Lyra Heartstrings, the mint colored unicorn obsessed with humans decides to search for them and prove their existance, even if that means to go into the deepths of the Everfree Forest itself.
Lyra, after being rejected once again by the archeologist guild in Canterlot, decides to embark on her own to the deepest and unknown parts of the Everfree Forest in the search of her mythical humans, little does she know she will find more than she could have ever bargained for.
*A League of Legends Crossover* *This follows Lore aspects up to the latest champion I am familiar with, Zoe.*
Cancelled, as the LOL lore changed so much. Many sorries.
“Humans are real; I’m telling you they are, history itself says so!” A mint colored unicorn shouted in front of a board full of wise-looking unicorns, all them showing their disdain and anger towards her, mumbling among themselves. “My father-“
“Miss Heartstrings,” the eldest looking unicorn mare said, interrupting her. “Please tell me, how many times have you come to meet us, in hopes to be granted the funds to proceed with your expedition?”
“Seven times,” she said looking at the head mare.
“And how many times have we rejected your petition?”
“Seven times.”
“Then please tell me, what makes you think we will agree this time?”
“Humans are real,” she said flatly. “They may be extinct now, but I’m sure they existed in the past, maybe they are the ones responsible for our very existence!” At this most of the board began to murmur unsavory things about her, until the head mare raised a hoof, silencing them.
“Are you saying they created us?”
“No, I thought about it and it would be impossible for them to do it because then we should be able to know they created us. What I mean to say is that humans “allowed” us to become what we are today, we mimicked them to a point that their own ways stuck inside of us, for example, why the knobs of the doors? Why the handles on the cups? Why make so many of our daily instruments and equipment so…..unfit for pony anatomy, if most of the time we use our mouths, wings or magic to manipulate them?”
“Valid points, miss Heartstrings,” the head mare said. “But sadly not enough, and to answer those questions, it is quite simple, many species outside Equestria have claws, hands or tentacles, and we both export and import instruments and equipment fit for a universal control, any intelligent being on Equis can use them in some or other way they see fit.”
The head mare took off her glasses and looked at the puzzled Lyra, her expression was hard to read, the mare sighed. “Lyra, your father was my best student and one of my best friends; he was smart, creative, always two steps ahead of anypony and ready to complete any task,” her expression turned sad. “But his obsession with these humans drove him insane and in the end, to his death, you are so much like him Lyra, I would hate to see you throw away your life like he did.” Lyra stared to the ground, avoiding the mare’s gaze.
“Humans are fictional, a myth, nothing more than an illusion and a fairytale for little foals, please, Lyra, stop this nonsense and accept the facts, humans are not real, they are something a crazy pony thousands of years ago invented.”
“HUMANS ARE REAL!” Lyra shouted at them “YOU ARE THE CRAZY ONES, IGNORING THE OBVIOUS.” she turned around, ready to leave them. “I will prove they exist or existed! Then I will prove my father was right and that I’m not a crazy mare like all you think! I don’t need your stinking guild to do it.” she said, before storming out of the building.
As Lyra left the guild she hoped to hear a discussion or some kind of heated argument, instead, she only heard laughs.
Walls filled with papers full of theories, studies and experiments adorned them, all of them with only one subject in them, humans. Lyra was finishing packing all she would need for her dangerous trip towards the truth of humans.
Putting her saddlebags over her back she turned to leave her room but stopped seeing a strange mark in the only free spot on her room walls, the hoof or more precisely the palm of a human hand, at least what she figured out of how one should look like, Lyra raised her hoof and touched it, small tears falling from her eyes.
“I swear I will find out, I promise I will show everypony, no, everyone that humans do exist and are real, just wait until I do”
Using her magic she wrote a quick letter to her best friend and roommate Bonbon, simply pointing out she was sorry for not saying goodbye. With the sound of a closing door, the house was silent on the darkness of the night, just an hour away for the sun to rise again in the skies.
“Day 1, August 27 year 6 A.P.L.R (After Princess Luna Return).
I have begun my journey towards the unknown depths of the Everfree Forest, today was uneventful, after hours of walking I decided to rest on the ruins of the Royal Pony Sisters old castle, I’m so excited! I don’t know how long it will take me or where should I head on tomorrow but I will find a way!”
--------------*********
“Day 5, August 31 year 6 A.P.L.R
I have passed the known point of the Everfree Forest, earlier this morning I heard the voices of other ponies in the distance, probably a search party, I’m sorry Bonbon, but this is something I must do on my own, I promise that when I come back I will make it up to you”
---------******
“Day 17, September 16 year 6 A.P.L.R
I was attacked by a pack of Manticores today, thankfully they were more interested on my saddlebag than in me, sadly though I don't have many supplies left and my water is running low, must find a source of water soon. Haven’t found any kind of clue about humans.
PS.- Avoid eating the red flowers with yellow ends, they taste awful.”
----------*******
“Day 22, September 21 year 6 A.P.L.R
As Princess Luna would say, HUZZAH! Today I found a strange column, it had some strange markings and I couldn’t really figure out what they meant, if only I had more paper and ink I would be able to record them!.
I’m also running low on ink and paper, only have a third of what I originally had, I will only write when something of utter importance happens.”
-------------********
“Day 39, October 8 year 6 A.P.L.R
Today I found something amazing, remember the column from before? Well, today I found the remains of a wall, and guess what? A HUMAN FIGURE WAS SCULPTED IN IT! YES! Finally, I have enough evidence to prove humans are real, I should probably head back, but now I am so close to finding more about humans I simply can’t turn around, I will carry on with my journey maybe I will even find a living human.
PS- Water is hard to find now, got to move fast.”
----------******
“Day ?
My supplies were running scarce and I was desperate to find fresh water; I was careless.
I don’t know how long I was unconscious and I don’t know how I survived, the only thing I have to say is, DO NOT EAT BLUE LEAVES!”
-------******
“Day 19, After Recovery.
This is my last recording, I have noticed something particular just now, my magic is acting strange, I can’t use it very well and it is difficult to concentrate properly before nightfall I saw a river from my little camp. Good thing too, I ran out of water this morning. There is also another strange oddity, in all this time I have only been attacked three times, it seems wild animals are scarce in the deeper parts of the Everfree Forest... if I’m still in it anyways.
That aside I’ll head down there tomorrow, also I’m not sure, but I think I saw ruins there too, I should be excited but I’m so tired now.
Lyra Heartstrings, Prime Archeologist Researcher, Lyre Master and Human Finder.”
-------*******
Lyra sighed happily, finally arriving at the river, she was thirsty after several hours of walking down from her camp, while she was drinking she couldn’t help but be thankful at how lucky she had been during her travel, not only she had been attacked only three times but those times she got off pretty easily, of course, it wasn’t really difficult to run away from Cockatrices, Timberwolves and some Manticores, but the weather had been calm and it had only rained four or five times, and on those times she had found a good refuge on time, not to mention this had been the longest she had gone without water.
Finally quenching her thirst she noticed that the river wasn’t very deep, in fact the deepest part would likely reach all the way up to her belly, also following the course of the river she could she some kind of bridge. Lyra walked towards it following the river from the side, she couldn’t say why or how but there was something about that……jungle surrounding the river she didn’t like, at all.
Arriving at the bridge she noticed some sort of rock piles, what was strange about it though was that there was some sort of blue crystal on top of it, approaching it she also noticed that while the ground had grass of it and some vegetation it avoided the jungle from both left and right, creating a road.
Curiosity overtook her and decided to walk down the road, even if her brain was telling her not to, a minute later she found yet another pile of rocks, this one was missing the blue gem on top, continuing her way she found another one of those rock pile things and also a little hill, she climbed it---
*Tkct*
Lyra stopped and looked down, that was the sound of hooves meeting rock, she scratched the surface a bit and indeed there was rock below the mush and low grass, she noticed something peculiar about it, it had patterns.
“Somebody built this place!” She said out loud, exited. “It must have been the humans doing!” She chanted happily climbing the little hill. “HA! Take that Archeologist Guild, guess who was right! ME! Now I only need…..to……..”
Her voice died in her throat, what she saw wasn’t what she had expected.
There were pieces of armor, weapons and other things she didn’t recognize all over the vast floor, there were circular things destroyed with shards of crystals all over the place, also she noticed there was something behind the biggest of the circular thing, she knew these were the remains of a fierce battle, but something was wrong.
“The armor... it’s too, small for a human but everything else is way too big for these small things,” she said, levitating with difficulty a head armor piece with a pointy end. “What could have wear these kinds of things… maybe... maybe something besides humans? But if so, what?”
Letting the piece of armor fall to the ground she continued her way to the altar, or that’s how she could best describe it, there were some stairs before reaching the top and then she saw something strange, there were five spots positioned inside the circular altar, also she could see the very same markings and runes she had first found in the column.
The sound of movement alerted her, pulling her out of her trance and looking around nervously, by the sounds of it, the thing was BIG, she waited for several seconds before hearing the noise again, this time closer to her, coming from in front of her. There was a wall of trees and jungle so she could see very well but then from the sides, two things came out.
Partially stunned the creatures and Lyra looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do.
Lyra studied the creatures fast and noticed they were small, just barely a hoof taller than her, they seemed alike to a dragon but were too, well, lizard-y to be dragons, their eyes were yellow and they were carrying a stick. Lyra thought she could talk to them before one of the lizard things hit her in the face with the stick, making her spit blood to the floor.
Looking up she saw the other lizard advance to attack her too but this time she turned around and kicked the beast with all her might, sending it crashing against the other one. Feeling pain on her muzzle she turned around to face her attackers, the lizards got back up as a growl emerged behind them, followed by a rock looking thing with a blue sphere for an eye, a blue-ish glow emerging from it, arms and legs big, rounded and powerful and giant red gem stuck on his chest, she knew what it was, a golem. A golem almost three times the size of Celestia herself.
Lyra ran down the same road she had come through but the lizards and golem were fast and coming behind her, what was worse, the hit she got from the lizard thing combined with the difficulty to cast magic pretty much made it impossible to concentrate on any kind of spell.
“If I can get to the river,” she said to herself, trying to get a distraction from the growls of the golem “I can maybe *pant* outrun them!”
