For everything it was worth, that golem was far too simple to kill. Maybe it was my paranoia that I would constantly be running into something or someone out to kill me, but I half expected the archive doors to release another abomination. The fact that nothing happened and I was led straight to my goal was a welcome relief. Such things hardly last though.

The Root of All Evil

My eyes snapped open just as if they had closed for a blink. It was hardly a fraction of a second, but in that time frame everything had changed. It wasn’t in the metaphorical sense either, this was quite literal. I was standing in some place that I had never been before, it didn't even look like my world or Equis. The ground was completely black, even the grass, and the few scattered trees had withered to an even worse state than the ones in the Metro. There were weapons and armour lined up on wooden racks as well as strewn amongst the ground. Yet, among that, there were trees and splotches of grass that looked completely normal while some looked … pink?

I tried to move some part of my body, but nothing responded, yet at the same time I could feel my head turn and gaze at the three ponies that stood just to my right. Before I focused on the ponies, I came to the conclusion that once more I was in a vision or a dream of some sort. This was the third time something like this had happened since I arrived. I missed the times when they were much farther spaced, at least the Dark Ones had the generosity to let me recover before hitting me with another.

I finally broke free from my thoughts and decided to go along with the vision. I turned my focus to the three ponies in front of me, only to be stunned by the sight. I was shocked, mentally anyway, as my 'physical' body wasn't feeling any sensation. It was like being paralysed from the neck down, though I've never experienced actual full bodied paralysis before.

Standing in front of me, and a little to the right, were the Princesses, Celestia and Luna. Yet, they looked completely different. Both of them seemed to be marginally shorter than what I remember, but I quickly realized that I also seemed to be at least a twenty centimetres taller than what I normally was. It was, honestly, an odd feeling to just be able to tell that I was taller. Of course, maybe this came along with the whole riding along during a vision.

Not only were the Princesses shorter but their colours were off. Celestia’s coat was hardly as white as it was when I last saw her, and her hair … mane, didn't have that natural flow or even the vibrancy of colours that I remembered. No, she simply had a pink mane. Luna was an even more drastic change. Her fur was a light blue instead of the dark hue that she had back in castle and her mane was a limp blue that was only a little darker that her coat.

Not to mention that they looked slightly scraped up and had no sort of jewellery.

All in all, I was getting a little weirded out by this. Usually my visions had the decency to include stuff that looked the same or even flashbacks of things that happened to me. Now though, I was witnessing something that I would never have recollection of.

Finally, the last pony in front of me was a male this time. he stood a slight bit shorter than the Princesses but was nearly their polar opposite. While the Princesses were lighter colours, this stallion had a light grey fur colour along with a light black mane. Aside from his sharp green eyes, I spotted a horn standing proudly out of his longer mane, it looked much like Shining’s but keeping with this new pony’s fur colour.

Whoever the new pony was, he seemed hardened by war. I had seen such types before, and this one was no different. If he and the Princesses were marred by war, then that meant I was hardly in the same time period as when I was awake. Maybe I would garner some answers if I listened to what had to be said - if they ever talked.

“We doth beseech additional aid from thee. We went exceedingly close to achieving victory during the last battle!” Celestia said as she stepped toward the being I was watching from. “Had we another like us, we could halt any further cruelty from that villainous Discord.”

She sounded tired, but at the same time, she had hope radiating from her every word. She truly believed in what she was saying. That begged the question of, did whoever they were addressing have any faith in them?

“We have a plan in motion.” The voice that replied seemed to radiate more from my mind then it did from any sort of mouth. Yet it come from where I was, as if there was something else standing in my exact spot. My vision was forced to move slightly to the right before returning back to its original place. The feeling was beyond odd but it led me to one conclusion, I was spectating from within something.

“Thou don’t understandeth!” Luna spoke up, her voice still carried that archaic form of their language as did her sister, which made some sense given the era’s technological level. Flaws and imperfections in the weapons and armour around us indicated a highly craft oriented era, unlike modern times, of both Canterlot and my own. “Discord doth press our armies back! We art in dire need of relief!”

“So you need another?” The strange and seemingly all encompassing voice spoke once more.

“Yes,” came Celestia’s voice once more, “we hast need for one who is like unto ourselves. Thou aided us, to increase our might, more so than our former might. Discord, however, art more than the twain of my sister and I, canst overcome. Hence, the reason why we art before thee. We beseech thee to bestow thy blessings upon General Sombra.”

It was strangely satisfying to hear Celestia beg, even if it could hardly be considered that. Of course this just brought up an entirely new string of questions. Who was Discord? Was this the same Sombra that Shining mentioned? Finally, what was this ‘gift’ that Celestia mentioned?

Damn, it was annoying to not be able to talk and interact with those who could possibly answer my questions. I was stuck just listening in on what was happening, at least it was better than just reading. Not that I had anything against learning from books.

“Mayhaps we canst use this tactic to afford us additional time to search for a more perfect solution regarding the Chaos Bringer.” This time Sombra spoke for the first time. The voice was deep and gravelly. It reminded me a little of Miller, not entirely, but just enough to figure out that this pony had seen a fair amount of fighting.

I could feel the body I was in getting tense, as if it wanted to step up and attack the ponies or maybe just lash out. It never happened though, instead it just relaxed as if someone had put a hand on its shoulder to calm it. Of course this wasn’t physical, it felt as if the whole thing went on in my mind.

