"JESUS CHRIST!" The human yelled, as he felt something coil around his feet and pull.
"Max!" Celestia dashed to him. A single tongue of flame burnt away the appendage, the creature to which belonged screaming in pain. Max immediately kicked the monstrosity away. It flew up into the the air before detonating in a powerful cold void.
"Celly, if we get through this alive, I'm going to marry you." Max landed lightly on his feet, before grabbing the surprised Alicorn in a vice like hug. The Alicorn, on her part, was not particularly resistant of this act, if a little red.
Well, a lot red actually, but you didn't hear it from me.
"Umm..... well...." Celestia started, before a shadow engulfed them both. Unlike the other shadows, though, this one was warm, scorching even.
"Then I declare you Mare and Stallion. Now get off your arses and fight!" The shadow engulfed a giant monster, burning away it's oily flesh.
"Fuck you too, Sombra!" Letting go of Celestia, Max hefted his massive sword and swung it at the next monstrosity, cleaving it into two jagged parts.Three more rushed at him, but they stopped in their tracks with holes in the middle of their maws, struck down by Celestia's halberd. Together, they charged forward, shredding through any creature that got in their path.
'Max. The Bomber's dead. Hearth, go!' Max transmitted his thoughts to his comrade. The ground cracked and burst, revealing an enormous white dragon.
'About time.' Without the the threat of Bombers, the Drakon was free to join the fight.
A blast of blue flames shot out from his mouth, scorching away thousands of the weaker creatures.
Celestia had less than a second before the world went blue, orange and green.
......................................................
The Human, The Lecher, The Drakon, The Heart ,The Sun And The Shadow on one side,
The Devil himself on the other,
Five went to war that Day,
Only three came back whole.
......................................................
Max woke up to deathly silence. He checked his alarm clock.
3:29 am
'A full minute to go.' Max thought, still half asleep. He lay there waiting for consciousness to come, absent mindedly cuddling his broad sword. It was almost as tall as him, with a two handed grip, and half the width of his chest.
"Another day, another chance, isn't it? Good morning, Clark." Clark, being a sword, didn't reply.
'One day.....' With a final yawn, Max got out of bed and stretched. His body was toned, with muscles he didn't need to work for anymore. He had finally gotten used to a bed, but sleeping without his sword still didn't feel right. Clark had been his only friend for a long time. He hasn't been used for a decade.
The human disabled the alarm and put Clark on his mount. He went about his morning rituals, showered and ate, before he put on a clean white shirt and jeans. He sat down with a cup of full milk instant coffee, three tea spoons of sugar.
'Aahhh, such luxury.' He sat down with a baking mag. His face was on the front page.
HATRICK! THREE TIME WINNER!
He checked his clock. It was five minutes till four, so he settled down to read ponies praise his Devil's Pavlova.
'I'm the best there is. Hehe.' Max allowed himself a little ego trip, before going down to the ground floor to his bakery.
He quickly went about preparing freshly baked loaves bread for his customers. Some doughs' he left to rest, while he shoved the rest inside the ovens and left them to bake. Very soon, the beautiful smell of fresh bread would fill the street, signaling the start of the day and making the stomachs of sleeping ponies rumble.
He put various confectioneries and pastries on display, and put the enormous wedding cakes into their cases. Finally, he opened the shutters of the shop at 4:00 am. It was deathly silent, even the crickets' quiet at this time of the day. The stars were still out.
Then, as he did everyday, took in a deep breath, and.....
"ANOTHER GLORIOUS MORNING!" The shout resounded through the block.
'One, Two, Three.....'
"SHUT UP, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
'Heh, Vinyl's hungover again. Kids these days, so irresponsible.' Satisfied that his neighbors were now awake, Max took off his apron, and left his shop. He would return to the smell of fresh bread, burning sugar and sounds of a Lyre and Cello.
Max stepped out, and began to walk down the street. He kept walking until the buildings became sparse and street lights ended, covering the path in complete darkness.
As he was walking, however, he picked up a smell. A metal-ly, sharp, sweet smell that the ponies of Equestria were not familiar with. It could only meant one thing.