Lyra saw the bridge was close and decided to run faster, but before she could do anything the golem managed to catch up with her. Lyra felt an intense pain on her right side before being sent flying for some meters through the air.
Landing harshly against the dirt Lyra tried to get up but only managed to grunt painfully, opening an eye she saw the golem and the lizards almost in front of her again, ready to finish her off.
“Well,” she thought. “this is how it all ends huh? I was hoping to find more about humans, guess this is as far as I go” a small chuckle escaped her lips “I’m sorry Bonbon, I won’t be coming back after all,” she said while using whatever strength she had left to grip her journal and hug it strongly against her, closing her eyes waiting for the final blow to come.
The earthshaking steps of the golem were interrupted by a loud noise followed by a strong gust of wind and dust. Lyra opened her eyes seeing nothing but dust around her and also hear the sounds of battle, the lizards hissing, the golem growling and something else yelling. She could also hear the sounds of heavy hits being blocked by a metal something and also the pained sounds of the creatures being pierced by something sharp.
For a moment everything stopped, suddenly one of the lizards came out running from the dust, passing right next to Lyra, before something else flew behind it, piercing the lizard’s skull. The lifeless body of the lizard landed next to Lyra, but she didn’t even notice it, she was seeing right in front of the dust wall, red eyes were watching her, piercing her with their gaze, slowly the figure became bigger and bigger until it easily reached the size of Princess Celestia, maybe even a little taller.
Before Lyra could say something or properly see the approaching creature in the dust, her vision began to fade and then, unceremoniously, she fainted.
Lyra opened her eyes slowly, the light of the place she was in blinded her momentarily making her nothing more but blurs and shadows. Her vision returned bit by bit as she tried to get up.
“Nnnghh!” she cried in pain “W-what happened?” she asked herself before noticing some leaves resting over her injured side “How did I….Of course…..the golem” Lyra tried to move again, this time slowly, managing to rest sideways over her left side, finally noticing her surroundings “W-where am I?”
Looking around she could see she was in some kind of room, she saw weapons such as swords, axes and mostly spears in the other side of the room, as well as shields hanging over the walls and a lot of the leaves she had on her right side hanging from the ceiling.
Lyra tried to get up from where she was resting but failed, the pain was simply too intense to move, deciding to explore with her eyes a bit more she saw there was a passage almost at the end of the room, next to where the weapons were, also she could smell something.
“Mmmm, food, haven’t eaten since…..well, hours maybe?” Lyra tried to figure out how much time had been unconscious but failed, at least she knew it hadn’t been for long, the pain told her the wound was still very new. Suddenly she heard something walking towards her, if the sounds the creature made were anything to go by it was a bipedal creature.
Lyra gulped nervously before a tall being dressed in tight muscular red armor, long red greaves on its hind legs and short ones on its forelegs “no, on its…….ARMS!” she thought taking the full scene before her completely. The creature was also wearing a brown skirt, with his arms he was holding a bowl of clay finally, the being was wearing a silver-like helmet over its head also portraying a red mane above it.
Lyra also noticed the texture and form of its exposed parts, the skin had no fur and was colored by a light brown color, she couldn’t see its face but she could see two penetrating red eyes, the same eyes she saw before fainting. Out of pure emotion, she jumped out of where she was resting but only managed to hit the ground harshly.
Lyra cursed and grunted due to the pain it brought her, the shadow of the creature stood before her, looking she could see those glowing red eyes looking down at her with no emotion at all, to say she was hypnotized by them would be an understatement. Lyra felt completely and utterly sad looking at him, she could feel, almost even seeing, the pain and agony those eyes caged inside of their owner, it was her talent with the lyre, to be able to see the inner feelings of others through their eyes, she felt pity for the creature.
The creature kneeled down offering a hand to—
“A HAND!!!!” Lyra shouted, taking the hand with her forehoofs to examine it “hard and strong, seemingly fragile but full of dexterity, four long fingers on the upper end while a fifth finger, the thumb, acts as the main power source from grabbing, gripping and manipulating objects! The hand of a human!” looking up at the creature again, her smile full of joy and excitement, she couldn’t help but notice how the human was looking at her un-amuse “oh….sorry, is that YOU are a human, A HUMAN! I’ve been searching for a long time! You have no idea how happy I am” small tears of joy began to form in her eyes “I always knew you were real! I knew it! OUCH!” Lyra exclaimed grabbing her right side, she had forgotten about the pain momentarily but now it was back in full force.
“………” the human didn’t say anything but instead carried Lyra back to where she was resting.
“Thanks,” Lyra said, humming softly at the ease of her pain “and thanks for saving me from those monsters, mister human.” she smiled at the human softly “My name is Lyra Heartstrings and I am a-“
“A pony,” the human said, his voice rough yet gentle at the same time “I know what you are.”
“You can TALK!? Then why didn’t you say so earlier!”
“You didn’t give me the chance,” picking up the bowl he was carrying he turned to her. “You are very lucky I was near the rift when you were attacked by the monsters, pony,” he sat next to her. “Stay still, this may sting a little.”
Taking the leaves out of the way Lyra could see a nasty wound as well as a deep purple bruise, barely visible through her green mint coat. The human picked the bowl up and then poured down a red liquid over the wound, Lyra muffled a scream of pain before relaxing, it was already starting to feel nice.
“You will be fine in a couple of hours,” the human said. “Now answer me, what were you doing out there on the rift, pony?”
“Hey, my name is Lyra, not pony”
“Answer my question.” The human glared at her.
Lyra huffed. “You are very rude, you know that?” the human glared her further. “Fine, fine, I was looking for some ruins or anything that could help me find traces of what happened to the humans, I didn’t expect to find one though! Now everypony will know you are real and that my father was right all along!”
“What else.”
“What else? Should I even want anything else!? YOU are real, you are ALIVE! Which means humans did exist and now that I know I have to find what happened to them!” Lyra saw the human was not looking at her, but rather at the ceiling “Mister human? Are you alright?”
“Po---Lyra, was it?” Lyra nodded “Do you know where you are?”
“Somewhere in the unknown parts of the Everfree Forest… I think”
“What are……humans for your race?”
“Well, until now, just myths and fairytales, hey now that I think of it, how did you know I am a pony?”
“You aren’t the first one to come, but you are the first to survive”
“S-survive?”
“Remember the golem and the lizards? The entire jungle is filled with those and other more deadly creatures, you were very lucky to get here alive.” Lyra suddenly felt cold inside of her, his eyes were full of truth.
“W-well, that doesn’t matter now!” she said smiling at him “now that I am here, alive and well, I can ask you everything I always wanted to know!”
“What would that be?”
“About humans, their diet, the anatomy, EVERYTHING, but most of all their history, so I can understand and unveil the mystery of our own history!” Lyra smiled sweetly at him, making a squee noise.
“..." The human let out a strained chuckle. "You remind me of Hecarim mixed in with the cheerfulness Lux. That's actually really, really adorable,” he murmured to himself. “Are you certain it is all you want? Nothing more?”
“Of course silly! What else could I want?”
Pantheon looked at her for a moment before sighing “Very well then,” he said standing up. “I will tell you what you want to know if I see fit to answer your questions.” Lyra smiled dumbly. “But be aware of something, if you are lying to me, I will kill you.” Lyra stopped and looked at him in surprise.
“K-k-kill me? But why!?”
“If you prove you are worthy of my entire trust, then I will tell you, I’m already putting too much confidence in you as it is.”
“Then why are you trusting me so easily now?”
“Because I just want someone to talk to.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter,” the human turned around and began to walk to the exit. “You should rest now, Lyra, the truth searcher, I will return in a few hours.” the human stopped just before he was about to leave the room and looked back at her “Welcome to my home, The Institute of War.”
Then he left, leaving a puzzled, confused, scared and eager Lyra alone in her room.
Lyra was bored out of her mind as she waited for the human to return, she had tried to sleep but couldn’t manage to do so, so instead, she had decided to think and analyze everything that had occurred since her little quest began. Unfortunately for her all she had come up with were questions and more questions, especially the attitude of the mysterious human and his odd willingness to help her.
Glancing down at her side she saw the wound was already gone, only small glimpses of pain remained when she moved.
“But not so much to not let me move around,” she said to herself before stepping down her ‘bed’ and walk around a little “Well, it stings a little but I guess I can go for a little walk,” she said to herself again, walking in a slow pace.
Lyra left the room and began to wander off along the large hallway, as she walked she noticed decorations, pieces of stone torn apart and many indications that the building was very old, it surprised her it was still standing.
Soon she arrived at a vast lighten area where she could see many stairs leading down towards a very vast plane of low grass and in the distance she could see several other buildings but most of all the scenery was breathtaking, trees of all sizes and forms, gardens of beautiful flowers, some she had never seen before and more plagued the entire plane, barely missing the buildings and extending farther than her eyes could see.
She stood there for a full minute admiring it before turning around, she saw a great metallic door half opened and decided to go in there. Using her magic with great effort she managed to open the massive door open enough for her to pass without a problem. It was a dark room, even with the small patch of light entering through the opening it was nearly impossible to see any further.
Taking a tentative step forward into the darkness a noise above her made her jump in fright before the entire room was engulfed in light.
“What in the name of Luna is this?”
Before her a large hallway was present, even larger than the ones in the Canterlot palace, it had pole lamps alongside a straight line with almost all of them laying on the ground forgotten, but what drew her attention was the sculptures in the walls. She easily deducted that there were humans wearing some sort of robes performing rituals and other kinds of spells, Lyra was, however, lost in some other very interesting creatures.
Most of the said creatures were humans or held a human-like form but were definitely not humans, other were not humans for very obvious reasons. Lyra walked through the hallway amazed and analyzing every single sculpture, soon she came to a conclusion.
“They are telling a story,” she whispered. “A story of… what?” As she moved forward the sculptures presented several similarities. “A different creature every two or three segments, each one telling a short story of the creature but the humans in the robes are always present, they seem to be… merging or joining some sort of cult, perhaps it’s some kind of ritual, how fascinating!”
Soon enough the sculptures began to change very drastically, soon enough she could distinguish battles, very violent and bloody battles, then the scenes returned to the first kind of sculptures and jumped again to the battles and so forth.