The three ponies didn't respond to that, instead they just opted to nod. Sombra, proceeded to step forward a little further than before. It was clear that he was ready to proceed with whatever ‘ritual’ that was going to help them defeat this Discord. Of course I was endlessly curious about what they were going to do.

I could feel my legs begin to move, my path aimed towards Sombra but my sight was suddenly cut off. It wasn’t the first time I had experienced this, yet it was still jarring to suddenly lose my sight, so to speak.

There was an odd feeling pulling on what I could only guess as the centre of my chest. It wasn’t akin to a cramp or something coming from within me; no, it felt as though someone had tied a rope around my insides and started to pull me backwards. That actually would have been painful, but the experience felt hardly worse than if someone had gripped my arm.

The pulling grew in force until I could literally feel myself being ripped backwards. My body collided briefly with what I could only guess as being a curtain. The collision was only for the briefest of moments before I was pulled through it, though it did feel like some sort of fabric. I didn't get much time to finish contemplating though. as my back collided with something much more solid than a fabric curtain. The impact knocked more than the wind out of me; for, as a result, I could not see. A numbing feeling grew in my legs quickly spread throughout my body until I couldn't tell if I even had one. So I just floated there, aimlessly.

My entire being felt as though a wall of water slammed into it. A dull ache encompassed what I thought was me as my mind slowly began to refocus on the world around me. For some odd reason I had started to hope that whatever visions I was experiencing would have ended after just that first one.

Of course I was wrong for I apparently had a natural affinity to getting visions from others … and now from books.

As my eyes refocused, I could see the backsides of the Princesses. We seemed to be walking, albeit rather slowly, but walking nevertheless. What caught my eye though, was what I could see of the terrain, considering I was trying to not think about the fact the Princesses were in fact horses that had no shame, so to speak.

We were currently on more normal ground, at least compared to the last vision. The ground was of rough dirt mixed with large patches of rock. It made sense, since I could see canyon walls out of the corner of my host’s eyes. I was definitely enjoying this change of scenery, the pink sections of the ground and grass were getting a little annoying.

“‘Tis in here we doth presume?” Luna’s question snapped me out of my inspecting of the ground. It was actually kind of funny how caught up I was in the terrain. My eyes moved back to focusing where my host was looking. Luna and Celestia were about to turn the corner into some sort of cavern.

My host continued its slow pace towards the cavern mouth. Honestly, I was expecting Celestia and Luna to run from the cave with some sort of creature chasing after them. Maybe it was my spiteful stance on them that warranted such a thought, but it didn’t matter since it failed to happen. Instead, I heard a voice echo out of the cavern. It wasn’t loud but it still carried.

“The Tree of Harmony?” Luna nearly gasped while questioning what she was seeing.

My host’s body rounded the cave entrance, allowing me to see what nearly took Luna’s breath away. She was right to be in awe for at the far end of the cave stood a glimmering … crystal … tree.

If I had control of this body’s hands, I would have thrown them up in defeat. It was as if this world adored crystals. An entire empire made out of them and then there had to be a tree that was made out of crystals. I was nearing my breaking point with regards to crystals. Sure, they were beautiful, but at that point it was too much of a good thing.

The tree though was remarkable to say the least. It rose from the ground to the entire height of the cavern, which had to be a good twenty meters tall. The jagged nature of the entire tree spoke volumes of where it came from. This thing was a creation of nature itself. At least, that was what it seemed like until we neared it. Luna and Celestia were the closest to the tree while my body and the group that I sensed behind me were probably ten meters from the foot of the tree.

Adorning the tree was etched symbols, something that nature had no part in. They were carved by someone or something. Five main branches shot off in separate directions, just as jagged as the rest of the tree. What was odd though was that at the end of each, a jewel was slotted into what appeared to be a perfectly carved section. Dead centre of the tree was a massive six point star which just seemed to be an extension of the crystal behind it.

Celestia and Luna just stood there for a moment before turning their heads back to my host and its group. Their faces were slightly scrunched up, showing some sort of confusion as to what they were seeing. It was odd, considering that Luna called it by a name, though it was possible that they knew of it but not of what it exactly was.

“In front of you is what we have been working on,” a voice beside me spoke yet my host didn't turn to see who. “The very planet itself has risen up and given you the chance to bring harmony back.”

“Art thou certain?” Luna spoke as she turned her head towards my host body. Her eyes told volumes about how she felt; her uneasiness, her lack of faith, and her doubt.

“Discord betrays the very being of harmony. The Tree of Harmony holds what you call magic; a very powerful magic that is in tune with the very being of the planet. As long as the Tree and the Elements are active as one, Equestria will know only harmony.”

“And regarding Discord?” Celestia spoke with a hint of anger. “And what art these Elements?”

“On the end of each branch is an Element of Harmony, the vessels, containing the tree’s powerful magic. Within the centre, beneath the star, is the final Element. Those are your weapons to defeat Discord.” I was beyond curious at where that voice was coming from, yet I was still restricted in what I could view.

“Thou hast not answered our question. What art they?” Luna spoke, turning to fully face my host body.

“Have you forgotten what we asked you, not three weeks ago? When we asked you what comprised of harmony in this world?”

Luna’s face scrunched up into a tightly knit frown, brows furrowing as if she felt insulted by the questions. She took an aggressive step forward, muzzle preparing to issue some sort of verbal lashing for asking such questions. Her opportunity was stolen though as Celestia spoke up.

“Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Loyalty. They art that which comprises the harmony of this land,” she said, turning to face the tree. “Thou has named only five of the Elements, yet there art six gems. Why?”

“The sixth is one of the bases on which this planet stands; the dimensional force that is exuded by every living thing, or as you know it: magic.” The voice paused briefly, as if considering its next words before continuing, “it is what now binds you to the sun and the moon and it is the same thing which will defeat Discord.”

Celestia and Luna were deathly silent at this. Hell, I would have been the same way, but I think my silence would have been based more around the complete nonsense that was being spewed from the voice. There, within the mysterious figure’s words, lay some sort of revelation which had just been given to them. It obviously soared completely over my head.

This place was not my world, nor my time so it was forgiveable - at least in my eyes. If Khan was here he would have chastised me out for not paying close enough attention to what was going on.

Wait, where was Khan? I would have thought that this type of vision would have been the most important type for him to see. If he can willingly enter my dreams then how come he wasn’t here, in this one? I mean, what was the difference between a dream and what I was seeing? All it comprised of was watching something happen, be it real or fiction.

“We art ready,” Celestia and Luna spoke as one, their voices sounding determined and rejuvenated. Before, they were just tired, now they seemed to have gotten their strength back. Their voices snapped me back to what was going on in front of me and boy did I miss a fair amount.

Apparently Celestia and Luna now had six glowing crystals, of different colours yet similar shapes, minus a star shaped one, surrounding them. Well, surrounding them wasn’t the right phrase; it was probably closer to floating ominously, in a circle pattern, around them.

Something struck me in the back of my mind, a thought … no, more like a memory of something that had been said to me. The name that was given to the floating crystals, the Elements of Harmony. That name felt familiar, like I had been told about it in passing or amidst a long winded speech. If I had fingers, I would have been snapping them in an attempt to figure out where I had heard that name before. The snapping wouldn't actually do anything, it was more of a habit that I did when thinking.

Slowly, pieces of the puzzle came back to me. Those Elements of Harmony were used to free someone from a corruption, while petrifying another being. It was Twilight who spoke about them, she spoke as though she had personal knowledge about them. She had something more about it, like how they matched their … marks.

It dawned on me after that last bit of information came back. I had met Equestria’s oldest and most powerful weapon, the six ponies that were with the Princess and Shining. They had been there for that little meet and greet now that I looked back on it, most likely as some sort of defence against me if thing went south. At least, that was what I would have done, and probably most commanders.

How could I have forgotten such an important fact? I mean, sure, I wasn’t paying complete attention to Twilight during her ramblings, only catching stuff that would give me any concern. Looking back, I gave the thought of jewelled necklaces being a powerful weapon a simple amused huff before filing it away as nothing more that fairy tale. Sure, she told me that they were the ‘bearers’ of the Elements but at that point I was sure that this world was made on sugar and candy.

A tugging feeling forced my attention back onto the vision or at least what was left of it. The scene that I had zoned out on was slowly fading into the distance as if someone was carrying a picture away from me. I knew what was about to come, either I would get that feeling of moving to another vision or I would awake to an awkward situation.

No matter how unlikely the second option was, it was at least more positive than what would likely happen. I could handle something awkward, but more visions would be a trying thing. They were truly getting on my nerves, since it seemed to be happening to me every other night at that point.

The feeling of being pulled through that fabric curtain hit me without warning once again. Much like last time I felt myself hit something immensely more solid than the fabric. Another bout of blindness and loss of feeling in my body followed shortly thereafter.

My eyes blinked in rapid succession, battling the little spots of black that hovered over my vision. I was actually starting to get used to the whole ‘waking up after being knocked unconscious’ thing, I was able to return my sight to normal much faster than the other few times. Though, with that being said, I still was getting annoyed at having to constantly do it. Sure, it was another vision, the lack of being in control of my body proved it, but that didn't mean I would willingly let myself get knocked around like this.

I did my best to sigh, considering I didn't actually have any control of the body. Of course it never was released out of this little mental prison, but it still felt better to release the slightly agitated sounding breath. No matter how often visions were thrown at me, I would fully never get used to them. At least it was better than what I was observing, watching something’s memories were far more disturbing to me. Though maybe it was just a vision and not a memory. I was confused immensely at where to draw the line, opting to refer to them as visions.

My eyes started to scan the surrounding area and to my surprise I found something, no, someone, that I had never seen before. A large beast that easily towered over whoever’s body I was in and blocked out all but a few parts of whatever building we were in. A green mass of scales that seemed to resemble a …

A fucking dragon. A giant, green scaled dragon that stood on all fours. Its wings folded against it side, while the golden eyes were looking down at my host’s body. Despite its massive body taking up nearly all of my vision, I could see nearly every aspect of the dragon, ranging from the horns on its head to the spikes on its massive tail.

If I had control over my arms, they would have been up in defeat once more. This whole world was getting ridiculous again. First there was talking unicorns and pegasi from ancient mythology, and now there were fairytale creatures here as well.

Twilight had told me about dragons, but even when she did, I stopped the line there. I didn't vocalize it, but I basically refused to believe any more ridiculousness. I should have listened to her, because then it would have at least saved me from having an enormous culture shock - well another one at least.

“Many of mine species revere thine species as though ye wert gods. ye came to our aid, helping our reconstruction efforts, teaching us knowledge we never thought possible, and yet ye continue to claim to be nothing more than travellers on a journey. Why?”

