//------------------------------// // Chapter 59: The end of winter // Story: Era of Harmony // by Gambling_Sam //------------------------------// *Chrysalis POV* After the venom transfer to Pinkie Pie Redheart and I watched as the pained expressions she showed lessened until Pinkie was sleeping peacefully, much to the shock of the nurse as she looked up at me. "How is she sleeping?! She was JUST giving birth!" She asked as I chuckled lightly. "Changeling pregnancies differ, especially ones like this. Though she will be ok for now, she will need this rest for when she wakes up." I said as Redheart frowned. "What exactly did you do to her?" She asked as I looked the party pony over with a sigh. "I did what I did with Ronin, but on a lesser extent. While she may have some of our abilities and powers, her outside physical appearence will not change at all while her insides will alter just enough to support the child." I informed as Redheart sighed. "That's probably for the best. Who knows how Ronin would react if he came back and saw Pinkie as a changeling?" She said as I laughed. "I do. He'd be absolutely pissed. But that does bring up another topic I wish to discuss: Daybreaker." I said as Redheart narrowed her eyes at the ground. "I don't know why, but that name just...irritates me for some reason." She said as I smiled lightly. "That's the hive mind telling you that she's a threat, and for good reason too." I said as I looked towards a window. "But I don't think Ronin knows that yet." Redhearts eyes widened. "How would he not know?" I sighed. "Because Ronin acts with his emotions, not his brain. While he wholeheartedly believes Daybreaker understands him and likes him, she is simply using him as a power source to keep her hold over Celestia." Redheart groaned while pinching the tip of her muzzle, clearly starting to get a headache from the situation. "All the while a ice queen ravages the castle and Pinkie goes through childbirth...what have we gotten ourselves into, Chrysalis?" She asks as I shake my head while I walk over to a chair nearby the bed and sit in it. "I do not know, Nurse. But we will find a way to overcome this. No sun blessed tyrant is taking our man from us just to use him as a love battery." I stated strongly, just before chuckling to myself. To think, I would've and have done the same thing only a couple of months ago. How ironic that I now fight the same sort of enemy I used to be. After a moment of silence, Redheart spoke up again. "I think I have a way to keep this from happening again, all the while insuring that the herd doesn't get hurt." She stated, drawing my curiosity. "How so?" I asked as she smirked. "We limit the herd to four female members. This will give Ronin only one more spot in the herd to fill. Then we make sure that he talks to us first and allows us to meet with the mare herself." She said as I blinked in suprise at the lockdown idea. This would make him far more cautious before asking the question, that's for sure. And after this Daybreaker fiasco... "Then it is done. We can tell Ronin through Eureka about the news after we make sure Pinkie Pie doesn't injure herself producing the newest hafling." I stated just as Pinkie began to groan in her sleep while turning left and right. "Looks like its time." I said as I got up and walked over to the bed while Redheart stood at the other side looking quite worried with her ears pressed against her skull and all. It was kinda adorable actually. "Do not fret, Redheart. I will walk you through the process." I consoled her as she took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'm ready." ***************** Nicholas POV ***************** I couldn't really explain what it felt like to be pulled through the door by the wendigo. It was like if someone was in space, but was tugged by a tow truck towards a destination. No matter how it happebed though, I was in the throne room only yards away from the woman who had been haunting my dreams for well over a month now. Said woman was looking at me with slight curiosity as I had appeared with a Wendigo in hand. "Little one...who is this human?" She asked the small ghost horse thing, which flew up and nuzzled her cheek in response. The lady rolled her eyes before standing up, causing the Wendigo to float back a couple feet before disappearing. "Tell me your name, child." She asked me as I swallowed my fears and stepped forward. "My name is Nicholas Blazeheart." It looked like her breath hitched as I had said that, but I continued. "You are the one who has been haunting my dreams. Why?" For a second, the lady didn't move. She just stared at me with a shocked look on her face. She shook it off though and recovered her composure as she answered my question. "About a month ago, I was awoken from death by one who wished to see this world frozen over. The connection I had with you was, until now, unexplainable and random." She shook her head as a small smile graced her face. "But now, I know that this connection has existed far longer than either of us could've predicted." I frowned as my eyes narrowed, yet still I took another step towards her despite the danger. "What do you mean longer than what was predicted? I haven't even been in this world for that long!" The woman sighed and sat down on the throne behind her. "That is a story centuries old...one that I believe you have every right to know." That made me pause in my actions. "Centuries old...does that mean like a thousand years ago?" The Ice Queen chuckled lightly. "A tad longer than that, but yes" With a snap of her fingers, the ice in between her and I became like a mirror. She pointed her staff towards the ice as a frown appeared on her face. "This is a story of long ago, yet it may still involve you and your brothers." She said as the ice began to glow and images began to present themselves. "This is the tale of the three humans...and how we met our ends." ******************** 1989, an apartment in Pensacola, Florida/ Christine(ice queen) POV ******************** Bored. That's what I was. Do you not know how boring it is to share an apartment with your brother? Especially when your unable to get a job because you have no work ethic? Oh well, at least I cleaned and prepared food. Otherwise he would've kicked me out ages ago. Though until he got home I would chill on the couch watching some of the rather boring channels on TV. The front door unlocking signaled me to said brothers return as he walked in. He was a decent fellow, about five feet six inches with long dirty blonde hair that went down to his shoulders and blue eyes that shined in the light. He would've had a wife by now if it wasn't for- "Sis?! Ya here? Ah've got news ya wouldn't believe! I cannae wait ta tell ya!" That. Damned. Accent. Although we both had scottish blood, my