Nearing the end of the hallway the sculptures simply banished, the last one showing a human dressed in some strange robes opening a portal or some kind. At the very end of the hallway, she saw metallic picture carved to the very wall presenting, what she could say, every single creature from before.
“Great detail and crafting skills,” she said to herself, approaching it to see it in more detail she saw some words below it. “ ‘In Honor to the Champions of the League’?” A noise of metal hitting the floor behind her pulled her off from her studies.
“I see you couldn’t resist looking around, Lyra,” the metal clad human said with a neutral tone.
“How could I NOT?” She said, not afraid, but rather thrilled. “I mean, I am standing on the remains of an ancient civilization which so happens to tell its story AND there is a living, breathing human too! And you expect me to just stay still and not explore this amazing place?” She said, grinning up at him.
“Yes.”
“Huff, you are no fun, mister human,” Lyra lost her smile and tilted her head to the side. “Hey, now that I think of it you look kind of... familiar to one of those creatures.” she pointed towards the picture before turning around scanning it. “Right there!” She pointed to near the left inferior end of the picture. “He looks a lot like you, well, the armor at least.” She turned to him again, a confused look on her face. “Now that I think of it, you haven’t told me your name yet.”
“My name is of no concern to you, not yet, Lyra, The Truth Searcher.”
“That title again, I wonder what it means” she thought “Alright then, can you tell me what is this hallway, chamber or whatever it is?”
“Very well, but for now stand back and be quiet, I need to pay my respects first.”
Getting out of his way, Lyra sat on the oddly warm floor, watching as the human kneeled down, putting the shield he was carrying on the floor while using a spear to support his weight. Lyra couldn’t tell what he was saying but she could tell it was some sort of lament or prayer, for several minutes the human did not move nor did she. Suddenly, the human slowly stood up while murmuring something and hitting his chest three times.
“Come with me,” he said, Lyra only nodded and followed him, leaving the chamber and returning to the hallway she had been exploring, none of them said anything until they reached the end of the hallway and the human opened a door. “Come in.”
Walking inside Lyra could see there were in some kind of map-room since it was filled with maps all over the place, maps of cities, castles, terrains, countries, everything.
“I will answer some of your questions, but first I must know where you came from,” he said pointing to the map in the center of the room. “This map is very old and it may be much different to the ones you must be used to. Try to identify your travel route, we are here.” He pointed the center of the map where a small castle was shown with the letters ‘Institute of War’ above it “And I found you here, in the Rift,” he pointed a little upward and to the left, some sort of terrain with the name of ‘Summoners Rift’ above it.
Lyra walked slowly to the map, trying to identify the locations. “You are right, it’s very different but... I think, let’s see,” slowly but surely Lyra was able to put together a somewhat clear route of her travel, going down from ‘Summoners Rift’ passing through a horrid looking forest called ‘The Twisted Tree Line’ going up all the almost reaching a place between a land named ‘Frelijord’ and a mountain named ‘Targon’. “This map is so small compared to Equestria,” Lyra said. “If I had to say Ponyville was here, then cities like Manehatten and Trottingham should be here and here,” she pointed the map where water was. “Care to explain, mister human?”
The human was simply looking at the map, staring it in total silence and stillness; it wasn’t until Lyra nudged him in his hand a little that he was out of his trance.
“Are... are you alright, mister human?”
“I’m fine,” he sighed “the world has changed too much.” He walked to a near block of stone and sat there. “My name is Pantheon, the Artisan of War, and I welcome you to the remains of the once proud and strong League of Legends, Lyra Heartstrings, the Truth Searcher.”
Lyra was lost for words, she was expecting some sort of epic introduction or a tale of bravery from the human, instead, she got a fairly weak presentation, something did catch her interest, however.
“Artisan of War, Truth Searcher? What’s up with the titles anyway? And what do you mean by League of Legends?”
Pantheon sighed again before pointing to the map with his spear. “That land is….was Valoran, the greatest realm in all of Runeterra, a land filled with wonders, war and disputes, house to many unique creatures.”
“Valoran was filled with war everywhere, everyone was fighting everyone all the time, even between those inside the same kingdom,” Pantheon got up, not bothered by the enchanted Lyra looking at him in total awe. “A group of powerful mages named as ‘Summoners’ decided to end all of that fighting,” walking around the room he continued to talk, never breaking his gaze over Lyra. “Many opposed to them, including my tribe but soon enough they came up with a solution,” he pointed at the Institute of War.
“They created the Institute of War, a place where kingdoms could resolve their differences in a battle between the two sides, forming teams. The goal was simple, destroy the base of the enemy team first.”
“But since their soldiers couldn’t enter battle and it would be unfair to stick with only the same fighters for each country another solution was made, the fighter would have to leave their homelands and request to join the Institute as Champions, where they could be used in combat by a summoner who could control them during the fight.” Pantheon sighed. “The starting champions named themselves The League of Legends, which also saved Valoran from itself.”
“The titles were put by the summoners or in some cases, by the champion itself, the title was very important, as it represented what were we best at, our goal or our duty, my title is the Artisan of War, for I was the best warrior of the Rakkor tribe and it was my job to show them all that war and combat are the ultimate art forms,” he said proudly.
Lyra was lost for words, the tale Pantheon was impressive and amazing, yet it only created more questions, most of them she had already thought of.
“Excuse me, sir Pantheon.”
“Just call me Pantheon.”
“A-Alright then, Pantheon, is there a reason why I haven’t seen any other human or one of those strange creatures around?” Pantheon dropped his gaze to the ground and things slowly fit together from earlier, “I must pay my respects”, that was meant to honor those in the picture, to honor the dead, a gut-clenching feeling began to stir inside her “Y-you are only one left, aren’t you?”
“Yes I am, I’m the last Rakkorian, the last champion, and the last legend, I’ve been alone for a long time, little pony,” he turned his gaze directly to Lyra.
“How old are you? A-are you immortal?” She asked nervously, so forth the only five known immortals were the princesses and Discord and that meant they were crazy powerful.
“How old I am... I can’t really say, I stopped counting the years millennia ago, as for if I am immortal? No, I’m not.”
“Then, how can you still be alive? More than that, if you are all alone, why haven’t you gone insane?”
“That is something you will have to earn, it's been so long since I last had a conversation with other than myself in centuries, so forgive me if I speak too much at times.” Pantheon turned around completely at her “What else you want to know?”
“You said you knew ponies, right?” Pantheon nodded. “And you have been alive for several millennia, right?” Lyra smiled triumphal as Pantheon nodded again. “Then tell me everything you know about ponies! Our history, how did human civilization, this Valoran affected us and the rest of the races, the origin of our princesses, everything, please!”
Pantheon looked at her straight in the eyes. “I know nothing of it.”
“That’s great! Now can you pleas---wait, WHAT?” Lyra shouted back at him both surprised and angry. “NOTHING? What do you mean by nothing!?”
“I haven’t left these lands since I began my watch, the furthest I have ever gone is the edge of the Twisted Tree Line,” he said pointing the spots with his spear over the map. “I’m sorry if you are disappointed.”
“I-its alright,” she chuckled. “ I mean, is not like I came all the way here to find the truth of pony history and our relation with humans and it turns out the ONLY human alive knows NOTHING!” Lyra breathed heavily for a couple of seconds before calming herself a bit. “This is just wonderful, and I’m guessing you won’t be leaving this place because you are doing your so-called watch.” Lyra calmed down and then looked at him confused. “Your watch? Your watch about what?"
“…” Pantheon said nothing but he never broke their eye contact.
“You are guarding something, right? Something very important.”
“Remember the chamber I found you?” Lyra nodded. “That is the Chamber of Champions, that was the place where the summoners tested any new arriving candidate, the metal sculpture at the end of the chamber? I made it, to honor the 140 Legends that fought for not only Valoran, but for Runeterra.”
Lyra looked on, puzzled.
“Valoran welcomed every candidate, most were locals but some others were from other dimensions,” Lyra looked at him in disbelief. “During those times magic was much more powerful than it is today, it allowed several summoners to contact beings from other dimensions to come and battle for the Institute, or vice versa, with the promise of fulfilling their wishes. And they had more than enough power to grant them... after their services were fulfilled, of course.”
“What kind of wishes?”
“Come with me, I think you are healed now.”
Pantheon started walking out of the map room with Lyra behind him, truth to his expectation, she was already healed, they walked down the same path from earlier and entered the chamber again.
“Its name was Cho’Gath, the Terror of the Void, he came from a place known as The Void, its wish was to devour everything in Runeterra and beyond.” Lyra gasped in horror looking at the horrifying insect-looking monster. “Her name was Ashe, the Frost Archer, her wish was to bring control, peace, and order to her homeland, The Freljord.” Lyra thought how noble her wish was. “You see Lyra, every champion had their own wishes, some were selfish, others simply wanted power, others just wanted to show off their power and abilities.”
Lyra smiled at him. “Like you?”
“Yes, you could say that.”
A minute of silence followed as they reached the end of the chamber.
“Who is he? He is a he, isn’t he?” Lyra pointed at the sculpture of the man with a portal behind him.
Pantheon looked at the sculpture for several seconds before muttering some sort of prayer. “His name was Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void.” Pantheon clenched his spear. “He was one of the starting champions of the League, he wished nothing, the only thing he said was that the Void was coming and it was inevitable, he always said we had to be prepared.” he sighed .“There was a place back then named Icathia, a city lost in myths and legends, it was fictional to us as humans are to your kind. But just like us, Icathia existed.”
“Icathia? The Void?" She said in confusion before asking. "What are you getting at, Pantheon?”
Pantheon said nothing for several seconds before giving a dishearten laugh. “The point is, we made a great mistake, we ignored him and when the Void came, it came in force.”
Lyra gulped, suddenly she didn't like where this story was heading to. “W-what happened?”
“Extinction happened,” Lyra’s eyes grew as big as dinner plated and her coat turned lighter than it already was. “Think of a place full of monsters, monster thousands of times worse than your worst nightmares, monsters that are hungry, know only how to fight, kill and destroy everything they stumble upon.” Pantheon gaze turned darker by the second, his red eyes shining like fresh blood from inside his helmet. “And now think those same monsters somehow manage to get to your world.” Lyra was shaking in fear, she could see that her human friend was dead serious about this, and she was ashamed to admit it but she wanted to know more.
