• Published 26th Oct 2012
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Slave of Eternity - Secrets and Lies



Chaos descends upon the land. The Immortal Man will discover the genesis of Equestria. The Slave comes.

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23

Author's Note:

Revised January 14th, 2014

(23)

Gliding down the slopes of the Equestrian Mountains raced a small fleet of Canterlot airships while from behind followed a human and his thunderbird. The chilled wind tore around Zack’s body as he struggled to keep his sight unhindered. He fought to keep up with the surprisingly fast paced airships flying far ahead of him. They chugged onward as their boilers billowed thick black smoke that hazed and trailed behind them. The engineers aboard each ship were giving it everything they got, constantly heaving coal into the engine’s belly. They knew that this would shortly last and knew they couldn’t keep this kind of speed for long or remain airborne; however they had faith in their leading Captain Neighmo and pressed on through the worries. Many of the other captains aboard their ships were members of his vessel six years ago when they ventured into the Icicle Mountains, they knew of what incredible feats their Captain could accomplish.

The ever growing threat of the enemy loomed behind them like the mass wall of a storm front. The pattering and deep hum of thousands of wings battered against the ear drums of the ponies and Zack. Hissing and screams from the changelings were even audible through the roar of the airship engines and buzzing of large insect-like wings.

The leader ship–the vessel Neighmo piloted–began to dip underneath the tall fog coverage. As he did this, others behind him began to do follow his maneuver. As one of the airships dipped much lower than the others, it drastically pulled up out of the fog as its under-body was seen covered with changelings which ripped and gnashed at its hull. At that moment it could be seen that a dark veil began blotting though the ocean of mist below them; growing ever more present and visible that below this veil was even more changelings. If it wasn’t for the poor decision that captain of that ship made by going lower than the rest of the fleet, they would have never known of the imminent surprise attack the changelings were about to make. They didn’t exactly know how they had caught up to them and remained hidden for so long, but now that their plan was impeded, Neighmo could take immediate action to counter act it.

He swerved upward away from the fog, and with that operation, the others followed without the need for command. They flew high above the mist and as the changelings saw this, they too fully revealed their underlying swarm and quickly caught up behind them. Zack–still lagging behind–tried ushering his mythical pet to go faster.

“Come on,” he pleaded as he turned back to see the gaining threat drawing closer. “Just a little faster for me, old buddy!” Nox was trying ever so hard to fly quicker, but the bird lacked the strength to propel itself at Zack’s desired rate of speed.

A curtain of darkness overcame the two as Zack looked up to see a now rising swarm of changelings about to plummet onto his location. He had to do something to help aid Nox, so he began to take a firmer grasp of his bird’s back as he placed his feet atop Nox. He was bent low, keeping his left hand tightly fixed on his pet while the the right began to unsheathe the Prevailer. Magic began to build within his body, and as it did, static charges of electricity from the storm plume Nox gave off in its contrail connected and energized his sword. As the changelings began their death dive towards the two, enough magic had built up with his other hand to release a hopefully sufficient strike.

He let go off the bird completely and flung his now free hand forward. From the tips of his fingers shot five intertwining bolts of lightning that near instantaneously connected with the leading changeling in the crashing wave of others. As it struck, a great boom of thunder overcame the area as the changeling glowed blue and its skeleton became visible for a split second. The lightning strike weaved and linked through the diving swarm, electrifying every enemy in close proximity. As the energy left each changeling’s body, one by one they fell through the sky and below the fog coverage. They plummeted in heaps of charcoal smoke and lit cinder, lighting the bleak skies in orange and red. The wave that nearly took Zack and Nox out of the sky had been drawn back, but they weren’t in the clear yet.

No more than a moment later, another band of enemies–as great in numbers as their fallen siblings–rose up from behind. Before Zack could even get a clear sight on the mass in his wake, a loud crash overlook his hearing ahead of him. He turned to see that one of the airships before him had been overran by changelings. The enemies climbed all across the ship, painting the hull black and green. The ship weaved out of control and as the weight became too much for the vessel to handle. The crew began to dive overboard, which in turn lost full control of the airship as it viciously revved back. At the rate Zack was flying, the aircraft became an unavoidable obstacle as it spun wildly out of the sky and into his path.

