Fallen Hope
Luke
I flapped my wings as hard as I could. It sucked but the plan was simple as anyone ground bound would focus on trying to slow them down as anyone with wings tried to secure the packages... the only question of course would be how many escaped and how many of our allies would actually stay to fight instead of trying to bolt.
I took a deep breath as I glanced at the others with me as everyone carried the villains by the chains used to wrap them up as we had two griffins pulling Tirek just to be safe as they stayed far out of Tirek's arm range as he was left hanging upside down.'
Still the odds were in our favor as we had players carrying the packages as...
Shit!
Something nicked me as I lost some altitude as I tried pulling back up again. I felt a lump in my throat as the two Griffins carrying Tirek tried to keep hold of the chains as an armored pegasus was ahead of us all glaring at us.
The royal guard had a player on their side and I'm willing to bet she wouldn't exactly be heart broken if Tirek accidently fell from the sky and went splat. The problem with that of course was that we needed him for the Discord power drain plan.
The armored pegasus player frowned as she shouted "Stop. If you just surrender than I promise that we will be lenient on you."
My grip tightened around Emberess not out of fear of dropping her... or the fact I was practically having to hug her as I flew... but the fact that the armored pony could fly faster than anyone carrying a villain and she didn't have to beat us. All she needed to do would be to make us drop the villains or simply get rid of them once and for all.
I tried to smile "Fine we surrender." The rest of my allies nodded "Just let's talk over there on that cloud okay?"
The armored mare nodded "Alright... but hand over the prisoners first okay?"
I smiled as I really hated that she wasn't naïve or that she simply didn't trust us one bit. As soon as she denied my request I folded my wings and went into a freefall towards the ground taking her by surprise as she rushed down to stop me.
I could hear the wind screaming against my ears as I let go of Emberess and grabbed one of my grenades. I had a fire elemental boss in hand and a few incendiary/Molotov grenades left to use. I shoved two of them into her chains and pulled the pins before snapping open my wings and trying to pull up/away from her.
"Warmth..." The ancient hag whispered in fevered joy before the grenades went off setting her ablaze as she crashed into the forest.
I crashed into the tree line falling to the ground as I quickly pushed myself back up. Instead of seeing an armored pony or a few Royal Guard Background ponies I was blessed with the sight of smoke rising towards the sky as something roared in triumph.
Emberess's voice now roared out in strength as she shouted "I am Emberess the Mistress of Flames! Forsake the false prophets and worship me!"
Flames danced across the forest as they slowly began to grow. I on the other hand had just released my distraction hopefully buying the others enough time to run as I stayed on the ground. There were plenty of trees covering me right now and a flaming monster big enough for them to focus on it instead of who ever may be lurking about in the woods.
All I had to do was make it to the EVAC point they left and of course keep an eye out for anyone else that had also fallen or taken the ground route.
******
Steel Halberd
Steel Halberd could feel the bile rising in his throat as he shouted "Fall back!"
They enemy flew away with three Tartarus criminals in tow as the fourth villain was currently free and rampaging across the forest beneath them. If they were willing to unleash one of the villains so quickly than they would drop or unleash another villain if they continued to try to chase them.
Steel Halberd stared at the chaos below as the ancient villain let forth another surge of flames scorching across the air burning everything in it's path. The ancient villain looked like some large spotted lizard made out of molten lava and flames as the creature had two large black rocks for eyes.
She laughed as more of the forest was set on fire "For one thous... countless years have I been trapped beneath the earth and now I have comeback for my vengeance!"
The ancient villain... Steel shook his head as he went back to his training. The monster was fire based as currently it was the size of a two story house and it was growing bigger as more of the forest was catching on fire. That either meant it derived it's strength from heat or the very flames themselves. Not only that, but every time it breathed fire setting everything on fire it was aiming for any of the nearby clouds... which meant it was weak against water.
Steel shouted at the top of his breath "Everypony gather up the clouds and move them away from her!"
The monster continued to laugh as smoke started to clog up the sky making flight harder for them.
"Valkyrie! Go back to the cave and let Flicker know about what's happening!" Steel shouted "Then get a group to go with you to the nearby diamond dog tunnels... the ones we cleared out from the cursed artifact incident."
Valkyrie glanced down below "Alright..."
Steel could sense the unease in her voice "Right now we need the tunnels to get ready to be collapsed and I need it ready if we are going to defeat this thing."
Valkyrie nodded as she flew back as Steel sighed in relief. She wasn't exactly happy with his decision... but she followed them anyway. Steel knew she wasn't skilled in making it rain and a frontal assault against this monster would end badly. It was better if she focus on the tunnels as she had been part of the cursed clean up team... and just in case any gem golems still lurked about.
Besides when it came down to it... Steel knew that he was more expendable than Valkyrie was as somepony had to play the role of bait.
Steel glanced at Arrow Strike "Arrow... follow the ones trying to escape, but stay back and treat it like tracking a Hyrda..."
"Because they probably have one ready to be unleashed." Arrow joked back.
Steel smiled as he softly replied "Good... Everypony else gather up the nearby clouds and try to put out all the flames!" He stared down at the flaming monster below... if the monster caught on then she would simply find a spot to entrench herself and set the rest of the forest on flame. "Well... it's time for me to earn my paycheck."
A part of him tried to figure out how he could possibly trick an ancient villain that had been planning her revenge for all these years. The fact she had grown to the size of an adult dragon didn't help either... in fact it felt more like one of those super foal stories he read as a foal.
Of course unlike those stories he highly doubted that Frost Wing or Super Mare would come and save the day. Heck Soaring Chance would probably...
Steel flew down near the forest as he sucked in as much air as he could before screaming "Mistress of Flames? You're just an overgrown bag of hot air!"
Steel immediately moved out of the way before he finished taunting as a blast of flames flew across the sky where he had been at.
Emberess howled in fury "Bag of hot air! You shall regret your folly!"
She stormed after him plowing through the trees and haphazardly trying to incinerate him with burst of flames as Steel kept trying to avoid. He hated this part as he now had an ancient behemoth enraged at him... but it was better to have a sloppy enraged villain after him than a smart villain who thought about their actions or attacks that wasn't completely focused on him.
Of course that also meant he had to keep taunting "That's your best shot? You couldn't even light a fire in the middle of summer!"
Emberess roared as Steel quickly out paced her... and forced himself to slow down. He had to buy time for them to get ready and for the rest of the group to put out the flames. Hopefully Celestia and the rest of the Royal Guard would arrive here soon.
******
Celestia
Celestia glanced at the sea blue earth pony and her dark purple hair with two lighter highlights in it. The mare's smile for some unexplained reason filled Celestia with an unknown worry or a type ill ease. Still Ms Eiferer was doing quite well, her territory was prosperous, and she had a long record of helping teach other ponies.
Ideally she fit the category and Senior Blue Blood didn't have any complaints... and neither did Celestia until she got a closer look at Eiferer. The mare was... Pleasant in some ways... but that pleasantness just made Celestia uncomfortable. Eiferer was quite cheerful... but there didn't seem to be any warmth behind her words as a sense of coldness seemed to fill her words despite the happy tune she spoke in.
Celestia moved onto the next question "What would you do if you had to move to Canterlot? Lockheart may not even be an Alicorn."
Eiferer just stared at Celestia as if she said a bad joke until she chuckled "Canterlot is the jewel of Equestria and I am sure I could teach Lockheart despite any previous difficulties a stallion of his age might have obtained without a proper teacher to help him out."
Celestia nodded as Eiferer... didn't exactly fill her with ease. Some of the other nobles had doubts, or questions... but Eiferer simply seemed to take the remark as a possibility that her teaching methods could be flaw instead of the fact that Lockheart may simply not be an Alicorn.