The dragon could talk. I was done, I might as well just roll with the punches at that point, because nothing was going to start making sense any time soon. I wanted to scream out my frustrations, to just let it all go, but I couldn't. No matter how much shit I had seen in my life, this was beyond what I could take. The moment I awoke, I would need something strong to hopefully drown out the sheer crazy I was witnessing.

“In hope of finding a new home for ourselves. We are indeed travellers, but ones with purpose,” a voice replied. It was similar to the one from the last vision but the pitch was different. “All we have given you is the methods to become a nation.”

The dragon chuckled slightly, which was odd enough to see, talking aside. “Which art more than we ever had. We hath been divided for millennia, joined together against a mutual foe, and thine kind can enable us yo achieve unity. There art more to thine kind than ye reveal.”

“There are many things about us that we don’t show,” the voice seemed to become even more distant. “That is true with every being though. You cannot tell me that dragon do not hold secrets from the other beings of this world.”

The dragon didn't reply, he merely turned his gaze from my direction. He eyes opted to look at the carvings on the wall of the building, which I too, followed. To me there only seemed to be scratches in distinct patterns but they were nothing more than scratches. The first thing that came to mind was a language that I simply couldn't understand. Maybe their spoken word was the same, but that didn't mean their written had to be.

“Hast thou journeyed to the Gryphon Empire, as of late?” the dragon asked, his eyes never leaving the carved wall. I guessed he was male, the voice being thick and low pitched.

“I have not been there personally, but my brethren have. They told me that they are even more devote on following us. They have even erected a temple in our honour,” the voice said, trailing off with a little sadness behind it. “It is not what we have wanted. The entire city of Alfasia was altered to make space for it, the monstrosity.”

“Thou hast united three nations following the worst era in all of our history. It can not be helped. I wouldst have expected thee to have basked in the adulation in much the same way as the Sun Bringer, or the Crystal King does.”

“Speaking of Celestia, she has seemed a little distant lately. Her sister has been even worse. They have stopped treating us as friends and more as acquaintances. Do you have any idea s to why?”

The dragon shook his head, eyes moving back down to where I stood. “The Crystal Kingdom hath been silent as of late. Their friend, the Crystal King, hath been behaving in an isolationist manner. Our trade within the kingdom hath ceased completely. Perhaps the Everfree is on her thoughts? It has been acting rather violently as of late. Our Premier Oracle can sense the land’s unease.”

“Yes, we can as well. We will see how far it goes, I have a feeling that Celestia and Luna are still holding onto the Elements,” the voice said, the last line barely muttered out loud. It was obvious that the dragon still picked it up though.

The dragon and my host stared at each other for a few more moments, not breaking eye contact during the entire thing. Finally, my host turned around to slowly walk out of the building. This allowed me to see where we were, and damn was it large.

The two Palaces that I had stayed at had nothing on this building in terms of size. The hall had to be made for those gigantic dragons to fit in and it could easily do that, and then some. The ceiling had to be a good thirty meters off the ground if not more, while the width of the massive building was two times that. Only now was I noticing that the entire thing seemed to be made of stone, a well polished and carved stone, but stone none the less.

It reminded me of one of those ancient structures I had seen a few books, what was the name of it? It started with a P and I knew where it was located in but I just couldn't place the name. The ancient Greeks knew how to build such structures and it seemed that these dragons were unintentionally mimicking them. This world was beginning to show parallels to mine, or maybe I was indeed just dreaming the entire scene and my mind filled in blanks by using stuff from my world.

Such an impossible thing to tell, the difference between and vision and a dream. Though they sound the same, they only share one common aspect; you aren't awake. A dream can be built from one’s own imagination, using pieces from their life or from what they learned, to create the story. All the while, a vision is forced upon the viewer who has no control whatsoever.

I was utterly confused by the statement. There were no preceding words said by the dragon and yet my host spoke up as if it was replying to someone. There was no reason for the voice to speak at all, it didn't flow with what was said before. What did he mean by ‘we know?’

I didn't get the chance to contemplate, as the all too familiar pulling sensation returned to me once more. At that point I was just tired of the endless stream of visions. There was no escaping them and it was futile to even try and go against what was happening.

I relaxed my body as the same repetitive feelings hit me back to back, forcing me to ‘black out’ once more.

Once again my eyes blinked open rapidly, whatever I was witnessing was blurry once more. I was actually starting to get used to this, which was annoying to say the least. I didn't want to get used to this, since I knew that soon enough I would wake up and everything would be normal once more. Getting used to such a thing would just show that I am finally breaking down and accepting things that happened in Equestria.

I didn't want to accept what was happening here, I wanted to get home. I wanted to get back and try to salvage what had happened. That is considering that I could even get back home. No! I can’t think like that. Equestria was as real as my home in the Metro, and I was somehow transported to it, that meant that there is a chance to get home.

I forced myself out of the spiral of thoughts to focus on my current whereabouts.

Maybe I was expecting too much now. First there was a completely ridiculous looking forest, complete with colours in the ground that would never naturally occur. Then there was a cave that contained probably the most reality breaking tree in existence, and probably the shiniest as well. Lastly, there was the previous vision which placed me in a Ancient Greek style building that was built for dragons.

To say that I was disappointed that I was now standing in a normal looking cave, with a white furred and yellow maned pony in front of me, was a little bit of an understatement. I would have envisioned the next one to have me sitting on the moon enclosed in some sort of magic domed city, which, admittedly, would have been completely awesome.