brother thought it would be "cool" to learn how to speak true Gaelic. Twelve months and four ex girflriends later and boom! he somehow mastered the accent style. I swear, if he wasn't master chef on the east coast I'd punt him off a bridge for wasting his life. Suprisingly, the man had went to college and opened up a 4 star restaurant on the coast. Then again, being a top notch grill place in florida was like striking a gold mine, though he never dressed like he did. He always wore blue jeans and a hoodie whenever he went to his businesses. Putting those thoughts aside, I sighed and stood to face him, my short brown hair barely moving as I stood up. "What is it now, Callobrim? And what's that?" I asked, pointing to some some odd necklace he had in his hands. The thing was an upside down triangle with a red diamond in its center. it looked like a horse head was above that with wings on the side of the chains. Staring at the damned thing gave me a cold feeling and I did not like it. I frowned as I didn't get an answer at first. "What the hell is that?" I repeated bluntly. He smiled at me, his eyes shining the way they do whenever he gets excited. "Ah was given this in de market today! A wee old lady with a golden clothes and yellow eyes said it had magical powers and said it was called the Alicorn Amulet." He stated as I facepalmed. Brim always seemed extra vunerable to buyingnstupid stuff from vendors. The man was his own jack and the beanstalk. "Brim...really? You believed that idiot? And what the hell is an Alicorn?" I stated as he shrugged. "Ah don't know, Chrissy. But Ah've got an idea on how ta make it work!" He stated as the doorbell rang and I frowned. "And who would that be?" I retorted as he gave me a sly grin. "Why, just yer wee crush is all!" He said as my eyes became wide, just realizing how underdressed I was. I was only wearing a t-shirt and veeeery short shorts. (Don't judge me, I need my legs to air out.) I looked around frantically and found a pair of sweats to put over my legs as Brim opened the door for our guest. "Ah, David! Nice ta see you've arrived!" My brother called out as said guest walked in, his heavy duty boots almost making the room shake with every step. Though he wore shorts and a green t-shirt to balance out the heavy-duty look David was a suprisingly big guy for someone who was a IT maniac. He was about six-four in height and could bench press almost three hundred pounds when necessary. Combine this with his tan skin (Gotta love a Cuban man) and his short and smooth black hair and youve got a hell of a guy. He turned to me, his green eyes shimmering in the dim light of the apartment. "Ah, my dear Christine. How does thy day go?" Ta-Da! His speaking ability is just as silly as my brothers; a testament to their lifelong friendship, to be honest. While Brim did scottish, David just became a medieval man instead. Yeah, it sucks being in public when they have an argument. I blushed slightly at his deep voice, but answered regardless. "It's going good, or was going good until Brim came back with that stupid amulet." David smiled, seemingly unfazed by my jab at his bro-at-arms. "That amulet may be the key to proving that I've been right all along! I have to disagree with your negative viewpoint." Oh yeah, forgot to mention one thing. David is brutally obsessed with magic. He believe it exists and even goes as far as claiming it pulls from another world into ours. I mean, what kind of weirdo believes that?! Then again, I am crushing on him, so that may not be a good sign for me. I waved them off with my left hand and grabbed a remote to change the channel on the tv, which had been on some storm warning while I was talking with my brother. "Whatever you two do, don't destroy the house." I got a "Indeed!" and a "Yep" as answers as the two goofballs went to Brims room to figure out the stupid amulet or something. Like something like that would ever actually work, right? ******************* An hour or two later ******************* *Click* "FUCK!" I had just finished watching the recent episode of saved by the bell when the power decided to go out. Now, I was about to blame the storm outside when my brother came running out of his room with a look of shock/guilt on his face. I frowned, already not liking where this would be going. "Whats wrong?" He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "I may have caused a power outage...oops." I face-palmed. Of course the idiot did. How did he even do that? But just before I could berate him on the subject, David spoke up from the back. of the apartment. "Guys! Come look at this thing!" He yelled, not using any sort of medieval lingo... Which meant something was wrong. Brim and I rushed through a rather short hallway to the room where they had been messing around to find David staring straight at the amulet from before. Only this time, the amulet was glowing a shade of red and seemed to be floating off the floor in the middle of the room. I turned to Brim, ticked off and slightly put off by the sight in front of me. "What the hell did you two do?" Brim sighed. "David converted power into the amulet after hooking it up to some cables." He started, pointing at a couple of cables that were on the floor underneath it. "Then we used the power grid to charge it up...but we had no idea it would work!" David, who had just recovered from whatever state of shock he was in, started smiling. "Guys! Do you know what this means? This thing might actually have magic in it! Its floating without any support at all!" I groaned, really not wanting to deal with this. "Alright, so the thing floats. Now shut it off before someone gets hurt." I said as I approached the thing to do just that. Brim and David both gasped in shock. "Noo! We need the proof that it works!" David yelled, but I had already reached out and grabbed it. As soon as I touched it, I knew for a fact I had just done something irreversible. Almost immediately, a flash of red light completely engulfed the room as everything faded to white. ******************* Tak POV/present ******************* We opened what had to be door number three-hundred something as Axel moaned in anger. "Where is she? They better not have trashed the body!" He stared angrily as Roxas sighed. "We just need to keep looking. We'll find her, it'll just take time." I sighed internally as we checked the room, but to no avail. If she was alive, we could find her in an instant. But without a life force, I can't use the hive mind to locate her. Remembering the princess from before, I shuddered slightly. I might not even want to use the hive mind until we can get that mare out of it. It just seems...compromised with her having access to it. A hoof on my shoulder snapped me out of my funk as Axel pointed doen a ice covered hallway to a door