Celestia made a polite political chuckle "Still I have to ask for the sake of the question."
She rubbed her chin "Then I guess I would see how different some of their societies operated from ours... how they viewed magic or how it's employed..."
A spark seemed to shine in her eyes as she spoke with more enthusiasm "Their lore on Alicorns or possibly the insane reasons for their short sighted reactions? Why some of the things the traveling mark less ponies talk about are rather interesting including their talks about Midgard."
Celestia couldn't help but be a little bit curious about Midguard... considering it was the place Lockheart had claimed to be from. Even then considering how closely he guarded his past... it would help give her an idea about what he had experienced... of course she would have to word her question carefully.
Celestia smiled as she gently replied "You know that like most rumors..."
"You can't take everything at face value." Eiferer replied in slight annoyance "And some of the things they say are..." her face locked up in much the same way one of the teachers who were taking the foals on a field trip to the castle did when somepony that somehow managed to bring their dog with them as it had left a small... mess on one of the rugs.
"Misinformed." She politly replied "A few thought that Nightmare Moon was actually real and some of the more... troubled ponies are receiving the proper care from proper professionals as the curse that affects some of their memory can be troubling sometimes."
Eiferer finished her speech with a very calm and kindly reply that most ponies wouldn't have been able to pull off without previous experience. Celestia simply nodded as she had paid attention to the few attempts to repress an eye twitch and of course the small smile she had if a mare doing a good deed... matching with the gentle phrasing she had replied with.
"Thank you for your time." Celestia gently replied "Just try to stay for a few more days as we try finish up with the rest of the applicants."
Eiferer nodded as she said "Of course Princess Celestia"
Eiferer walked out of the room with a smile on her face as to her... it was obvious that she was the only pony that was worthy of this job and she had just secured her position for it.
Celestia waited for the pony to leave the room as... she made a mental note to have a few of her ponies to double check Eiferer's territory to make sure everything was okay... and that Eiferer wasn't trying to make Celestia out as some sort of sun goddess.
Those never ended well as most of them would start out nice... until they tried finding ways to please her or for filling the visions granted to them when they stared at the sun for too long. In all of her years ruling as a princess... Celestia couldn't think of a single time when she wanted her towns on fire or for some of the more... crazier actions certain groups had tried.
Hopefully it was just a political game or ploy as the worst she had was fudging her taxes or trying to run an illegal business... and the crazed fevered spark wasn't hinting about some crazed devotion or something else that could be possibly wrong with her as she seemed a bit... off.
Celestia pulled out her mug for her sugary treat... and some medicine to help deal with her current headache as some ponies that passed the initial stage... they were perfectly fine in public, but when trying to prove faithful or as a promising pick they showed some of their real side which was not as nice as their public personas as some showed clear signs of corruption, offers or bribes.... or how they smiled when talking more about the position of power than what they would actually be doing.
Celestia pulled out the fluffy white treats and the hot coco mix as she could just taste the lovely mix of chocolate and the fluffy white sugary treats mixed together into a nice hot and soothing drink to calm a pony down... especially since it started to get colder as a few small towns started preparing for Fall.
A scroll burst into existence in front of her as it landed in the mug... thankfully empty this time. Celestia slowly opened it up as she tried to guess if it was a status report, a minor problem... or a status update on what was going on with Lockheart. Hopefully it would be another despite or a major...
Celestia stared at the scroll in shock as she couldn't believe what was written on it. A group of races actually broke into Tartarus just to free some prisoners for some unknown reason and one of the ancient foes that had been unleashed was Emberess.
She rushed out of the room and prepared to signal the Royal Guard to come and assist her. Emberess was a dangerous foe back in the past... and one of the last few foes she and Luna had fought together. Besides the danger she posed and her love of flames Emberess was a vengeful and petty monster as she would destroy entire towns for simply not worshiping her of if they brought her bad news.
Of course a darker thought whispered in the back of her mind "Or do you just fear that she will talk about Luna?"
Celestia had mixed feelings as... on one hoof Luna had been forgotten as Nightmare Moon became a story to frighten little foals... She might even be able to use this moment to slowly reintroduce her sister back into Equestria... as her return was possible.
Of course the simple fear of her ponies asking what happened to Luna came to mind or worse... the open mockery or hatred everypony had when Luna was banished... not that they were angry at Celestia.... but the hatred they had of her sister. Everypony already had low view point of Luna, but after her banishment it had sunk down to the same levels as Sombra and even Tirek of all creatures! Celestia had to carefully remove knowledge of her sister's existence... if only to save Luna's name instead of having it sink to the same depths most centaurs used to describe Tirek these days.
It was better for Luna to have become forgotten than remembered in misery.
Celestia entered the barracks and shouted "Gather the soldiers and we need to move now!"
Celestia just noticed the bat pony saluting right along side with Razor Wind. That was when she remembered that Lockheart was trying to up the training and get some experience for the Night Guard as... a new twisted knot appeared in her stomach as thoughts about her meeting with Boulder Dash surfaced in the back of her mind.
What would happen if word got out to him? How would he react? Would he want Luna to be remembered or kept hidden away so that the taint of Nightmare Moon wouldn't affect her? How would news of his Sister possibly affect the Night Guard as Lockheart was trying to give them a more active role in Equestria?
Celestia shook her head as she banished the thoughts "There has been an incident near Tartarus as a villain broke free that uses fire."
Razor Wind nodded "I'll get a few pegasi teams ready and some unicorns."
Celestia glanced at the Night Guard as she handed them the scroll "And they may need help collapsing a few nearby tunnels..."
To her credit the bat pony mare nodded before giving a quick exchange with Razor Wind before they both separated gathering the ponies they needed for this mission as Celestia was left to her own thoughts as she tried to figure out the purpose of the... jail break and why four prisoners had been selected.
If it was to just create chaos then why not unleash all of them? Why bother with the planning... and why did they sacrifice or leave behind Emberess or had she been picked if only to simply hide their true target?
Celestia sighed as she missed the old days when villains were at least straight forward about their plans even if it was just trying to conquer all of Equestria or somewhere along those lines.
******
Valkyrie
My wings itched as I walked through the dimly lit tunnels as a few gems sparkled giving us some light. No one touched any of the gems as... this cave used to be cursed. The diamond dogs that lived here ran into a pony wearing a trench coat who sold them a magical artifact that would help them find and collect gems.
Turns out it the pony in question dealt in cursed artifacts as the magical statue gathered the gems in the tunnels and created golems made out of gems.... that would attack anyone including the person holding the statue forcing the diamond dogs out of their home as the gem golems lurked in the tunnels... until we were called to clean up the latest mess caused by the cursed trader.
I couldn't help but shiver as the team I had been on was forced to make an emergency teleport forcing me to be one of the portable pony parachutes. Still that pesky feeling of claustrophobia kicked in as I couldn't help but stare at the walls in fear... I mean we did get rid of the cursed artifact as the gem golems made the tunnels unstable.
It just didn't help that the diamond dogs gathered up the remaining gems they could carry before leaving this place even after the cursed artifact was removed from this place. I stared at one of the tunnel walls as I could just imagine some sort of gem diamond dog popping out of the rock or a large gem like serpent taking up most of the tunnel as it chased after us as I cursed my overactive imagination at the moment.
Fail Safe walked behind me as she was one of the unicorns that came only with us stared at the tunnels in awe. She was our resident teleporter and one of the few ponies in our group trying to master that spell that gave ponies wings. Her job was to make it to Tartarus while keeping up with the rest of the group to prove her ability... and since it was a harmless mission there wasn't much of a reason for concern.
She stared at one of the large gem formations that was as big as her and said "Why would they leave. This place doesn't look that bad."
