//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: A Hero's Duty 
// Story: Great Power 
// by Harkbilde 
//------------------------------//

(Previously on the last chapter)

Cadence continued with a deep breath, "Magnus the Powerful, we the Princesses of Equestria sincerely ask of you to the coming 3rd attempt of retaining Cloudsville" She said with a serious tone.

"Okay" He replied nonchalantly with a relaxed impression.

For a moment the Princesses and the Mane 6 were nodding because they thought he refused, but after a moment to process what he said, all of them snapped their necks towards his direction and exclaimed.


"HUH?!"


(Present)

Magnus chuckled at their antics because for once, he wasn't the one saying that word. "What's with your reactions? You guys actually thought that I would say no?" He spoke in a questioning tone.

Cadence snapped out of it first and coughed. "I'm sorry Magnus, it's just that... We thought you would refuse..."

Markus gave her a wide smile and spoke, "But if I refused, then I won't be fulfilling my duty."

Cadence tilted her head in confusion while the other mares seemed to notice and smile brightly. "Exactly what duty is it?"

Magnus then chuckled and replied, "A duty to help those in need, a duty butt in other's affairs, a duty where I must be brave for others." He then paused and looked at her with a determined smile and spoke, "A duty to be a Hero."

Cadence was surprised by his answer and then smiled warmly at him. "I see, my aunties were right about you..." She spoke with a look of respect for him.

Magnus gave her an even wider smile and seemed to realize something. "So why did you need to give me a title to ask for my help?" He asked the Princesses.

Luna snapped out of her dumbfoundedness and explained to him, "Well, there is a law that prevents normal ponies from fighting the monsters from the gates voluntarily, and the only way to fight them is to have a military rank or if you are given a title that proves your prowess."

Celestia then seemed to don an apologetic expression. "Most of the reason we gave you this title was to gain your help in the reclamation of Cloudsdale... I apologize if it feels like we're forcing you." She told him in an apologetic tone.

Magnus then waved it off. "It's fine, if anything, you could've just asked me because as a Hero and as a friend, I would have helped." He said smiling warmly to Rainbow and Celestia.

Celestia looked thankful and Rainbow seem to blush at that.

Knock Knock

They all turn to the door and heard the voice of a mare, "We have brought your meals for your Highnesses and the guests."

Magnus then smiled at Celestia. "Let's continue after we have our dinner." He said.

Celestia nodded and told them to come in.

(Timeskip)

Nothing much happened during Dinner, some questions here and there, some blatant show of dissatisfaction towards paperwork, and mainly about Magnus' powers.

"So you can actually stop time?" Cadence asked in a surprised tone.

Magnus smiled and replied, "No, I'm not stopping time, The World is just accelerating the chronon particles around me so much that everything seems to have stopped to me for about 3 seconds."

"Interesting..." said Cadence while Rainbow seemed to be more confused and Twilight writing down notes.

Magnus chuckled and then turned to the other Princesses. "So, since we are done with our meals, let's get back to the topic at hand, shall we?" He said as his expression turned focused.

Cadence nodded. "Yes, let us start." She replied while turning to Celestia and Luna, who in turn nodded.

Seeing this, he started first. "So, last time I heard about this gate, Rainbow said that the monsters were harpies... What do they look like? What abilities do they have? How many of them are they? What does their Boss look like?" He asked them.

Celestia turned serious and answered, "They are bipedal, standing on clawed feet and mostly female, they have a bird-like head and have wings for arms, a 4-5 hoof body which makes them quite agile, fast as or faster than normal adult pegasi. Their main ways of attacking are by using sounds to disorient us and swoop in and cut us into pieces with their claws. Normally this alone wouldn't be much of a threat but the real problem lies in the fact that they attack in an overwhelming number of 5000."

Magnus nodded and was already making plans for them inside his head. "So what about the boss?"

Rainbow then suddenly cut in their conversation. "It is also a female, we call it the harpy queen, it is mostly the same with other harpies except that it's 7 hoofs tall and has a horn on its head. It is also very fast, fast as me in Sonic Rain-Boom  state, couple that with its size, it's unstoppable..." She gritted her teeth at the last sentence.

As she finished talking, the room was silent. Until Magnus spoke, "I have a plan."

All heads snapped at him and Rainbow spoke, "What is it?"

He then looked at them seriously and started to speak. "First you need to make me a bunch of blades without handles or guards on them..."

(Timeskip)

(At the skies near Cloudsdale)

Over the skies near Canterlot, there was a giant mass of a cloud with buildings on it, or what's left of it. This was Cloudsdale and before it was turned into ruins, it was a flourishing city filled with rainbows and happy pegasus ponies but now... The rainbows were not there anymore, neither was the happy pegasus ponies speeding through the skies.

Near the sky where Clouddale was at, a regiment of pegasus ponies armed to the teeth was divided into companies, and each company was holding 2 carriages each, filled with earth ponies and unicorn ponies, also armed to the teeth.

Leading the regiment at the front of the regiment was Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Cadence, and Magnus wearing their respective armors.

Twilight looked worriedly at Magnus and asked, "You never actually told us what exactly you'd do with the blades, Magnus."

"Indeed I too am quite confused with what purpose these will serve." Celestia also added in curiosity while pointing towards the blades that were carried on a giant wheelbarrow.

Magnus then replied, "Don't worry about it, just remember that after I'm finished, the numbers of harpies would be dropped from 5000 to a thousand or so and till then, enjoy the show."

The mares nodded and went back to the regiment.

Magnus then looked at the squad that was holding the giant wheelbarrow. "Until I'm finished, please keep on holding the Wheelbarrow please, I don't want to waste."

They all looked at each other while nodding and looked at him with curiosity.

Magnus then looked to the slowly approaching Cloudsdale and breathed in slowly. 'I dedicate this to you, Kuchiki Byakuya' Then he closed his eyes for a moment while his body was covered in an aura and exhaled while speaking one word that reverberated throughout the skies for all to hear.


"BAN...KAI..."