Pantheon turned away without warning, making her jump in fright. “It’s getting late and you are probably hungry, come, we will eat, then you are free to explore the Institute at free will.” Pantheon began to walk out of the chamber leaving a shocked Lyra behind him.
“H-hey! Wait up, what happened next!? Pantheon? PANTHEON!?”
Inside his helmet Pantheon gave out a small playful smile.
The human male, Pantheon, retrieved my research material and has given me a good amount of supplies for my stay, he said I would be staying with him for a couple of weeks, until the monsters all around this place calm down again, then he will lead me to a safe route that will, at the very least, put me back in the Everfree Forest. A known part for me I hope.
In these past two days, I have learned so much from him, just by our little tour yesterday and our encounter the previous day. I think it’s strange but, I feel very sorry for him, not because he is alone or because he seems so happy to have me around, no, I feel sorry because I can see a pain inside of him, a pain I can’t even hope (nor wish) to comprehend.
I will use the following week to study and learn as much as I can... and I will also try to befriend Pantheon. He may look strong and intimidating but I can see, that under his armor and muscles, all he wants is a friend.
*************-------------------------
The Institute of War, Day 5
Today I have made an amazing discovery, the gardens outside, the flower garden behind the Institute, the metal sculptures, the fountains, the weapons, the armors and pretty much about everything aside from the Institute and the Champion Chamber was made or rebuild by Pantheon. Every.Single.Piece.
I’m sorry if those who read this diary can’t understand the sheer incredibility I am now experiencing, for you see just imagining how long it must have taken him to build them, care for them, to actually learn how to properly do it sends a terrible shiver from the base of my tail to the tip of my horn.
I have also noticed that, while Pantheon doesn’t have a routine there is something he seems to do every day exactly at 4:00 past midday. Give his respects in the Champion chamber. I must investigate further.
************-------------
The Institute of War, Day 9
The Institute of War is beautiful, what remains standing that is, but nevertheless beautiful, I can only wonder how humans and those other strange beings were capable of doing such things.
As a side note I just confirmed my theory that humans are, in fact, omnivores.
***********---------------------
The Institute of War, Day 15
Pantheon has beginning to warm up to me, normally a day goes by with me waking up, meeting up with him just when he is about to do something, go explore the Institute, the nearby structures, check on the books (which I can read perfectly. Sadly all they contain is magic theories, restrictions, power ups, rules for battle, and other topics I don't really understand so far), have something to eat, watch him tend some of the gardens and help if he needs it, go with him when he offers his respects, , watch him train, have a little chat, mostly tales of his experiences in the League of Legends (which might be spectacular, sad, funny, thrilling, creepy, gross and in some weird cases, all of them combined), eat dinner and go to sleep.
This time whoever, he told me about himself, where he came from, his friends, his enemies and some of his battles previous to the League of Legends. I always knew he was a warrior, and I had a feeling he was a great one, but him capable of fighting twenty-seven enemy soldiers, all by himself and win? Oh, and the best part was when he told me THAT was just the warm-up, I don’t know if he was joking or telling me the truth, but I felt fear nonetheless, he really was, and probably still is, a force to be reckoned with.
**************--------------------------
The Institute of War, Day 20
Today we were working on making a map of the known world today, compared to his. Turns out that Valoran, in his day, was an island and that Runeterra was a mass of small islands around the planet, Valoran being the biggest and most powerful one of all. Today, in contrast, only sixty percent of the planet was covered in water and three continents conformed almost the entire land mass.
Pantheon was silent for almost ten minutes, doing nothing but look at the map, then he pointed several places: The Shadow Isles, Bilgewater, Piltover, Freljord, Bandle City, Demacia, Noxus, Shurima, and many more, the only place we stumbled upon to be in the same exact location was The Crystal Empire or as he calls it, The Crystal Scar.
He told me the sad tale of Skarner, The Crystal Vanguard, much like himself, the people of Skarner were just a legend, until the Summoners (the powerful mages who founded the Institute of War) awoke him by accident and his time in the League of Legends, until he suddenly stopped talking. I asked him what was wrong, Pantheon simply told me ‘It’s time, meet me tomorrow at sunrise outside the Champions Chamber’, then he left me alone with my thoughts.
I can’t wait for tomorrow!
************-------------------
Lyra awoke in her makeshift bed just as the sun rose from the window, getting down to the floor she used her magic to brush her mane slowly, she still had some time before meeting up with Pantheon, there was no hurry but yet the smile on her face simply didn’t go away. She was eager to hear what Pantheon had to say.
Making her way to the entrance of the Champions chamber she sat as she waited for Pantheon to arrive, her waiting was short as the human male landed a few meters away from the stairs leading to said chamber. He walked calmly; using his spear to support his steps, once he reached the entrance Pantheon opened it and went inside, not saying anything to Lyra.
Lyra was already used to him and followed behind, marveling herself once again at the storytelling sculptures in the walls and hallway, reaching the end of the hallway Pantheon touched his own figure in the metal picture, making a hidden door open at the left side of the metal picture. Pantheon entered it, motioning Lyra to follow him.
Behind the hidden door there was another hallway, much smaller than the previous one, she soon noticed the hallway was illuminated by small blue flames hanging from the walls and she could also see more metal pictures, again, telling a story. A story she didn’t like, at all.
“There were one hundred and thirty-nine Champions when the void came.” Pantheon said as he looked at a small white looking table at the end of the hallway, Lyra just stood there, looking at the metal pictures and listening to his story “At first it seemed like nothing we couldn’t control, and it was. For six weeks we fought against the creatures coming from the Void, every encounter ending with our crushing victory. We grew cocky, arrogant and felt invincible, then… then the first of us died. Gragas, The Rabble Rouser, was consumed and devoured by dozens of Void creatures in a moment of carelessness. Then the second Champion fell, a force of nature and magic itself, Maokai, The Twisted Treant. Then a couple of summoners were killed by Voidlings,” his voice was low and raspy, almost choking on his own words.
“More and more of those monsters came through the portal; each time bigger, deadlier, smarter, and faster, it soon became too much for us to handle and the one tall and mighty Champions began to die one by one. Desperation began to grow, the summoners, including the three most powerful ones, tried to close the portal with the aid of the most magically blessed Champions... but it was futile. The monsters continued their advance, killing, devouring and destroying anything they came across. Cities began to fall, the monsters spread around all of Runeterra, and then entire islands fell one by one. For several weeks this went on until only the great city of Demacia, The City of Legends and The Institute remained standing.” Pantheon clenched his spear. "Noxus, Piltover, Bandle City, Bilgewater, Rakkor, Zaun, even Shurima... all of them fell."
Lyra listened to his story as her eyes managed to look at the metal pictures in accord with his story, making her imagine the unspeakable horrors he must have seen in person. She never noticed him raising a hand before snapping his fingers, letting a brighter blue light illuminate something behind him, another metal picture, similar to the final one in the previous hallway, but this one only had seventeen champions, they themselves surrounded by monsters while the one in the center, Jax, if she recalled correctly, was holding something up to the skies.
“The surviving champions went their own ways, some went to the City of Legends, others to Demacia, only seventeen remained here. By the time Demacia and the City of Legends fell we had one last hope, the orb Jax is holding there is the ‘Sealing Orb’”
“Sealing… Orb” Lyra repeated amazed by the detail of the picture.
“The last summoners made it, if it was impossible to seal the portal then they would seal our world away from them and every other world linked to ours.” Pantheon went silent for a second before removing his helmet, showing his face to Lyra for the first time, tears falling from his eyes. “We decided to give the summoners time to prepare it when they were done those damn monsters arrived at our doorstep. Jax,” he said pointing at him with his spear “Our leader, went to face them head-on, the rest of us followed him, tell me, Lyra, do you recognize the Champions in this picture?”
“Very good,” he smiled at her before looking at the picture, more tears falling from his eyes. “It was a fierce battle, all of us fought like demons against those abominations. Lux fell first, then Swain, Teemo, Ryze, Hecarim, Lucian… one by one died.” Pantheon closed his eyes, his face trembling as memories returned to him. “In a desperate move we retreated, Udyr, Diana, Aurelion Sol, Ao Shin, the only one amongst us who wasn't a recognized Champion, and Leona stayed behind to give us time to prepare our last defense.”
Lyra was trembling.
“A scream of pain came from inside the room the summers were. Irelia charged in and retrieved the Orb, a monster had made its way inside past our guard and had killed the summoners, but the Orb was ready, all it needed was time to cast itself.” Pantheon opened his eyes and looked around. “The remaining six of us ran and ran across the hallways until those abominations caught up with us. Those monsters had bested our companions outside the Institue. We mounted our defense and Jax took the Orb to protect it, I… I don’t know how long that battle was, they swarmed us but we fought back with everything we had left, we had nothing more to lose at that point. I was already exhausted when I felt one of those damn things bite me in my left leg.”
Lyra looked for a split second at the scars on said leg. They didn't look incredibly awful... but then again, those had been done several millennia ago.
“Everything slowed down, I saw Jinx being ripped apart by them. Irelia having her head smashed into the ground by another. Skarner being turned into dust just in front of me. Sona doing her best to protect Jax and the Orb as the monsters devoured her alive. And Jax holding the Orb high, away from the damn monsters, I roared and took my spear, impaling it against the head of the one that had bitten me. I ran towards Jax to aid him,” Pantheon closed his eyes again, letting hot tears fall from them freely. “The last thing I remember was seeing a tail pierce his cloth-covered face before the blinding light of the Orb erupted in front of me.”
Silence reigned for untold moments.
“When I woke up the monsters were gone, all of them, the corpses of my comrades and those I had come to call friends scattered on the floor of the room we had put our glorious last stand... this very room.” Pantheon opened his eyes and looked directly at Lyra, who was looking at him frozen in place. “My only regret is that I could only bury five of my friends, I made one private garden, one for each Champion of the League in their honor, except for myself.” Pantheon chuckled. “I was allowed to live. Why? I do not know but I will embrace this gift, I have embraced it already, I can leave at any moment I want but I will never leave, for if the monsters ever return I will be here, ready to stop them before they even have a chance to strike, that’s why I’m here, Lyra, The Truth Searcher.”