Zack wasn’t sure Nox would be able to dodge it in time, so he decided to quickly take action. He flung his arm forward and opened his fist, letting the magic build up as fast as it could inside of him. As the starboard side of the vessel became visible in its violent whirling, he let out a burst of magic that cut through and out the other side of the hull. A hole was created in the ship that would make passage between it easily, but soon Zack realized the gap he made was too small to fly through.

As the ship tumbled towards them–now in deadly range–Zack quickly grasped both Nox’s wings and folded them in hopes that now they would be able to fit. He ducked and hoped for the best as the falling, changeling-crawling airship swallowed the two. He wasn’t sure how, for his eyes were closed and his body was tightly pressed against Nox’s back, but they flew through it safely as the airship slammed into the massive swarm behind them, hardly doing any real damage to the enemy.

He sprang back up and looked back, watching the airship vanish into the dark swarm. He turned back to see that in front of him, other airships were fighting off changelings. On board the ships, ponies shot down as many changelings as they could with the aid of unicorn magic, spears and crossbows. The air battle between the airships and changelings were a loss cause however, for every so often a ship would be overtaken by hundreds of changelings and torn apart, dropping out of the sky. They only needed to hold them off shortly–possibly at the risk of their lives–to escort both Zack and the Princess to Ponyville safely. It had become a daunting task now that the changelings surrounded them from all sides, but a glimmer of hope soon twinkled in Zachary’s eyes.

The foggy cloud coverage had separated for a mere moment to reveal they were almost on top of the village they strived to reach. As Zack began to bring his weight forward, motioning to Nox to fly lower, something struck him and attached to his back. He spun about and saw that a changeling had latched onto him. It hissed as it drew its head back and opened its jagged muzzle wide. With limited mobility, Zack could only jab the creature with his elbow. With a few firm hits, the changeling was knocked off of him, but more had come to its aid. Another changeling soon grabbed hold of the underside of Nox, then another on the bird’s neck. Changeling after changeling began to clasp to both him and Nox as the two were being pulled out of the sky. Nox tried to keep his rider steady, but the enemy was too much for the bird as it had to brace for a crash landing.

The two stabbed blindly through the dim clouds below. They fell through the murk and were met by the coming households and buildings that Ponyville was made up of. Nox swerved upward drastically as they both fought to shake the shapeshifting beasts away from them. The sudden, skyward jerk unsettled Zack from his position as he tumbled off backwards over the village. He flew wildly over the buildings with no control over his body at all. Everything was a blur to him as he felt his body crash through the side of a home. Wood splintered his skin as he rammed through the house’s second floor and into the first floor. With a thud, he collided into the front door and out into the main streets of Ponyville. He tumbled out to an eventually halt, utterly shocked to realize that he was still alive.

He rolled upwards quickly, patting himself down to find that his sword was still attached to his belt. His back creaked as he let out a gasp of air. The pain from the devastating landing was now rushing into his body, as if his adrenaline had blocked it out until he got on his feet again. He bent over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, tightly holding his eyes shut while pressing his teeth firmly together. He knew that if it probably wasn't for the Catalyst Stone–which also granted him extra strength–that he would have most certainly been dead for that previous impact. When he arched back upward, the surrounding sound came to his ears and his vision was filled with the horrors that once followed him.

The great buzzing and thundering the changelings made was near deafening. They surrounded the village from all sides–their terrifying numbers blotting out most of the sun’s bleak light. The enemy began flooding the streets in an attempt to surround Zachary. They poured out from the alleys and houses roaring and screaming, but holding their ground at a good distance around the town square.

Before Zack glowed the macabre town hall with its windows beaming emerald lights, almost personifying the very essence of the wickedness around him. An evil presence could be felt which strayed from the rest of the changelings. This magic was quite similar to Discord’s, yet distinctly unlike him. Zachary withdrew his sword and grasped it tight as he pointed the blade towards the enemy hive, waiting attentively for the foe he sensed to emerge on the offense.

