While Swift Blaze was in his mind, in his human form, an unsuspecting visitor entered the space. He was walking through the hills of Ponyville when Princess Luna showed up.
“Good evening, Blaze,” the blue Alicorn said. “What’s got your mind so troubled?”
“Hi, Luna. Just a recent event that happened that I’m trying to piece together,” he replied.
“What exactly happened?”
“Me and the other recruits decided to spend the night at the old castle, as it had the best shelter to stay alive from the animals of the forest. We’re currently in the library section, at the moment. What happened is what I’m still trying to figure out.”
The human could see a worried look show up on the princess’s face as he was starting to tell what happened.
“You can tell me, Blaze. I know everything about that castle.”
“Really? Then I think I have a surprise for you.” He changed the space in his mind to that of the library in the old castle. “Follow me and I’ll show you.”
As they were walking, he said, “I was planning to have a chat with you and Princess Celestia as to what happened, as I don’t even have any knowledge of this from the episodes.” The pair finally arrived at the blank wall. “Tell me, what you see.”
“I see we’re standing in front of a wall that does not have a bookcase. That is odd.”
“Then you don’t know about this.” The human twisted where the handle was and opened the door. Princess Luna's eyes lit up as the trainees did when they discovered this.
“What did you find in there, Blaze?”
“The reason you didn’t see the door is probably because the humans that used to live here created this. So Al and I went down this hallway to another room. Inside there, it had empty bookcases, like here. Except, my body was telling me something was in there, but would not pinpoint it.”
“Did you find what drew you to that room?”
“We did. I think I’ll save that till after our survival exercise. Please don’t peak into my mind or with that viewing portal of yours. Just tell Princess Celestia that Al and I need to have a word in closed chambers. The other recruits know what happened, but I don’t want to go into the knowledge we have.”
“Very well. I do hope you will be able to relax tonight to regain your strength. Take care.”
Princess Luna left his mind as quickly as she entered it. Blaze changed the scenery back to the hillside and lay down. Still, one question remained in his thoughts, what does this all mean?
For the first time, the red stallion woke up the next morning after sunrise. He figured his mind must have hit some sort of snooze button, to allow him to sleep longer. He looked and saw the mysterious book was still next to him. The pony moved a hoof to the top of his head. He felt his new horn was still there. What happened yesterday wasn’t a dream now. The Unicorn looked around and saw the others were busy eating and talking quietly.
“Morning sleepy head. Had a rough night?” Al asked as he saw Blaze was awake.
The stallion let out a big yawn, then replied, “What do you think if this happened to you?”
“Hey, there is no reason to be rude,” Star Dust said.
“Sorry. Last night’s event just has me filled with so many questions that need answers to. I don’t know if I’ll ever find them.”
“It’s alright. I was kinda the same way as I was wondering why I was sent to hell. Come on over and have breakfast,” said the human. “We’re going to head to another spot to get some more survival training in.”
“Thanks. So what’s for breakfast today?”
“You would not believe this, but Cancer found a Zap Apple tree,” replied Colorful Sparks. “They were ready to be picked too. I just love it when Sweet Apple Acres brings in the Zap Apple harvest.”
Blaze couldn’t wait to taste one. The red Unicorn grabbed an apple and took a big bite out of it. His eyes lit up from the taste shock. The flavors were too hard to describe. Imagine eating pure joy and happiness as it melts in your mouth.
They finished eating breakfast and cleaned up before the group headed out. The red stallion summoned his saddle bag to carry the book in. The trainees left the castle and crossed the bridge, back into the EverFree Forest.
Fang was leading them back to the water source to quench their thirst. Keeping an eye and ear out for creatures kept Blaze’s mind focused and off that book. As they wandered through the woods, the group were able to see some of the friendly creatures that lived there. They scampered in the trees and flew through the forest. They all had a smile on their faces.
The red Unicorn thought, Pinkie loves when everyone smiles. Dammit! Now that song is in my head, again.
A squirrel dropped an acorn and it fell directly onto Al’s head. He thought they were under attack and dove for cover. The ponies all laughed as he realized what happened. The trainees formed back into formation and headed out again.
They soon made it to the stream and replenished their thirst. The Zebra ponies also filled up the makeshift canteens the twins made to haul the water back to the castle. Al went and dunk himself in the water to cool off. He tried to splash Lightning Trails, but Blaze used his jutsu and had the water move around like a roller coaster and back into Al’s face. The ponies were laughing again.
Al sent a wave at the red stallion as he was laughing with his eyes closed. He got drenched and the laughter switched to Blaze. As he was about to retaliate, a strange order was in the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked for the source. We then heard a long howl.