that wasnt even slightly frozen. "Maybe shes there?" He asked, though as we approached we took notice of two individuals who seemed to be heatidly arguing about something. "He's MY brother! I'm not leaving him in that roon alone with that crazy witch!" Raiden stated as the night princess frowned. "Raiden, we need a plan before we just storm into the heart of this winter storm. We are sure Nicholas is capable of handling himself for now." I was suprised by the news. The one responsible for the ice was on the other side of the door behind them, and Nicholas was dealing with her...ALONE?! Sure, that was the plan and all, but I had expected one of the brothers to run into him during his journey to the threat and accompany him. But no, the only sibling in sight is arguing with his lover. I groaned and walked into the unfrozen room with Axel and Roxas as we immediately noticed three things. One: There was a yellow pegasus that looked very familiar sleeping on a bed in the room. Two: Ronin's blade was on the ground near the door, almost as if it was discarded by someone in a hurry. Three: There was a dead changeling in the corner of the room. Wait a second... "Its her!" Axel yelled before galloping over to her unmoving body. Roxas and I walked over as Axel looked over her wounds. "Her horn was cut off, she's missing a limb...what did this to her?" He said as Roxas looked away from the sight, probably about to hurl if he didn't. Me? I was mad...No, I was straight up pissed. Ronin had been put on the spot for killing a handful of ponies, but when a changeling dies everyone just leaves the body in a room to rot. For once, one of moms crazy lectures about ponies being racist were actually starting to make sense. I shook my head. But not everypony is like that. That's where Mom was wrong. She judged everyone for the actions of one. Roxas, finally getting control of himself, turned to me. "What do we do now?" He asked as I turned back to the arguing couple outside who were entering the throne room. "We help Nicholas, then we get some answers." I stated as I picked up Ronins sword. Someone had to watch over it. **************** Raiden POV **************** I was angry. More angry than I have been in a hot minute. After Nick had went through the door, I had went to go after him but was stopped by Luna. And, for the past ten minutes since, we have been arguing about going to my little bros aid. "What do you mean he will be fine?! He's TWELVE YEARS OLD!" I yelled, about to blow my top. "He's not supposed to be fighting wicked witches or ancient ghost horses!" Luna narrowed her eyes. "Do not forget who you are yelling at, Raiden. We are still a princess, regardless of our connection with you." She sighed. "I understand your worries, but Nicholas has magic ability and enough skill to use it. That big ball of light we saw earlier is of such consequence. He will be fine." I went to argue, but stopped. That blast had came from him? Then again, that WAS their plan from the start, though wasn't Tak and some others supposed ro have assisted him with that? I sighed. "Either way, how do we take lut this woman?" I asked as Luna averted her gaze from my eyes, causing me to frown. "You do know how to kill her, right?" She sighed. "Christine wasn't supposed to come back...not after that day." She muttered as I frowned. "Christine? Would that be the human girl from the picture, or that ice lady?" Luna looked me in the eyes as she dawned a very serious expression. "Both, but the take of how she became what she is now is a tragic one, one I played a heavy part in." She said as I noticed Tak and the other two changelings walk into the room we had just broken out of earlier. Wonder if they are looking for that Larxene changeling? I thought as Luna began to tell me about the humans that arrived so long ago. **************** Christine POV/Equestria **************** As the light faded away, I found myself in some sort of weird hedge maze. What the hell? Did I get moved while I was knocked out or something? Or did that amulet thing actually...nah. I thought, but while looking around, I noticed I didn't see my brother or David anywhere. "Oi! Broooooo! Where are you?!" I yelled out, hearing my voice echo through the maze. "Sis, come here!" I heard somewhere off to my right. I turned and faced the hedge wall that blocked my path and smirked. Yeah no, I'm not being stopped by any sort of natural barricade. I thought as I ran forward and, with suprising ease, started barreling through the walls. When I reached the end of the maze, my eyes immediately fell on my brother as he was looking straight ahead with David, neither of them moving an inch. "What the hell are you two doing?" I asked as Brim finally turned to me, a big grin on his face. "Sis, look! The amulet worked!" He stated as he pointed behind him at... whoa. There was a big, and I mean BIG, castle staring me down. The thing seemed like something out of a disney movie with how colorful it was! I turned to David and narrowed my eyes. "What did you two do that sent us to this place? It's obvious we aren't in Florida anymore!" David, finally snapping from his trance, turned to me and smiled reaaally wide. "Christine, don't you get it? The amulet worked! We are currently in some different world that is apparently in a medieval era." I crossed my arms. "And how do you know that?" He pointed back to the castle as Brim took a step back. "There are armoured horses with spears approaching us right now." Say what now? I looked around us just to notice we were surrounded by these yellow plated hors- sorry, they are WAY to small to be horses- ponies with little spears to match. Honestly, it was just plain adorable. However, there was one of them who DID look like a horse. It was this white horse with a weird flowing mane that had several colors. She had stood behind her little buddies at first but then walked out towards us. "Princess! Be careful!" one of the little guys...spoke? What the fuck?! Said "Princess" ignored the guard and walked straight up to me, keeping eye contact with me the whole time. After stopping inches from me, however, she smiled warmly. "Greetings, strangers. I am Princess Celestia. Would you happen to be responsible for the surge of magic earlier?" She asked as David literally squealed with joy. "So I was right! Magic DOES exist! YEEES!" David said as he pumped his fists in the air, causing the guards around us to jump a bit in shock. I turned to him and nearly slapped him for the outburst. "What the heck is your problem?" I asked him as I turned to Brim, who had been staring at the princess for quite some time. "Bro, you ok?" He shook his head as he motioned at everything around us. "Ok? There are TALKING animals surrounding us in either armour or that small tiara on the adorable princess's