To say that the ponies of the group were nervous would be a greater understatement than saying Guy only jumped a little when he was approached by women. They had just learned a terrible truth about Equestria, their very world was now threatened, and they just witnessed Van easily defend himself from Celestia. Each of them were rather confused at how Luke and Asch were not as disheartened as them. After a few moments of silence, Luna finally spoke up.
"Luke, I understand that you defeated him once before, but surely even you must acknowledge the power he just wielded."
Luke paused for a moment. It was true that Van was incredibly powerful during their previous battle, and that he no longer had the power of Lorelei, but he still exhibited an amazing control over the power of the Fonic Hymns. It made matters worse knowing that the rest of his friends would have no way of helping him, but he had to defeat Van. "I know he's powerful, but we can still defeat him. I can't just let him try and destroy another world."
"Then how do you propose we defeat him?" Luna asked.
"We need to track him down before he can create an army with Fomicry. Asch and I can defeat him once we track him down."
"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm going to search after him on my own." Asch sincerely apologized.
Luke was stunned by Ach's choice. "Asch, we need to stick together. you almost died earlier!"
"You don't have to remind me of that, idiot. You need to think of the bigger picture: Van has ran off to who-knows-where. This world is vast and strange to us, meaning if we split up, we have abetter chance of finding him. You know as well as I do that time is of the essence."
Luke was still holding to any shreds of an argument to convince Asch not to go. "You can't just go off on your own. What if-"
"Heh. When did I ever say I was going alone?" Asch turned and pointed to Derpy. "This one seems rather fond of me already."
Derpy blinked in surprise and pointed a hoof to herself. "You want me to go with you?"
Asch offered a nod to confirm. "I'm not really familiar with this world. I'll need a guide if I ever have any hope of knowing where to look."
This conformation perked Derpy up right away. "Th-This is amazing! I get to go on an adventure with you! Oh, but I'll need to pack supplies. I'll need some muffins, blankets, some bits..."
"What is with this pony and muffins?" Luke thought to himself.
"(I'm not quite sure myself.)" Asch whispered to him.
"Nah! (Next time tell me when you start poking around in my head!)" Luke angrily whispered back.
"What are you two talking about?" Derpy asked.
"N-nothing!" Both Fabre's answered in unison.
"(These two seem a bit... off.)" Applejack whispered to Rainbow Dash.
The prismatic pegasus nodded. "(They are a little weird, but in a cool way.)"
Princess Celestia cleared her throat to draw the group's attention. "I hate to interrupt, but we should stay focused on the current issue. Luke, Asch, what do you think Van is going to do?"
Luke started off explaining. "Well, he's planning to replicate the planet, so he would need materials and power to build a massive Fomicry facility."
Asch continued with his thoughts. "He would also need an army and personnel. He'll likely continue replicating wild creatures until he can build a Fomicry machine. He wouldn't want any intelligent creatures replicated into mindless beasts."
Celestia closed her eyes in thought. This was troubling news indeed. She had to contain this threat quickly if she was to protect her subjects. "If he's going to gather materials, he might try one of the more industrial cities, like Manehatten or Trottingham. As for power, he could easily enslave unicorns for a source of magic energy."
"W-what?!" Twilight blurted in shock. "How could they do that to innocent ponies! And I'm not sure I would like the position of 'living battery'."
Rarity nodded in agreement. "How horrid! To subjugate them into slavery. And for such a vile purpose! They must be stopped!"
"I understand your being upset, but this is the harsh truth of the situation." Celestia answered. "I myself am torn simply thinking of it..." She finished with a small shudder.
"Sister, to replicate an entire planet... do you think that the enslavement of the unicorns could possibly be enough?"
Celestia raised a brow. "Are you suggesting they would attempt to attack one of us?"
"Yes. It may be foolhardy, but it seems like the only logical way for them to attain such power."
This only added to Celestia's unease. This human already displayed enough power to defend himself against her magic, so the threat he posed to her was very real. "He is indeed powerful, but I am certain I can protect myself. You must be on guard too, Luna. If he means to target an alicorn for a source of power, I may not be his only target."
Luna gulped, but nodded reassuringly to her sister. "I understand. He will not take either one of us without a fight."
Celestia then turned her attention back to the two humans. "The two of you should make haste to the cities. I will inform my guards that you are on official business, and to inform you of any new occurrences. I hope you will forgive me, but I hope to avoid sending them to attack these 'God-Generals'. I fear that such an attempt would only result in their deaths, or bolster the numbers of our enemy."