To see the Earth, or at least this planet, from the moon would have been a spectacle in itself. Even if it was just in a vision, I could still claim to have visited the moon. Such a feat hadn't been accomplished in years, long before I had even been alive and possibly before my mother’s time as well.

Moon based thoughts aside, this cave was hardly what I expected and the fact that the only other occupant, save for my host body, was an average looking pegasus pony. No princess and no dragons, my disappointment was growing … which it shouldn't since I shouldn't feel disappointment in such a thing.

The cave was a simple rock one, shaped into a tunnel that seemed to twist around a corner and go on for however long. The walls and ceiling was beyond rough compared to the caves below the Crystal Empire, so this spoke volumes about where we were. I could rule out the Crystal Empire, assuming that the entire place was made of crystal. I had a feeling we were in a mountain of some sort, of course that was assuming that all underground caves were crystal and there were no crystal mountain ranges that I knew about.

My eyes removed themselves from the bland dark grey walls of the cave and moved to the pegasus in front of me. She was a pony that seemed familiar, but yet she looked nothing like any that I had met … considering I had only met two as it was, aside from guards and the Princesses. Her yellow mane was a little poofy, but it hardly compared to Pinkie’s mane, which seemed to be composed of pink, intertwining, bubbles. The mane style of this mare seemed to just be made up of curling hair instead.

Other than that, she looked like a little like the guards that had escorted me, except that I could actually see her ‘Cutie Mark.’ It was comprised of of two purple balloons floating upwards, I guess. That would have been the best guess for what they looked like but I was no expert in such a field.

Speaking of ‘Cutie Marks,’ I cringed every time I heard that term. It made me think more of a young girl’s imagination than anything, and I think these ponies would have been more of a nightmare to that girl with how some of them acted. They would be known as ‘Talent Stamp’ when speaking in conversation with any being, that would be a nice way to annoy Shining and as well as avoiding saying the true name.

The pony who stood in front of me was looking up at me with a hint of confusion mixed along with sadness that seemed to tug harder on my heart strings than I would have thought. She had better change that look quickly or I would probably have to stop looking at her just to regain some of the hardened appearance I put on. Not that she would ever notice me losing any of it.

“Why am I here? I mean, you just randomly asked me to meet you in the middle of nowhere and lead me into this cave, as if you were going to do something evil to me which is absurd since I know better,” the mare spoke quickly but yet it wasn’t beyond understanding.

“Surprise, you know what has happened and yet you still believe in us. That is why you are here. We need to leave and you are an important part in something larger than you could imagine.” That voice from the first two visions was back and it even carried a hint of sadness.

From how he spoke, I assumed that this mare was named Surprise. I was always on my game in terms of deductive reasoning. At that thought I actually let out a small chuckle, it reminded me of something that Ulman would have said.

“I want to understand why you have to go though! Why are the Princesses hunting you down? I thought we were all friends, that was what both you and my parents told me,” the mare said with a tears forming at the corner of her eyes. “I don’t want you to leave; I don’t want to lose any of my friends.”

The mare promptly broke down, crying as though she had just lost her closest friend. For the first time I felt my host’s limbs move in a way that wasn’t walking. He crouched beside the mare, hand moving under her chin and raising it up. Despite this action I still couldn't see the limb, nor any other body part. It was if the body’s looks were just omitted from this vision.

“Listen to me, Surprise. You will not be losing any friends on this day. Though we not be here any longer, you will always have a deep connection to us. One that will help us return when the time is right.”

“You promise you will return?” The mare had a small smile on her face yet streaks of tears stained her fur.

“You know I cannot promise that, Surprise. That is just one of those things that cannot be foreseen.” At his response, Surprise once again began to shed tears, sobs wracked her body. I was truly amazed that she was even able to stand at that point, her legs were shaking that much.

My host body’s hands reached out once more, this time cupping the sides of her head gently. The mare looked back up at us … me, whatever. It was heart wrenching to see the tears flowing freely from her face, reminiscent of watching a young girl cry. I had to close my own eyes for a moment to gather myself, even those who had been hardened by war could still feel emotions.

An odd sensation seemed to be welling up in the body of my host, almost like a spark being nurtured into a flame. It was a feeling beyond words for it was something inhuman, something that only one of this world could probably do. When the spark had reached the point of a roaring fire, the ‘flames’ flowed from the centre of our body and into our hands. Yet it didn't stop there, instead continuing through our fingertips and into Surprise.

On the outside there was no changes and it would have been impossible to actually tell if we had even done anything but I could feel the power flowing into her, spreading throughout her own body. I had to say, being able to utilize magic was an experience that I would never forget, even if I hadn't actually done anything but transfer some power to a mare that I had never even met before.

“I do but I … I can’t explain it. I can hear you talking but I'm not hearing it with my ears, more like your voice is in my head. Is that supposed to happen? Am I going to be okay? Please tell me that was supposed to happen! I don’t want to die!”

It was a funny thing to see the mare go from crying her eyes out to panicking because she thought she was going to die, this pony had a truly short attention span.

“No, that is to be expected, Surprise. What we have given you is a gift, something that no other on this world can claim to have,” my host’s voice spoke again. Still it didn't feel or sound like it was coming from a mouth. “You are more like us than any being on this world, even the Princesses. They were given a gift, but not as unique as yours.”