Before his presence could be revealed, the changelings in Ponyville’s skyline parted as a single airship dropped into the village. It was Neighmo’s ship which held both Celestia and Shining Armor, and it was falling to its side in a heap of smoke. Zack watched as the large vessel collided with the ground, upheaving rock and dirt as it dug across the grassy town square field. From it bailed the Princess, which held both Neighmo and Shining Armor in a field of protective magic. The two stallions were dropped as the aura around them fleeted and Celestia escaped safely away from the smoldering wreckage. Zack could clearly see that the three were safe, so he diverted his attention back towards the growing enemy power that loomed behind the wide double doors of the town hall. He felt whatever it was was on the verge of making itself known.

It was the silence of it all that tortured Zachary’s mind. Even with the legions of changelings buzzing or hissing around him and the grand airship behind him set a fire, it was all droned out by the coming moment, making an eerie silence to him. The three other ponies came up from behind him and stood by his sides. Each was focused on the shining town hall, the tower which homed a greater evil than the armies around them. Sweat began to seep into his grip as Zack’s eyes strained with anxious anxiety–he wasn’t quite sure how much longer he could take this.

A splitting light came forth from the doorways that took Zachary’s breath away. The horrid, green illumination drowned the four as the doors creaked open slowly. A dark figure arose from the light and floating around him was a multitude of ovoid shapes. The figure's resemblance was unsettling to the four as their eyes widen in disbelief. From the light emerged Discord, whom they believed would be awaiting atop of Dragon Peak. He briskly walked out and down the town hall steps with his talons and claws held up before him, each glowing with the same deathly green aura. The same magic that enveloped his fingers also lifted the now visible oval-shaped objects behind him. They were changeling cocoons he levitated, and in them were the Bearers of Harmony, Valiant Steed, Spitfire and Marestorm.

The draconequus huffed with annoyance, “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Discord, you liar,” Zachary fumed while pointing at his foe, “Why have you come here instead of Dragon Peak?” Zachary should have foreseen this, but was too gullible to even think Discord would lie to him. He was kicking himself now, his plans were shattered and he was at the mercy of his enemy.

The new Hexarch glowered, “I’m not Disc–” A grin shot across his face as he said in a suppressed chuckle, “Oh my, excuse me. It must be very confusing for you all. I am Hexarch! The newly evolved Changeling Leader! I will crush Equestria with my newfound power through this perfect form! Through this new body, I can channel my magic and chaos without fail–unlike my old, obsolete body.”

“There’s t-two Disc-cords,” sputtered Shining Armor.

“No,” sharply replied Neighmo, “Just Discord and this knock-off.” Hexarch twitched in irritation at the old earth pony’s harsh insult.

He commanded them saying, “I will soon be your new god! For I am even greater than Discord! My children, bind these insignificant fools!”

Changelings from all sides began to blast the four oppressors in webbing. With the combined strength of the multitude, their magic was vastly more powerful than even Zachary’s. In a few short seconds, the four were fastened to the ground in partial cocoons; only their heads were free as Hexarch approached even closer, still levitating the other captives behind him.

“Ah,” Hexarch breathed in relief, “much better... Thank you, my children.” He rose the six, the Generals and Spitfire overhead and continued, “Do you not have eyes to see? I have captured the greatest magic in Equestria, the Elements of Harmony! Even with my impressive power and the power Discord gave me before the war, I am no longer under Discord’s control–for I have the greatest of all powers in this world!”

As Hexarch monologued, Celestia thought carefully on what could be done and soon an idea came into her mind. She closed her eyes and focused on Shining Armor. In the Captain of the Guard’s head, a voice came as clear as day, as if it was whispering directly into his ear.

“Shining,” the voice whispered to him. His ears perked up in sudden alarm, but no one seemed to notice.

“Do not be afraid,” the voice proceeded, “this is Celestia. I have a plan, but I need your strength and understanding. Now listen closely...”

As Hexarch continued babbling onward about his new world order with his Queen and children, Celestia blurted out, “You cannot possibly wield the Elements like some toy or weapon. You have no knowledge of such things.” The Father of the Changelings turned and raised an eyebrow at the Princess.

A cunning and devious look was smeared across his face as he retorted, “I will simple sap them of their powers, of course. I will be the sole controller of the Elements.”

“You know nothing!” The mare’s unicorn horn gave forth a powerful, golden light that burned away the webbed prison around her.