head. This is amazing!" Of course the two goofballs were enjoying this. They always were attracted to weird things, and this was at the top of the list for weird. I, however, was seconds from having a mental breakdown. The princess must have noticed this somehow, because a wing ended up draped over me. Thats right, a wing! horse princess had a wing...and a horn on closer inspection. "I sense confusion from the three of you. Come inside, and perhaps then answers can be given." The princess said as she led the three of us into the castle. **************** Nicholas POV **************** "Wait a second." I said, interrupting the story. "Your telling me you and my grandad are not only related, but apparently popped up here by the use of an amulet?" The ice queen frowned, partially because of the interruption, and partially due to the question. "Indeed...why?" I groaned, already seeing a pattern. "Thats how me and my bros got here." What had to be Christine sighed. "Then perhaps David was right then. We were destined to arrive there after all." I walked up to her and sat down in fron of her seat on the throne. "Well, what happened next?" Christine smiled softly. "Well, the princess came to tell us about where we were and the inability to be sent back home, so for a while things were tense...but we slowly started warming up to the ponies around us." I smiled, happy to hear that they were doing so well so long ago. She took notice of my smile and raised an eyebrow. "Ah, you find our happiness amusing? Very well, let us continue the story." She said as she dived back into the tale. ***************** Canterlot Castle, 1001 years ago/Christine POV ***************** The princess brought us into the castle and led us to a really big room that one of those really long tables that rich people have. After sitting down at the end of the table, the princess motioned for us to sit in the chairs on her right, while leaving the one on her left for someone who'd be coming shortly. After sitting down, I turned my gaze to David while Brim talked with the princess about how we got here. "David...what do you make of all of this?" I asked him as a chef came out and brought what looked like salads for everyone. "I'm...not sure. At first, I was happy about being able to prove magic exists, but now with being stuck on another world? It's a hard pill to swallow." He said with a grimace as he let out a long sigh. It wasn't like David, to be afraid or even worried, and it was killing me to see him like that. I reached out and squeezed his hand as he looked at me in shock, probably not expecting the motion. "To be honest, David. This crap scares me too. But being here with you and my brother makes it seem...less crazy." I said as he smiled softly at me, causing my face to heat up. I realized what I had said and pulled my hand back quickly, getting a laugh from my Cuban friend. "Aw, thanks Chrissy. Glad to know you care." He said with a slight smirk as I blushed again before turning to the princess and my brother, noticing that they were now laughing together about something. "Would you look at that. Brims gone and made himself a friend." I said with a feeling of pride swelling inside me. He had always had a hard time doing so, and to see him casually conversing with someone other than David (even if it IS a horse princess), it could make anyone feel good inside. The doors to the room swung opened suddenly though, causing conversation to be cut short as another pony thing walled in. This one was smaller than the princess, but seemed to still have that demand for authority in the way she walked and presented herself. Her blue and black looks seemed to match her starry mane perfectly. Princess Celestia stood. "Ah, dear sister. I see you've arrived." With a wing, she motioned to the three of us. "These are our guests that appeared in the garden after that surge of magic earlier." The princess walked over to the right side of the table as she looked at us. Unlike her sister, her gaze held no warmth or kindness. Instead, she bore a cold glare that seemed to be directed at me directly. What the hell did I do? Brim, of course, saw none of this and immediately stood to greet her. "Greetings, princess. My name is Callobrim Blazeheart." He motioned to me with his right hand while Celestia sat back down. "This young lassie is my sister, Christine. And my big friend here is-" David cut him off by standing up and walking over to the princess, causing everyone to stare at him in shock as he approached her with that same soft smile on his face. When he approached, he knelt down on one knee and took one of her front hooves in hand, placing a kiss right on the front of it the same way a guy kisses a lady's hand. "Greetings, Princess. My name is David, and it tis pleasure to be in your presence, m'lady." Great...the chivalry voice is back. Though it appeared to be having a strong effect on the night horse as she blushed heavily while suddenly smiling wide. "O-Our name is Luna..." She said as David made his way back to his seat, ignoring the smug look of Brim and my slight glare. "What was that all about?" I whispered/hissed at him as he smiled at me. "I was getting on the good side of a powerful figure in this world." He said as Luna sat down in the chair across from David before turning to her sister. "Dear sister, where did these three come from?" She asked, her mood suprisingly better after Davids stunt. Celestia nodded to Brim, who smiled at the younger princess. "We come from another world, and were brought here by this" He said as he pulled out the amulet he had gotten from that lady he mentioned. My eyed widened with shock as Davids jaw dropped. "You still have that thing?" I asked, blown away that he had somehow managed to get a hold of it before we were sent here. He shrugged, though I could've swore his blue eyes shined gold for a second before he spoke. "I managed ta grab it before everything went white." He said as he noticed Celestia and Luna staring it in shock. "What's this thing to ya girls? Yer staring at it like ya seen a ghost!" Celestia was the first to speak, though it was clear she was rattled by the sight of thst thing. "That amulet is a powerful artifact made by a...certain individual that wanted to be able to stand up to alicorns. He was punished for making it by being sent to Tartarus, but the amulet was never found." David sighed. "If what your saying is true, then it might've been sent to our world somehow. It would explain the magic that flowed from it and how we even got here in the first place." He said as Luna nodded. "Indeed. Whatever thou did to activate it must have caused it to come back, bringing you three with it." She stated as I turned to Celestia. "If that was made to fight alicorns, which I'm guessing is what you two are, how'd