It was eight in the morning as the foals sat at their desks, they had began to talk with one another about the days field trip. “Gee, Rumble, do you think that Discord will take us into outer space today?” one of the foals said in a excited tone. It was a colt and as he looked out the window, one of his classmates, a filly, spoke up.
“No way! Discord took us to outer space last time, Snips! I wonder if he'll take us someplace quiet this time... you know, where we can actually explore without spinning and floating around!” As the foals talked, they didn't notice Discord pull up to the school in his bright yellow school bus. The Draconequus climbed out of the drivers seat, down the steps and out of the door. He made his way into the school house and to the classroom, his lions paw gripped the door handle and turned it. The door opened silently, and before the class knew it, Discord had slid into the classroom.
“Hello class, I do hope that you all brought your lunches and your notebooks... because we are going to be leaving soon for our field trip to Everglow!” The class nodded as Discord lead the foals outside to the bus. The foals were excited as they spoke to one another, Discord waited for his students to climb up and into the bus before he climbed on. As the doors shut, the draconequus male sat down on the drivers seat and turned the engines on. It roared to life and lifted up from the ground for a moment. Discord gripped the steering wheel calmly with a joyful smile, his voice was filled with excitement as he pushed down on the gas and angled upwards where a glowing blue portal had formed. “Hold on to your lunches, everypony! We're going on a adventure!” the foals gripped their seats tightly as the school bus zoomed through the glowing ring and vanished. The school bus traveled through the portal for fifteen minutes before it re-emerged over Cerulean Tides in Everglow.
The foals let out exclamations of excitement as they stared out the windows, Discord began to say something as the gas light came on. It showed that the tank was empty, which had caused Discord's eyes to go wide as the school bus began to go down. “Alright everypony, we're out of gas and also crashing... but, never fear, as I have this under control!” he said in a assuring tone as he veered the plummeting school bus towards a field that was a few miles away from the city. The foals gripped the seats even tighter as they screamed in fear. The draconequus grunted as he fought the steering as hard as he could, he knew that he had mere moments to safely land, and it wasn't going to stop him from keeping his class safe. Discord grunted as the school bus landed in the field with a loud and resonating crash which launched the foals off of their seats, only to fall back down onto them with heavy thuds! The school bus skidded and slid a fair distance before it came to a stop against a bale of hay as the draconequus smacked his forehead against the steering wheel. Discord grunted as he lifted his head up and took a look around, he spoke out in a worried tone. “Is everypony alright? Give me one groan for yes, two groans for no...”
The foals all let out a groan, which signaled to the draconequus that they were okay. Discord got up and opened up the bus's doors, his tail flicked softly as he looked to them. “Come on, everypony, let's go check the damage. Procedure requires that everypony must be off of the bus, in case any further problems were to occur.” with that, the foals gave a nod and grumbled as they all followed the draconequus off of the magical bus. They all walked to the front of the now beat up and battered vehicle, Discord dusted his paw and claw off before he pulled the hood up. Steam rushed out and into his face, causing him to cough and to blow away the steam with his paw. As the steam cleared, they all took note of the now destroyed engine. “Ugh...” grumbled Discord under his breath. “The engine is destroyed, we'll have to head over to Cerulean Tides and get a new one...”
Rumble snorted a bit. “How do we know that this place even has anything like a bus system? It looks pretty boring, to me...” Discord gave a soft chuckle as he conjured a spare engine out of thin air.
“Well, believe it or not, Rumble... this place does have a bus system! We arrived in the middle of their space age era. But we will be here for a bit, since I need to replace this engine, and then we need to find out where exactly we are...” Discord said with a calm tone in his voice, he had begun to change out the engine, and he knew that it would take them a while to get it taken care of without any assistance. As all of this had been going on, a ship had neared the dock to the beautiful and warm island of Kailani...
A soft breeze passed through the harbor of Kailani as a group of Ponies disembarked from the steamboat. It had recently docked and moored for refueling and to get the ships supplies restocked. In the crowd of ponies that had disembarked from the steamboat was a stallion who had a short, black and red mane with brown fur on his body, His tail was long and well kept with a small bit of it missing, his blue eyes glanced around as they walked. He had on a suit of heavy armor, a long sword rested in its sheath and a rifle rested on his back. His armor was painted in the color red with gold trimmings on the edges, he looked to be the same height as any normal stallion worth his gold. Alongside of him walked a tall, burly looking Troll who had blue skin with black markings on the sides of his face. From the corners of his mouth hung and rested two tendrils that swayed with each step. He stood at eight feet tall and had a storage container in his right hand, power armor adorned his body as he looked straight ahead, his red eyes followed his stallion companion.