Hexarch glared and demanded his kin, “Stop her at once!”

The hundreds of changelings around her fired at will to try and apprehend the Princess with webbing. Their missiles failed to even reach her when a purple, magical orb became present around her. The attacks simple ricocheted back into the armies and into the air. Celestia began to concentrate and soon around her she conjured the magical artifacts, taken directly from Canterlot Castle. The Six Elements circled before her, levitating by her magic. They began to flicker and radiate with a powerful force, shimmering in a rainbow of light and majesty. Hexarch took a step back in fear, not knowing what she was doing or what these artifacts around her were.

“What are you incompetent varmints doing? Stop her! Kill her if you have to, just stop her,” commanded Hexarch with ferocity. Now nearly every changeling around the village was firing their magic towards the Princess; but now that the Elements were present and giving off magic beyond their own, their futile attacks showed no effect and shot back wildly. The emerald projectiles were only a mere light show to the Princess as the Elements grew stronger and stronger, giving the force field around her an ever rising strength.

Hexarch, seeing that the changeling’s attempts were useless against the foreign magic, shouted in rage, “I’ll end this myself since you fools are worthless!”

He rose his hands and produced an emerald blast of energy towards the Princess. With the combined powers from his own being, Discord’s gift, and the love taken from Ponyville’s citizens, the beam was sufficiently breaking down the shield. Both Shining and Celestia tried their best to hold back the magic, but the shield was breaking down too fast. Celestia wouldn’t have the time to create a powerful enough spell to use against Hexarch if this shield failed.

Hexarch began laughing hysterically and uncontrollably as he witnessed his magic in full force dissipating the shield ever so slowly. In a sudden change of events however, a beam of changeling webbing shot forth towards him and bound his hands together, significantly decreasing the output of his magic. Hexarch was still genetically a changeling, and his own race’s magic against him was still greatly affective. He turned to see who had done this and saw a sole changeling stood out amongst the others. It glowered at its leader as Hexarch stood baffled and enraged.

“What is this treachery? I will kill you for this,” he screamed out towards his disobedient child. Zack watched this strange event from his prison as the scene unfolded. He knew he could escape at any time, but the cocoon he was partially held in was quite soothing to his injuries. The purpose of the cocoons was not only to sap the love out of its occupants, but to also hold them in a protective stasis; the cocoon was a healing mechanism which helped rejuvenate and keep the captive alive in hopes of draining them of all of their love for longer periods of time.

The defiant changeling spouted before his father, “You have been here long enough! This is my home! These are my people!”

“What,” choked Hexarch, which was breathless at that statement his son made, “What!”

“I am Hearth!” When those words were spoken, Zachary’s heart fluttered with joy when he recognized the name.

Hearth revved back his head and shot Hexarch again and again, weakening him slowly but surely. Hexarch tried to focus on his magic, but it was no use when he was being constantly attacked by his own kind. As Hearth depleted all of his magic to try and stop his father, he buckled down and nearly collapsed in fatigue. Hexarch saw this opportunity and assumed that he could knock away his insubordinate child without risking his focus on defeating the Princess. He flung his right hand to the side Hearth was on and shot him point blank with a powerful spell. The blast sent the changeling soaring backwards as his body disintegrated into flakes of ash. Zack flinched and gritted his teeth; Hearth had tried so much to stop Hexarch, but at the time, his attempts seemed in vain.

This was not the case however; when Hexarch diverted his attention back towards the Princess, a great flash of multi-hued magic burst forth from her being. A great bridge of rainbow light sprang upward and arched high above the heads of everyone. Hexarch gripped his fists together and tried to move out of the way, but soon realized that Hearth had fastened his feet to the ground in webbing before he was blasted away.

The rainbow dove upon him and consumed the being as the changeling’s gasped in awe at the sight. The magic swirled and devoured Hexarch as he held his pose, never admitting to pain or defeat. From his tail upwards, his body began to slowly turn to stone. As the magic finally faded and the multiple colors receded to nothingness, it was revealed that Hexarch–the false Discord–was turned to a marble statue. The cocoons he had levitated fell quickly back towards the ground with its occupants unharmed.