you manage to combat it?" I asked as she pulled a necklace of her own out. It was a crystal with a gold chain attached. "This was made by a dragon friend of ours. It negates spells and absorbs them into the crystal, allowing for later use." She said as she put it away before turning to Brim ad he yawned. "Now, you three must be exhausted. We will allow you to take refuge in the castle for as long as need be." I couldn't help but be suprised. "Really? But you barely know us." Luna snickered slightly. "Our sister has made it clear you three aren't threats to the kingdom, especially after bringing such a cursed artifact back to us with no vile intentions." David chuckled at that, before his stomach growled. "Indeed...but could we eat before we rest. I haven't ate all day, and I am starved." I couldn't help but notice I was feeling the same way, and the with that note from David we settled in and ate the food prepared for us. ***************** Nicholas POV ***************** Christine let out a small breath as a small smile graced her face. It was obvious she held that memory close considering she looked pretty happy after recalling it. "It sounded like things were going pretty well." I said, eager to learn more about the past. Christine nodded. "Indeed. And for the next eight months that followed would be heavenly. David ended up becoming a student under Luna and my brother became the head chef of the castle." I stretched my arms out as I asled the next question. "And what about you? What did you do?" Christine turned her head to a flower vase that was frozen over near her and sighed. "I helped make that garden that rests outside. It was only a hedge maze and several random flowers at the time, but I actually managed to create a beautiful garden from it." She smiled softly as she turned back to me. "Those times were amazing. We laughed, we cried, and we loved." I blinked in suprise. "Love?" She laughed. "My exact reaction at the time. Brim was the first to do so by proposing to Celestia after month six went by. David and I actually got together only a month into being in that world, and ended up herding with two other guys I had befriended at those council meetings Celestia did with other species." "Whoa, who were they?" I asked, blwon away by the what I told. I knew herds worked with multiple females, but the other way around? Christine's face blushed slightly as she recalled the names. "One was Erdrick, a dragon guard that I met while attempting to prank Luna. And the other was Grimbeak, the-" "King of the Griffons?! No way!" I exclaimed loudly, accidently interrupting her. Unfazed by my interruption, she continued. "Indeed. He always was the most...cowardly of the three mates I had, but he also had a real knack with metal." She shook her head. "Regardless, they agreed to share me in the first mostly male herd to exist at the time. I even ended up pregnant with triplets thanks to a special spell from some bell-obsessed wizard guy." I raised an eyebrow at the last part, but chalked it up to Equestria weirdness. "So, you were set to have kids...but what happened? Something had to had gone wrong." It was then that her face went from storytelling content back to insane rage as she stood up immediately. "What went wrong?! I was simply enjoying my own life when I was attacked by Princess Luna!" My jaw dropped. "Luna? But she's harmless!" "HARMLESS?!?!" She yelled back, turning to a frozen pony that looked familiar and kicking it over. "I was simply resting in a garden I had set up in the north for Grimbeak when she appeared proclaiming that my children would grow up to destroy the kingdom and everyone in it!" I took a step back from her rage as I mind attempted to process what I was told. But why would Luna do that? Apparently, Christine saw my confusion as she picked up a staff off the ground. The staff was almost purely white, but had some blue gem sticking out of the end of it. "She claimed that she had gotten the information from my brother, but why would he tell her something like that? It was obvious that she wanted Dadiolus for herself, and killed me to do so." She exclaimed as I found myself wondering one thing. "What about the children...what did she do to them?" I couldn't help but ask. Christine paused in her furious state and, for a moment, looked extremely human before the snarling ice form resettled as she stared me down. "It was a spell, something about banishment to another world or something. But thats besides the point, all I need now is-" CRASH! I turned around quickly and saw that Raiden and Luna were the cause of the noise, the latter looking far more angry at Christine while mt beother simply looked worried. Crap...now things are gonna get bad. ***************** Raiden POV/ 5 minutes ago ***************** "What do you mean Brim told you bout a vision?" I asked Luna as she finished explaining why she attacked a pregnant lady in a garden. She had been recounted her tale of events that had transpired so long ago, and I had actually learned a bunch from it. David was apparently Dadiolus before some tragedy took place, my grandfather not only caused their trip to Equestria but may also have future vision apparently. And the lady on the other side of the door is my technical great aunt. That's a lot to swallow, honestly. Luna sighed. "During his training, Callobrim learned the ability of clairvoyance, giving him sight into the future. He saw what would happen if the kids were born, so he asked me to handle it." I looked to the door as she finished speaking, torn by what I was hearing. Vision or not, why not simply keep watch over the kids and make sure they dont turn evil. Did you have to resort to violence? Seeing my discomfort, Luna draped a wing around my back as she came and nuzzled my neck. "We understand the confusion, love. But it had to be done, just like now we have to finish this once and for all." She stated as I nodded. "Anything to protect Nicholas. Lets go." Just before I went to open the door, I turned back to Luna. "Anything else you need to get off your chest before we go in? I need you at your best for when we fight that woman." She shook her head and put a smile on her face. "Nay, we are ready." I smiled, always loving it when she spoke in that old fashioned way. "Then lets go!" With that, I reared back and kicked open the doors, causing quite the loud crash. Upon entry, I spotted Nicholas (thankfully unharmed) and ahead of him was... Holy shit. This lady looked crazy! Her body was covered in an icy dress while her eyes had these crystals spurting out of them instead of, well, eyeballs. She also had a staff that had a similar ice chunk poking out of it. The lady looked straight at Luna, who was looking pretty ticked off herself, and growled. "Look who finally comes and to visit." She jeered