I tried to repress a shiver as I said "That's the million dollar question isn't it."
They stared at me for a second until they caught on as... I remembered that all of my expressions hadn't gotten around. Still a part of me was envious of the four behind me as the pegasus was nervous... but stared at the place in awe like a child in front of a crocodile at a zoo. The two unicorns didn't even seem nervous.
Fail Safe just smiled as she said "It shouldn't be too bad. Just knock over a few supports and then teleport out of here."
I held out my hoof stopping the group as I felt the twisted knot in my stomach grow "Unless we are not the only ones in here."
Right in front of us was a gem golem... corpse? The head was bashed in and it wasn't moving... I even tossed a rock at it before attempting to get close as the gem golem seemed... dead at the moment.
Quick Wind walked up ahead and whistled as she said "Teeth marks... Claw marks on the ground could be a day... or maybe a few weeks old. My bet either golems are eating each other.... or a few dragon whelps heard about an empty diamond dog mine filled with gems."
I glanced at the gem golem "Does that mean we have to warn them before we drop the place on them?"
Silver Wing shook her head and stretched her wings out "It's an abandoned mine as the signs outside warned anypony... or drake who could read. Even the big warning symbols should have been a hint."
Fail Safe nodded "Besides it's not uncommon for a few dragon whelps to have to dig their way out during a tunnel collapse... some don't wait for the diamond dogs to leave the mine when they go searching for gems. They'll be angry, but they'll live... but we'll warn em if we run into them."
I sighed in relief as... quite frankly I'd rather deal with punk teenage dragons then golems that moved through the dirt like fish. Sure that's bad when you think about it in how deadly dragons are... but that also meant that the dragon brats are taking care of any real threats down here.
Geo the last member of our group glanced at the wall "One moment..." His horn glowed as the ground shook a little as bits of dirt fell from the celling "Okay... just don't lean against the walls for a while and we'll be good."
Geo... the unicorn with a gift in rocks since his family was a bunch of earth pony rock farmers. Either his family taught him was to look out for... or it was because of his pickaxe cutie mark, but he was the pony in charge of setting this place to collapse when the giant flaming villain arrived.
Silver Wing slowly nodded as she drew her wings closer to her body "Thanks." she replied with mixed feelings about having the tunnel become unstable "Still it won't collapse while we are still here will it?"
"That's what Fail Safe is for... no offense." I said out loud as the mare in question smiled.
She increased her pace as she replied "Today my job was to levitate a ball around or help clean up any messes... now I get to teleport everypony up to the surface should the worst happen. Maybe they should have put that on the recruitment posters instead?"
I held out a hoof as I gulped "Geo... can you make this part of the tunnel... stable?"
Geo glanced around the area as he rubbed his chin "This area doesn't look that bad."
I shook my head as I saw the chalk mark on the wall "This is an area I marked... and it didn't have any crystals sticking out of the wall last time I was here."
Geo's horn started to glow as we pulled out our weapons and prepared for a fight.
"We've got company." Geo replied as he pointed at the celling above the shinning array of gems "Apparently not all of the diamond dogs left this area."
As soon as the dirt stared to fall from the celling I prepared to rush in to help them... if only to have them help us until a brass colored earth pony landed on the ground and stared at us. It threw me off for a moment until a magical barrier appeared right in front of us.
Fail Safe shivered a little as she said "What is that?"
I glanced at the brass colored pony who seemed to smile when she saw us and said "Can't you tell Equestrian?"
Both unicorns were in defensive stances as they stared at her as if she was a fire breathing dragon. I also prepared for a fight since she was human and also probably one of the people responsible for the prison break... but Geo and Fail Safe seemed terrified of her despite the fact this wasn't the first human turned pony they ran into to.
The brass colored mare just stared at us as her tail swept across the ground back and forth "Armored mare... Royal Guards... You wouldn't happen to be Valkyrie would you?"
Silver Wing whispered "What's going on?"
Fail Safe hissed loudly "That is not a pony or even one of the bug ponies!"
That made me focus on the brass colored mare as... cursed tunnel plus strange pony that scares the locals equals trouble. The only question was what exactly made this mare seem so frightening to them?
Silver Wing didn't seem to have noticed anything, but she quickly pulled out her bow along with one of the ice arrows just to be safe.
The brass mare held a hoof to her mouth and pretended to be frightened "Oh dear me. Four against one. Oh what ever shall I do?"
Something fell from the hole above her head as her tail quickly snatched it as the object rested against the side of her body like a lance. I felt my blood turn cold as I recognized the crude design and the small fire at the end of it and screamed "Shields!"
The two unicorns made another magic barrier and gritted their teeth as the burst of flames shout out of the flamethrower and smashed into the shield before us. The flames licked across the shield growing brighter for a few moments until the shields broke as the brass colored mare smashed through them as she now had her teeth on the barrel of the flame thrower and used it like a club knocking Quick Wing up against the wall before tackling me.
I swung my fist at her only for her to chuckle as the punch knocked her back as she replied "One combat build and three secondary regulars... and two who are still frightened."
Geo's horn glowed as he stated loudly "We request for you to leave these tunnels Miss."
"Brass Balls." She... he? The former human in front of us replied. "And if you wouldn't mind bringing out that wicked witch and leaving her with me than I would be happy to oblige..."
"Who?" I couldn't help but ask as I had a sneaking feeling my name was going to be called.
Brass chuckled in irritation "The Cross witch of course..."
Geo's horn glowed again as a part of the ground collapse revealing two diamond dogs and a chained up prisoner... like the ones taken from Tartarus.
Brass frowned "Boys... we're taking the hard way."
The diamond dogs grinned as they pulled out their maces... and these diamond dogs looked like the guards from that mlp episode. Geo started to sweat as I glanced at Fail Safe... there was one Tartarus Prisoner nearby and two rather large diamond dogs.
I whispered "Think you can?" she nodded, but didn't seem happy at the prospect.
Geo whispered "She also has more dogs lurking in the ground around us."
I chuckled nervously as... I really wished I was fighting the teenage dragons instead. At least they would also be confined in this small space. On the bright side they couldn't collapse the tunnels on us because...
"Stupid pony!" a gravely voice shouted in anger as Geo had bucked a diamond in the face when he tried to pop out of the ground.
I gulped as I took another look and just realized... she had natural diamond dogs in her group as the ground shook a little. They were not going to collapse the tunnel on us... because this place was already unstable... highly unstable and also in their odds as the walls started to open up revealing new tunnels with a large amount of diamond dogs wearing vest full of gems.
Brass smiled as she said "What was that old line again? Remember the Alamo?"
******
Brass
One player, three equestrians, and a couple of diamond dogs on my side. The odds were in my favor and I had been stuffed inside a jail cell until that freaking bitch cursed me and made me into a girl... so naturally I wanted a bit of richly deserved payback since armored chick is friends with her.
The armored girl was about to say something, I didn't give her a chance to finish as I charged. Pegasi could be strong, but that only worked against normal fights and I'm anything but normal as I pinned her to the ground and started wailing on her face. Say what you want about it looking like a slapping fight, but ponies have hooves making this the equivalent of slapping someone with a glove that held a brick inside it.
One of the blasted ponies kicked one of the diamond dogs at me knocking me off her as she managed to get up and then bucked both of us across the room as the rest of the diamond dogs tried to charge her.
I shouted out loud "Get the others first!"
I could see a few of my diamond dogs getting beaten up as... diamond dogs used swarm tactics and the terrain to their advantage. Being underground in an unstable mine made things a bit more difficult... also most of them sucked at fighting as their closer to thieves or highway men than actual brawlers.
It's the reason why the Mane Six managed to beat them so easily and sure training would help them get better... but most of them are new fresh green horns who are used to digging instead of fighting. Their the type that lost to the Mane Six in a regular brawl despite having larger numbers and even with armor and weapons.