Lyra said nothing; she simply stared at him for several minutes, unable to comprehend his words and his story, then she got up and left with slow, stumbling steps.
Well, this is it, my final recording before I leave tomorrow, Pantheon said the monsters are calm again, so I should be fine for my trip back home.
I don’t want to leave him now. He’s not my test or proof or anything stupid and heartless like that even though I’m ashamed to admit I first saw him as just that, but not anymore. He is my friend and I’m his only friend, I don’t want to leave him alone again in this place where only sadness and painful memories haunt him, but he insists that he must remain to guard this place, because if those damn monsters ever return, the entrance would be by that same room where it all ended all those thousands of years ago, or so he thinks.
Want to know a funny thing? Turns out the reason I couldn’t use my magic was due to the power of the orb, strange, isn’t it? Anyways, I have to sleep, tomorrow I will try one last time to convince him to come with me, to give life another chance and to see the beautiful world he and his comrades saved.
“Do you need anything else, Lyra?” Pantheon asked while checking her fixed and improved saddlebags, both of them bearing proudly the mark of the League and his own personal mark.
“No, that would be all Pantheon, thank you, for everything.” Lyra said looking up at him “Are you sure you don’t want to come? I’m sure the princesses would love to hear your story and maybe even help you travel around the world.” Pantheon said nothing. “It’s a beautiful world out there, I’ve told you several times already, I know, but please, please Pantheon, you can’t stay here anymore, enjoy your life, enjoy the world you saved.”
Pantheon sighed tiredly before answering. “As much as I want to, I can’t and I won’t. Lyra, I would rather spend the rest of eternity here,” he pointed the ground below him. “Making sure the world my fellow Legends and I saved from a fate worse than oblivion itself than to see it with my own eyes, you have taught me and showed me enough to assure what we did was worthy.” Pantheon smiled (behind his helmet) down at her.
Lyra gave out a deep sigh before smiling up at him. “I’m not going to convince you, am I?” Both shared a light chuckle. “Can I come visit you sometime in the future perhaps?”
“You will always be welcome here, Lyra, The Truth Searcher.” Pantheon kneeled and pet her a few times. “We will see each other again.” Lyra blushed as she enjoyed the petting. “Oh, almost forgot,” he said stopping his petting and reached to the bag at his side, after a few seconds he pulled out a small steel figurine of himself in his usual battle pose but the mark on his shield was not his personal mark, instead it was replaced by that of Lyra’s cutie mark. “A parting gift, a sign of our friendship.”
Lyra took the figurine, barely bigger than her horn, with her left forehoof. A small happy smile rose from her lips. “Thank you, Pantheon... The Artisan of War.” She then put it inside her saddlebags quickly, they shared a moment of silence before Lyra wrapped her forelegs around his exposed neck, hugging him as tightly as she could against her fur.
After a long minute of silence, Lyra finally let go. Pantheon got up and took up his spear from the floor with him. “Ready to go?”
Both Pantheon and Lyra walked slowly and silently with Pantheon leading the way through the thick jungle. They had already left the Rift a few hours ago and were now walking on an invisible path that only the hulking machine of war seemed to know of. It had been a silent travel almost from the beginning because according to Pantheon’s instructions, while the monsters swarming the jungle were ‘calm’ they were still very dangerous if disturbed again. The reason why he stopped and readied his spear and shield for combat at every little sound or movement around them.
Lyra would have thought before her trip that his actions were very paranoid, maybe even crazy, but she clearly remembers her almost deadly encounter with the golem. And according to the stories Pantheon had told her that golem was just one of many of it's kind, worst of all, that golem was actually weak compared to other very strong and very deadly monsters lurking inside the jungle. Monsters that Pantheon was unable to take care of unless fully equipped. That thought alone sent a shiver up her spine.
Another hour of walking went by before Pantheon suddenly halted looking around a few times, signaling Lyra to move forward with a motion of his spear she obeyed and walking past him to discover a small road of dirt, its width enough for four ponies to walk without trouble, what really caught her eye though were the small patches of light at it sides.
“This road will lead you safely to the edge of, what you call it? The Everfree Forest? Try not to stray from it and be as silent as you can, I hope it will take you near your home. Your travel shall take several days, maybe weeks.”
“Don’t worry, as long as it leads me to the Everfree Forest I’ll be fine, I can manage from there.”
“Good,” Pantheon turned around. “Lyra, when you wish to return use this same path around this same time of the year, and if you want to bring a friend with you, do so, just be careful.”
Lyra turned around confused at his statement “B-but, I thought you said--”
“I know what I said, but a friend or two won’t hurt. Just as long as you are extremely careful.” Pantheon started to walk away from the path. “Until we meet again, Lyra.”
“Take care and thanks for everything, Pantheon,” Lyra said a bit louder than her usual speaking tone as she waved one of her hooves to him. Pantheon only raised his spear. For several minutes Lyra stood there first watching as her human friend disappeared between the thickness of the jungle and then as the sounds, he made moving past the obstacles halted. Lyra gave out a small content sigh and turned around, she took out the small figurine and looked at it, admiring the fine details and craftsmanship, she smiled and put the figurine back into her saddlebags.
“Well, better get moving, I have a few days of traveling ahead of me.”
*Several days later, ruins of the Royal Pony Sisters Castle*
Lyra walked calmly past the ruins of the ancient castle, the last stand of the wretched Nightmare Moon and the liberation of Princess Luna. The sun had been raised just two or three hours earlier and she had finally reached the end of the path over the last night, she decided to rest there since no monster had attempted to attack her while she was on it, the path itself turned out to be quite tricky with many twists and turns and thinning out slowly but surely until she could barely fit in it.
The Everfree Forest was also very calm and quiet like it tended to be during the start of autumn, she began to hum and bounce every now and then towards the little town beyond the forest without a care in the world. She was content with herself.
Two hours later she arrived at Ponyville without much of a fuss, but as she made her way towards her home she noticed some ponies all around her were looking at her as if seeing a ghost, some others whispering between themselves and a few others were just looking at her in awe as their jaws hung open. She cared nothing for any of these. Soon she arrived at her home and knocked the door.
“That is if this is still my home.” she thought seriously before the door opened revealing his best friend and dear roommate Bonbon with a look of disbelief and small tears falling from her eyes. “It’s good to know news still fly as fast as when I left!” Lyra joked, Bonbon raised a hoof and Lyra closed her eyes ready to get her just deserves, but instead she felt the warmth of a hug, she quickly hugged her friend back.
Both friends stood at the entrance of their home for several minutes, Lyra hugging her friend tightly as Bonbon cried and blurted out curses, thank you’s to Celestia, Luna, and even Discord, and many other noises Lyra couldn’t make anything from, but she knew her friend was very happy to see her again. Finally the hug softened and Bonbon pulled away to see the face of her dear friend.
“L-L-Lyra, wh-where were y-you?” Bonbon managed to ask.
Lyra smirked, “Bonny, you are NOT gonna believe me when I tell you!” Lyra gave out a small laugh as she walked inside the house holding Bonbon close to her “But first, I need a bath, food, something to drink, another bath and a nap, in that order. After that, story time.”
*Hours Later-Nightfall, Southeast Edge of the Everfree Forest*
A pair of yellow glowing eyes shined in the darkness of the forest, the eyes exploring its surroundings, curious, eager, hungry. A deep growl ripped through the silence of the night as heavy paws cracked the fallen branches on the ground. The yellow eyes closed smelling a familiar sweet intoxicating scent lingering in the air, mixed with foreign and delicious scents all over the area. Growling again the owner of said eyes let out a mighty howl before dozens upon dozens of glowing eyes of all sort of sizes, colors and shapes shined alongside it.
"Where the hell are they!?" Irelia shouted in desperation as she looked around the teleportation platform. There were several other Champions around her; most of which looked bloodied and exhausted.
"I don't know, they were right behind us!" Ekko said in a hurry and holding on to his wounded, bleeding arm. "Damn monsters...," he cursed before a summoner approached with a health potion.
Bard played a few notes of his flute with two chimes floating at his side, helping the summoner heal Ekko.
"Pantheon, you were covering our rear, did you saw what happened to them?" Karma asked as she helped Irelia stand up.
"They leaped out of the platform in the last second. I couldn't stop them," Pantheon said while he looked at the distance and to a purple storming raging over a distant island.
Irelia growled. "Those fools... Ionia was already lost," her swords swirled behind her. Her gaze now focused on the same island Pantheon and almost every other Champion present was looking at. Her homeland.
"Any news about Zoe, Xerath, Azir, Amumu, Annie, Udyr, Volibear, Brand, and Fiddlesticks?" Garen asked with some difficulty. Most of his armor was covered in blood and some of it was missing. His sword was shattered at his feet.
A summoner turned to face him. "Zoe and Udyr managed to escape from Rakkor along with almost the entire tribe and are heading to the City of Legends as we speak. Fiddlesticks was unleashed but was destroyed in the battle of Noxus... Katarina, Cassiopeia, and Urgot fell on the battle as well. Azir has fortified the frontiers of Shurima and has taken the yordle survivors along with the few Zaunians that managed to escape, Zilean among them. Xerath was consumed before his shackles could be broken... and Brand... he was extinguished by the Void Cho'Gath aspect form alongside Volibear, Annie, Amumu, and our Cho'Gath aspect."
Garen and his fellow Champions Pantheon, Irelia, Ekko, Karma, Nami, Nidalee, Ornn, Riven, and Bard remained silent for several seconds.
"I see. Thank you, Summoner," Garen said without looking at the robed mage.
"Then what are we going to do about-" Nami began but was interrupted by a shining aura enveloping Irelia for a couple of seconds. Then three figures dropped to the ground. "Shen, Kennen, Gnar!" Nami shouted as she conjured a healing wave to the newly arrived.
"G-Gnar..." Gnar groaned in pain while Kenen was unconscious.
"..." Shen groaned in pain as two summoners arrived to check on the arrived trio and Irelia and Karma helped the ninja up.
"Shen... where are the others?" Ekko asked.
"... I couldn't bring them with me... Yi... they tore him to shreds. Wukong avenged him, but he too fell. Akali and Rek'Sai... they put a valiant last stand allowing our escape... and Zed," Shen growled the name.