while chuckling lightly. "Tell me, princess. I'm not pregnant and weak bodied anymore, so how do you plan on killing me this time?" Luna stepped forward as Nicholas looked between the two, a look of worry on his face. "Thou should've stayed six feet under, Christine. You were never meant to survive the bonding spell with the wendigo." She said as Nicholas looked straight at Luna in shock. "Wait...you did that to her? What did she do? I thought you only cast a spell on the children?" He asked her as Christine laughed. "Of course, you didn't tell them that you went above and beyond with your stunt that day, did you? why don't you explain why you froze over a pregnant woman who couldn't defend herself?" The ice queen stated as Luna took a step back, her ears pressed against her head as she looked between me and Nicholas. I stepped toward Luna. "Babe...what did you do?" She averted her gaze to the ground, unable to face me. "We...I..." Christine shrugged. "Fine. I'll tell them. She froze me over not out of fear of me being evil, but jealousy over the fact David rejected her romantic advances and went to me instead." I looked between the two, unable to hide my suprise. Christine looked smug, yet deeply pained by the memory while Luna looked ashamed. "Luna...tell me you didnt?" I asked her as she finally faced me. "At that time, I was already feeling jealous of my sister and our ponies love for her. When we realized that David didn't share the feelings we bore for him, and Brim gave us the information on her children..." Nicholas frowned. "You decided to kill her in cold blood, huh." I turned to him, shocked he would say such a thing. "Nicholas!" But he wasn't having it, and he looked outright pissed. "NO! For the past month this woman has been in my head for who knows what reason sending me crazy dreams and crap and come to find out the only reason she's like this is because some princess got jealous?!" Luna turned to him, slight anger in her own eyes at the outburst. "Do not speak about things you do not understand, child." She demanded, but that only fueled his fire. "Understand?! YOU ORPHANED THREE KIDS ON A HUNCH! Then you went and killed the mother on your own accord! What's not to understand!" He yelled as Luna closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to shut his voice out. "No..." She moaned quietly as I stood there, frozen in place as I watched the interaction. "And to think you and Celestia tried Ronin for murder! YOUR JUST AS MUCH A MONSTER AS YOU MADE HIM OUT TO BE!" Christine looked to Nicholas in shock. "Did you say...Ronin? That would only mean..." Luna turned to her in a rage. "Enough! I will not allow you to cause anymore strife!" Her horn glowed, and after summoning a blade, sent it hurtling right at Christine. With a flick of her staff, she knocked the blade away and smirked. "As I said before, I'm not helpless anymore. If you want me dead, your gonna have to work for it this time." With that, she flew forward and swung her staff at Luna in a horizontal manner. With a flash of blue light, Luna had summoned two smaller blades that seemed to curve slightly to block the blow, completely different from the mace she had weilded before against Volt. Luna smirked and pushed Christine back a couple feet with her blades and turned to Raiden. "Get Nicholas out of here! I'll handle Christine." She yelled to me. I nodded, knowing that for now I needed to trust her and could ask questions later. I turned to Nicholas, who was giving me a suprisingly angry glare. "What's with the look? We need to get you-" "I'm not going anywhere. And neither should you! We need to stop that fight." He said as Christine sent a ice beam from her staff right at Luna, who parried it with one of her blades, sending it right at us. "Crap!" I yelled before i spread my wings quickly and, while grabbing Nicholas, used the momentum to jump out of the way and to jump through the door back outside. As we landed, the doors to the throne room shut quickly and were frozen over in ice, an effect from that ice beam no doubt. I stood up and looked around, sighing in relief when I saw Nicholas unhurt several feet from me, though his glare still stood strong. "Raiden. Let me through. I need to help Christine not die by your crazy girlfriends hands." He said as I frowned, unable to understand what i just heard. "Absolutely not! First off, Luna's not crazy! She'll explain everything once Christine's dead. Second off, Your not walking onto a battlefield at ALL." I said as I crossed my arms and huffed, letting out a little smoke in the process. BOOM! The whole hallway shook as an explosion from the throne room went off. This only seemed to determine Nicholas further though, because after he recovered his footing he pulled out some shades and out them on, tranforming into that performer form he uses. Nah, he ain't thinking... "Raiden...I need to get back into that room. Please get out of my way." He said as his eyes glowed slightly. I sighed, but before I could retort Tak and his two other changeling dudes came out of the room and looked between us. "Uh...did we miss something?" **************** Nicholas POV **************** I turned to Tak and the others and smiled, albeit briefly. "Hey guys! Find Larxene?" Tak nodded, though him and the others gained less than happy expressions at the mention of their comrade. "We did, and lets just say finding her forgotten in some random room was not the best thing for me to see today." He stopped and looked at Raiden, then back to me. "Uh...what are you doing though?" I sighed and pointed at Raiden. "Long story short, his girlfriend murdered a pregnant woman years ago, pregnant woman is the ice queen thats in my head. Now the two are fighting again and Raiden wont let me stop it." Axel snorted. "That was the short version? Damn." Roxas turned to Raiden, a look of confusion on his face. "Raiden...Did you see larxene in that room?" He frowned in thought for a second before his eyes lit up in recognition. "Yeah, while we were placing fluttershy there we found her body just dumped there." Tak blinked before frowning. "...And you didn't think to do anything about it?" Raiden shrugged. "I mean, what was I supposed to do? She's a changeling, and I don't know how to handle that crap. We both know Ronins the bug boy of the two of us." Axel growled as he stomped a hoof. "You could've at least had your magic princess clean her up or something! Not leave her in that blood pool!" he yelled as Roxas turned his face away as he trembled slightly, though no one noticed but me. Tak frowned stepping forward to where he was besides me. "And yet you didnt. I wonder, was it because you were busy with your princess, or because she wasn't a pony?" Raidens eyes went wide before he gritted his sharp teeth, allowing me to see his