But there were a few good ones in the mix.
"Bruce, Spike! Strike!" I screamed as they charged her with their shields.
She managed to doge the first ramming charge, but Spike jumped into the air ramming her and brought her slammed down into the ground. As soon as she was grounded Bruce jumped up and landed on the shield keeping her down as I retrieved one of the fallen maces and charged after the unicorns.
They had magic and one of them was dealing with the tunnel preventing the diamond dogs from making the tunnel more stable so that they could use their normal tactics as the ground kept literally shifting about as the second one was swinging the metal spear around knocking them back or jabbing the blunt edge of the spear at exposed points.
Sure a blunt spear tip sounds like a joke right up until you have one jabbed at your stomach. It is a weapon that adds reach and just because it won't kill anyone... doesn't mean it won't hurt like heck when it hits you.
I charged blocking the spear with my mace just long enough to slam my feet down on it and tackle her. Her horn started to spark and I promptly started punching her in the face and against her horn giving the diamond dogs some space right up until someone tackled me and slammed me into the ground.
Now I saw how she got her nickname as she stood over me with wings spread open wide ready to beat me up. Too bad for her she is thinking like a pony and I'm thinking like a human as I spat at her face before head butting underneath her chin. Sure it hurt a bit, but picking up a mace off the ground with my tail I slammed it into her shins... or that joint that locks up in pain whenever someone kicks it during a soccer game.
The world blacked out for a moment as a pain shot through my head as the wana be hero groaned "Of course you have a hard head."
I'll give her this... either she bought some really nice armor or she picked up some hero perk that doesn't let her fall down easily. She swung her fist trying to hit me as I pulled back... my left leg was now incased in ice as she took another swing hitting me in the face.
I swung again only for my fore leg to be incased in ice as it smashed against her armor as she slammed her armored gauntlet into my shoulder.
"Need a helping hoof Valkyrie?" A jackass replied as she was surrounded by frozen diamond dogs.
I really hate magic.
A pegasus smiled as she was using her wings to pull back the draw string as she loaded another arrow. Bruce and Spike managed to stop her for firing another arrow as I focused on the opponent in front of me. She huffed in pain and frustration as she had taken a few good beatings... and I knew I wasn't going to beat her in a fist fight.
The armored mare shouted "Just stop fighting! There is an ancient evil your group just unleashed and it's coming this way."
Just great. They were pulling the giant flaming distraction over here. The other diamond dogs stopped attacking as... they didn't seem happy with the prospect of facing the rest of the royal guard if the entire place didn't collapse when the villain walked over this place.
I chuckled as smashed the ice off my legs and said "Sorry, but it wouldn't be right if I passed up this chance." Spike and Bruce smiled as they moved their shields to let me attack "Besides... you're Remedy's friend are you and I have a score to settle with her."
I glanced at the hole I had fell from and shouted "Do it now!"
All of them glanced back at the villain I had been carrying with us as they expected me to unleash it or something stupid. Instead my good pal Quick Wing dropped the bag as I pulled out my backup plan.
That's the thing about these stupid menus is that it makes people stupid. Suddenly it's all about trading memories for power and seeing which idiot can be the next magical powerhouse or they think that they are the next special little butterfly that gets to be the hero.
Me on the other hand? I remembered the best ability of all is being human... because we cheat. I didn't get my revenge against Sanguine Point by being stronger than him. No... I won because I cheated as I pulled out the basilisk from the bag.
The armored girl turned to stare at me as I smiled holding the basilisk at her. Her allies stared at us in horror as I couldn't help but laugh as she fell over. The Basilisk continued hissing as I stuffed it back in the bag as Quick Wings dropped from the hole above me.
He shook his head "Don't try to follow us. Don't try to stop us and we'll let you finish up your job."
I smirked as I stared at him "You could have helped sooner you know."
He shrugged "Sorry, but facing unmarked ponies who could beat me to a pulp wasn't in the job description. Besides I did help out in the end and that has to count for something right?"
"I'll just have to remind your uncle when we get back." I quipped back as he sighed.
The rest of the Equestrian ponies hung their heads in defeat as we had won. The rest of my group chuckled as a few showed open signs of enjoying their victory on their faces as they refrained from shouting in joy... if only to ensure the tunnel didn't collapse.
Now all we had to do was get out of here before the rest of the Royal Guard came. Thankfully we just bought enough time for me to set up plan B.
******
Steel Halberd
Steel Halberd pushed himself forward as he tried to run across the ground. His wings ached in pain as he nearly dogged being roasted alive... but it wasn't going to be flying anytime soon as a few of his feathers still reeked of smoke.
Behind him he could hear Emberess taunting "Where are you? No more taunts or barbed insults? Did I now hold back enough and made you extra crispy by mistake?"
She barely nicked him and he knew it. The holding back bit was as Valkyrie called it.... a line of BS. He had no idea what that meant, but he was sure it applied to this situation as he kept moving forward. The ground underneath him was starting to become rocky as he saw a few hints of diamond dog tracks.
All he had to do was keep luring her forward. Once she arrived at the sight the Royal Guard could finish her off as he would give a very big apology to Valkyrie once this was all over. He couldn't help, but chuckle as here he was risking his live against an ancient revived villain... only to be thinking about a mare at this time.
"I really have fallen into a story book right now." He softly said to himself.
"I shall find you no matter where you go!" Emberess howled as her voice... was getting farther away.
Steel felt like facehoofing as the only two things she had to do was follow him.... and not kill him. Now he was going to have to let her know of his presence again if only to ensure she didn't go the wrong direction again.
Emberess laughed out loud "I am the greatest terror to ever fall upon Equestria."
"No you're not!" Steel shouted at the top of his voice "Discord beats you there!"
Sure he was an ancient foe who... please don't let them have freed Discord from Tartarus or something.
"He is but an ignorant man child compared to me!" She screamed in rage.
Steel couldn't help but snort at that statement as he was pretty sure she didn't have any right to argue with that statement.
Steel started running again as he could hear her moving towards him "Everyone quakes in fear of my name as even your beloved Princesses couldn't slay me!"
Steel started to cough as the smoke started getting to him. The flaming behemoth was setting everything on fire around her as the heat was becoming unbearable. Steel had been forced to discard his armor as it wouldn't protect him against the flames and it only grew more unbearable as the heat kept rising. The trees began to crackle around him as the dirt had been baking underneath his hooves.
Behind him in the distance he could make out the towering figure that now stood larger than a fully grown dragon as the black coal like eyes scanned the forest trying to find him. Thankfully she didn't share a dragon's keen vision as she had kept losing track of him a couple of times.
Still he had a job to do as he drew closer to the assigned meeting place "Never head of you until today and quite frankly you're not the scariest thing I've seen either."
Steel jumped to the side as a blast of flames incinerated the cover he had been hiding behind. Emberess might not be the smartest villain, but her aim was improving. More important she kept here eyes on the ground instead of watching the sky as a massive rain cloud nearly blocked out the sun just a little bit away from them. Even then the amount of trees and cover was running low... as Steel would have to plan his next moves more carefully.
Emberess howled in rage "I am flame incarnate! Nothing is more terrifying than me!"
"Crazy mind controlling monster that fillynapped ponies just to force them to act in a play as they are completely aware of their actions, but unable to do anything about it as the crazy monster plays with them like literal puppets" Steel snapped back as he felt a shiver down his spine as the memory was a lot more frightening than the monster before him.
Instead of rage or a blast of flames there was... silence as Emberess seemed to be at a loss for words which of course only lasted for a few seconds before her ego kicked in "Celestia and Luna's forces assaulted my temple for seven days and seven nights as even your false prophets struggled against my power!"