The changelings around the village were at a loss of words as they incoherently began shouting and stammering. Their leader was practically killed, and without proper direction, they were nothing more than a dumbfounded and confused swarm of insects.

Neighmo turned in his cocoon towards the Princess and stated, “Astounding work, my Princess–but we’re not done yet. Given that I predicted this circumstance to ya aboard my ship, would ya do the honors of giving off a flare before these dumb bastards decide ta’ kill us? I would do the honors, but I seem ta’ be unable ta’ do so at the moment.”

She replied firmly, “Understood, Captain.” The alicorn then shot off a bright yellow flair from her horn that reached high above the city. The changeling’s had no idea what was going on and the magic, yellow dart given off by the Princess befuddled them even more so. No more than a few seconds later, great blasts of horns came over the mountain tops and valleys that surrounded the township. No horn sounded the same as each blasted, echoing through the Equestrian countryside.

“What is that,” Shining asked aloud, searching the skies for the source of the noise. “It sounds like no Canterlot trumpet to me.”

“Right ya are, ya colt,” Neighmo laughed and hollered towards the thousands, “Ya best be a run’n, ya foals! We ain’t the only ones who has an army!”

He turned back towards the puzzled, white stallion and explained more clearly, “Me and Celestia made sure that our neighbors would have airship armies of their own a few years ago. They’ve been on our borders the entire day, we just needed to wait for the right time to call’em. Figure’n that we needed to amass the enemy army in one spot, we devised the perfect strategy to flank ‘em!” The horns began sounding off again one by one, this time sounding much closer to Ponyville than before.

The green stallion began naming them off as they blasted, “Hoofington! Las Pegasus! Manehattan! Trottingham! Germaneigh! Fillydephia! And damn, I don’t know the sound of that horn, but they’re welcome too! Ha-HA!”

The airships began encircling the village in mass numbers far beyond Canterlot’s original fleet size. The changelings saw this and began to panic as the closest aircrafts fired a multitude of bolts into the swarm. The armies dispersed wildly, going every which way to avoid the airship’s attacks. When the Equestrians saw this, they too began their hunt to exterminate the menace in their land, breaking off from their battalions into smaller armadas to cover more ground.

The war which had claimed many in the capital province seemed to be over in a last act of driving back the leaderless forces. Zachary knew, however, that this was not the case. The war wasn’t over until Discord was defeated, who patiently waited atop Dragon Peak.

A light, cool breeze blew through the deserted Ponyville. The changeling webbing–which once draped over the rooftops and lamp posts that glowed sickly in the bleak streets–began to dimly burn out. Their mesh which covered the small city began to melt away as their magic–along with themselves–fleeted away back to their home’s far northeast of Equestria. The damned Realm of Aerothel was where the mass headed, or at least tried to. Many were being butchered and hunted down by the relentless Equestrian armies. Thousands were reported to be killed, but no one could be sure if they had eradicated the menace from their land or not.

Too many had dispersed in all directions and it was highly likely that a few dozen made it out of Equestria alive; however the airship militaries made sure they wouldn’t pass towards the Aerothian Desert where their hives and caves were by, so they situated a large fleet towards its border beyond Equestria. None had made it past the blockade, but it begs the question as to where–if any still–made it out of Equestria and where they would go. Their allies were unknown to even the Princesses, perhaps the Ivory Guard may know, but their secrecy stays within their ranks.

There were only so many places the changelings could flee. To the far north is the Icicle Mountains, home to the Griffons. To the south lay Equestria’s outer realms which homed mostly earth ponies and Bridle Bay. To the west was the Mild West, more pony allies and Buffalo countries. Lastly, to the east was the Low Lands, the long stretch of plains and forests which homes every sort of race and creature. The possibilities of where they would exit Equestria at was endless, but the Equestrians knew they had wiped out the changeling legions, and they possibly wouldn’t be able to amass such a military for decades to come.

While the hunt progressed and the city was evacuated of all invaders. The Princess and others began freeing one another from the cocoons. As Zack was let loose, his once aching body and throbbing pains had ceased from his time in the cocoon. He drew in a deep breath, with his spirits revived again and his strength at full potential. Celestia came to the Bearers of Harmony and in one magical jolt, split the cocoons and freed them along with her Generals and Spitfire. In awkward shambles with woozy stances, they stretched up off the ground. The six mares had been nearly asleep all day as they blinked tiresomely and yawned, raising their hooves to wipe away the remaining sleep from their eyes. They hadn’t come to just yet about what had occurred during their sleep, but soon their eyes fully shot open upon seeing the devastated village.

