, he escorts her to a guest room. Asking about the investigation into Lord Goldstone, she informs him that nothing will be done to the errant lord. Furious, Arc smashes a table in frustration. Luna then tells Arc she plans to send him to the Griffon Kingdom to legally take Lord Goldstone down. Arc agrees to the mission and leaves the room. Sometime later a spy reports to the princess to give his report on Arc's activities. Later that night, the freed stallion breaks into Light's Hope in an effort to warn Arc! He is quickly surrounded by guards as Arc, Ember and Flash Sentry join them! Unable to understand him with the nullifier on him, Arc asks Luna to remove it. She does so. Arc recognizes him as Captain Decimus' lieutenant and takes him to his office to hear him out. The lieutenant tells of how he was sent to prison for his failure and backtalk to Decimus and warns of the dangerous unicorn heading to Canterlot! Arc uses his emergency comm link to notify Cadance of the danger before mobilizing his own forces to defend the base. Fearing Trixie's attack to be a diversion, he orders his troops to prepare for battle! Taking the Mane 6, Ember and the lieutenant to Canterlot, they make their way to the Audience Chamber to defend Princess Cadance! Ember volunteers to join the Town Guard and attempt to stop Trixie at the Main Gates. Joining the forces at the gates, Ember spots Trixie approaching them. Meanwhile, back at Light's Hope, the orphans question Coco Pommel about what's going on. Sandstorm Mirage notifies Flash Sentry of strange robed characters outside the base. He orders all non-military personnel to the barracks as he and Arc's forces prepare to defend the base! The robed ponies summon forth monsters from several dark portals and order them to break down the doors! Flash Sentry orders the troops to for ranks and prepare to repel the invaders! Dispatching their opponents as fast as they come, victory seems in reach! Meanwhile, back in Canterlot, Ember attempts to reason with Trixie. Failing, Trixie attacks and the Town Guards move to defend the realm! They fall to Trixie's might as Ember herself moves to defend the town! Enraged as her opponent describes in great detail how she plans to kill Arc, Ember unleashes the power within her spear, nearly obliterating her opponent! Trixie is immediately regenerated by the Alicorn Amulet and calls forth monsters to destroy the town! Ember is forced to let her go as she runs to defeat the new opponents who spill forth from a portal. Captain Decimus holds the castle wall, waiting for Trixie. As she crosses the drawbridge, he blows it up, crushing her under the wreckage! She is unharmed! Raising her horn to the wall, she blasts it, crushing the captain under a ton or more of wreckage before entering the castle herself! Meanwhile back at Light's Hope, Templar Derpy temporarily stops the flow on monsters by using her spear to consecrate the floor of the Main Hall. The robed ponies advance. Their leader uses a staff imbued with Gravity Magic to subdue the base's defenders. They march on toward the barracks as Derpy crawls after them! The cloaked leader motions for his monsters to smash the barracks door! The do so and pour into the room as Paladin Coco Pommel, Saffron and Dinky move to defend the orphans and princess! However the odds were never in their favor. As the monsters push the brave defenders toward the barricades and the orphans, something inside Coco Pommel snaps. Filled with determination, she suddenly calls forth more power from her spear along with wings of light! Flying around the room, she effortlessly dispatches everything in her path! Finally ready, Luna raises her horn and immediately raises the sun high in the sky! The monsters vanish in the blink of an eye! As Paladin Coco Pommel flies out of the room to engage their robed leader, his companions move to defend him. Before anyone can do anything, Templar Derpy flies headlong at him, knocking him down the corridor to smash into a wall! As her helmet is knocked off, the leader removes his cowl to reveal his true identity... Moonlit Dusk! Derpy's former friend and Dinky's biological father! She escorts him back to Luna. He tells of news of Luna's kidnapping and their rescue attempt. Back in Canterlot, Ember does her best to hold against the monsters before her. The guards Arc sent away join her. Suddenly a portal opens and more monsters come forth! They