Steel Halberd held perfectly still behind one of the few remaining boulders. The trees had mostly thinned out as the few bits of vegetation that had struggled to thrive in the rock and sandy environment had died out now due to the heat. The ground shook with every step as she drew closer as Steel couldn't help, but sweat.
It felt like standing next to a blazing furnace or possibly one of Canterlot's forges set on high. The rock started to burn his hooves as it felt like he was walking across a frying pan or a row of hot coals as steam hissed out of the behemoth's mouth. Still it was not the heat that made him sweat so badly... but the fear.
The ground was unstable as the tunnels were supposed to have become more unstable. He didn't know how far they had managed to get, but a part of Steel hated himself as his wings couldn't support him now. The moment Emberess stood on the trap was the moment he would also share the ancient villain's fate.
"After all these countless years I have crawled out of the very depths of Tartarus itself to have my revenge." She hummed with pride "Even now your pathetic excess for a "princess" who isn't even worthy of being called a queen hides in fear of my very presence."
Steel bit his tongue as he tried not to shout back. With one deep breath he prepared for the worst as... he needed to lure her further... deeper towards the diamond dog tunnel system. If he ran she would chase as flames would scorch the very earth itself.
In a cruel yet satisfying cold logic he knew how it would go. If he was burnt alive or incinerated in the flames then she would go over to his body... hopefully setting off the trap. If he dogged the flames than either she would catch up to him and crush him... or cause the ground to collapse burying them both under rocks, dirt, and then the drown pour of water drowning them as this entire area would turn into a miniature lake... or hold the ancient villain long enough for Celestia to finish her off.
******
Geo
Geo Limestone felt awful as they hadn't been tied up or tossed into some pit. There weren't even any diamond dogs really watching them as most of them were to busy digging out the exposed gems and acting rather smug about it. Of course the fact that moral was low and that the twisted brass colored mare petrified Valkyrie had been enough to force them to surrender.
The worst part of it all... was that the battle could have gone a lot worse. Sure there were a couple of bruises from the maces or where the diamond dogs punched them... but none of them used a bladed weapon or aimed for their heads... except the brass colored mare. Still with how lax the guards were... they could probably escape if they left Valkyrie behind as the thought made him feel ill.
The same mare nervous about being underground would be abandoned by her comrades and left to the brass colored mare's mercy didn't sit well with him. Geo looked around the tunnel trying to find some way out of this situation until he spotted the villain that had been taken from Tartarus as he had mixed feelings. On the bright side the ancient villain had been turned to stone so they couldn't unleash him like they had with the previous villain... but just why they wanted an extremely large spider with a giant eye and two tusks was beyond him.
He also didn't feel good as the griffin and the brass colored mare were next to some strange arcane device they had brought with them instead of trying to dig a new tunnel or getting ready to flee. Instead they were almost camping out in the tunnel despite the fact they had been warned that the Royal Guard was coming and a giant flaming monster was about to collapse the entire mine.
Geo closed his eyes as he focused on their voices trying to hear what they were saying as all those years trying to listen on other conversations was finally paying off. They weren't that loud and the other diamond dogs interfered a little by speaking amongst each other... but just like a rock farmer listening to the sound of the rock to hear the gem he too listened for the shine of the gem in this confusion.
He also felt like apologizing to his father about that crazy phrase or all those times he had Geo work in the caves despite all the noise and yet remember to listen for the subtle sounds... like the ground starting to shift as something heavy was moving above them.
The brass colored mare said "He never specified what he was after... just a shipment and I thought it would be nice to have during a rainy day."
The griffin chuckled "That explains how you escaped TImberton so easily. Still I can't help but ask... why didn't we use this sooner?"
"Because I don't want to attract Celestia's attention or Sanguine Point's former employer..." Brass replied in slight annoyance "and the whole 'alliance' would take it from us if they knew we had it. I for one want a quick method out of Canterlot when they pull off their crazy plan."
The griffin laughed "You think they don't stand a chance?"
Brass shook her head "Against Discord? Not so much...but against Tirek? I think it's better to have a group in reserve to deal with him after his rampage... besides would you rather like to be seen as the group that unleashed the havoc and chaos along with an ancient foe... or the group that valiantly came in to save the day after someone else takes the blame for the mess?"
Geo felt sick as the griffin replied with a hint of pride "You're rather quite evil aren't you?"
The mare chuckled "History is written by the victors and public opinion does not follow the truth... but the biggest voice that tells them what to think and no body will want to say that the heroes that saved them were also responsible for the mess... especially when they haven't been seen causing any problems."
Geo couldn't help but shiver as it sounded... no... the group was planning to invade Canterlot or something along those lines. Even then it sounded as if this brass colored mare planned to betray the group she was currently working with. All the while none of the guards seemed to be making sure they didn't teleport away or...
They didn't think they could teleport since it was an advanced skill. They thought he was leading the group down the tunnels and that he would know just when the ancient villain would arrive.
Geo whispered to his comrades "Close your eyes and count to five. Then I need you to grab Valkyrie if you can."
Fail Safe nodded "You do realize that the trip will be rough?"
Silver Wing tried to smile as she said "I can carry two ponies if you can keep Valkyrie safe." she was lying, but hopefully she would be able to soften the landing.
Geo nodded as he knew they had to escape and warn Celestia... even if they couldn't rescue Valkyrie as the ground began to shift about. He closed his eyes and focused on the first spell. It was a simply light enchantment that should never be done inside a crystal mine as he learned about it the hard way as a foal trying to learn the gem detection spell.
As soon as the diamond dogs howled in pain as the searing white light seemed to burn against his closed eyelids he grabbed hold of Silver Wing as the strange sense of being teleported filled his body as they landed right next to the stone form of Valkyrie. Geo's horn flared as he focused on trying to make the tunnel collapse as the already unstable tunnel didn't need much help.
That was when he felt the burst of magic in front of him as he opened his eyes. It was a brief moment but he could see the brass colored mare's anger as she turned around. He could see the lush courtyard and the castle that stood in the distance behind her... and all of the armored griffins rushing forward as two of them quickly pulled the griffin beside brass and the mare inside as the diamond dogs rushed through the portal.
One of the griffins fired off a cross bolt at them as the world suddenly disappeared before being replaced by the sky as gravity took affect.
Geo wasn't afraid to admit he was screaming at the top of his lungs or proud that he noticed Valkyrie falling in the air as he quickly caught her in his magic... and felt the strain of catching her as his horn ached in pain as he struggled to keep her afloat. Thankfully a squadron of pegasi rushed over to catching them before they went hurdling towards the ground.
To his surprise Razor Wind flew over to them with a cloud in his magical grip as he had a pair of see through wings on his side. The white stallion was known for being captain of the Royal Guard and if he was here... then reinforcements had finally arrived.
After they landed on the cloud Razor Wind replied"I take it that the mission didn't go according to plan?"
Geo glanced at his group as... Fail Safe was exhausted as the strain of her magic had proven too much as she was probably suffering from magical burn out right now. Silver Wing dropped on the cloud as the weight of two ponies must have been a strain on her body even if it was trying to slow their descent. Then there was of course Valkyrie who's beaten and injured form only brought pain to his eyes as the brass colored mare not only escaped... but took the basilisk with her.
Geo felt the weight of their failure as he could see the massive storm cloud up in the distance as he wasn't even sure if they had weakened the tunnels enough to make it collapse... or if the strange magic the brass colored mare employed prevented the mine from collapsing.
"I need to talk to Celestia." Geo replied in a panic as he remembered the mare's conversation "I need to talk to Celestia!"
The white unicorn nodded as he dispelled the magic that gave him flight "Calm down... take a few deep breaths... what happened?"