“Timberwolves!” Lightning Trails shouted as he flew up to get a better view. “I see at least a dozen coming our way! No, two dozen! Will you stop moving so I can get a correct count!”
The trainees prepared themselves for the coming attack.
“I’ve dealt with these before,” said Blaze. “They’re tough to kill as they are made out of wood. Use that to their disadvantage. BURN THEM ALL!”
The ponies and single human let out a battle cry.
The red stallion turned to Al and asked, “Remember that game from that movie in a similar situation on that scorched planet?”
The human thought for a few seconds. Then replied, “Who’s the better killer?”
“Let’s play.”
Once they were in sight, the group charged at them. Fang had her blade out and was running and slashing like they were made of butter. The Zebra twins worked together in the battle. Dragon would slow one down and Cancer would speed punch it. They called it the hyper attack, and it was lethal. Lightning Trails was charged up and sent his bolts to several of the Timberwolves. They caught on fire and ran into others, causing a chain reaction of fire spreading. The two blue Unicorns teamed up to take them on. Star Dust blinded them and Colorful Sparks has his illusions go to town and cut them up.
Al the human, on the other hand, was having a fun time. He easily dodges an attack and slid his blades into the side of them. He was cutting off limbs and heads as there was nothing there. He was dancing around them, avoiding all the attacks. Blaze could see his face and showed that he was enjoying it. He was also somehow feeling an energy source building inside of the human.
For the red Unicorn, he too was having fun. He had deactivated the weights to increase his reaction time. The stallion was sending ki blast, like the time at the castle ruins. But, he decided to incorporate some simple jutsus of fire, earth, wind, and lightning. Each hit was at least a death kill. Blaze was racking the kills quickly.
Out of nowhere, a Timberwolf was able to get a jump on the red pony and pinned him to the ground on his back. Before it could sink his teeth into flesh, Blaze shouted, "GET OFF OF ME!"
His horn then lit up and sent an energy beam right into the wolf’s head. The beam ended, and there was no more head. The stallion tossed the body off of him and quickly got back up.
Al saw what happened and said, "Remind me not to get you pissed off."
"Totally not me. My horn did it," he replied.
The trainees continued to kill them and their bodies were forming a mound in the center of us. Soon, they were all dead.
"Well, that was easy," Cancer said.
Blaze faced hoofed himself. Then replied, "Cancer, you never say that as it will lead to something worse."
The mound of dead Timberwolves began to shift around and join together. It formed a Mega Timberwolf and this one was bigger than the last one the red stallion had faced. The others were surprised by what happened. He turned to zebra and said, "This is why you never say something was easy in a battle. It will lead to something worse."
"Blaze, what should we do?" Star Dust asked.
"It’s my opinion, and how this one's teeth are drooling, I think . . . we should . . . RUN!"
The group was running away together in the same direction. The Mega Timberwolf was chasing them and was knocking down trees that were in the path. It was keeping up with the ponies and the human as they ran.
"What’s the next thing we should do, Blaze?" Dragon shouted.
"I haven’t gotten that far in planning,” he replied. “Check back with me later."
"Not later, we need something, NOW!" Colorful Sparks said.
"Do any of you have any ideas? I don't have to be the only one to come up with them." Each one said no in their own way.
The Mega Timberwolf was getting close to them. The group soon had to dodge swipes with its claws. They soon saw daylight through the forest.
"FREEDOM! OH SHIT!" Al said.
The forest opened to a cliff edge. The ponies and Al stopped close to it and turned around. The Mega Timberwolf had slowed down as it knew they couldn’t escape.
"Blaze, why don't you teleport us out of here?" Fang asked.
"I would, but my chakra is running low. I won't be able to bring everyone at the same time,” he replied. “I’m not going to leave any of you behind. We stick together. Now and forever.”
Al whispered to the red pony, "Now would be a good time to launch a Kamehameha blast to destroy it."
"I would do that too, but it’s too big for the energy level I have left. I would only injure it and anger it more. I need to somehow boost it to make it effective,” the Unicorn replied back in a whisper.
"Have you thought about combining it with some chakra jutsu?"
Blaze face hoofed myself. He thought, Why didn’t I think of that? Probably because it is going to be super dangerous and I have no clue what was going to happen.
He turned to the human and said, "That never crossed my mind. The downside is I don't know what will happen if I do."
"If you don't, WE ARE ALL DEAD ANYWAY!"
"Alright. I’m going to raise a stone wall to protect you guys. Don't come out till the blast is over."