"Hearth? You there?" Max took a shot in the dark. He hit bull's eye, because he heard a long-suffering sigh.
"It's Spike now, Max. S-P-I-P-K-E-E.... No, wait...." The little dragon sounded bleary, tried even. It was far unfitting of a Drakon, especially one as old as Spike.
"Blueblood?"
".....Yeah. Blueblood." The drakon let out another defeated sigh.
'What did that bastard do this time!'
"Want to talk about it, Hea... Spike?" The question hung in the air for a while, with only the sound of gravel crunching underfoot to fill up the silence. It was a few seconds before Spike responded.
"Nah... just... It's alright. Thanks."
"Whenever you need me, Spike. Whenever." The duo walked in silence for a while, until the glow of the Town proper was distant, and mud replaced gravel roads.
"What was going on in town yesterday?" Max asked , attempting to restart the conversation.
"Huh? What?" The little drakon was distracted.
"You know, one second the square is empty and the next I get stampeded by every mare in the town. Caramel, bless his souls, helped me up. Apparently you and your charge were at the head of the pack."
"Oh, that. Well, Gala Tickets."
"Oh."
"Wait, my charge?"Spike suddenly stopped.
"Yeah, that.... what's her name now?.... Sparkle. She's not your charge? There's rumors going around that she's actually your daughter, or marefriend. Are they true?" The drakon resumed walking, albeit with a lighter gait.
"She's more like..... my owner?" Spike said with a mirthful smile cracking on his face
"Figures. You were always one for strange fetishes."
" ............................"
"............................"
"............................."
"You had to go and make it weird, didn't you Max?"
"My one weakness." A little giggle replaced the Drakon, curtains once again drawing on their little conversation.
......................................................
"Ow! Fuck! It fucking hurts!"
"Shut up and sit down, Danin. " Chaos danced across the humans finger tips as he tried to heal his friend's massive wound.
"I..is he going to be okay?" A little pink Alicorn filly quietly asked, as she held up a barrier around them, fending off the horrible, malicious chaos.
"And don't even get me started on you, sweetie! When we get back home, you and me are going to have a looong talk on disobeying your elders. Didn't I tell you to stay put at home?" Max forced more power into his hands, trying to remove the acid like slime eating away the Minotaur's flesh.
"........I.. (gulp).... I'm sorry." Tears welled up in the little Alicorn's eyes, and her lip trembled slightly, on the verge of tears. It was a images that could melt the heart of most foes, but Max was clad armour that only a select few parents possess.
"'Sorry' isn't going to cut it this time sweetie. When we get back home, you're grounded, indefinitely. You're going to clean the whole house, and no more free time for you! You're going to practice your magic instead, and since you're obviously a big mare who doesn't need to listen to me anymore, you can sleep in your own bed. No more cuddles for you! Infact, I have a mind to..." Over the course of his rant, the little filly seemed to shrink into herself. Max's words may not have much effect, but his tone cut deep into her tiny soul. Of the few people that she had knew and trusted, Max was the God of her tiny little world. His anger and withdrawal of trust hurt her in ways the little filly had never hurt before.
"Hey, Maxi, don't you think that's a little..." Danin, however, was not unaffected by the filly's unconscious wiles. He was however, cut off instantly.
" I said SHUT UP, Danin. I can't do more than this. You'll live, but you're out of the fight. Lie down. SOMBRA!" Before the king could fully realise what Max had said, a shadow had condensed into a pony next to him.
"I did exactly what you said. Burn, then freeze shut. Celestia should survive. Maximilian, what of Danin?" Sombra looked at Danin with obvious concern. He may have been a Siren, but his heart was not cold like the rest.
"He'll live, if you do the same to him. Right now!" Realisation finally struck Danin.
"Wait, what do you mean I'm out of the fucking fight!? I'm perfectly fine and...." A surge of chaos flooded his mind, instantly forcing him into deep dark slumber.
Sombra didn't even flinch, instead focusing on the task he had been given. Flesh sizzled and burnt, before immediately being frozen shut.
Max leant back against a outcropping of ice, his work done. Of course, it wouldn't matter if they couldn't do something about the creature currently trying to kill them. He hated to admit it, but his adoptive daughter probably saved their lives.