attack the invaders as Templar Derpy jumps out another portal with Moonlit Dusk! Her and Ember rush back to the castle! Trixie makes her way to the audience chamber and breaks down the doors with her magic! Twilight and her friends hold her down with the Elements of Harmony. The real Trixie is able to speak at last! Unable to remove the amulet, she asks Arc to end her life to stop her attack! Arc pulls out the Dagger of Eternal Slumber and holds it up! Cadance blasts it with a lightning spell as Arc touches the dagger to Trixie's chest. The helpless mare is electrocuted and falls to the floor! Arc grabs the Alicorn Amulet and throws it aside as he starts CPR! After a few moments Trixie regains consciousness as Cadance approaches the lieutenant who saved her. Removing his helmet, he identifies himself as Shining Armor, Twilight's brother! Arc quickly takes Trixie to the castle infirmary before heading to the main entrance to survey the damage and search for casualties. Hearing Captain Decimus is buried under rubble, he helps dig him out! Unfortunately (subjectively), the captain is dead. Arc orders his body taken to the morgue before he returns to Light's Hope. Upon arriving he hurries to find Coco Pommel and the orphans! Everyone is in the cafeteria, one of the rooms untouched by the attack. Approaching Luna, he takes her back to Canterlot. Stopping at the infirmary briefly to check on Trixie and retrieve Captain Decimus' smashed helmet. They pair head to the audience chamber to check on Cadance. As he tells the pair of the captain's death Luna loses it! She screams at Arc as he leaves the room! Cadance, furious, slaps Luna across the face for her harsh words as she tells her of how the captain insisted that Arc stay with her! Arc returns to town to meet up with the Mane Six, Ember and Derpy. Finding everything taken care of, he opens a portal to take everyone back to Light's Hope. They do not notice Luna running toward them! In despair, she channels her magic and transports herself to the Lunar Realm for solitude... and to cry. Arc sits down in the cafeteria with Derpy, Ember and Moonlit Dusk. He explains the attack as merely a mistake. Dinky walks in and sees her mother. Trotting over to her, Derpy introduces the filly to her real father. Moonlit Dusk looks at Dinky and tells her she isn't his. Furious, Arc grabs him and throws him through a portal before turning to comfort a traumatized Derpy! Sometime later Hard Hat arrives to report his completion of the building to Arc. Giving him the keys before heading to Canterlot, Arc leads the orphans and Coco Pommel to the new building nearby. They tour the facility, seeing the wonderful new home that was built for them! Arc offers Coco Pommel the position of matron, which she accepts! Derpy is hired as the new Assistant Matron. Returning to Light's Hope, Raven reports that Luna is waiting for him in his office. Proceeding there, Arc is surprised to hear her apology for her outburst earlier! The pair return to Canterlot Castle together and visit Trixie in the infirmary. She is awake and, other than being weak, recovered. Her and Shining Armor return to the Audience Chamber for their appeals before Luna. She pardons Shining Armor. However, Trixie is sentenced to Tartarus for her numerous new crimes. Shining Armor insists on going with her to Tartarus. As the pair awaken in hell, they leave the temple and look over the bleak landscape. Suddenly Arc appears to announce he will escort them to the gates! Meanwhile, the Lord of Vengeance, King Malevolence learns of Arc's return. He hatches a plan to stop him! As Arc and his friends walk, Trixie tells of her sordid past before weakening and being carried by Arc. They arrive at the Vile Tribe's base and go to his old house for a rest. The next day they head for the Gates of Tartarus. Finding a crate with a note on it, they read that the king has hatched a plan to escape for good this time! Arc looks down at the crate. Opening it, he finds the king, still shrunken down. He tells Arc to say his goodbyes before meeting his end! As his friends refuse to leave his side, Arc uses his magic to push Trixie safely through the barrier! However, when he tries to do the same to Shining Armor, he fails. The king fires the cannon as Shining Armor raises a barrier to protect Equestria! Arc lends his power to the barrier as dust overtakes the area! Arc drags Shining Armor through the barrier