Just then, a shadow portal appeared from the ground a few steps away from the group. Out of it crawled a battered, bloodied Zed with a missing arm. The shadow portal closed and Zed rolled onto his back. "They... took away... your revenge fro--" Zed said barely looking at Shen before coughing blood and then, he went motionless.
The Champions a gathered Summoners present remained silent for a few moments.
"We have no time to waste. Leave the dead behind, we must prepare for what's to come," Pantheon said picking up his shield and gripping his spear tight to the point blood dribbled down the pole. "We must make haste to the City of Legends. This battle is still far from over."
Pantheon woke in a jolt. He was sweating and his breathing was forced. Outside, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everything was at peace. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Pantheon stood up from his bed and made his way to his bathroom. After tending to his morning necessities and a nice cold shower, he spent the next hour polishing and cleaning of his numerous equipment for the day. When he was ready, he grabbed a few fruits and dried meat for breakfast and then headed out for his morning patrol.
It had been three weeks since Lyra had departed, and already he missed the inquisitive little pony. After being alone for so long and having no one but himself and bloodthirsty monsters to talk to, he had enjoyed his time with her. He sighed shaking his head. He hoped she would come back another time. Maybe it had been naive of him to trust her like that, but she didn't strike him to be the backstabbing kind.
"Hmmm, I probably should hunt down a few lizard scouts and maybe an Elder Lizard. I am running short on meat again," Pantheon said to himself. "Maybe... I should make something for Lyra when... if she comes back. Maybe a small statue?" He mused to himself as he made his way into the Rift.
Bonbon listened to her friend going on and on about her adventure. Yesterday, after her arrival, Princess Twilight had come to check on her old magic kindergarten friend. After making sure Lyra was fine, the Princess of Friendship hugged her and welcomed her back. After she had left, Lyra took her second bath, ate some more, and took a long nap. When she woke up it was nearly nightfall, but that didn't stop her from telling her everything after she left Ponyville up to the point when she stumbled upon a rift. Lyra insisted to leave her story there for today, and she had agreed.
Now, Bonbon always considered herself as a mare of logic. She never doubted her dear friend's belief in the 'humans', but she herself never took any of it as nothing more than silly myths. But now she could hardly believe the words coming out from her friend's mouth. Monster never before seen attacked her? Monsters with names such as Elder Lizard, Ancient Golem, Wraiths? Her arrival at the so-called Summoner's Rift and her subsequent findings and brush with a painful death? Her salvation coming in the form of an actual, living, real human!? If she didn't know any better she'd thought her friend had gone completely insane.
But Lyra had shown her proof of her claims. Her notes and findings, small trinkets, even the metal figurine the human, 'Pantheon', had made for her as a parting gift. That last one alone had convinced her that Lyra was telling the truth. The level of detail and quality the figurine possessed was beyond anything she had seen before... and the scripture on the bottom of it:
"To Lyra Heartstrings, The Truth Searcher.
May our paths cross again.
~Pantheon, The Artisan of War.
The figurine was genuine and most importantly, it was something made NOT by pony hooves or magic. The human's armor and equipment reminded her to that of a Royal Guard for some reason.
But it was Lyra's drawings that had truly pushed her doubts over the edge. She had seen her drawing several times depicting humans... they were less than ideal in the best of cases. But the ones she had shown her now... they were incredibly accurate and precise. Beautiful even. Drawings based on the so-called Pantheon walking or just standing, doing a combat pose or eating or talking, of him training or resting, of his feet, hands, torso, head, face... and there were several dozens of them. And many dozens more depicting the Rift, the Institute of War, the murals and metal pictures, the statues. All of it was genuine.
And as if that wasn't enough, Lyra began telling about her time with Pantheon and the stories he told her about himself and that of his fellow 'Champions'. About Valoran and its cities. About Runeterra and its conflicts. And about the League of Legends and their final last stand.
"And they... perished? All of them?" Bonbon asked watching the saddened face of her friend.
"Yes. Pantheon was the only one who survived. But they won and those monsters of the Void can't reach the world again," Lyra said gently. "I don't know how long it has been for Pantheon, but he lost everything, Bonbon, his family, his tribe, his friends... everything. Can you imagine it? All alone surrounded by monsters and keeping watch over the place they won in the end?"
Bonbon shuddered. "I can't and I don't want to imagine it, Lyra. At least he has one friend now, no?" She smiled at the green minted unicorn.
Lyra smiled at her friend. "Yeah... Yeah! Oh Bonbon, I can't wait for you to meet him! He's really nice deep down."
Bonbon smiled back for a few moments. "Only if you are sure, Lyra. Hey, speaking of that... are you sure you don't want to tell the Guild about all of this?" She said spreading her forelegs over the table and all of the drawings, notes, trinkets, and the figurine.
"Positive," Lyra replied. "I was in the right. My father was in the right. I may not know how much they influenced our world, but I know humans existed and are real and that there is still one alive today," her smiled widened. "My best friend believe me now. That's enough for me."
Bonbon giggled. "Never change, Lyra," her eyes then landed on the figurine. "So, when can we go visit him?"
Lyra hummed. "I'd say next year, just to be sure, we'll leave two weeks before yesterday. We gotta make sure we are properly packed and have enough supplies to last the entire trip," Lyra rubbed her hooves together. "Pantheon is going to be so happy! Now he's going to have two friends to talk to!"
Both mares laughed as they began making their plans for their future expedition.
Pantheon knelt in front of an empty nest belonging to lizards. He traced his fingers and palm over the surface and frowned.
"Too dry, they haven't been here for at least a week," Pantheon stood up. "This is strange... too strange," Pantheon walked off carrying on his back three lesser lizards, a small raptor, and a murk wolf. This hunt had been remarkably poor even judging by the time of the year. He could remember a few years that had been just like this one or worse, but this time it didn't make any sense. The jungle and the forest were lush with life, the monsters should be difficult to find, yes, but nowhere near scarce as they were now.
Most worrying of all, however, was the fact that he had not seen a single golem, gromp, krug, crimson raptor, wraith, or two headed wolf. The river was brimming with scutters, their usual preferred prey, and worst of all... the Herald of the Rift was nowhere to be found.
"...No..." Pantheon whispered as a nasty, dark thought crossed his mind. Dropping his hunt gains, Pantheon assumed a kneeling position as the air itself below him began to be pulled inwardly towards him. After a couple of seconds, he leaped to the sky a few hundred meters. The trip lasted mere moments before he landed outside the borders of the Rift and near the path he had shown to Lyra three weeks prior. He ran and ran, his breath never faltering and hardly growing tired thanks to the blessing of Targon. By the time he arrived at the spot in which he and Lyra had departed, it was near nightfall.
Pantheon felt a shiver of cold run down his spine as he moved forward for several minutes... until he found something.
The bones of what used to be a lizard, a wolf, and two raptors. Monsters devoured to their last inch of meat by other bigger predators. Bones of monsters laying on the same path he had shown to Lyra... and nearly erased claw, paw, and other sorts of prints on the ground moving forward.
"...Lyra...," Pantheon gripped his spear as he looked into the darkening forest. He cast a glance back to the barely visible Rift. "..." He looked at the path again. "..." Then back again at the Rift.
Pantheon repeated the motion several times before making his decision.
"I'll be back soon," he said taking one last short glance at the Rift. After which he sprinted forward.
He needed to be fast, the monsters were days ahead of him... and days closer to Lyra and her people.
Chapter 6: The Everfree is the Least of your Worries
Pantheon stood at the edge of the balcony from the War Room in the central palace in the City of Legends, watching in the distance as more and more refugees flooded into the city. Behind him, a few dozens of fellow Champions and Summoners were talking or waiting on their own as they waited for the main doors to open.
"What are you looking at, Pantheon?" A feminine voice asked him.
Without turning to see to who it belonged, Pantheon replied. "The refugees. There are fewer than I expected, Leona."
"Those damn monsters don't like leaving anything in their wake," Leona cursed as she stood at the side of Rakkor's greatest warrior. "Do you think we'll be able to stop them?"
"You should seek Swain if you wish an answer to that question," Pantheon replied. "All we can do is fight back no matter what." Pantheon turned to her. "Where is Diana?"
"She made it back from Freljord... Ashe, Sejuani, and Lissandra are working together to revive the Watchers." Leona scoffed. "Only Braum returned with her."
"A frozen world is better than a dead world some would say," Pantheon hummed. "How many Champions are left, Leona?"
"Eighty-two... Eighty-three if you count the spirit Ao Shin," Leona sighed. "Everyone is trying to save Runeterra in their own ways, and everyone is failing. What makes matters worse is that nothing and no-one is safe from those monsters; humans, constructs, creatures of magic, spirits, gods, Champions, Summoners... it doesn't matter to them."
Pantheon and Leona remained silent for several moments until a sudden blue light encaptured one of the most powerful Summoners present for a few seconds.
"... Azir and Nasus have failed to Ascend Malzahar. He was torn asunder by the magic of Shurima itself." The Summoner said the moment after the light vanished. "They report they enemy is nearing Shurima and will do everything in their power to slow them down."
"This just keeps getting better and better," Graves exhaled a mouthful of smoke. "We Champions and you Summoners are falling like flies while they take over city after city. Hey, Papa Crow, use that superior brain of yours already, will yah?"
Swain didn't even look at the outlaw as Lux sat next to him while Sona healed his wounds.
"Answer the question, Noxian filth," Garen said with Shyvana, Xin Zhao, and Poppy at his side.
"Leave him alone, Garen... do you really think this is the best time to hold on to old grudges?" Lux said glaring at her brother. While she herself didn't quite like Noxus or its Champions, she had always felt a mutual understanding with the leader of Noxus, Swain.
"...Fine," Garen spat, returning his attention to his comrades.
"Thank you, child," Swain whispered looking at Lux, offering her the faintest of smiles.
Lux smiled back. Her eyes landed on her brother once more. While she knew Garen loved her, her being a magician, the second thing he hated the most, always put a severe strain on their relationship ever since he found out her secret.
"Graves and Garen are right, though. Swain, don't you have a master plan to get us out of this mess?" Ezreal asked a few meters away.