The two made their way into the town as they made their way to the stallions home. He had finally been able to return home along with his Troll friend. The stallion couldn't help but remember as the starship that he and his fellow chaos hunters were on, went careening to the surface of the mining planet. He remembered waking up in the recreation room where he had met Ace Pilot, Duk and Clutterstep. He remembered getting attacked by and ending up friends Barnaby, his troll companion that was with him. He remembered the horrific intestinal monstrosity that had attacked himself and his companions. His memory seemed to blur up until he and Barnaby had left the mining planet after retrieving the black box from the crashed starship he had arrived on. He had left it with Ace Pilot and the others for safety reasons.
As the stallion and troll arrived at a decently sized house on one of the main streets a few blocks from the shopping area, they both took a moment to examine the exterior. The house was painted white with a square oak front door, a brass doorknob attached to it. A few feet away from the front door on the right side was a boxed window that angled outwards. Inside of the house it was dark, almost as if nobody was home. The stallion looked to the troll with a nod, his voice was calm but a bit tired as he spoke to him. To all those that were passing by, it sounded like he was just talking in grunts and such. However, to those that were multi-linguistic, they could tell that he was speaking in Giant. “Alright Barnaby, feel free to set our gear down here and rest up or stand watch. We don't have to worry about intestine monsters or giant tiger dragons here. I need to go and set my stuff in the bedroom.”
Barnaby gave him a soft nod in response, before speaking in return. “Alright, smart pony... do you want me to protect your house from whoever tries to enter? Might be good idea to do.”
The stallions eyes went wide as he shook his head, his mane became a little bit messed up as he rubbed the back of his head with one of his front hooves. “Yes, but I have a family. A wife and two foals that live with me. My wife is named Serene Morning, and my two foals are Night Eye and Sun Spot. You will know them when you see them.”
Barnaby blinked a bit as he tilted his head quizzically to him. “So, they look like you?” the stallion gave a nod. “Yeah, a mix of Serene and I's coloration and pattern, Night Eye is a bit different, though... much darker in the coat. Either way, I should be out in a bit.” he said as he grunted and searched underneath the doormat for the key, after a moment, he found it and put it into the lock. A moment passed as he heard the gentle click of the locks open up. He opened up the front door and entered, vanishing into the house. As the stallion shut the door, he took the key with him. he set it on the coffee table and looked to a picture that rested on the nearby side table. It was of him and his family, he was back home, finally, and was there to stay. He took a moment to smile, something that he hadn't done in a while. Smiling felt a little bit alien to him as he trotted to the hallway and to the bedroom where he and his wife slept. He took his time and set his rifle and sword against the wall carefully before he began to remove his armor. He felt hot inside of the armor as he took it off, the warm weather and breeze outside hadn't helped him much, but now that he was out of his armor, he could cool off. He exhaled, catching his breath as he took in the familiar surroundings of his family's home.
As the stallion was getting his armor and weapons taken care of in the house, three ponies began to approach the house. They had all been laughing up until they saw the troll sitting in their front yard. The oldest of them had sky blue fur on her body, her mane and tail were both a light pink and purple. She was a Pegasus with soft orange eyes and was a foot shorter then the stallion, she also looked to be a few years younger then the stallion. The other two looked to be much younger, one was a Pegasus with gold fur on his body with long fire red hair and dark red bangs for his mane and tail. His dark blue eyes glowed and he stood next to the much older mare, as did the other smaller pony. The remaining small Earth pony had Navy fur on her body, her mane and tail were mixed colors of dark and light purples, the brand on her flank was in the shape of a moon, much as the other foal's brand was the shape of the sun, she had dark green eyes and both of their brands had cross-hairs on them.
The mare that was in-between the two foals stepped forward, looking up at the troll with a smile. She spoke sweetly to him out of curiosity. “Hello? Who might you be?” Barnaby blinked as he heard nothing from her, aside from fancy sounding words and speech. He couldn't make heads or tails of it, so he responded in kind.
“Who you be, pretty ponies? Are you the family that friend told me about?” he said in his language of grunts and snarls. the three ponies blinked as they turned their heads and looked to one another confused. The gold furred Pegasus stretched a little as he extended his wings.
