//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: The Meeting after Victory // Story: Great Power // by Harkbilde //------------------------------// (Previously on the last chapter) 3 second He then turned around and spoke with all his orifices and right arm bleeding. Tokiwa Ugoki Dasu... (Present) As he finished, the world regained its color as The World ended, and as time resumed... SPLORT!!! CRUNCH!!! BANG!!!! The Harpy Queen's hides were ripped and blood splashed out of those wounds as the bones of its body were also crushed to fine pieces- BOOOM!!! -and was sent to the other side of the park with a melon-sized puncture wound on its torso along with a shock-wave. HUFF!!! PUFF!!! Magnus was panting loudly with blood on his face and holding his broken and bleeding right arm. But even with how drained and injured he was, he kept his eyes on the corpse. 'I'm not done yet, a hero mustn't rest.' He thought while floating towards the corpse. 'Defeating evil is just one of the things a hero does...' He then picked up the corpse by its neck with his left arm. "There is still one more thing I must do..." He spoke while flying towards where the ponies were at with the boss' corpse on his hand. (At the Battlefield) Corpses were littered everywhere and surprisingly, all of them belonged to the harpies and on the clouds there weren't any ponies lay, they were all tired and were catching their breaths. "Are you sure we do not need to go and help him Dash?" Luna asked Rainbow some minor injuries on her while panting a bit. "I am sure he is fine." She said while looking in the direction where sonic booms and a loud shout came from. "The World, Time will Stop... Again with Neighponese... Wait... He used that move?!" Twilight exclaimed looking at Rainbow. "Yup! So he'll be fine..." She said while having a confident expression. Twilight then paled and yelled at her, "Dash! Don't you remember that stopping time is very taxing for him?!" Rainbow then also paled with a look of realization. And when she was about to dash towards where he was, she was stopped by a loud but familiar voice that reverberated throughout the battlefield. "Proud ponies and Princesses of Canterlot!" All the ponies looked towards where the voice came from and was surprised to see Magnus with a limp bloody arm and a bloody face above them whilst holding something on his other arm. "For a year long time, you all went through pain of loss..." He continued not minding his injuries and looked at the brave ponies who fought for what they held dear. "You all fought for your home..." He said while she looked at Cadence. "...For your friends..." He then looked at Twilight and Luna "...For your families... Then Celestia "...For what you each held dear..." Lastly, he looked at Rainbow Dash and shifted his view to all the ponies. "And for such bravey......." He paused for a moment. "I BRING YOU VICTORY!" He then lifted his left arm that held the sign of victory for all of them to see and declared with a loud voice. "Cloudsdale has been reclaimed!!!!!!!!" The ponies all roared in victory, for they have finally reclaimed Cloudsdale and defeated the S-class Gate. As they were celebrating, Magnus slowly descended and dropped the corpse and held his left hand up. This made the ponies roar louder in the revelry of their victory. Rainbow Dash and the Princesses all cried while watching this, they finally reclaimed Cloudsdale by defeating the S-class gate, never in any other kingdoms were any cases of the defeating of an S-class gate since the gates started to appear. And because of that, this feat, this victory will surely be written down in history, for the valiant and brave efforts of ponies and one human... no... a HERO... With that Magnus smiled and looked towards the approaching mares. Rainbow then came to him and hugged him. "You idiot! You made us worried sick!" She said while crying. Magnus then separated from her and looked to the rest and spoke, "Sorry for making you guys worry, the boss was a lot stronger than I expect-hack!" SPLAT! THUD! Magnus coughed out a mouthful of blood that fell on the cloud along with his body. All of their eyes widened and pupils shrunk to pinpricks as they saw his body fall. "Magnus!!!" The mares all shouted in unison as they saw his fallen body. Celestia quickly snapped out of her shock and shouted in her tired Royal Canterlot Voice, "Medic!!!" (Time skip) (Somewhere and nowhere at the same time) Magnus was floating in a black void with his legs crossed and his right arm on his chin with his elbow on his knee in a thinking position. "Wherein the blue Tartarus is this place!!!" Magnus shouted throughout the void while shooting out of "The Thinker" pose. Magnus woke up a few moments ago, only to find himself floating aimlessly through the abyss with his powers not responding. He was frustrated, he gripped his hair while asking himself, "Did I die again? Is this the afterlife?" "No your not Sir Magnus, this is the Limbo, the barrier between life and death..." A motherly and gentle voice spoke. Ha then snapped his head back up while getting ready to fight, finding an Alicorn in front of him. 'Wait, Alicorn?' Magnus thought to himself. Magnus then looked at the Alicorn with wide eyes and asked her with an utterly confused voice, "Who are you?" This Alicorn was, of course, a mare, she was 6ft 5in with a curvy figure and a D-cup breast, wearing a one-piece dress made out of light which seriously made Magnus wonder why he wasn't blinded yet. She had a brownish-red mane that flowed like Celestia and Luna, she had light cyan-blue eyes that seemed to faintly glow. The mysterious Alicorn still had her motherly smile and answered, "My name is Lauren Faust; Creator of Equus, Queen of Equestria, and the Proud mother of the Sun and Moon." Magnus's eyes widened more and tried to ask another question, only for Faust to cut him off and continue, "And no, I am not your world's Lauren Faust." Magnus looked at her with more confusion before calming down. "I have a... few... questions..." He said while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "And I will gladly answer them." She said with a gentle smile. Magnus collected his thoughts and then looked at her. "Are you the one sent me here?" He asked, straight to the point. Faust's smile dropped and answered, "Yes..." "How?" He asked She then looked at him with a saddened look. "After you have died, I brought your soul through the gaps of reality and created a carbon copy of your body through your soul." Magnus continued and asked his prepared questions, "Why me?" "I chose you because I have watched how you have lived with a heart of gold that truly believed in the ideals of a hero, which in turn made me believe in you to be my choice. That's why I have chosen you to bring here when you died." She said with a tone of respect. Magnus then looked at her with a gentle smile. "Thank you..." He said in an earnest voice. This surprised Faust a bit. "Aren't you angry that I have brought you here without your consent?" She asked. Magnus then smiled gently at her. "I would be if this was about a month ago but... If it wasn't you, I would not have been able to meet the girls who have been my family and friends..." He spoke in a grateful tone. Faust then smiled ever more so warmly at him. "Then I thank you for your gratitude and acceptance." She said thanking him. He smiled brightly but seemed to realize something. "Queen Faust? Do you know what the Gates are? And who is making them?" He asked whilst remembering his last question. Faust frowned and replied, "They are paths that bridges worlds made by a god from another world to invade and conquer Equus." Magnus couldn't help but ask of this questionable act, "Why would he want to conquer Equus??" "His planet is dying so he decided to take Equus for themselves to conquer with his minions..." She continued He couldn't help but question the behavior of the god, "Why? Can't that god just ask for refuge? What made him take this method?" Faust seemed to be more disgusted and replied, "Greed and nothing else... That's what doomed his planet and also the reason why he plans to take Equus, just to satisfy his greed." Magnus was speechless, the sheer stupidity and simplicity of the reason just baffled him. While Magnus was starting to think about how to beat the god's ass all the way to Sunday, Faust suddenly spoke. "Sir Magnus, I know you have gone through many hardships... But I wish to ask of you to do a favor," Faust said while looking guilty to ask. "Okay, I'll do it..." Magnus said nonchalantly . . . After a moment that seemed like a millennium, Faust replied "Hmm?"