"Sombra, Hearth's dead. Celly and Danin are out of commission, but we can still win this. " Max continued as Sombra worked. "I've been saving up. I can push him out through his own hole."
"And will that be enough?" The Siren looked up momentarily, concern apparent in his eyes.
"You've got a better plan?!?"
".......No. I can burn off most of it's limbs. At that moment, push it out." Sombra's body began to dissolve into darkness again.
"Will do." Max lifted himself off the ground, grabbing his sword again. Before leaving the protective barrier his adoptive daughter had put up, he turned towards her one last time.
"Sweetie, stay here and keep the barrier up. We'll be back soon, okay?"
"Y...yes, Max." The Crystal demurely replied, eyes still brimming with tears at the verbal lashing she had received.
"Good girl. Sombra, let's go." With that, he bounded out. Almost immediately, Crystal lost sight of him, as his body was engulfed in a thick,red haze of chaos.
......................................................
The Lecher and The Sun could fight no longer,
The Drakon was already dead,
The Human and The Shadow bound forward,
While the Heart does naught but wait.
......................................................
"Mud bloody everywhere. What is wrong with this accursed place?"
"Spike, it's a FARM. You know , where plants grow. And the last time I checked , plants need MUD to grow."
The duo had passed the road and entered the Sweet Apple Acres, as it was called.
"So, Spike, what are you here for?" Max asked, as he looked around the orchard
"Same reason as you. I don't have tell you what, do I, hmm?" The Drakon gave him a flirting smirk.
The meaning behind his words may as well have taken orbit, right over Max's head.
" Yeah, so ... I'm actually here to pick up fresh fruit,.... so.. yeah, what?"
"Fru..? Ehem..., yeah, fruit! That is exactly why I'm here. Fruit, hehe...." Spike's hasty correction further heightened the human's suspicions.
Given the nature of his friend's predilections, answer was apparent.
"Your searching for applejack, aren't you?" Spike averted his gaze from his friend's playfully accusing eyes.
"HEY LOOK! ITS MACINTOSH! LET'S GO MEET HIM!" The Drakon moved his little feet, as fast as he could, trying to get away from the teasing bound to come.
"Hey , now. You can't just expect to buy alcoholic cider and not have me say ...."
"Max." Spike's tone immediately shut the human up. Without words, he bounded to his friend's side......
........ to see a large red stallion, leaning against a tree. A plough share lay next to him, unceremoniously heaped next to him. Bandages were wrapped tight around his lower chest and back, a sickly black blotch on his side dying it black, still dribbling black liquid on to the ground.
"MAC!"
......................................................
A shadow flew around the enormous creature, burning away it's handholds till only a few were left. A solitary figure, lept in front of it, a mere dot against it's backdrop.
The creature didn't notice him. It was far too busy trying to remove the pesky shadow, until it felt a wave of pure chaotic magic pass through it.
For a second he was confused. Not by the magic itself. It was too small to harm it.
No, he was confused because of how it felt. It was chaos, but it wasn't free. It was constrained, forced. Perverted. An anamoly in nature itself.
It's confusion cemented it's defeat. The magic passed through it, through the hole it had torn in reality, and PULLED.
It didn't stand a chance.
As it was pulled away, away from it's conquest, away from it's birthrite , it finally noticed the dot. Without thought, one of it's arms shot out towards it.
If it was defeated, then it would take another one with it.
......................................................
A world in peril, A life risked,
The human pushed the Devil out,
Back from the Hell it had emerged,
The world was saved, but a life lost
The Shadow left wailing in the dust.
......................................................
"Bloody hell, Mac. What the fuck came out of the forest this time?" The Human was kneeling next to the red stallion, little bolts of chaos dancing between the wound and his finger tips. With every bolt, the wound became milder, the stream of blackened blood spurting out becoming redder, much to the human's relief.
" So, Macintosh Apple, you're the keeper of the Everfree?" Spike asked, averting his eyes from the scene. Outside the heat of battle, the sight of blood often made him sick.
" 'Yup.". Came the simple reply. Not a twitch, nor a quiver of emotion.
"Easy there, Mac. This guy's with me, so you can trust him." Mac's face immediately relaxed, as let up his guard down.