"That may be wise." Asch reassured. "I'll head for this 'Trottingham'. That leaves Manehatten to you, Luke."
"Alright. I'll see what I can find there. We should contact each other if we find anything."
"Right. Also, you had better stay focused on your half of the operation. I don't want this turning into another Spinoza incident." Asch chided.
"H-hey! Everything worked out, didn't it?" Luke defended.
"Tch. Whatever. We need to get our supplies and rest before we attempt this." Asch added.
Rainbow groaned in annoyance. "It's already so dark! And I can't get a birds-eye-view through that canopy!"
"I believe I can make this easier for you." Celestia said. With her horn aglow, she looked into the recent memories of the travelers to find their campsites. Once she pinpointed them, she passed the location of Asch's camp to Luna. "I will bring you back to your camp, Twilight. Luna will escort Ms. Hooves and Asch back to theirs. Once you have gathered up your things, we will bring you back to Ponyville so you can rest."
"Of course Princess. We won't fail you!" Twilight assured.
Without another word, the two alicorns teleported the two groups to their respective camps. Luke felt slightly disoriented, but quickly shook it off.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that..." He muttered.
"You've teleported before?" Pinkie asked.
"Kind of... it happened when I met Tear. Our fonons reacted and we get whisked into Tataroo Valley." Luke explained.
"Your fonons reacted? Was it because you two were in love?" Pinkie asked innocently.
"W-what?!" Luke exclaimed in shock. "We were just friends at the time. W-wait! I-I mean..."
Pinkie beamed at Luke's words. "Luke has a girlfriend! Luke has a girlfriend!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced about in a circle.
"Sh-shut up!" Luke retorted in frustration.
"Ahem." Twilight interrupted. "We're finished gathering our things. Celestia, are you ready?"
"Of course my faithful student." The Princess of the Sun replied. Her horn glowed bright once again, and the group was teleported back to Ponyville.
Applejack had trouble stifling her yawns. "Well, Ah'm plum tuckered out. Ah'll see y'all tomorrow." The orange mare then trotted off towards her home.
"Yeah, I'll be sure to catch up with you guys after I crash for a bit." Rainbow said as she darted off for her home in the clouds.
The others began saying their goodbyes before heading off to their homes. Celestia waited until everypony but Twilight and Luke were out of earshot. "Both of you... I leave the fate of Equestria in your care. I trust that you and your friends will face many triumphs... and trials. But you must not lose faith. I believe that you have what it takes to protect Equestria. All of you."
Twilight offered a reassuring smile to her mentor. "Don't worry Princess. We haven't failed you before, and we certainly won't start here."
Luke nodded in agreement. "I've gone through enough to protect my own world, and I'm not about to quit when Master Van is still a threat. Even if it costs me everything, I won't stop until he's defeated!"
Celestia could see the determination in both of their eyes, the power of which allowed a small smile to spread across her lips. "Thank you. I will depart for Canterlot, but I will watch over all the way." With that, Celestia took her leave. Luke and Twilight made their way back to the library so they could rest as well. Luke waited until Twilight had drifted off before he began writing in his diary.
Things have gotten worse here. Master Van is alive for certain... and he still plans to create a replica Auldrant. I wish that was all, but he now plans to replicate every wold there is. He thinks that the Score has control over every world in existence. I... I wish I could say for certain that he's wrong... but what about that Fonstone he found? Is it possible that for once he's right? No. I can't just accept that. I need to believe that he's wrong. Otherwise what have I learned from my journey? I'll keep holding onto hope. I'm sure that my friends are still out there, and I won't let them down.
Luke set down his diary and his quill. He glanced at Twilight's sleeping form. She looked so peaceful and cute. He then allowed himself to drift off, knowing that he had friends to fight for here.
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Asch felt unease as he laid in his bed. The road to come would certainly not be an easy one. He thought of everything that had led to this. He continued to dwell on what Van had taken from him. Because of him, he didn't have a family, a home, or anyone to go back to.
You're wrong. The voice in his head told him again. You have Luke, and Natalia, and your parents. You have more than you think, but only if you believe that yourself.
Asch thought about what the voice told him for a moment. Perhaps he had been thinking about this all wrong. He really did have people that cared about him. He had even found a companion in Derpy. He couldn't make an exact conclusion on these new thoughts swirling in his head, so for now he settled for resting for the journey to come.