"...Not yet," the Noxian finally said, eyes focused on Jax. "Not yet."
Pantheon woke up and looked around, slightly confused. It took him a few moments to remember where he was, what he was doing, and where he was headed. He got up, extinguished his small fireplace, grabbed his spear and shield, and resumed his travel leaving behind discarded and half-eaten fruits and roots.
Over the course of three days he had seen several more bones and corpses, most belonging to the monsters he knew full well, but as he advanced, he began seeing those of creatures similar to what Lyra had described to him. Such as a Manticore.
Pantheon gritted his teeth, if he was correct, he was now at the border of the Twisted Treeline. He was still too far behind.
"Ghost!" He half-yelled before a shimmering blue aura surrounded him as he ran, leaving behind momentary after images of himself.
"Here's your coffee, Twilight," Spike said placing the cup of said warm liquid next to the Princess.
"Oh, thank you, Spike," she replied before taking a long gulp of it. "Ah! Much better...," she exclaimed returning her attention to the scrolls in front of her.
A small stack of complaints and reports stating that strange sounds had been coming from the Everfree Forest since last night. The sounds, akin to distant growls or something similar, had sturred the peace and tranquility of the town. That was nothing new: every week she and her friends had to deal with something that did that job. But this time it was different... she could sense it; something was wrong with those sounds coming from the depths of the forest. Not even the wise and venerable Granny Smith had ever heard something similar in her life.
"Should we ask help from Princess Celestia? We don't have Royal Guards stationed in Ponyville, Twi," Spike offered, taking his seat next to hers.
"I believe Princess Celestia is far too busy to pay attention to such a minor incident. We can handle this problem just as we have with every other problem before," Twilight assured smiling at her number one assistant. He smiled at her, though it wasn't completely sure. She couldn't blame him, she too was feeling uneasy about this developing incident.
"Of course!" She said as a realization struck her. "We can ask Zecora! Maybe she knows what's going on! Come, Spike, we need to get ready!" She said enveloping the little drake in her magical aura.
It's nice to be back. I missed doing this so much, Lyra thought as she played her lyre for her gathered audience. It looks like they missed me, too, Lyra giggled. She continued to play for several more minutes until she reached the end of her song. Stomping hooves and whistles soon burst from the audience along the *clink-clank* of bits been thrown into her jar.
"Thank you, thank you! I will take a short break before continuing everypony," Lyra stated as she put her lyre next to her chair. The audience mostly dispersed to do their own things, while some others remained close by talking between friends.
I wonder if Pantheon will like my music. Does he even like music? Lyra tilted her head to the side. Well, I shall see that eventually! Oh, I hope he likes music. Maybe I can compose something for him! Lyra giggled to herself. She lifted her water container in order to take a sip out of it when all of a sudden shouts of horror reached her ears. Looking at the source of the screams, she saw none other than Zecora.
Lyra looked at the zebra running, or well, limping, towards them while ponies screamed at the sight or yelled for help. The zebra was covered in several cuts and fresh scars with blood slowly oozing out of them. But Lyra focused solely on the look of horror the zebra had on her face; she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, she was only advancing in hopes of getting as far away possible from the direction she had come from.
Lyra stood up ready to aid Zecora when Twilight landed with Spike on her back in front of the zebra. She couldn't hear what Twilight was saying as nurses Redheart, Tenderheart, and Doctor Stable arrived at the scene shortly after.
But she did hear a familiar rumbling echo coming from the depths of the Everfree Forest.
"What do you mean you know what attacked Zecora, Lyra?" Twilight asked her old magic kindergarten friend in the safety of her private study while Spike and Bonbon sat quietly at the side.
"Exactly that, Twilight," Lyra responded with some unease under the cold stare of Twilight. "Zecora said a two-headed wolf attacked her, right? That's a Greater Murk Wolf...," Lyra then pulled a drawing from her saddlebacks of the fearsome creature. "This is the monster that attacked Zecora yesterday."
Twilight took a hold of it with her magic and examined it for several seconds. "It does match the description Zecora was able to give us," Twilight frowned. "How and why do you know this creature and from where, Lyra?"
"..." Lyra took in a deep breath. "Twilight... what I'm about to tell you may sound like crazy talk, but I assure you it is true. I already told everything to Bonbon after I came back. So please, let me tell you everything before you say anything, okay?"
Twilight sighed as she sat on her haunches. "I don't have much of a choice as it stands anyways. I promise I won't say anything nor interrupt you until you are done, Lyra. 'Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye'"
Lyra sat down, too, as she opened her saddlebags and proceeded to pull out several dozen drawings and a particular trinket that instantly caught the attention of Twilight and Spike.
Manticores howled in pain. Timberwolves ran for their lives. Hydras did their best to fight back or flee. Cockatrices and Cragadiles ran. The residents of the Everfree found themselves outmatched by the newly arrived creatures in every possible way. These monsters knew no fear, only hunger. Only bloodthirst. Not even an Ursa Major proved to be a match for their seemingly endless hordes and voracious mouths.
For five days the creatures that called the Everfree Forest their home and territory found themselves beaten down and surpassed by powerful newcomers. And for five days they had been defeated and pushed back; their fallen devoured by ever-hungry jaws and teeth and fangs.
The creatures of the Everfree knew they were no match for these... monsters, no matter how hard they fought back or how many of them were brought down. They were outmatched and now they were little more than prey.
"And that's how I managed to get back," Lyra said looking at a wide-eyed Twilight. "I think the monsters of the Rift were able to follow me somehow... I... I must've made a mistake on my trip back. Pantheon said the monsters never left the Rift because they didn't know how to leave it."
"Lyra..." Bonbon whispered watching her friend's expression drop.
Twilight shook her head before her gaze went down to the drawings and the statue of Pantheon. She stared at it for several seconds before looking at Lyra. "... I believe you, Lyra... This... this is... wow... I... I can't even begin to--"
Twilight was cut short, her attention alongside those in the study by screams and terror-filled shrieks, followed shortly by the Panic-Belle's loud strumming and rumbling.
Without even thinking it, Twilight teleported herself and her companions outside her castle to find chaos all around Ponyville. Ponies were running for their homes; most of them running back out carrying shovels, bats, even spears and knives as they were headed towards the eastern edge of town. Above in the sky the same scene was playing with pegasi flying as fast as they could trying to gather thunderclouds or forming attack formations lead by Thunderlane, Flitter, and Rainbow Dash.
The cyan pegasus noticed Twilight and dived down to meet her midair.
"Twilight, there are hundreds of monsters coming out of the Everfree Forest and are heading this way! What the hay is going on!?" She shouted just before flying up as Thunderlane called for her.
"This is my fault...," Lyra said seeing the utter chaos and borderline panic all around her.
"Not it is not!" Bonbon stated. "Whatever is happening right now is not your fault, Lyra!"
"Yes, it is! If I hadn't followed my ambition... if I... if I... hadn't met Pantheon then Zecora would be fine and none of this would be happening!" Lyra responded, tears filling her eyes.
"Lyra, listen to me," Twilight said using one wing to embrace the mint colored unicorn. "We can investigate what caused all of this, but for now we have to protect Ponyville!" Twilight embraced her tighter. "Please, you're the only who knows those monsters, I need your help to protect out home."
Lyra stared at the lavender Princess for several seconds before replying. "...Y-You're right. Let's go then!"
Using her magic, Twilight lifted Spike up and sat him on her back before the three mares rushed to the eastern border of the town. It didn't take long for them to arrive and what they saw made them stop dead in their tracks.
Timberwolves, manticores, cockatrices, cragadiles, hydras, bugbears, and many other monsters by the hundreds running towards Ponyville. They even saw a pair of Ursa Majors and a few Ursa Minors... and even a couple of semi-adult dragons carrying a bloodied Steven Magnet.
"READY WEAPONS!" Thunderlane shouted at the top of his lungs as ponies, donkeys, sheep, and bulls prepared their whatever they had with them to defend Ponyville.
It was right about this moment when Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie arrived on a cart pulled by Big Macintosh, also carrying in it the Cake family, Granny Smith, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Appleboom.
"Twilight, what in tarnation is happening!?" Applejack asked as she and her friends made their way to the lavender alicorn.
"I'm not entirely sure. Lyra?" She turned to face said mare.
"I don't see any of them, Twilight. Something isn't right here," Lyra answered as her eyes darted all over the line of charging monsters.
"STEADY! READY THE CLOUDS!" Rainbow Dash bellowed for the sky. A second later a line of pegasi holding thunderstorm clouds came forth ready to rain lightning on the coming monsters. "ON MY COMMAND!"
Twilight grunted as she charged her horn with magic alongside almost every other capable unicorn. A flash of light at her side followed by another two magic surges indicated that Starlight and Trixie had just arrived as well.
"SET! FI---!"
"DON'T FIRE!" The surprisingly overpowering voice of Fluttershy cut Rainbow Dash short as it broke the concentration of unicorns and made almost everyone lower their weapons.
A second later the first line of monsters hit the defenders of Ponyville... and ran whimpering and cowering past them.
As more and more monsters flooded into Ponyville, the inhabitants of the town were left confused beyond belief. For several minutes they allowed this to continue until no more monsters came out of the forest.
A cold, eerie silence fell all over Ponyville as the usually vicious monsters of the Everfree whimpered in fear and terror.
Then everyone felt their blood freeze upon hearing a distant roar mixed in with an unnatural shriek that held nothing but hunger and bloodlust behind it.
"...S-Spike... take a letter..." Twilight said feeling her legs tremble.
Only Lyra stood firm, her eyes glued to her statue of Pantheon.
"An Icathian... You are a Godsdamned Icathian!?" Rumble said from his seat as he pointed at Jax.
"Please, Rumble, stand down. This is not the time to fight among ourselves," one of the three Grand Summoners pleaded earning a disgruntled huff from the Yordle. "Jax, if you will?"
"...Yes, I am an Icathian... and up until the death of Malzahar and Kassadin, I am the last one," Jax sighed. "It is as Vessaria explained: I am the founder of the League of Legends alongside my old friend, Ashram. When Icathia was consumed and destroyed by the Void, we knew it was only a matter of time before the stupidity and arrogance of our people marked the destruction of Valoran itself. We fought and planned for centuries until we saw the opportunity and chance to form a bulwark against the coming Void."