Blaze stepped forward a few paces. The Mega Timberwolf was looking at him, waiting for the little pony to make a move. The stallion summoned a two foot thick stone wall underneath him. The others ran and huddled low against it. The red Unicorn created a clone to help out. One of them will do the ki type blast and the other will do a chakra jutsu to amplify it. Each of them were building the available energy for the attack.
The Blazes' were emitting a red aura around each of them. Ki Blaze got into formation and began to do the motion for the Kamehameha blast. The Chakra Blaze was pushing the chakra into a Rasengan sphere between his hooves. Once the energy was at the peak, Chakra Blaze said, "RASENGAN!" and launched the red sphere to the Mega Timberwolf. Just a few seconds before the sphere made contact, Ki Blaze quickly said, KAMEHAMEHA!" and launched the blue beam. He aimed it for the red sphere. The beam made contact with the sphere.
What happened next is what he hoped would happen. The ki beam changed color to purple and multiplied in size, several times over. The beam received a spiral effect from the jutsu. It made contact and was pushing the giant creature back, very hard. The Timberwolf dug its claws into the ground to stay in place. The new beam was too much for it as the energy started to consume the beast. Without warning, the creature exploded and the debris flew all over the EverFree Forest.
Swift Blaze collapsed onto the top of the wall and his clone disappeared. Al came and picked him off the surface and placed the red Unicorn behind it. He was barely awake as they started to talk to him.
"That was amazing Blaze! Why did you not do that sooner?" Lightning Trails asked.
With a weak response, he replied, "Three things. One, didn’t think of it. That goes to Al. Two, I didn’t know what effect would happen if I did. Three, didn’t want to wipe out the forest to destroy it."
"Rest now, Blaze. You certainly deserve it," Al said.
"Nighty night," he said as he fell asleep.
When the stallion woke up, he looked around and saw they were now in a cave. The Unicorn was near the fire that someone had started and mostly everyone else was asleep elsewhere around the heat source. The two that weren't were Fang and Lightning Trails. Blaze saw them standing watch at the mouth of the cave. He got up quietly to join them.
"Hi fellas. What happened while I was out?" he asked in a whisper.
"Hey, Blaze. Glad to see you’re doing better,” said the black Pegasus. “You were only out for a couple hours."
"Al carried you over his shoulder with no issues,” said the Zebra mare.” I picked up your saddle bag to make sure we didn’t leave it behind. After an hour of searching for a new place to stay the night, we came across this cave."
"Star Dust went in to make sure nothing was living in here and found nothing. So we moved in and did what you taught us, fire to stay warm and gather food and water to have. Speaking of that, we saved some for you. Care for a bite?"
"Gladly, I’m starving,” replied Blaze.
Lightning Trails brought over several apples and a canteen of water. The red stallion ate and drank quickly to subdue his stomach, before it would wake the others up.
"That was still an impressive move you did to take care of that creature. I don't know what we would have done if you weren’t there," said the black stallion.
"I’m sure someone would have come up with a better plan. The attack I did was a desperate play. I knew I wouldn’t be useful after I released it."
"Well, we’re glad you are part of the group. I have just never seen that many Timberwolves at once before. Let alone them coming together to become one big one," Fang said.
"I have, but it’s rather odd for them to be going around in such big packs. I wonder if something is going on in this forest. I’m going back to bed to finish replenishing my strength and energy levels. I can tell I’m going to need them when I have to explain about this horn."
"Night, Blaze. See you in the morning," Lightning Trails said.
"Goodnight, Blaze. I can't wait to hear if Princess Celestia knows anything about that book," Fang said.
"Night you two. Continue to keep an eye out for trouble."
The Unicorn returned back to his spot in the cave. He settled back down and quickly fell asleep again.
The next morning, Blaze woke up with everyone else. They were happy to see he was better now. The stallion found out that Colorful Sparks did some healing on his body to help speed up the recovery. He thanked him for that. The group left the cave and started to make their way out of the forest now. Lightning Trails flew up to find where the edge of the forest was.
"Ok, I saw the closest edge was two miles to the east,” said the Pegasus.
"Then let's get moving and out of this deadly forest," Cancer replied .
It didn’t take them long to reach the edge. Once they were out, the bright sun shined directly into their faces. When everyone’s eyes finally adjusted, the trainees saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and several other guards were waiting. Blaze kept himself hidden behind Al so they couldn’t see him, yet.
“Congratulations recruits. You all have passed the survival exercise,” said Princess Celestia. “Rest up for tomorrow will be the final part. Hold on, where’s Swift Blaze?”
“I’m back here, your highness. Something unexpected happened while in the forest,” the red stallion said.