Geo felt tears in his eyes as he said "Tell Celestia the brass colored mare from Timberton took it. Tell her it... she'll understand."
She was planning something dangerous... something that endangered Canterlot. They had to capture her before she enacted her evil plot!
Razer Wind placed a hoof on his shoulder "Just... calm..." His horn glowed "... down."
Geo felt himself growing tired as he replied "Tell Celestia... the brass mare.... isn't a pony..."
The last thing he heard was a the older stallion saying "You did good. You did what you could."
******
Steel
Steel Halberd stood his ground or did the best he could as he couldn't move. The flames that had scorched his legs burned, but the damage wasn't deep enough to cause any lasting harm.
No... Emberess was playing with him in much the same way a cat would toy with a mouse or some other small object instead of tearing it apart. More than that he could tell that she was enjoying tormenting him if only to feed her overgrown ego.
She smiled as she whispered close to him. The smell of sulfur filled his nose as she openly mocked him "Tell me little one how did you think my followers would react? Did you think they would let their goddess stay trapped? Did you think they would not return to me or speak my name in such devoted praise?"
She was delusional. In fact she had yet to realize out of all the criminals that had been taken... she must have been worthless if they dropped her first.
She flicked him on his side as his side burned from her touch "Tell me how my kingdom fairs... the battles they fight against your foolish forces. Maybe if you fall down and worship me I may let you live."
Steel chuckled as he would rather worship Discord before this insane monster. In fact considering how much of an ego she held Celestia probably erase the monster's name from the history books because that would hurt the over grown blow heard the most.
Emberess frowned as the ground began to grow unbearably hot "Tell me. Tell me of my kingdom. Of my worshipers of the horrific tales you wove to frighten foals about my presence."
Steel couldn't help but laugh as the ground began to shift as Emberess was so focused on her own ego she had yet to notice how she had started to sink into the ground as Steel happily replied "I never head of you until today."
Emberess clenched the ground in rage as it started to bubble as she hissed "So Celestia sought to prevent my escape by sending her best to stop those loyal to me!"
Steel shook his head as he replied "No I mean when you gave your overblown intro. Until today we never even heard of you."
Emberess raised his fists in rage "The ancient temples speak of my name!"
Steel blinked "Really? Last I heard it was Scorchy something."
Steel didn't know much about ancient Equestrian history, but he was sure that really drove it home as Emberess howled in rage as she just realized that she was forgotten by the rest of the world. That or she thought he was lying and was going to kill him now instead of latter. Steel closed his eyes as he prepared for the end only for nothing to happen. Instead of a blazing heat the temperature seemed to have died down forcing him to open his eyes.
Emberess was slamming his fist down, but a magical golden dome covered him as the monster's fist parted against the golden dome unable to touch him. It was then that he saw Celestia gliding down upon the battlefield as Emberess was now trying to claw the dirt around him in a futile attempt to reach him.
Celestia chuckled drawing Emberess's attention "You still have a one track mind don't you."
Emberess hissed in rage as the flames grew more intense as she howled "You come alone? Is your sister to frightened to face me or is she lurking in the background with your armies attempting to stop my return!"
Celestia seemed to flinch as Steel couldn't recognize the hint of pain in her eyes... as Steel just realized that Celestia had a sister or maybe a close adopted relative since there wasn't another alicorn ruling by her side.
Celestia shook her head "After all these years you haven't changed one bit... all that time in Tartarus hasn't even made you repent for your actions or think about the harm you have caused."
Emberess drew to her full height and shouted shaking the very earth "I am Emberess the Mistress of Flames! I am a goddess amongst you pitiful mortals. The only regret I have is that your foolish forces managed to keep me bound for this long as I will enjoy bringing ruin to your castle in the woods and replacing it with a temple worthy of my presence!"
Steel blinked as... either this monster was insane or she hadn't been aware of how many changes have happened over the years. Celestia on the other hoof sighed in much the same way one found out they had a Para Sprite infestation.
"Do you at least remember a stallion named Shooting Comet?" Celestia asked as she slowly levitated Steel up into the air.
Emberess laughed as she grinned maliciously "The foolish bat pony who thought he could stop me? Tell me... does your sister still care so deeply about her abominations or was that bat freak special?"
Celestia's calm gentle smile turned into a frown as Celestia harshly replied "Even now you refuse to change or even learn from your past mistakes."
Emberess laughed as the flames around her body started to converge towards her mouth as a massive ball of flame started to appear. Instead of running, preparing a defense, or even having her horn glow Celestia simply raised up a single hoof up into the air before slamming it against the ground.
That was when the ground finally fell apart as Emberess fell face forward into the massive pit as Celestia carried him away before the flames erupted behind them. He could hear her screaming in rage as the ground started to consume her as more chunks of the earth fell ontop of her burying her alive as the pegasi in the sky took it as their cue to unleash the storm of the century as water flooded down the collapsing mine carrying boulders and turning the rocks and dirt into a torrent of mud as the flaming behemoth struggled to get free.
In fact she reminded Steel of one of those old creatures that fell into a tar pit from his history books as her massive size and power did little to assist her with against the mud as her body was consumed by the mud as more water rained down upon her turning the massive pit into a small boiling lake.
Steel sighed in relief as the royal guard quickly moved into position to ensure that the ancient villain didn't escape as his body was placed on a cloud as doctors came to treat his aching wounds.
Celestia smiled as she said "Thank you for your hard work."
Steel shook his head "If I actually did a good job than none of them would have escaped."
He could see the smoke drifting across the remains of the path Emberess had made. He also knew that many of the creatures responsible for this mess took advantage of the moment either setting more of the forest ablaze or simply escaped while they were forced to deal with her.
Celestia shook her head "You came out far better than most would have as she was a dangerous foe in the past."
"Don't mention it." Steel replied as he didn't feel comfortable with Celestia's praise "I mean... she has a big ego and the main reason why I survived was because she needed somepony to gloat to." Celestia just stared at him letting him know he shouldn't argue "But if you want to do something for me... just stand in front of me as I'm sure Valkyrie is going to bite my head off after seeing this."
Steel chuckled at his bad joke until he saw the grim looks on their faces "I mean I shouldn't joke but..."
Razor Wind landed in front of Celestia and bowed "The team recovered is resting... but none of the other unicorns know what to do."
Steel felt a knot in his stomach as he dreaded saying "What happened?"
Razor Wind simply stared at Steel in the same way he had to tell somepony's family about a guard hat fell in the line of duty. Still that couldn't be right... his sister was safe in Canterlot. His father retired from the guard years ago...
"Valkyrie..." Razor Wind spoke as Steel felt cold "She did the best she could."
Celestia stared at Razor Wind "What happened?"
"Basilisk..." the old unicorn commander said as Steel couldn't hear the rest.
To him it felt as if they were talking about some other mare. Valkyrie wasn't a regular pegasus in much the same way Smart Cookie wasn't an ordinary unicorn. There wasn't anyway that something bad could have happened to her as she wasn't even near the fighting after they pulled back. In fact she had been sent to the mines to set up the trap.
Steel shook his head "Basilisks are only found in the Everfree forest."
Razor Wind coughed "This... Brass colored mare apparently kept one."
That was when he saw her... Valkyrie was lying on her side as her face was covered in bruises... turned to stone as the look of defiance was still on her face despite the fear and shock that had crept into it. Even the flank was left bare of a cutie mark as deep down he knew it was her to his gut wrenching horror.
"The rest are being treated, but..." Razor Wind said before stopping Steel from getting up "Just stay there and try to..."
Celestia placed a hoof on Steel's chest pinning him to the cloud far more effectively than Razor Wind's unicorn magic as she said "I promise you that we will find a way to fix this." She tried to smile "There might be some old spell books that can help undue the cruse Ms. Brass Ball had placed on her."