"The Rune Wars," Ryze mused.
"Precisely. Taking our chance we founded the League of Legends under the pretense of peace and the solving of dispute in the Fields of Justice: power, wishes, and desire were promised to be fulfilled in order to attract the most powerful and steadfast warriors, creatures, magicians, ruffians, heroes, and whatnot Valoran had to offer. We succeeded."
"Oh? Then I guess having half the Champions and half of Valoran dead is a majoooooor success, ain't it?" Ekko snapped.
"The League was a success... but the Void... it arrived before any of us had predicted. With a few more years the League of Legends would've held its own valiantly against the Void, and won," Jax explained.
Silence raigned in the room.
"Now what?" Caitlyn asked.
"Now we fight and hold the line until our final weapon is completed," Swain answered. "We cannot seal the Void from our world; that much has already been proven. But we might be able to seal Valoran from the Void."
"Isn't that the same thing, bird brain?" Illaoi asked.
"Not quite," Swain retorted. "Our best course of action is to seal Valoran away from its home dimension into a pocket one; a place that not even the Void can reach instead of merely putting a wall on the Void's way."
"Can that even be done?" Diana asked with clear doubt in her tone.
"We don't have any other choice now. All we can do is fight to gain enough time for the Summoners to figure it out," Jax said.
Pantheon got up gaining the attention of everyone. "And who is going to lead us in this battle. You?" He pointed his spear at Jax.
"...That's the idea. Yes," Jax answered.
"I serve Targon, my spear and shield belong to him," Pantheon then hit the ground with the bottom oh his spear. "I shall follow you, Jax, The Grandmaster at Arms, for as long as Targon allows me," at this Leona also stood up and surprisingly so did Diana and several other champions. "Lead us to victory or to a glorious death, Jax. The Last Icathian. Leader of the League. Voice of the Champions. None shall find you wanting."
Pantheon hit the floor with his spear once more.
"GHOST!" Pantheon shouted again upon feeling his spell recharge once more. He was now far beyond the limits of know territory. He had left the borders of the Twisted Treeline and his furthermost mark hours ago. Yet now instinct guided him as well as corpses and remains of several dozen creatures.
His blood was boiling. He could feel it. He was nearing. But he was still too far behind to his own liking.
"Clairvoyance!" He yelled as his eyes glowed blue, revealing everything to him two kilometers ahead of him: still no traces of live monsters.
"Lyra...," he whispered her name. He had been alone for so long and the little mare had installed in him a long forgotten desire for companionship and comradery. He had long since made peace with himself and had changed from being the Avatar of War his long-lost God, Targon, had turned him into. Without his initial motives, goals, and ideals, Pantheon had managed to be more than just the spear of his God. He had learned to live, to feel, to miss, to love, to cry, to laugh, to remember, and to regret over the countless centuries he had been alone.
He wasn't going to let Lyra die and be left alone again. He owed her too much. She... she was his friend. And he was going to save her, selfish as his desire may be, but she deserved to live.
"RETREAT! RETRE--" A demacian soldier yelled before a voidling ate his upper half in a single bite.
The entire battlezone was a bloodbath. The Rakkor Tribe, Noxus, Demacia, Piltover, Bilgewater, and surviving Freljord armies had united to fight off the creatures of the void advancing against the City of Legends. They were buying time, putting up a great defense, but it was futile.
Shurima had already fallen and with it Renekton, Nasus, Azir, Sivir, and all of their power and knowledge. The current battle had gone for over eight hours and everyone was too exhausted to put up a fight against the never-ending tide of voidlings. Soldiers fell left and right and with them their commanders and even some Champions. Ashe, Sejuani, and Lysandra had been on the brink of reviving the Watchers when the void attacked. Lysandra and Ashe fell in combat alongside Nunu, Anivia, and Gragas; the few remaining straggler survivors of the tribes made it out thanks to the sacrifice of Nocturne, of all champions.
Pantheon let out a mighty war-cry as he ended at least two dozen voidlings in front of him in a barrage of spear thrusts. He saw his fellow champions fighting or slowly retreating. He cursed when he saw Singed being torn limb from limb and how a mangled Ekko charged into the heart of the void swarm and overcharged his clock. The ensuing explosion consumed several hundreds of voidlings.
"MONSTERS!" Pantheon screamed as he threw his spear impaling a creature in the head as another spear materialized in his hand.
Pantheon stopped when he saw a monster Lyra had described to her as a hydra, devoured and lifeless, was surrounded by several corpses of the monsters he knew all too well. He also noticed a hole beside the hydra that sent shivers down his spine.
"Clairvoyance," he said regaining his breath. THERE! He could see it now! A small town, a village, filled with ponies and monsters Lyra had talked to him about going around the village carrying supplies and objects. They were trying to form some sort of barricade between them and the forest. He was able to see a Great Wrait and an Elder Lizard come out of the edges of the forest when his spell-time ended. "I'm close. I'm close!" Resuming his run, he sprinted faster than ever feeling that familiar sensation of a coming battle. One he would not, could not, miss for the sake of Lyra.
"WHAT IN THE HAY ARE THOSE THINGS!?" A pony yelled seeing a horde of monsters coming out of the Everfree. Monsters no one had ever heard of seen before.
"Great Wraiths and their spawns... Worgs... Great Golems... Elder Lizards... a R-Rift Herald..." Lyra muttered seeing so many deadly monsters coming right at them. "Twilight, order everyone to attack! Now!" She yelled at her filly school friend.
"Alright everypony, you heard her! Fire!" Twilight ordered as she began shooting beams of magic at the coming horde.
"FIRE!" Yelled Rainbow Dash before kicking a thundercloud, sending a jolt of lightning against the monsters.
Several other magic beams, spells, rocks, lightning jolts, and makeshift throwing weapons began raining down against the monsters; most of which weren't even bothered by the defenders' attacks.
"Twilight!" Spike said holding a scroll in his hand. "Princess Celestia says she's sending us a battalion of guards right away! Until they arrive we have to hold them back!"
"On it," Twilight grumbled seeing the monsters advance mostly unhindered. Gathering as much magic as she could to her horn, Twilight created a bubble shield similar to her brother's signature shield spell around the entirety of Ponyville. The first monsters crashed against the shield, but that didn't stop the ones behind to try climbing over the first row or from attacking the shield itself with bestial rage and bloodthirst.
Everypony cheered seeing the monsters being halted by their princess of friendship. For several minutes the defenders moved around preparing further defenses when the biggest monster came to the forefront. It was like a massive hybrid between a crab and a beetle on two legs.
"The Rift Herald," Lyra said next to Twilight.
"I assume that's not good for us then?" Twilight asked while focusing more magic on her shield.
The Rift Herald took a charging stance before ramming itself against the shield making the entire thing tremble.
"GAH! It's very strong!" Twilight grunted back at the sheer strength this monster showcased. She grunted again when the Herald punched the shield. "Lyra, do you know anything about how to defeat them!?"
"Uhmmm," Lyra pulled her journal from her bag. "The Herald's weak point is on its back. It opens it up once in a while in a fight both to hit harder and to cool itself. Attack it then." She began skimming through her journal. "I-I don't understand why our attacks didn't harm the other monsters. Pantheon killed like they were nothing to him!" She exclaimed looking through her notes. "The monsters that travel in packs with a bigger one leading them have to be dealt with by killing the smaller ones first. Killing the Ancient Golem grants magic casters an increased magical recovery. Killing the Elder Lizard grants anything a burning effect to anything you attack," she skimmed through her journal telling Twilight what she thought could be relevant.
"Any other--ARGGGH!--- monster like this Herald we need to worry about!?" Twilight asked desperately as other unicorns began to mingle their magic with hers.
Lyra looked over at the ever-increasing horde of monsters. "No, thankfully. If Rift Dragons show up or the Baron Nashor..." Lyra shook her head. "How long until the guards arrive, Spike?"
"If they hurry, I think an hour," Spike answered, eyes glued to the Herald hitting and ramming itself against the barrier.
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard over the edge of the forest. With it, the seemingly endless horde of monsters stopped pouring out from the treeline. Instead, a great, bestial, feral dragon came out.
"That's a dragon!?" Spike jumped back, frightened at the sight of the bigger, animalistic dragon.
"An Elder Dragon," Lyra bit her lower lip. "I hope the guards make it in time," Lyra said as the dragon leaped landing next to the Herald and together began smashing the barrier.
The barrier had endured for the forty minutes so far, but everypony knew it was going to fall soon. There were several cracks all over its surface and many unicorns had already fainted due to exhaustion. Twilight herself was starting to strain from the effort of maintaining the barrier; perplexingly, the monsters showed not a single trace of exhaustion.
The inhabitants of Ponyville had done all they could to build a barricade and arm themselves as best they could. Fluttershy had even managed to pacify and convince most of the regular Everfree monsters to join them in the coming fight. They were as ready as they could be.
And with a final push from a multitude of Ancient Golems, Elder Lizards, Bramblebacks, the Herald, and the Elder Dragon the barrier finally gave in and shattered.
"GET READY!" Twilight shouted to those behind her. "We have to hold until the guards arrive!" Beams of magic, lightning bolts, and everything ponies could throw rained against the monsters advance.
Suddenly, the monsters stopped and with them, a gush of wind blew all over the place. Ponies and monsters looked around confused when a whistling sound was heard. No one was able to determine the source of the sound, for something big and heavy landed between the Ponyville defenders and the monsters creating a heavy dust cloud and an even stronger gust of wind. The landing of the object was so strong that the shockwave alone was enough to send several ponies to the ground.
The dust cloud dissipated soon after revealing a tall, imposing figure in the middle of a small crater it had created on its landing.
"For attacking Lyra, The Truth Searcher, my friend, your fates have been sealed..." The creature clad in some form of armor, carrying a shield, a spear, a cape, and a helmet said in a deep, rumbling, and incredibly angry tone. Its voice making everyone who heard him shiver in fear.
"PANTHEON!" Lyra shouted, happy and surprised to see her human friend had come to their aid.
Pantheon raised his spear in response. "If you want them and my friend, then you have to go through me first." He said to the monsters.