“But, why? Why me?” Her face was scrunched up in a confused look. It was still a little difficult to get used to, the whole ‘extremely express horse face’ thing that is.

“Despite all that has happened, you have stuck by my side. No, not just my side, you have stayed with us all through the roughest of times. That, Surprise, is the main reason we are giving you this.”

“I had already mentioned the connection that will be held between us, the one that will allow us come back if we need to. Yet there is one more reason and I'm sorry, Surprise, but I cannot say what it is. Something need to stay locked away, no matter the circumstances.”

Surprise seemed to deflate a little at that, but she had finally gotten a small smile to show up on her face. She didn't say a word but her head lifted and looked up at my host before a taking a few deep breaths.

My head turned to look behind me, something switching my host’s attention away from Surprise. What was the new centre of attention was something a little too similar. Something that I had literally just seen in the waking world, and then promptly destroyed.

A portal that contained swirling colours of black and that sick green colour. The floating spires were not made of crystal though, so it wasn’t exactly the same. Such a sight brought about a revelation. Whoever, or even whatever, I was watching go through these events, they were the ones who created that portal and quite possibly were responsible for numerous events that had happened throughout the history of Equestria. Only the first revelation could actually be backed with evidence, the other was merely just a speculation based upon what I was viewing.

My host’s head snapped back to Surprise, looking down on the pegasus once more. “It is time, Surprise. I must go, my people need me.”

She meekly nodded her head before speaking, “I understand. I won’t forget you.”

“Neither shall I, Surprise. Goodbye.” The voice was curt with the reply, but I could almost feel sorrow dripping from it.

“Wait!” Surprise yelled from behind my host. It took a moment but eventually our shared body spun around to face Surprise once more. We merely looked at her, wordlessly beckoning her to speak her mind.

“I-” she began before stopping. She took a second to compose herself, “I don’t like goodbyes. I never have … how about ‘till next time?”

My host walked slowly up to her, kneeling once more in front of Surprise. Our arms extended and wrapped around the mare, pulling her towards us, and enveloped her in an all encompassing hug to which the mare returned generously.

We stayed that way for a few moments before our grip on her slowly released, letting her move slightly away from us. We stood up, towering over her once more.

“That we can do, Surprise. Until next time.” My host spoke before turning back to the portal. Yet our body stopped before we actually made it into the portal. “Same to you to, Artyom.”

I didn’t even get a chance to speculate on that before those all encompassing feelings hit me like a tidal wave.

Perspective: Shining Armour

“You did the right thing, Shinny.” Cadance spoke from behind me, wrapping her hooves completely around my neck. That is one of the reasons why I loved my wife, that and she was probably the most beautiful mare in Equestria. No matter what, Cadance was there to be supportive or to at least guide me in the right direction and thankfully she was starting to rub off on me. It wouldn't look good upon my title and my military record to just have abandoned a … ‘squad mate’ in the tunnels just because he collapsed.

Well more than collapsed really, in fact collapsing was an understatement. Artyom had just gone rigid for a few seconds before his eyes rolled into the back of his skull, leaving behind a creepy set of black eyes, no iris or anything. That was right before his body just seemed to collapse under itself, leaving the human sprawled awkwardly on the floor. Though a funny sight to see, I had come to … ugh, respect the human after all that we had been through. That was the least I could do for not only saving one of my soldiers, but also helping me solve the problems of the Crystal Kingdom.

If he was a pony, he would have gotten a medal for what he did; probably a parade as well. He wasn’t a pony though, so any recognition would be given by Cadance and myself. It was a kind of a sad thing to think about it, but maybe that was because I was used to actually being congratulated for succeeding in saving and or protecting my kingdom. Maybe Artyom was more of a backstage fellow, who did everything he could to make things right but didn't like the limelight of being front and centre.

“I know, Caddy. It would have been impossible for me to not do it,” I said with a sigh. “He did offer to help without us even asking him, even if it did further his own goals.”

“Such happy coincidences are a rare thing, Shinny, but when they happen, everypony can benefit,” Cadance said while nuzzling my cheek.

“You know I don’t believe in coincidences, Cadance. Well, at least, I didn't until now. Maybe I do still … I don’t even know any more, things are just too confusing and the Princesses haven’t helped much by making me watch over him.”

Cadance gripped my shoulders with her hooves, quickly tugging so to spin me around to face her. Her face was steeled, a look that only came about when she was dealing with those that annoyed the tartarus out of her or when somepony was going to get an flank chewing. Great, I was in for it.

Her face lightened up at the last moment though, “Shining, you took this on yourself. You didn't need to help Artyom on his quest to return home, yet you did! For that, I am so proud of you. I knew from the moment I saw you two in the same room that you disliked him, and yet you still decided to help him.”

I was about to reply to her, explaining as to why I helped him and tell her that I was given no true choice in the matter, yet she beat me to it, putting a hoof over my mouth to silence me.

“I do not care what you thought your reasons were Shining, just know that you did the right thing and for that I think you deserve something special before you two head off to who knows where,” she said, the last portion being a little more seductive than the rest.

I knew what she was implying and boy was I looking for it, it was one of the perks with being married to the Princess of Love. She knew what made people tick, love wise, and she used that entirely in an unfair way … not that I minded though. Besides, she was right and she knew it. She also knew that I knew that she was right … not taking that any farther lest I get lost trying to use to many ‘knews.’