“Don't worry, I've got this!” he said as he lifted up and flew into the air. He couldn't help but smirk as he pointed a front hoof at Barnaby before speaking. “You have five seconds to tell us who you are and why you are here... before I have to beat it out of you!”
Barnaby rubbed the back of his head at the sounds at first, but when the small Pegasus pointed his hoof at him and took on a aggressive tone to his noise, the troll simply reached a massive hand out. The Pegasus went to fly out of the way, but didn't get too far before his tail got grabbed and very softly pulled back and into the trolls right hand. He barely had time to utter a simple, “Ack!” as he ended up squeezed very slightly. Barnaby wasn't going to seriously injure the foal as he looked down at him. The older mare took a deep breath, pushing the air to her chest as she let out a loud shout of anger that shook the house to its very core, catching the stallions attention that was inside.
The stallion recognized the voice and knew that Serene Morning was the one shouting. He took to his hooves like lightning and bolted through the house, his fit body ripped through the air as he got to the front door and skidded to a stop. He grabbed the doorknob and flung the door open, hurrying outside. “Serene! What's wrong? Why did you shout like that?!” he skidded to a stop on the grass out front of the house, looking around for a moment, he had realized why she was shouting. He saw the Pegasus foal in Barnaby's grip and spoke to the troll quickly while he tried to keep a calm tone. “Woah! Easy there, Barnaby! That's my colt that you have in your grip...!” he looked down to the stallion, then to the Pegasus that was in his right hand. Then he looked back to the stallion with a hearty laugh.
“Oh, sorry! Pretty pony has moxie, I like that!” the big troll let go of the Pegasus who then flew down and landed next to the mare. The three stood there, looking at the stallion speechless before the mare finally made a move.
She surprised him as she galloped over to him and stood on her hind legs. The stallion quickly reared up onto his hind legs in return. The mares eyes were filled with tears of joy and happiness as she hugged the stallion tightly, her face buried into his chest as she sobbed. Through the crying and sobbing, the stallion was able to hear her speak. Her voice was soft, relieved and he could tell that she was happy to finally have him back in her embrace. “Seeking Blade... are you really back? This isn't my mind playing tricks on me...?”
Seeking Blade gave a nod in return and gently ran a hoof down and through her mane. “Yeah, it's me, Serene Morning. Luminance knows how much I have missed all of you to death.”
The two foals began to cry, as well, as they galloped to Seeking Blade. They wrapped their front legs around his waist and hugged him tightly. “Daddy!” they both cried out in unison. Seeking Blade and Serene Morning ended their hug as she dried her eyes with a wing as the mare and stallion got back onto all fours.
Seeking Blade held the two foals close as tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he spoke to them in a happy tone. “Sun Spot, Night Eye. You both have grown a bit while I was away!” he stifled the tears as he held the two foals close, looking back to the troll with a chuckle. He spoke to the troll in Giant. “Barnaby, you know these three by name, but not by appearance. The mare is my wife, Serene Morning. And the two foals are Sun Spot and Night Eye. I need to sit down with you later and teach you how to speak our language, for conveniences sake.” Barnaby gave a nod to Seeking Blade. He didn't say anything, only smiled.
Seeking Blade, Serene Morning, Sun Spot and Night Eye entered the house and left Barnaby outside to keep watch. As they all walked into the living room, Seeking Blade went to say something when Serene Morning planted a soft but tender kiss on his lips. He blushed a dark red as he shyly returned it, making Sun Spot and Night Eye gain a somewhat grossed out expression on their faces. Serene held the kiss for a few moments before she broke it, leaving Seeking Blade speechless. She couldn't help but laugh before speaking. “So, we are glad that you came back safe. What happened? Why didn't you get into contact with us or anything? We thought that you had gotten injured, or worse...” she softly brushed a few stray hairs of her mane out of her face, her husband was able to see that she had small bags underneath her eyes from a sleepless night or two. He had made them worried, and he felt awful about it. Seeking Blade was ready to tell them about everything that had happened.
“Serene, I wanted to get into contact with you and to tell you that I was alright. Something happened, I really did. But... where the starship crashed at, the planet was going to the dogs. It was chaos, and I only managed to survive thanks to some strangers that ended up eventually becoming my friends. If it wasn't for their help and being able to work with them, I wouldn't have been able to make it back here at all. I encountered so many things on that planet... robots, giant tiger dragons... a intestinal monster that ripped the insides out of its victims and tried to strangle people with said innards!” Seeking Blade briefly imagined that he was back in that awful room with Clutterstep, Duk and Ace Pilot. The intestinal monster had just attacked Duk. And as he rushed in to assist Duk in prying the grotesque monster off of his friend, he felt Serene Mornings right front hoof gently press against his forehead. Bringing him back to sanity and his home.