dragon fangs for the first time. "How dare you! Luna cares about changelings as much as anyone else. We had bigger issues to deal with." He yelled as I sighed. "This is getting nowhere. Raiden, move out of the way, I need to stop that fight." Raiden looked me in the eyes as he stared me down for what felt like minutes as a smaller rumble went through the hallway. "...Your not gonna let up, huh." He said as he summoned his axes, though they looked...blunter somehow. "If you want to get in there, your gonna have to prove you can handle yourself first." I clenched my fist and smiled, eager to prove myself to one of my role models in my life, though I paused when I felt s hoof on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Tak there, smiling at me. "We wilk help too. We have to get to the princess and the queen if we are to get answers." Axel snorted as he cracked his hooves...somehow. "Alright! Never fought a dragon before! could be fun!" Roxas, who had been shaking this whole time, looked to Raiden with an anger I didn't think the guy could muster. "You found a dead changeling, left them there to rot...Your marefriend is apparently just as guilty of murder as our king is, yet she judged him...and now you want to bar our path from the truth!? SCREW YOU AND YOUR PONY FRIENDS!!!" With that, Roxas charged up a big beam and blasted it at Raiden, who barely had time to put uo his axes to deflect it. The beam bounced off his axes and hit the door, not only unfreezing it but also blasting it open as well. I turned to Roxas, only to find him laying on the ground, probably pooped from using that much magic at once. Raiden smirked. "Well, that was mighty powerful for such a little guy. Then again, Chrysalis made y'all from my bros love, so no suprise there." He said as a closed the distance between us quickly and swung an axe down towards me at a blinding speed. CLANG! A guitar blocked the shot, and a look to my right showed Axel had changed forms and had conjured another guitar like the one he used during the performance. "Nice Axe, wanna see me grind mine?" He said as he pushed Raiden back a couple feet before ripping a cord on his guitar, sending a wave of magic at him. Raiden huffed and spread his wings, taking to the air and above the red wave sent at him. "Didn't know you three could copy Nicholas like that. Lets see if-OW!" A yellow blast hit Raiden square in the shoulder as Tak chuckled. "If you talk this much, this fight will be even easier than I thought." Raiden glared at the kid as his eyes began to glow a deep blue. "You want to see power kid? Lets do this!" He started inhaling big as a loud yell rang out from behind him and another ice beam shot past Raiden and over our heads, causing us to duck and a grimace to go on my face. Crap, the fight in the throne room is still going, but Raiden isn't letting up! What to do? I thought as Raiden exhaled the breath he had been storing, causing a bright blue flame to fly towards us. Roxas chose that time to wake uo though, and responded to the big flame by putting up an orange bubble around us, though it started to flicker under the strain of the tired changeling. "Axel! Assist Roxas in the shield. Nick! Get ready to go!" Tak said as his own horn started to glow while Axel reverted back to his normal form to assist Roxas, causing the shield to get a orange/red shine to it. "Go?! Where?" I yelled over the sounds of magic and fire. How much fire can Raiden produce? Tak smiled. "The door behind Raiden is open, If we can get you in there, then you can stop the fighting and save the city. We'll keep Raiden at bay, but you need to stop this at the heart!" It was then that a loud, and veeeery pained, scream let out from behind everyone. Raiden stopped the fire immediately and turned around, a tone of fear in his voice. "Luna? Luna, are you alright?!" He asked quickly as Tak nodded to me as Roxas let down the shield. I ran forward, sliding underneath Raiden due to him still hovering over the ground. "What the...NICHOLAS!" He yelled out, amd I almost could feel him as he broke after me. Though, as I turned back to see if he was going to catch me or not, I found him being restrained by a magic rope around him, with Tak being the weilder. "GO!" Tak yelled as Axel helped him pull while Roxas started to close the doors. nearby. I nodded before rurning straight again and running through the doors, jumping through the space in between just before Roxas closed them with a very audible thud. Well...it's just me now. I thought as I approached the throne and the one who was standing in front of it. Christine looked very out of breath, and was currently holding one of the blades Luna had summoned in her hand while pointing it at the princess. Said princess was on the ground looking uo at the frozen human, a small pool of blood slowly getting bigger beneath her. "I don't recall you being this slow, Luna." She said as she knelt next to the princess of night and stroked her cheek. "Tell me, should I carve out your insides and make them your outsides? Or should I just execute you?" I frowned and stepped forward. "How about neither?" I said as they both turned to look at me, one with shock and the other with fear. "Nicholas?! No no no, thou needs to leave, NOW!" Luna said, attempting to stand but was kicked back down by Christine. "Nuh uh uh, stay down." She said as she got up and looked at me. "Young boy, you've got guts to walk up to the lady who stabbed the princess of night and demand she stand down." She threw the sword away as her staff returned to her right hand. "But I'll have to ask you to run along now. I doubt you seeing me fillet a horse is good for your mental state." I clenched my fists as I spoke, slowly getting angry at her attitude towards...everything, honestly. "How dare you even try to act like you care! You've been terrorizing my 'mental state' for a month now! And what will killing Luna even accomplish anyway? It's not like that will bring back your dead children!" I retorted as Christines eyes widened and I realized that I might have just hit a nerve. "How dare YOU!" She screamed as I noticed the icy mist in the room was slowly getting thicker. "You don't understand just how much I hate this princess, this country, and this world! I never asked to come here, and doing so ruined my life!" Those odd ice horse things (Wendigo, I think...) started appearing nearby the queen, looking quite happy for some reason as their ruler snapped. Christine looked to them and smiled before turning to me. "It's clear I won't be able to force you to hate like I did that stupid prince, so I'll just have to improvise." She turned to her icy subjects. "My friends! Absorb my hatred and my power, all of it! We have a new plan, Kill the boy first!" What happened next...was far more disturbing