They rushed towards Princess Celestia, hollering and wildly questioning her as to what had happened. They never remembered this happening, which scared them greatly; for the changeling attack was a surprise to them and their minds could only remember the approaching storm before the long night. Tears of shock and dismay filled Rarity’s and Twilight’s eyes while Fluttershy cradled herself on the ground, trying to assure herself that all of this was a dream. Pinkie blared over the rest, demanding answers with incoherent questions and ramblings. Applejack stomped and demanded questions too in a more angry fashion, wondering how her farm and family was doing more than the state of the town or what had exactly happened. Rainbow Dash stood apart from the group, she knew all too well what had happened and merely scanned over the devastation around her. Their voices together jumbled and confused matters more than aided their minds with relief.

Without words or warning, Celestia bent her head low as her alicorn horn shimmered white with strange magic. Torrents of weaving energy, like ribbons of light, flowed outward and came into the five pony’s eyes. Rainbow watched from afar as her friends witnessed what Celestia had seen and known of. The five watched as Cloudsdale fell, they witnessed the mayhem and fury of Discord’s power as he destroyed Canterlot. They saw the escape of Neighmo’s air fleet and the demise of Hexarch. As these events were seen and as the magic faded, they all were informed of the last twenty-four hours that passed. It took a moment for them to make sense of it all and how something like this could have happened to such a peaceful country, but soon they came to agreement with all that had taken place.

Twilight stepped forward and told the Princess, “This is all very bizarre. One of the creatures you showed us seems to have correlated with a dream I had.” Fluttershy let out squeak of horror which gained everyone’s attention. Twilight’s statement had rekindled something that made the pegasus visibly shudder.

She looked about her friends and attested with a trembling voice, “I had a dream with that m-monster you showed us. The Discord being, he was in our dream!”

Applejack stepped forward to tell her part, “That dream was about us, but everything was goin’ all crazy like, like raining chocolate milk and ma’ corn all popp’n in the fields. Then ya called us all over to your castle and informed us about this here Discord fella’.”

“I say,” Rarity added, “this is all unreasonable strange, but given the state of Ponyville at the moment, I’m inclined to reason with all of this... strangeness. Anyways, then we went through this awful hedge maze which eventually turned us all against each other!”

“And it just got worse and worse and worse...” Pinkie implied, bouncing with every word she spoke. “And then we all beat him with the magic of friendship! Then we woke up!” She paused for a moment and looked at the Princess with a growing, fearful look.

She then asked frantically, “He’s gone, right?”

Celestia lowered her head and answered back, “He is far from gone.” The group of mares gasped in astonishment, even the others behind them who were once enslaved by the cocoons were quite afraid.

Marestorm turned towards Valiant as the two looked at each other in disbelief. Spitfire sighed, she knew how tough he was and that the Princesses had no chance at stopping him completely. Zack stood quietly behind them, of course he knew this and continually looked over the high ridges that cradled the village he stood in. Monotonously, his eyes strayed towards Dragon Peak as Discord’s words rang clear in his head about setting the world on fire before the hour’s end. Discord would strike Ponyville first, for he knew they were there at that moment; they were all unsafe still and this bothered him greatly. He knew that hour was growing close and he had to be up there, so he hastily approached Celestia from behind the Main Six and others. As he walked past Valiant, Spitfire and Marestorm, both the mares were startled by his sudden appearance as Valiant let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him.

Valiant called out to him, “Zack! You don’t know how thankful I am to see that you’re here now. It’s been Tartarus here in Equestria and–”

“I know,” he coldly broke in, still making his way towards the Princess. The gasps the mares made made the other six ponies turn to see the battle-hardened Zachary make his approach.