I sighed out loud, returning Cadance’s attention back to me. She had turned to walk over to her desk, probably going to leaf through some paperwork that had come recently. She didn't say anything but instead looked over at me expectantly, probably waiting for me to explain why I sighed.

“I don’t want to like him, Cadance. He hurt Twilight, maybe not physically, but he still hurt her. Yet, after seeing what he has done for us, I am starting to get second thoughts about him. I don’t know what to think anymore, Caddy,” I said, letting my head droop. I couldn't even understand why such a topic was getting to me. If a pony changes then I should give them a chance shouldn't I? Discord reformed, why couldn't a human do the same thing?

“Twilight forgave him, Shining. Maybe it is time that you do as well? Sure, it hasn't been all that long since this all started, but that doesn't mean that one can’t be forgiven so easily. Is he as bad as you make him seem?” Caddy asks, nuzzling once more in an attempt to lift my head and spirits.

I was about to answer that question when a loud knock came from the door. I sucked in a deep breath , steeling myself to have to deal with whatever had just happened.

“Your majesties? It’s Corporal Gleaming Hoof, you wanted me to notify you when the … umm … human was awake?” the Corporal spoke through the door, not having given a command to open it.

My eye widened at what I just heard, jaw opening and closing a few times before I gulped. I looked over to Cadance who had a surprisingly bright smile, she nodded back to me. We had basically developed our own ways of communicating at that point, well at least that was how my sister put it. Cadance and I could easily communicate a small conversation between us just with the looks that we gave each other. At that moment, Cadance was telling me to get the guard to lead us to the room.

“Good work, Corporal. We will be out shortly and you will escort us to the room,” I spoke evenly, hiding my emotions.

I swung my leg out to let Cadance go first. She just giggled in response to that before moving to the door. I powered my magic up to open the door for her, like the gentlecolt that my mother taught me to be; that and Cadance would have taken back her offer if I didn't act like her perfect stallion.

The purple hued crystal pony guard stood in front of the doors, waiting attentively for us to exit. The moment I had exited the room, he saluted with his right foreleg before proceeding to trot ahead of us. He didn't so much as utter a word, a commendable amount of discipline, but I still expected my soldiers and guards to be regular ponies, not some clone that just followed orders. Of course, I didn't say that out loud since it was neither the time or place to speak of such things.

Our trot to the wing that held or new charge was quick and thankfully uneventful. I had enough events over the past few days to make up for the rest of the year. In fact, I was almost starting to feel like my LSBFF, but just barely. This would have been a normal week for her, undoubtedly.

The guard stopped in front of a generic crystal door and stood at attention, we had finally arrived after a brisk five, or so, minute walk. Not a single flight of stairs to contend with. That thought actually forced me to laugh out loud briefly before I could suppress my mirth. Cadance was a little confused by my sudden outburst and cocked her to the side in confusion.

“I’ll tell you later, Caddy. Right now we have to see my charge,” I said before pushing the doors open with my magic. Of course I didn't walk in first, opting to be the gentlestallion and wait for Cadance to go first.

Sitting on the bed at the opposite end of the room was the only human in Equestria, let alone the world. He was currently leaning back against a pillow with a tray sitting in his lap, most likely laden with food. His eyes were downcast and glued on the food, never leaving it to even acknowledge that someone had entered the room. Cadance proceeded to the side of the bed, about to speak when she was cut off.

“Here I thought Metro food was bad,” Artyom said with a small laugh. “Hospital food?”

“I think so …” Cadance faltered with her words. Artyom’s statement had caught her completely off guard. I, on the other hoof, was trying to suppress a snort of amusement. The human was completely right about that, hospital food was always horrible.

“Figured,” Artyom muttered before taking a spoonful of hospital gruel into his mouth. “Is actually better than Metro food, still not best.”

I had nothing to say and apparently whatever Cadance had planned to say left her, so instead we sat in silence for a few moments while Artyom continued to eat his gruel. I was actually amazed that he could stomach that stuff, I had guards that got food poisoning from it. At least that was their story, but I was more inclined to believe them than the staff.

“Wait, why are you even having that? The Palace’s hospital is known for good food,” I said. It had just occurred to me that those who were hospitalized in the Palace got treated with decent food. The guards had their own field hospital at the barracks while the Local Hospital covered the citizens of the nation.

I was truly amazed at how little Artyom cared about such things, but then I started to realize that this was probably better than his original conditions, if Twilight’s information gathering was to be believed.

Cadance cleared her throat briefly, garnering the attention of Artyom, “How are you feeling? You had some intense magic cast upon you today and amazingly you are already awake.”

That caught my attention and from the way Cadance was looking at me, it had also caught her attention. That dismissive statement was not something I would have expected from somepony or someone who had been knocked out twice by magic.

“You've been knocked out before? Is that what you mean?” Cadance asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Care to explain what you mean?” I inquired, curious as to what he was talking about.

“How can you be so nonchalant about everything that happened? You were knocked out twice within a thirty minute span! Not only that but you were knocked out by dark magic! Do you know what that could do to you? Are you truly that dense?” I shouted at him, furious by how he was acting. I couldn't explain why I was furious at him, it was as if a switch had just been flipped in my head.

He looked at me with a very calm and neutral face, not a single emotion slipped through the ‘mask’ he had donned. I had yelled at him and yet he had the gall to not make so much as a twitch at that. Somehow he went from being a decent guy, all the way back to annoying me. Yet, that wasn’t fair of me to judge him just because he failed to react to my outburst.

