> Long Way Gone
>  by DiscordsAdvocate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long Way Gone - Chapter 1 (edited)

He slowly rose, and was thankful that the Goddess Dark was enough to save him. The landing was overwhelming, and he was sore all over. Maybe it was due to the battle. 

The Wyrm…did he kill it?

No, merely dealt a great injury to it. Would it be enough? Only time would tell.

It was dark, but he could sense his surroundings had changed. The land was flat. No hills or gorges. These weren’t the same trees as back home, either. Where had the Wyrm sent him? Across a great sea, across a land of mountains, grass, rivers, and what looked like towns and cities. He couldn’t remember much it was a very quick experience. Yes, he was not in the Rift anymore. He was somewhere else, spurred as far away from the Wyrm as it could send him.

He couldn’t do anything about that now. First, he had to find shelter, food, and seek out the people of this land, if there really were any people here. But first he had to know just where to go. 

Light, my wisdom, my magic, my serenity, my vigilance through the unknown. 

The stars spoke back to him, telling him where North was. His senses attuned to see further ahead. There was a light over the horizon of the trees, distant and faint, but indicating civilization. So he began walking there, pack on his back, his body bearing the luminous markings of Light, providing the lantern to guide him to path that seemed to go in the direction of the lights.

An hour passed as he journeyed. The trees and ground bared the fruit and vegetables to nourish him. The river water was clean and soothing to wash down his thirst. At least nature was still there by his side!

He stopped to eat, cleaned his clothes, and cleaned himself. The water was cold, but he had to cleanse the Wyrm’s blood off of him. He could bear it. Once he felt ready, he resumed his journey. To keep his mind occupied, he ascertained his surroundings further. There were animals here, mostly small ones. Another hour and he sensed larger ones near, stalking him.

He was being hunted. They revealed themselves from behind the foliage. Creatures made of branches, yet prowled on all fours like a hunting-beast!

Dark. My aegis, my resilience, the strength to conquer any challenge.

The markings on his body changed color as the alpha pounced at him. He reacted, kicked up under its chin with a leaping backward summersault, sending it flying into one of the trees. That should scare off the others…spoke too soon. They were angrier now. He had no choice but to form his blade, it sprang from his hand, brimming with the power of dark. The omega attacked first. With the flat of his blade he blocked its advance then sent it careening into one of its pack. The last stood alone, growling as a warning. At least it had the wisdom to know it was outmatched. But it would protect its pack no matter what. The others whined in submission. With respect to the lone beast’s courage, the man let them be and ran back in the direction he was going, fast.

He must have run several miles, aided by the physical superiority the blessing of dark provided him. Finally, he stopped before he exhausted his vigor. Bringing fourth the Light, he continued his journey.

It came back to him, the realization those hunting-beasts were made of plants! Strange. He could see he was about another day’s journey from the town ahead. He pushed himself until midnight was nearing. He managed to find a cave where the nearby river created a small brook inside, yet enough ground to sleep on. It was perfect to keep his scent hidden. He set up a campfire at the mouth of the cave and unrolled his bedroll, letting the sound of his fire and the river to keep him company as sleep took him.

Meanwhile…

“Tia, did you feel that?” Luna burst into Celestia’s office.

Celestia briefly yawned before she could answer. It was late, almost time for her to sleep. She had just set the sun down into the horizon. “Yes, Luna. Though I could not do anything about it while setting the sun.” She and Luna trotted up the stairs to her tallest tower. On the balcony was a telescope of intricate design, using three lenses made of crystal. “It was a ripple in the Ley Line.” She said looking through the telescope, which was pointed to the Northern Ley Line. “It’s calm now, though.”

“But those are rare! And what we felt was as if…something crossed over from it.” Luna looked up to Celestia. “I mean, nothing has crossed the Ley Line in ages!”

Celestia pondered that for a moment. “I don’t know what it was or where it happened. There is only so much I can divine. Though, I felt as if whatever crossed shared two sides…one with me.”

“And one with us too, sister.” Luna said. “Will it make itself known?” Luna asked her big sister.

“I wish I could say, Luna. Don’t worry about it. If we can sense it, it is bound to show itself again.” She smiled warmly. “I should really get some sleep. Shall we go and meet my little ponies this weekend?” She asked.

“Really? Oh yes, we would love to go with you this time!” Luna beamed as she practically danced in excitement.. 

Celestia giggled and nuzzled her sister. “Good night, then, sis. Enjoy the Canterlot nightlife.” She went to her bed as Luna resumed her duties to tend with the night ponies.

Next morning…

The man awoke to a fine sunshine. The sky was a perfect blue. He welcomed the morning, and a warmer bath this time! After getting cleaned and dried, he foraged more of nature’s bounty for breakfast and refilled his canteen.

While he resumed the final stretch of his journey, his mind was now occupied with worry. Where was he? How far was he? His family, his quest, what if he couldn’t go back? What if he failed? He shook his head. No, not now. Father taught him not to flood one’s mind with burdening thoughts. Address them only when they need be addressed. He swallowed his fear and pressed on.

It was hitting noontime when he reached a cliff overlooking a…town? It must have been, the buildings were…odd, but recognizable nonetheless. He could see creatures walking around; they must be the denizens of this civilization. He recognized a larger structure, must have been a storehouse for crops, judging from the fields and fields of orchards nearby. But what caught his sight was that of a blue-blur flying overhead in his direction.

What was it? How could anything that small fly like that? Was it a bird? But it left a trail of a rainbow in its path! Beautiful! What magic gave it such a gift? Was it an angel? Rainbows were a good sign, a sign of life given by the rainclouds back home. So this must be a good creature, he hoped. He blew the loudest whistle he could, in the hopes he could get its attention. It is wiser to meet the first outside the borders, in case you need to run, so sayeth the Elder.