Sun Spot and Night Eye trotted up to their father, the colt tapped his hooves excitedly as he spoke up. “Oh oh oh! You saw a tiger dragon?! What was it like?!” the filly nodded as she laughed, her forehead playfully bonked her father on the chest.
“Yeah! Come on daddy... tell us the story about how you and your friends dealt with the tiger dragon!” Serene Morning gave a soft laugh as she trotted past Seeking Blade, she flicked her mane in a playful manner. He had missed his family, and he wasn't going to leave them behind.
The rest of the day went by as everyone had dinner and went to bed. As everyone fell asleep and covered up with their blankets. Back on the mainland, a few miles away from Viljatown. A meteor hit the ground and formed a crater from the impact. Two stallions who had guard uniforms on took note and made their way to the crater, they looked to one another before they slid down the slope of the crater to the meteor. As they reached it, the meteor began to crack and bubble with green fluids of some sort. The green bubbles hissed and popped loudly as the meteor slowly opened up and revealed a stallion standing in the center of the now open meteor. He had black fur on his body with cold red eyes, long black tendrils were able to be seen as they reached up from his backside. His mane was a ghastly violet and reached all of the way down to his front shoulders, his tail was short and ragged. The two guards glared at the alien-like stallion as they drew their swords. They got a good look at the strange stallions brand, it was of a sword that had been thrust through a heart. The strange stallion looked to the two guards, and with a malicious smile.
“Oh, so, you wish to fight me... do you? Well then, I suppose that I shall have to oblige and accept this duel.” the stallion said, he turned to them as his tendrils lashed out at the guards. They both managed to avoid the attacks, parrying with their swords as they grunted. The stallion kept his malicious smile as he spoke once more. This time, his tone was full of wickedness and cruelty. “So, it seems that you both have some skill. Well then, I am sorry to say this... ha, who am I kidding? I'm not sorry to say it, but, you will become members of my army, anyways. once I turn the nearby city into my necropolis and build up enough of my forces to go and capture more towns and cities to grow my empire.”
The two guards glared at the stranger before they rushed towards him, their swords rested inside of their snouts as they prepared for a strike. However, they failed to notice his hooves step ever so lightly into the dirt of the crater. He jumped to their side in one quick motion, catching them off guard as their eyes went wide. Then, he brought a tendril down and dug it deep into the lead guards spine. Blood filled the air as the stallion found his eyesight dimming, his body soon had become a limp and lifeless corpse. His companion let out a shout of terror and horror as he dropped his sword and attempted to flee. The stallion that he was facing was clearly out of his league and challenging him would be suicide. As he started to flee, the tendril flung the guards corpse onto the fleeing one, sending him toppling over the ground and bashing his face against the dirt. The stallion that had been in the meteor stalked towards the remaining guard with a menacing stomp to his step, his eyes flashed a sickening green as he then brought his tendril down and into the back of his neck. His other tendrils pinned him to the ground.
“Yes, that's it... struggle, call out to the gods for help. They will not be able to protect you or anyone from me and the masses of her children... the Mother of thousands. Because, soon enough, this entire planet will fall under my control, and her dominion.” the stranger said with a laugh, and as he stood victorious over his two fresh kills. The mechanisms of hell and the many more diabolical ideas began to click and whir into gear. He removed his tendril from the other guard after a few moments as his body ceased to struggle and went lifeless, taking a moment as he closed his eyes and began to glow a sickly and sinister green. There was a bright green flash of light from inside of the crater, and as it vanished, the two deceased guards got back to their feet. Their eyes were jet black and lifeless as they grabbed their swords and sheathed them. The stallion that killed them, simply laughed. He began to speak in a dominant, but still malicious tone.
“Come, my minions! For tonight, we begin our conquest of this pitiful planet... One city and town at a time! Onward, towards eternal prosperity and darkness!” the stallion and his two undead guards headed towards Viljatown at a gallop, the one in front and leading the pack, was the stranger... unknown to the rest of Everglow, Hell had arrived... and with it came Bleeding Heart, the Chaos Spawn and a brand new nightmare.