I let out a deep sigh before looking back at him. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why I snapped.”

Artyom didn't say anything about that statement, he instead slowly shifted his gaze towards Cadance. “When do we leave?”

“I don’t know why you are asking me, I'm not the one travelling with you,” Cadance said with a mischievous smile on her face.

Artyom turned to face me once more, this time though he had a small smirk on his face though. I had no idea what that meant, but I instantly started to plot on how take him down and knock him unconscious again. I knew I should have started trusting him more but that didn't mean that my training didn't kick in time to time.

“You need break, Scowly. We leave tomorrow, yes?” He said with a less sly and more cheerful grin.

I was a little stunned at first, mainly because he was suggesting we leave rather early. I was expecting to be laid over back home for at least a few days just to let him recover. Yet here he was, suggesting that we leave tomorrow instead and calling that a break.

“Don’t you think you need more time to recover? What we went through wasn’t exactly easy …” I said, trailing off at the end.

“Like I said, not first time,” he said with a sense of finality to his voice. He must have been trying to end the conversation without us going much further down that path. He was hiding something about what he saw, I just knew it. I would probably need to write another letter to Luna and Celestia. I already sent one out but something else was going on and Artyom had an inkling of it now. I was sure of it.

Cadance beckoned to me to follow her out the door, leaving Artyom by himself in the room once more. The moment we were out of the room, she turned to me so that I could do nothing but look directly into her eyes. Her right eyebrow raised but her eyes narrowed, she definitely had that look of-

Oh. Well, I guess I had already written once to the Princesses. They could wait until something else developed before I needed to write to them again.

I had more important things to do, especially when my wife was leading me back to our bedroom.

Finally they were gone, the moment they had left I slumped back into the pillow behind me. Despite the act I put on for those two, I was tired as hell from all that happened. It wasn’t physically tired though; I had physically exerted myself for much longer than I did in the caverns. No, I was just all around tired.

Those visions had drained me, much like the ones that the Dark Ones gave me. Those though, just hit me mentally. Whatever weird shit that book did, I was feeling it all over my body. It wouldn’t last though, I was made of tougher stuff than what many people had thought. Hell, even Shining had thought me to need days of bed rest.

You can’t keep a Stalker down that long, and nothing could keep me from finding a way home. Until every option and path was explored, I would not rest in my search to return to the Metro. I chuckled lightly at that thought due to the absurdity of what I said.

People wanted to leave the Metro and find a better place to live, yet here I was given such an opportunity and all I wanted was to return home. I had my reasons and those were all I needed to keep me from staying here for much longer.

I sighed out loud as I let my body completely relax, sliding even farther into the bed. I was truly amazed at how well designed these beds were, so absorbing and comfortable. For a moment I actually considered taking one of these beds with me, if I ever found a way home. It would be the envy of all of the Metro, probably.

Of course I dismissed such a thought, it just wasn’t feasible since I would most likely have needed to carry it with me. There was no way I would even attempt such a thing, I would be entirely ineffective in a combat situation. One could dream though, and daydream I did. At least until a yawn took me off guard.

It was hardly even noon and already I was ready to fall asleep. The bed had to be cursed with something, that was the only explanation. Of course, I laughed at the notion. No, our little adventure into the caves had worn me out and the vision travelling thing probably was what put me over.

To say that sleep would be a welcome thing was a complete understatement. Maybe it would not only bring me rest but also help put my mind at ease, hopefully allowing me to find some sort of reasoning to what I saw.

That thought though only stirred up recent memories of those visions. Something was going on here, something that seemed to be working on a larger scale than the Red Line plan. Those visions were too specific and contained too much info on everything, not to mention that last line before I was completely knocked out.

I didn’t want to deal with that right then, my body craved sleep too much to even think about trying to understand my visions. They, literally, could have meant anything or they could have been just a figment created by my mind. If that was true though, then I would most likely have the greatest imagination of all time.

I closed my eyes after that last thought, it was a good one to finish on before I attempted to fall asleep. For the last time I let my body sink into the bed, bathing in the luxurious feeling of a soft cushion underneath me.

My eyes fluttered open, leaving me with a strange sight. I was looking up at the ceiling of my old room in the Metro. I knew it was my room, I had waken up to the same sight countless times so it was ingrained in my memory. What I was looking at wasn’t the dire question though, the true question was why was I looking at my old room’s ceiling?

I had just fallen asleep in my temporary room at the Crystal Palace, I had seen Shining and Princess Cadance walk away. Sleep had overtaken me quickly because of the unbelievably comfortable bed I was laying on, that would not have happened on my old mattress.

Every question that I had regarding my current situation was thrown completely out the window the moment I heard that voice. I was actually a little disappointed in myself for not coming to that conclusion quicker, maybe my deductive reasoning wasn’t as strong as I had thought it to be.

“Yeah, yeah. I know what you mean,” I grumbled as I pulled myself up from my bed. “I thought this was going to be every so often not every night?”

“I'm not at fault when you happen to learn something of great interest, am I now?”

I ran my hand through my hair, shaking my head as I did so. This was getting a little bit ridiculous, three visions in a span of two days. I was going to start questioning reality if it kept up, but as long as I didn't start seeing visions in my own visions than I could at least come out sane.

“Fine, fine,” I said as I stood up to walk towards the now open door. “Lead the way, Khan.”

Metro: Retribution

by RF and AG

Chapter 13: The Root of All Evil