ZACK-EEEEE,” Pinkie squealed as she darted towards him and grabbed hold of his long, right leg. As much as he would love to bend down and comfort his pink pony, he had no time to waste. He reached his hand down, grabbed her by the neck like a mother cat and sat her to his side as he continued onward. The other mares parted with smiles on their faces so the Princess and him could meet closer. Celestia saw in Zack’s face a grave concern and her emotions dialed more toward his.

“I need you to fly me up to Dragon Peak,” Zack demanded. “Discord’s about to set this valley on fire if I don’t get up there before the hour’s end!” She had almost forgotten about his threat as her nerves tensed back up. Like a shockwave, fear and horror swept over the ponies as Zack’s words reached their ears.

“He wouldn’t,” Twilight Sparkle promptly rebuked Zack. “He’s crazy and chaotic and cruel... but not malevolent! From what I’ve experienced with him, he wouldn’t kill anypony!”

Celestia and Zack fell silent as they looked back at her; they both shared looks of bewilderment and disbelief at what words the purple pony had voiced. As Zachary raised his finger towards her, about to give Twilight a few choice and highly explicit words, Celestia placed her hoof on his chest and he held his tongue.

The Princess stepped forward and explained to the six Bearers, “What you all may think of Discord from this equally partaken dream is not what he truly is. Yes, he is all of those things you mentioned, Twilight, but he is also malevolent, violent, unrelenting and desires to inflict suffering. He was once merely a trickster, but from what I, Zack, and many others have seen so far, he is out to solely kill, steal and destroy. He will not stop and he will not rest until he rules over this entire planet.” The little ponies before her watched up at their tall Princess with eyes filled with grim insight.

Celestia looked over at Zack and continued, “Zachary must be the one to stop him, for I nor Luna can defeat him. If he must fail... which I pray he does not... but if Zachary must fail to kill the beast, you all must run. You must run as fast and as far away as you can–and never stop. That is all you can do.”

Rainbow Dash flapped up above the five mares to make her opinion known aloud, “Zack’s gotta do it alone? He can’t have any help?”

Celestia replied, “He wields a weapon that can truly destroy Discord, and only he can wield it.”

“But can’t we like, I don’t know, deal any bit of damage to this Discord guy?”

Applejack added in a confident tone, “I’m sure we, the best-est, brightest, strongest mares can take’m on! We have the most powerful magic in Ponydom right here too! We can do it,to it, Princess! Trust us!”

Valiant had to make the remark before someone else did, so he butted in saying, “It’s not whether you six will risk it all to try and put a scratch on him, it’s a matter of how quickly you want to die.” He elaborated as he stepped before them, “Didn’t you just hear our Princess? Even she and Luna couldn’t harm him. Do you possible think you six could do any better?”

“We won’t know until we give it our all,” fumed Fluttershy as she shook her hoof at Valiant. The amount of ferocity the yellow, quiet mare had just displayed before everyone astonished the crowd to a mere silence. No one was expecting such a response from the shy pegasus pony.

Twilight confirmed, “You’re right, Fluttershy!” She turned towards the silenced Zack and said, “We can help you, Zack! We all can! Together, with the Magic of–”

“You’re weak, all of you are,” Zack stated in a tone as cruel as Discord’s. His eyes never left Dragon Peak as he refused to look the mare in the eye while continuing, “Celestia’s right, Valiant’s right. You’ll just add more numbers to the casualties.” He turned to look at her with an expression no one amidst the group had seen. His hazel eyes held both the utmost fear and fury one could partake on another. He looked through the ponies with a stare that spanned a thousand yards; he had been through hell and now, the ponies began to realize this. He was no longer the Zack they knew during those times peace–peace was vacant not only in the land, but in him as well.

“Tell me... Twilight Sparkle... are any of you ready to die? Are you ready to experience a death far greater and more painful than anything you could comprehend? I am the only one who will face Discord. And if you get in the way... you won’t be in the way much longer. I truly wish to return peace, but peace has made you all weak. I was forcible taken of that joy, but now I wish to give it back.” He looked directly at Pinkie as those last words left his lips. Her eyes, those cerulean gems that pierced through him as much as they did the first time he looked into them, made Zack give a slow, warm smile. An assuring expression hid away the mad man he was to say what was to come next.

“That’s all I can do...” he began to lightly speak, losing focus as his eyes wandered deeper into the pink mare’s. Rainbow looked away, it was too hard for her knowing that Zack was a now a lost cause for her, even if he succeeded against Discord.