Steel slowly nodded as he stayed down. He wasn't of any use now as he couldn't even fly... Valkyrie was still alive for the moment as Celestia was going to look for a solution. Still there was another way to dispel the curse and all he needed was the basilisk that originally cursed Valkyrie in the first place.
A small sickening feeling came to his heart as he thought about the mare named Brass. She was one of the ponies responsible for this disaster and she was the one personally responsible for what happened to Valkyrie. all he had to do was find where she was lurking.
******
Lockheart
The knocking on the door woke me up as I yawned gently trying to unlatch myself from the two fillies that managed to nuzzle up next to me... probably in an attempt to make more ice cream before I leave or one of those strange equestrian culture customs I barely understood.
A part of me still tried not to think about how most of Equestria goes about preparing their food. I mean unicorns use magic... but where does that leave earth ponies and pegasi? They walk around on their hooves all day... do they wash them before preparing a meal or is this closer to the time period where earth butchers didn't wash their blades as they had yet to learn how bacteria and how diseases can spread.
Of course that had more to do with finding the correlation of diseases and how they could be transferred and that was discovered by dirty knifes and butcher shops... and this is a primarily vegetarian society....
The knocking on the door woke me up again as honestly... is was to late in the night to think about these things and if I dwelled on it too long then I would start to question if the sun is Discworld size or normal earth variant... Does the manipulation of the stars mean moving real stars about... the light cast by them... or possibly close smaller rocks that cast of like... sort of like mini moons the size of small asteroids nearby Eques instead of dealing with the human definition of stars. Even then shooting stars only happen when junk or debris hit the atmosphere just right so that it would burn across the night sky without... completely burning up or possibly come crashing down to some lucky/unlucky area.
Those questions were best filled under "Don't care" right along with the fact that Cuthluu might be real considering I traveled to another plane of reality or free will vs fate debates. I glanced back at the two bat foals who were still asleep as they slowly snuggled up against each other and then smiled as they were warm again.
Now I had to figure out what caused me to lose my bed/large floor pillow.
Remedy yawned unhappy that she was getting up as I could hear Midnight muttering underneath her breath "First they say work during the day... now at night. Make up your mind already."
I couldn't help but smirk as Midnight stretched out yawning like a cat as Remedy merely rubbed her eyes and started walking into the kitchen for a moment before stumbling into the hallway. Once they both had their eyes opened I simply pointed at the door as they both groaned.
I stared at Midnight "Is your uncle expecting anyone?"
Midnight yawned again "What makes you think that?"
"This is one of the few places that operates twenty four seven... everyday of the week." I quickly replied
She simply frowned "Not enough sleep to deal with that... take a look out the peep hole."
I nodded as I walked over to the door and took a peek at who was on the other side of the door. I couldn't help, but frown as I saw the group of players because I highly doubted that anyone from Equestria would get their friends together to stand in front of a door while wearing capes designed to look like the national flags from different countries of earth.
I sighed as I said "Their probably here for me... and their not being very subtle about it."
Midnight nodded as she replied "One moment." as she strapped on her wing blades as I stared at her "What? I read the Everfree Forest incident."
That threw me off for a second "Wait... just what are you expecting?"
Midnight shrugged "If something crazy happens than it's my job to make sure you make it back to Canterlot in one piece... and now I'm good."
I merely nodded as... either I needed a chat with Celestia or there was something Midnight wasn't telling me about because that was the only adventure I had outside of Canterlot since I came here...and my only other time besides this past week that I even left Canterlot.
I opened up the door as their leader smiled wearing a British flag on his back as he said "We need to talk to Celestia."
The one with a Japanese flag simply replied "Just tell him."
First thing that got me.... was that either they didn't come from the same nation as their flag... or that what ever force dropped us in Equestria also altered our language to fit Equestrian as they only had a slight accent, but nothing out of the ordinary.
The second part was that they wanted to use me to get face time with Celestia. This was one of the reasons why I didn't like interacting with people. Equestrian gave me their far share problems, but so too did my fellow members of humanity. Of course their were more interested in my position or what crazy scheme they wanted to try... or how they just expected me to have some sort of secret clue that would help them figure out what the hell had happened to us.
That's why I let Equestria's bureaucracy normally deal with them as they would remove most of the troublesome one and leaving me to deal with the ones who I actually need to deal with. If this was going to be another equivalent of a crazy person's idea or theory about what happened or what "we" need to do... I was going to slam the door on their face and then see if I could throw them in jail if they persited.
It's the middle of the night so I'm allowed to be grumpy and a tad bit vindictive.
Brit noticed my look of irration as he caught the message "Look... we need Celestia to check something... we found this and we..."
I didn't listen to what he was saying as he pulled out an Element of Harmony still in it's rocky bowling ball form as I felt a painful jab in my chest. Maybe it was guilt over my past actions or fear of what would happen next... heck it could have been some sort of magical connection to the one Discord gave me along with the scar on my chest.
I quickly interupted him "Hand it over and write down where you found it, what was around it, and any other details about it including when you picked it up and bring it here in the morning!"
Brit moved the Element of Harmony back into his saddle bag "Look if you can get us a talk with Celestia..."
I glared at him and stated to him "In the morning we are going back to Cloudsdale and currently we only have one sky chariot so that leaves one spare seat unless you have a pair of wings or another sky chariot you have."
I pulled myself to my full height "We would go now but if that actually is real than flying in the middle of the night would be a bad idea especially since the ones responsible for their disappearance would want anyone for trying to let Celestia know. So drop it off... write it all down... or find a means of transportation to come with us or get to Canterlot and people will be angry if you were the ones who managed to lose it during the trip to Canterlot."
I think that last bit drove it home as they looked a bit nervous. Just because they had the fancy artifact did not meant they were the chosen wielders... after all plenty of people in stories lost the item or died right before the hero found it.
I levitated a saddle bag from the house over to it as Brit dropped it with some reluctance... and relief as he probably had a line ready to help fix his bruised ego. Personally I didn't give a dam as I closed the door as Remedy and Midnight stared at me.
I sighed as I placed the bag down making dam sure I didn't touch it "Let me guess you want to know what I'm doing?"
Remedy glanced at the bag "Are you sure that it is..."
"Either a good forgery made to be a booby trap, or its real." I simply replied'
Midnight glared at me letting her know of her immediate displeasure "You are leaving a cursed artifact in this house?"
I held up my hoof "If it was going to go off then it would have taken the idiots outside before anyone in here! That means that if it's cursed than it's set to go off when it is in contact with Celestia or.... I did tick off the one behind the Everfree Forest incident."
They both stared at me as Midnight rolled her eyes "Right..."
"Not an Alicorn." I quickly replied "Besides if it is one of the Elements of Harmony then... we kind of need it. They are a powerful set of magical artifact when used together..."
Remedy stared at me "You do realize what I saw from that incident right?" Her horn glowed "The truth."
I felt like cursing as... honestly I wanted to chuck it in a volcano... or something. All this stupid rock did was remind me about my current situation as I had one of the blasted rocks stuck in me, If I tried to gather them all up... then how would I deal with the one in my chest? If I tried to stop it... then how could I do it, make sure that my twisted bad end future doesn't happen... or even figure out a way to destroy the Tree of Harmony... which wasn't even a sure answer if it would stop the Elements of Harmony.
"If used by the proper ponies who stand, or bear the meanings or expression of the chosen element they wield they can do a couple of things." I slowly and bitterly replied "They can turn chaotic creatures of chaos to stone...or help restore one's sanity, or break a curse that was affecting them... and trust me that last part is going to be needed."