before returning to Tartarus alone! He Blink onto the Malice Cannon in an effort to find the Bloodstone and end the king's plan! Finding the control room, he breaks in and forces the Lead Scientist to tell him what he wants to know. Grabbing the stone, he Blinks both of them to the Gates of Tartarus as the cannon explodes! Falling to the ground from magical exhaustion, Arc crawls toward the barrier as the king orders the scientist, Auriel, to kill him! Refusing, she helps Arc through the barrier to safety! Arc wakes up in a hospital bed in the Vile Tribe village. Trixie informs him of Auriel's good deed in saving him. She returns to the room with food for them. Announcing she is actually the demon king's daughter, she shrinks back in fear! Accepting her gesture, Arc takes her with him. They leave the hospital to find Mythic Honor, who unveils a statue of him and Ember together. Returning to Light's Hope, Arc leads Auriel to a guest room before retiring for the night himself. As Ember helps him to bed, he joins Dinky and Derpy in his quarters. He does his best to acclimate Auriel to Equestria's culture and food. Bringing her to the princesses, they insist that he return her to Tartarus. However, upon doing so, the king informs his daughter that she is banished from his realm! Arc promises to take care of her in Equestria. Arc takes Auriel back to Light's Hope, where he receives a letter from Cherry Hill Ranch. The Cherry Festival is coming up and Cherry invites Arc to her ranch to enjoy the festivities! His friends talk him into it and he calls Cherry to accept. Derpy and Dinky accompany Ember and Arc to Cherry Hill Ranch. The sisters are very accepting of Auriel. They spend the day picking cherries and generally having fun! The next day they help out in the production facility making food to sell at the festival. Arc shows them a few dishes of his own. Everyone loves them and suggests selling them at the market as well! The day of the festival arrives! Arc's friends buy costumes from Sassy Saddles' costume shop and walk the booths. Spotting the Hammers, they walk over. Arc picks up his new and improved Hand Cannons. As he accepts them, there is a flash of light as Platinum Valve gets her cutie mark! As the continue on their way, the run into Lyra, who has a human themed booth of her own! They spend the rest of the day helping out at Cherry's booth. That evening the bell tolls for the fire department to mobilize. Arc and the others run to help! As they rush to the rising smoke, they see the Costume Shop is on fire! Calling forth Eidolon's Ward and activating his new magic blades, Arc slices through the door and rushes into the inferno! Locating Sassy Saddles, he and her are nearly buried as the roof collapses! Dinky, fearing the worst, uses her Power to literally pull the fire out of the building and compact it between her hooves! Taking Sassy Saddles back to Cherry Hill Ranch to protect her from the wrath of Filthy Rich! Ember and Dinky clean her up as Cherry and Ruby talk with Arc at the foot of the stairs. Cherry does not take his brush with death well, as she collapses in tears! Composing herself, she proposes marriage to Arc! Sadly, Arc turns her down, saying he has too much to do right now to take a wife! Arc gets cleaned up and lies down on the couch to rest. When Cherry and Ruby return Arc talks to them about their past and current problems. He learns the ranch has been in debt to the Rich family for three generations! The next morning Arc calls for an investigator from Canterlot to come and look at the building. Hard Hat and Plumb Bob arrive later that morning and discover the cause of the fire to be faulty wiring. Filthy Rich promptly fires Sassy Saddles and withholds her last paycheck out of spite, leaving her penniless! They return to Cherry Hill Ranch together so she can properly recover. That evening, they sit on the porch and talk. Cherry confesses to everyone that she asked Arc to marry her! Overjoyed, everyone present smiles happily! Arc confesses that he declined her offer. Oddly enough, this does little to deter Cherry's feeling for him. Why did The Dark One give Trixie the Alicorn Amulet? What of the Nightborn? Will Moonlit Dusk always be a dick? Will Auriel be able to assimilate into Equestrian culture? And most importantly... what of Cherry and her proposal? Will Arc ever take her up on it?! Time will tell. Sooner or later... time will tell.