“...That’s all I was meant to do... And it would kill me... to see you... die along with me.”

A loud, booming sound came overhead as everyone’s attention was drawn upward. A single airship was floating down as its propellers created a mighty gust around and over them. As the vessel got closer to the ground, a pony jumped clear over deck with a rope in his teeth. Following him flew a very familiar looking bird as the pony steadily swung towards the ground. With a firm landing, Captain Neighmo presented himself as Nox perched right atop his back. No one at the time had realized the old stallion had even left their company until he made himself known with a new airship.

“This yer bird here, lad,” He said as Nox flapped over and brushed up against Zack’s head in a comforting nuzzle. “Had to get’m back, but he handled himself quite nicely, he did with those changelings.”

“Thank you, Neighmo.”

“Pleasure–but wait, there’s more! I have a ticket to Dragon Peak Mountain with your name on it! The Princess told me all about your coming fight, just to let ya know; that, and your bird’s looking a bit beaten up by the way he’s flying, so I thought I’d take ya myself in my borrowed airship of mine.” He pointed towards the rope and concluded, “Time’s a waste’n, better hasten!”

The old stallion was true as Zack promptly made his way over to the rope to climb aboard. Something grabbed hold of his leg though, hindering his ability to walk properly. He looked down and noticed Pinkie tightly fastened around it again, however this time, she was sobbing deeply in the cloth.

“Please, Zackie! At least let us come and watch! At least let us be emotional support! I want to help! I really do!” He looked up at the others who smiled and waited patiently for his response. After all he, Celestia and Valiant had told the Bearers of Harmony, it seemed the pink pony was the only one to get to him.

“Stay aboard the ship, do not leave it!”

Pinkie immediately let go of him and raced up the rope before anyone else could. The rest were simply lifted by a pegasus aboard the ship or teleported. In a moment’s notice, the ship was off into the sky with its bow pointed towards the destination.

The smoke and haze had dried Zack’s eyes out as he walked as far as he could towards the front of the ship, crossing his arms and watching the battlefield steadily approach from the distance. The airship broke through the denser cloud coverage and now the top of the mountain was nearly visible to his sight. Celestia joined him as the two watched in silence while the others waited quietly on deck. A telepathic conversation was in process between both Celestia and Zachary as the two stared off into the growing mountains.

Zack spoke to her saying, “You can feel her, can’t you?”

“Luna’s up on Dragon Peak, I sense it.”

“Likewise...”

Celestia digressed, still speaking into Zachary's mind asking, “How are you so calm right now? In Canterlot, you could barely hold your ground, but now–from what I can sense–you are hardly as nervous or scared than you once were. What’s gotten into you?"

He turned towards her and voicelessly answered back, “I’ve accepted that I’m going to die, and I’m fine with that. I’ll give it my all still, even with that notion lingering in my head. I’ll push myself as far as I can push, I will hold nothing back. But if things go south, I’ll try and take me and Discord out, only if it goes south however.”

She looked onward off of the airship, her enchanted mane blowing steadily backwards in the wind. She was at a loss for words and was quite fearful if Zack was truly going to give up his life for all of them.

“You know,” she told him, “Pinkie Pie... she loves you.”

“This I know.”

“She loves you like a lover now...”

“...I know.”

“If you die, she won’t be the same. She won’t be able to use her Element properly. Her emotions will be unbalanced, she won’t be able to focus–really none of them will when seeing your corpse before them. I won’t be able to hold them back if you fail, they won’t run, they’re too stubborn to do something like that.” Zack thought for a noiseless moment on what to say, letting the Princess’ words sink deep in him; the consequences of it all were finally weighing upon him.

He finally replied with a new tactic in play, “If I die, Celestia, use the Catalyst Stone inside of me as a final weapon. Overload my body with magic, kill us all in a great ball of magical energy. Destroy Arteria if you have to, we cannot allow Discord to win... or even escape this planet to possibly cause harm to another. Kill me when the time comes. Kills us all to stop him. Do not hesitate, please.”

Her eyes met with his as she nodded in agreement. The world around them never seemed so bleak as now.