He walked out from behind Al to reveal his new look. “Surprise!” the Unicorn said as he did a ta da stance. All the ponies looking at the group, including the Princesses, just dropped their mouths open. Blaze saw one guard collapse over from shock.
“So, this is the surprise you were talking about with Princess Luna when you were within a dream. Would you like to explain what happened?”
“I will, your highness, but I think this should actually be discussed in closed chambers. Just those on that list that I am referring to should be in attendance.”
“Very well, let’s all return back to the castle so you all can rest. I’ll see you and Al in the throne room, shortly.”
Princess Celestia activated her horn and the trainees were teleported back to the training grounds. When they arrived, Captain Shining Armor was waiting for them.
"Well done recruits. It’s been a long time an entire group returned back, alive,” said the white Unicorn. “So, rest up and prepare for tomorrow. You’re going to need it."
"Would you mind telling us what we will be doing?" Colorful Sparks asked.
"Oh, I didn’t tell you? You’re going to be going into a tournament against your fellow recruits. You’ll not be informed whom though until the start of the match. Have fun.” He turned his gaze to two of them. “Swift Blaze and Al, if you would please, follow me to the throne room. Then we can get a report of what happened."
"Lead the way," Al said.
The human and red Unicorn followed the white stallion to their destination. Once inside, the doors were closed and a magic barrier had activated. The trio finished walking up to where they were at the steps before the throne, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting.
"Princess Luna informed me you found a secret room that was connected to the library at the old castle,” said the white Alicorn. “We’d cleared everything out and made sure nothing was hidden centuries ago."
Blaze replied, "I’m sorry to say but we did find a room. I still don't know why, but my body was drawn to find it. It wasn't until Al came looking for me and some of the others that we found the door."
"It’s true, your highness. From the looks of it, it appeared to have been a human magic spell that made it so only human eyes can see it," Al said.
"So, what did you find in that room?” asked Shining Armor. “What caused Blaze to now be a Unicorn?"
"This is where it gets interesting,” replied Blaze. “In the room were more empty bookcases. We look everywhere to find a clue. My body was telling me I had to find something in this room. I gave another look around and noticed four pillars, but they were not in the corners of the room."
"They were arranged in a cross with the center one missing,” said Al. “We cleared the bookcases out of the way so the room was opened up. Blaze did a jutsu that cleared all the dust out of the room so we can get a better look at everything.”
"I took another look at the pillars. It was at this moment when I was forced with knowledge of what we needed to do. The pillars represent elements of earth, air, water, and fire. We had to somehow show that element on the pillar."
"That’s when everything went crazy as Blaze stepped into the center and first cried out pain."
"I think for the rest of it, we should show you what happened from Al's perspective, if everyone agrees."
The others nodded. Princess Celestia used her magic to have the memory be displayed in front of each of them. After the memory was done, the displays went away.
"So, that’s how you changed into a Unicorn. I take you brought the book that appeared on the fifth pillar?" Princess Celestia asked.
"I did. It’s in my saddle bag,” said the red stallion. “So far, I’ve been the only one who can read it, but only the first part has been translated to where I can to understand."
Princess Luna used her magic to pull the book out and brought the book between her and her sister. Blaze saw their eyes opened wider, telling him they know what it is.
"Sister, is this what I think it is?" Princess Luna asked.
"It appears to be so,” replied the white Alicorn. “ I thought the humans took this with them when they left. To imagine it was hidden, even from us, till a human was worthy of it."
Blaze spoke up and asked, "Celestia and Luna, can you please tell me what is going on?”
"Do you know what you have found, Bob?"
"Well, from what I can read from the book, it talks about a human version of the Elements of Harmony. It calls them the Elements of Order."
"That’s correct. When the humans were here in Equestria, over a thousand years ago, there was a powerful one among them that created these to work with the Elements of Harmony."
"Let me guess. Was this human called Merlin?" Al asked.
"Again, correct. He loved this world as you two do. He worked with Starswirl the Bearded in order to create them. When we were up against Discord, we saw how easily corrupted the humans could get by his chaos powers. That’s why the humans left, to escape from Discord's influence. It took my sister and I with the Elements of Harmony to just be able to seal him away in stone."
"We know of Discord. We saw the episode where he breaks out," Al blurted out.
Blaze stomped on his foot to stop him from talking.
"DISCORD ESCAPES! YOU MUST TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED SO HE NEVER WILL!" Princess Celestia shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice.
The human and two Unicorn ponies covered their ears just after the beginning of the Alicorn’s demand. The windows shook from the sound waves, but didn’t burst, nor crack. Probably because of the sound proof magic barrier.