The only way Spike could tell this fact was the stallions eyes. Hard shallow eyes gave way to deep, sad pits, only a little light of feeble hope burning in them, almost causing the Drakon to recoil.
"Spike, this is Big Macintosh. Mac, Spike." Max's free hand idly made it's way up the stallion's head, softly dragging his fingers through his mane. It eased the stallion somewhat, judging by the way Mac leaned into the hand.
"Nice ta' meet ya', Spike." It never got any easier for Spike, seeing a poor soul like this. Not everyone could live through a personal hell and escape unscathed like Max.
This stallion had lost a piece of himself somewhere in the hell he escaped from. And there was no way to get it back.
"Ehem..... Likewise, Macintosh." As they exchanged greetings, Max finished with the wound, leaving just a little cut on the stallion's side.
"Well, that's that." With a final comb, Max withdrew his hands from the stallion. Picking up the blackened bandage, he burnt it away quickly. And then, out of nothing, he began to create a fabric.
"Woah! That's.... that's impossible! You can't create stuff from magic! That..." It was a day of surprises for Spike, it seemed.
"Yeah, about that.... I've found that 'impossible' is a word that should be used very lightly, Spike. Now let me concentrate." Both stallion and Drakon watched in awe as chaos twisted into fabric, while the sun began to peek hesitantly over the sky.
The human was smiling throughout, as he put on a show for his friends.
......................................................
" FUCKING HELL! BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" The human hung on to the ice for dear life, as his own magic pulled at him. His sword was clasped tightly in his right hand, while his left fumbled for a better handhold.
"SOMBRA! HELP ME, YOU FUCKING EMO!"
"You do know that your daughter can hear you?" A shadow condensed into a pony intent of him, grasping onto his left hand.
The human heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"I don't care. Just pull me up. Now!" The Siren tried to push down a smile, but he couldn't help it.
"Yes, Maximilian."
At that point, fate being the cruel bitch it is, a tentacle wound itself around Max's leg.
"What....!? SHIT! PULL SOMBRA PULL!" The human was immediately pushed to the verge of panic.
"Please! DON'T LET GO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE." Fear, terror, anxiety, for a few seconds he lost control of himself. The stress of the battle blinded him. He felt a strange warmth in his pants, dribbling down his legs. A horrible smell assaulted his senses.
Sombra on his part , was filled with both terror and resolve. Tried and weak, the Siren pulled as hard as he could, resisting the pull for a few seconds. He closed his eyes, no longer looking at his broken friend's face, forcing all his strength into his feet.
Those few seconds were all Max needed recover. Almost forcefully, he shoved his fear aside and decided on the best course of action.
"Sombra, i.. it's not your fault. " Sombra's eyes snapped open. He heard the words, but he couldn't understand them. Time slowed down. He felt the weight ease. Max dropped his sword. Max was pulling back his free hand.
The full weight of Max's words hit him like a hammer.
NOO!!!
"Take care of Crystal for me. Bye."
Sombra's world turned upside down, and then shook with a violent fevor. Pain wracked his jaw, blurring his senses. His ears rang. His stomach churned. Bile rose to his throat. And all the while, a deep hollow cold cut through the depths of his chest.
He jumped back up the next second. His feet were jelly. He fell back down. He screamed.
"M...Ma..max..." His voice came out as barely a whisper. He had no strength left.
He used his feet to slowly drag his body towards the edge.
"M.. m..max." Tears began to stream down his face.
He remembered. The smell of acrid urine!
"Ma..Max! Please!" He tried to will his body to move faster. It didn't. He cursed himself. He had time. He could have trained more! Practiced harder! He could have stopped this!
He remembered. The desperate cries of his friend!
I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
Max! Closer! He was getting closer! The cliff face was right in front of him.
He remembered. His face. It was clenched in terror.
He pulled his head over the cliff, staring down, hoping. Praying. Begging.
The bottom was empty. The snow had already settled. Even from that height, Sombra could tell.
Ten seconds. It took him ten seconds to crawl to the cliff. Those ten seconds were his personal hell.
"Max."
All of the Siren didn't come back with him when he escaped.