Remedy and Midnight just stared at me for a moment as... honestly I couldn't tell what they were thinking. Even if I could read/feed on emotions all I got was some sort of... not really sure because I never really encountered this emotion before.
I let out a long sigh "And currently we have a lot of lost souls missing chunks of their memories and... their frightened, desperate... and a little bit worried. If this object is real than maybe Celestia has some spell to help find the others and if it isn't than she could help warn everyone on what to look out for."
I glanced at the rock as I felt a sick pit in my stomach "Because you should never underestimate fear. It can drive people into doing things they would never have even considered before... and right now... it's better if we let Celestia know and let her decide."
I walked back to the bed and shook my head as... it was still taken by the two sleeping foals. I managed to recover the blanket and just slept on the floor as... sleep wasn't going to come ease tonight.
I had an Element of Harmony stuck in my chest... and while Equestrians might try to find some safe way to remove it... four simple words I knew of filled me with terror as I knew what might happen if push came to shove... or if someone else didn't want to wait.
For the Greater Good was the human equivalent of a magic solve all spell as it washed away most vile sins as it "redeemed" any action committed once it had been said. After all if one life must be sacrificed so that the rest could live or be "saved" then plenty of people would gladly do it since it didn't ask for their life to be the one sacrificed.
Fear and desperation made people do stupid things as... I'll admit my Equestrian magical lore wasn't that great... but right now I needed to look over Starswirl's unfinished spells, that one memory spell Twilight used on her friends in the first Discord episode/intro... and as much as I hate to say it... I may need to ask Discord about the Plunder Seeds, and a certain spell... but after his last deal I wasn't exactly inclined to trust too much on matters like this.
I hoped that the Element of Harmony they gave me was a fake or that I managed to figure out someway to make myself feel safe... before my fear got the worst of me because if there is a spell that can point out the Elements of Harmony... then ditching the alicorn disguise and trying to go with another disguise might not work if they had a magical GPS on my location.
I already had a nightmare/vision of six former humans killing me and I was discovered as a changeling? Happy future had gray color scheme. Bad ending had black chitin.
I tried to close my eyes as... I tired not to think about it. It actually had been a good day until this happened... hopefully it's a fake.
******
Luke
I sighed in relief as we just made it. Griff the former human turned unicorn rubbed his head "Well we made it. Three villains out of four isn't that bad."
I blinked "I only saw two..."
Griff shrugged "That girl you recruited... the brass one had a few griffins bring her and the third villain here." He shivered "They also talked about sending supplies to help ensure our success."
I glanced around the crystal caves as Brass was in the room smiling as... I didn't expect her to arrive here. In fact I was a little bit worried now as we were going to get more supplies after our stunt. Just because nobody used the tunnels underneath Canterlot due to their magic dampening effect didn't mean it was the safest place to hide.
Brass smiled "Don't worry my boys hid nearby some other diamond dog packs as the griffins had a separate pick up point for me if I ran into any problems. After that it was a quick ride and a story about some upcoming negotiations."
I nodded as... it wasn't good that she didn't trust us. Still she was loyal to the plan and slaying Discord would absolve any sins we had committed. Personally I just wanted to go home or use the magic mirror and get to a place close enough to home as I'm pretty sure that Equestria Girl Earth was a little bit more friendlier than normal earth. Still it was a descent backup plan.
Brass pulled out a book from her saddle bags "We also just received a book on Centaur biology... or one close enough to work for now."
Besides despite the minor problems or fears she caused it was hard to argue with her results as she got us what we needed. We had Tirek locked up with three villains in our grasp. We had an outside source supplying us with goods and most of all we had a plan ready to enact when Discord broke free. Heck we even found a few changelings players had have them use their Jedi mind tricks to make anyone stumble across this place forgot about it.
Now all we had to do was find Discord or wait for his release as he was going to break free soon. Any story with Discord was like a Call of Cuthlu game. You knew the ancient evil was going to be unleashed... it was just a matter of when it would happen and if you were prepared for it.
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You started calling Embress a "he" part of the way through, plus a use of "hear" rather than "here" as well as a few other there/their/they're errors. I'd list them all but I was too busy reading to mark their exact locations
oh how i love the new villains in the picture.
Mistakes aside... not that bad.
Poor Valkyire
Choices to be made
and villains to be played 
item that is either a shinny trinket that plays no plot... or the hint of something bigger.
Of course the real question is... what was with that spider?
Also why no end question for the readers?
WHY! 
PS hope CPU gets fixed soon.
Ice work
7039656
Found Spider!
Either Aghh spider G1 minion!
MLP Return of Queen Chrysalis Spiders!
Or insert fanmade monster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqOT_ZtkHew
Back in the day when all I villains didn't need a reason to be evil. Also human!
Typing mistakes ... I really hate magic needs a space. Enraged at me sounds a bit off.
I'll have to say that Brass while weaker than most player villains may be the most dangerous. Instead of playing hero she is playing mercenary and getting some powerful backers. The only question is which group she is lying to and which camp she is in. Either go home which means griffin backers are clean up or stay in equestria and have the others take the fall. Of course finding brass needs to be done before things get worse.
As for Lock. I guess that choice debate is finally coming back. My bet on the spell list... star swirl spell for element location. Discord spell is element telepot... but no idea for memory spell unless it's an attempt to erase memories.
As for the spider I'm not sure if it's is a call back to the witches in g1. So far tired and... sleeping flower of a G1 character has been made cannon. Don't ask me who the flower is, but it's one of the mlp cannon books as one talks about how the Grand Galloping Gala was founded.
As for spelling mistakes help... have you tried making a blog post for a proof reader?
Also can't wait to see Lock and Celestia meet again and watch all the blunders and misunderstandings happen. Celestia with her assumptions and possibly a few subtle probes or questions vs Lock and his growing fears and deflation tactics as he misunderstands Celestia's questions.
Also what sets Brass apart from the others that lets unicorns know that Brass isn't a pony or did the chaos magic make her non pony origins more apparent in the same way you get a sense of unease staring at a provision or insane institution? Still like the others, but they can natural lying sense she is different?
I may be taking it to seriously or mis interpret some of it, but those are my questions.
Also is this the end of the questions or you didn't make any/lost them for this chapter?
Also what happened to the comment that was deleted only to have a second one appear just a few seconds or minute afterwards from ThatOneGuyBehindYou?
7039656
With Valkyrie turned to stone, the whole 'sculpted figure' running gag takes on a somber new light!
7054298 That is both creepy and foreboding... Oh sweet Celestia it's a hint long since coming!
Quick check the previous joke hints for a poison joke twist stat!
oh and 7043490
Sorry I tried to edit a post I made only to accidently delete it.
As for Lockheart status? Who said player made characters made sense?
7054756
Lockheart is not a changeling, Lockheart is not an alicorn. Lockheart is a changeling alicorn! A changeling forced through the process of alicornification!!!
All hail Lockheart, Alicorn of Paradoxes!
I headcanon he will father princess erroria into the physical world!
7054912 Wait father princess erroria?
Are you talking about bring her or... bringing her in much the same way Furry Heart has been brought into MLP?
Also raise your hand if you thought it was Erotica instead of Erroria at first?
please don't hit me with the ban stick. I'll be good.
7057496
As we saw in every instance of the hallway of mirrors, Erroria is there inside Lockheart's head! As an independent entity!
She'd be perfect family for him!
I wonder if she'll spawn instead of birthing? Either way i expect the tabloids to proclaim Erroria the spawn of Lockheart and Celestia!
isn't it 200 years in the past? if so, then they probably wont be alive alive at the time
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/00/76/09/007609bf647350648852d0ed9c5759c2.jpg
So much doge.
oh, this reminded me of that famous "old man Henderson" story:
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Old_Man_Henderson