than watching a pony get cut open. Christine opened her arms as hundreds of those Wendigo flew into her or stayed on the outside gnawing at her. After a second, a wall of frozen mist surrounded the queen, though I could hear her either yelling with maddened glee or screaming in pain. Luna, finally being able to stand, turned to me. "Nicholas...Leave. Let us handle this." I shook my head. "Absolutely not. I have to see this through." I looked at her left side, noticing the bloodied spot was already healing. "You might want to go and check on Raiden after this is done. He's probably gonna need your love after this mess." Luna chuckled. "It may as well be thw other way around, considering...oh my." Luna trailed off as the mist wall disappeared, revealing the fate of Christine. What was once a woman with ice issues was now what looked like a werewolf with ice hanging off his fur. His teeth were razor sharp and looked like icicles, while is claws were actual claws that were easily the size of my head. "So...Much...Hate." The wolf said as Luna backed up slightly. "What the heck?" I yelled as Luna grimaced at the sight of the towering wolf. (It was taller than Celestia!) "She summoned Fenrir, and used her body as the portal for his soul." Luna said before turning to me. "Nicholas, I need to go get your brother. Can you survive long enough until then?" I looked between the two, realizing Raidens fire may just be needed here. "Go, I'll keep her busy!" I said as Luna nodded and teleported away. Hearing a growl, I turned to face the winter wolf as I straightened my shades. "We...recall you having a deep connection with a couple of girls in ponyville. After we kill you, perhaps it would be best to pay a certain rich filly a visit." My eyes widened as what she said rang through loud and clear. If I didn't win here, she would go after the girls! Diamond would... I felt something right then, as if something deep withen was being awakened. I looked down at my hands and noticed they were now glowing the same red shade my magic did when I used it. I looked up at Christine and made eye contact with the souless black eyes of an animal. "You think...I'm going to let you leave and hurt those I care about?! Never! As long as I'm alive, youll never leave this castle!" Christine cackled slightly, the laugh sounding very hoarse with the animal lungs she had. "That's the idea, boy." She said as she shot a huge beam of ice from her jaws right at me. I threw up my hands as soon as it connected, feeling the ice hit my hand and disappear immediately. After she stopped, the only damage done was to the area around me that was covered in ice. "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE!" She yelled as I could feel myself charging up. Lets do this. I ran forward, picking up one of the blades Luna had summoned on the way. Christine swung her claws at me from a diagonal angle, but almost lost her balance as I simply appeared behind her instead. "What the- GAH!?" She said before I stabbed the blade through her right arm. In a rage, she swung around, slamming me in the face with her left arm and sending me across the room into a wall. I shook my head and looked up just as she was rushing towards me. But just before she could land a shot she was caught blindsided by a clawed fist from Raiden. "Bro!" I yelled as I got up. Raiden looked at me for a second and smiled before eyeing the monstrous thing in front of us. "Of course! Leave it to Ronin to pull an escape heist and leave us to handle the gaurd dogs." He said as his body started glowing slightly. "What the he-" He was cut off by large flash of light as it engulfed him, and when it left the result was... Crap. Raiden was human again! Thankfully, he had his blue jeans and shirt from before the transformation on (Don't even ask how that works), but he was HUMAN. We needed dragon Raiden! "What the heck happened to-NICHOLAS, WATCH OUT!" He yelled as he pushed me out of the way of whatever was behind me. I was knocked away a couple yards thabks to the ice sliding me, but I quickly got up and turned to face Raiden... ...Only to cry out in shock as I saw that Christine had impaled him with her claws. Raiden looked at her first, then to me before smiling weakly. I Love you, bro. He mouthed as Christine pulled him off her claws and chunked him through the doors outside. No. No...No No No No No No. He can't be dead. He'll be fine. It's Raiden! He's tough! He cant be...... I found myself turning towards Christine as I felt that power from before glow even brighter. She must've noticed this to, because the confident smirk that was on her face was replaced with one of fear. "That power...you can't be..." She muttered as I let out a loud yell that echoed everywhere. "YOU. WILL. PAY!" I roared as I moved forward at a blinding speed and placed a hand on her right arm, blowing it off immediately with a small blast. AAAAH! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Oh, she didn't like that at all, but I was far from done with her. As she attempted to jump out one of the windows to escape, I reached a hand out and snapped my fingers. She collided with what was now a brick wall. Looking sround she realized all the windows were now brick walls. She turned back to find me now with a hand in her left arm. "Child...Please." She begged, but I just didn't care anymore. With another blast, I took off her left arm, causing her to look like one of those fountains in a park...except with blood. NOOOO! I CAN'T...AH! She screamed as I placed both hands on her chest and looked her in the eyes. "You...you'll destroy everything...Luna was right all along." She said with a cough. Ignoring her words, I focused my power into my hands and released it, causing everything to go white. ******************* In space/Faust POV ******************* I was awoken by a surge of power I hadn't felt since Tarus became a god. I quickly appeared by the globe and scanned it, knowing exactly what I was looking for. His powers are awakened already? What could've caused...Oh. I paused just as I watched the boy blast what had to be Christines body to dust before fainting himself. As I continued watching, theee changelings came into the room and immediately sent to his aid while the ice everywhere slowly started to fade. Seconds with his power, and he kills already... I thought as I looked to the scale I had on the side. The time for the Era to be released is coming faster than I wished...But with this new situation, it may be needed. I turned away and looked towards the stars, noticing an odd feeling in my gut. Is this...fear? Is this what mortals feel? It's been ages, and only now do I feel it? I thought, thinking back to the boy. I can't allow that child to replace me. Either Tarus figures out how to kill him, or I'm going to do it myself.