"Princess, we cannot tell you how it happens,” replied Blaze after he uncovered his ears. “These events have to happen, or they will affect the better ones after that. He will be sealed up again by Twilight and her friends with the Elements of Harmony. Please understand where we’re coming from. It was going to happen anyway, even if we never showed up."
The Alicorn was calming down. She took a few deep breaths and then said, "You are right again, Swift Blaze. I shouldn’t mess with the future, or I will mess it up further if I try to prevent something that needs to happen. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now let's get back to the book before a certain human says more about what he should not."
"I could not help it. That two part episode was great and you know it. I especially like when . . . mmph," Al started to say before the red stallion stuck a hoof into his mouth. He spat it out and was wiping his mouth out. "Geez, Blaze, you didn’t have to shove the whole hoof into my mouth. Now I have dirt on my tongue."
"Would you rather I stick it up your rear to make you shut up?" Blaze asked as a threat. Al remained silent and just continued to clean his mouth out. The Princess of the night was giggling a bit after hearing that.
"So, getting back to the book,” said the Princess of the day. “It seems you’re missing the gems that go on the cover. That might explain why you cannot read the other parts of the book."
"Then how am I supposed to find them if I have no clue where they could be?" the red Unicorn asked.
"From what I remember, they’ll be the five elements of nature. You know four of them, as they were needed to reveal the book. I expect just like how you were led to find the book, the other pieces will notify you when you are close to them. If I know Merlin, he’s set up challenges to see if you are worthy of them."
"Great. My body will ping when I’m close and I have to face a challenge to get them. Anything else I should know?"
"Yes. When you return to Ponyville, have Twilight Sparkle teach you how to use your horn. I won’t send her a letter of what happened. But I’ll expect a letter from her when she finds out about this," Princess Celestia said with a big smile.
Blaze already can get an idea of how it’ll turn out. His ears are aching from the potential future pain it might endure. He replied,"Of course, Celestia. I was already planning on asking her for her help. Speaking of Twilight, it has been two full weeks since I was magically turned into a pony. Shouldn't I have transformed back to my human form by now?"
"Magic is a very tricky thing. The exact length of the spell varies when It was rushed. You’ll just have to wait for it to end by itself."
"Very well, Princess. If you would excuse us, we would like to rest up and get ready for tomorrow."
"Of course. Have fun tomorrow. I look forward to all the matches. Especially the ones with humans."
A guard escorted Al and Blaze back to the training grounds. On the way there, they discussed some things.
"I still find it odd that this is happening. We’re getting into something we have no knowledge of. Aren't you afraid of what is to come?" Al asked.
"Not really,” replied the red stallion. “Life is a big unknown and none of these ponies think about it. Why should we? I do see where you are coming from, but we can't drastically change the future to try and prevent it. I’m not going to act like Twilight when she sees her future self. Worrying about the future caused what happened to her."
"I do see that now. Sorry for blabbing about that episode."
"It's ok. All we can do now is prepare for tomorrow's matches. I just hope I don't change back to a human while in one."
"Why's that? Don't you want your human body back?"
"I do, just last time I changed back, it was very painful."
"How much pain could there be?"
"Imagine this. Your whole body feels it is on fire. Your bones break, stretch and shrink. Fingers and toes have grown from nothing. And this lasts for at least 15 minutes."
"That really sucks."
"But once I am back in my human form, I can use shadow transform to change back and feel nothing when it happens."
''That must be sweet to have your own pony body like that."
They got back to the training grounds and saw the others were practicing different moves between each other. When the ponies saw their friends, they all stopped and headed toward them.
"Blaze! Al! What did you find about the book?" Cancer was the first to ask.
"We found out what the book is about and where it came from. That’s it, so don't ask any other questions as we don't know the answer to," Al said.
"The book is about the Elements of Order,” said Blaze. “They were created by a human over a thousand years ago and work with the Elements of Harmony. We don’t know where the gems that go with the book are or exactly how it’s supposed to work. We also don't know how I’m connected to them and how or why I was changed into a Unicorn."
"How could a human create something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony?" Star Dust asked.
"This occurred during our medieval times where magic used to exist. A wizard was a human that can do magic and this one worked with Starswirl the Bearded. Together they harnessed the elemental properties of nature to create them.”
“More questions than answers. I don’t know how you deal with it Blaze. Let’s get back to training. I want to make sure I stand a chance against any of you,” Lightning Trails said.
The trainees headed back to the sparring field and began to teach each other how to handle different situations against different attacks and abilities. We did this till the sun set and the moon rose. The group headed to the mess hall and ate their fair share. They then returned to the barrack and headed to bed to get plenty of rest. Going to need it for tomorrow.