Rainbow Dash stopped in her flight-path, overhearing a whistle. A whistle! A stallion was calling her! She grinned, not sure if she should answer it, or turn him down. What the heck? Maybe he’ll be cute this time. She overheard it again. Heh, a persistent colt. She bolted in the direction of its origin.

“Ready or not, stud! Here comes the Rain…!” She stopped mid-flight…again…face to face…with some kind of…creature.

The man looked at this…equine…with wings! If he could call it an equine. It was sky blue, its mane was the same color of a rainbow, and it had a symbol on its flank. Oh well, better greet it…her, yeah probably a ‘her’. He didn’t know why but it seemed…feminine. But her eyes shined with intelligence.

“Atánadë?” He asked. (Greetings?)

“OHMYGOSH!” She jumped in midair, startled, and kept her distance.

Tuath, he cursed to himself! Must have scared her. But she could speak, apparently. But he didn’t understand the words. But like any new race, he did his best to appear as unthreatening as possible. He put his pack down and got on his knees and held his hands up.

“Nyë tun falë nui mecti.” He said gently. (I mean you no harm.)

Dash blushed in embarrassment, being started by this seemingly harmless...biped. But hearing his ‘words,’ she couldn’t make out what he was saying. “Huh? What did you say?” She looked at this…creature. “You’re like a shaved diamond dog, but…” She fluttered around him, eying him suspiciously. “You’re definitely not anything I have ever seen.”

He let her observe him from all sides. My, what a dexterous creature, he thought. Almost adorable with those eyes searching him. She could fly and maneuver like a tree wasp. That probably wasn’t a good description, but honestly, that was the closest creature he knew that could match her in the air.

Well, for a strange creature, he seemed okay, Dash thought. His clothes were odd, though, covering himself from the waist down. And those markings on his torso, they were cool! But what were they for? It was like he wore a giant cutie-mark on his body! Did it cover him completely? And what does it mean for him?

“What did you say earlier? Can’t you talk right?” She landed in front of him, standing on all fours, wings by her side.

Tuath! The Elders hadn’t prepared him for this. Well, maybe his intentions could be understood. He put his hands together and smiled, then bowed to her then gave her a look of expectation. Let’s start with greetings, he decided, then work our way up to other things.

Dash scratched her chin with a hoof trying to ascertain the intentions of that. “Oh!” She said in realization. “Right, uh.” She waved one hoof to him. “Hi there.” She said in awkward pleasantry. 

The man chuckled. Well, at least we’re at greetings now. “Hi there?” 

“Yeah,” She nodded. “Hello!” She said cheerfully.

He gathered from her words ‘Hi There’ was a greeting, ‘Yeah’ was confirmation, ‘Hello’ was another greeting. He then pointed to himself. “Darius,”, introducing himself.

“You’re a Darius?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. Weird name for a race. “Oh well, I’m a pony!” She pointed to herself.
“Ah, Pony” He said with a smile, keeping up the positive outlook of learning her language. This will take some patience. 

“Aryana atánedi falë, pony.” (Nice to meet you, Pony)

Dash was stumped now. Wait…was that pleasantry as Rarity would call it? Oh gosh, he thinks her name is Pony! She waved her front-hooves rapidly, indicating an error. Okay, he got the intent of that, she hope. “Rainbow Dash.” She said pointing to herself. Then she got an idea and took a nearby stick in her mouth. She drew a shape of a pony. “Pony.” She pointed to it.

Rainbow, he thought! They shared the word rainbow! And what better name for one who is colored as such! He made a sound of understanding (ooooh) and nodded. He then took his finger and drew a stick figure of a Newman. “Newman.” He gestured to her, acknowledging her name.

“There we go.” Dash nodded smiling, getting it. “Hello, Darius…Newman.” 

“Hello, Rainbow Dash…pony.” They both shared a chuckle. 

Well, they got as far as who and what they were…but what now? She was not good at this. Poor guy was out of place here, Dash thought. There was no way she could do this by herself. That’s it, Twilight! 

She softly put a hoof on his hand and gave a gentle smile. “Come with me. We're gonna see a friend.” She gestured with her other hoof towards Twilight’s tree-house.

Darius followed. But a thought entered his mind. Wait, is she taking me to her home? I hope it doesn’t mean she’s offering THAT! I hardly know her, much less speak…oh, stop thinking dirty thoughts you fool! They probably don't share THAT custom! She’s probably offering shelter, maybe she’s taking me to see a wise pony? For now, he decided to keep Light and Dark within. No need to scare these creatures with powers they may not know.

They walked through town as several other ponies saw Darius following Rainbow Dash. Some stood in shock, others were confused, some fled. Darius watched them in awe. They were so many different colors, some with horns on their heads, some with wings! What blessing did creation give to such beautiful creatures? And they all had those markings on their flanks like Rainbow Dash does! His initial wonder was replaced with combinations of discomfort, awkwardness, and guilt. They were frightened of him. He guessed it shouldn’t be a surprise, he was so alien here. He sighed.

Dash’s ears caught his sighing and saw his solemn frown, then noticed the other ponies reacting in fear. She slowed to walk by his side and tapped him on the thigh. “It’s okay, big guy. Stick with me and my friends and they’ll like you too.” She gave a confident grin in his direction.

He didn’t understand what she said, but he was sure she was trying to comfort him. That helped, as he let her know putting a hand to his heart in gratitude.

“Is that ‘thank you’?” Dash asked.

“Thank…you?” Darius said needing clarification.

“Okay, um…me.” She pointed a hoof to herself. “You.” She pointed to Darius. “Me, Rainbow Dash, pony.” She pointed to herself. “You, Darius, Newman.” She said.

“Ah!” Darius got the pronoun. He then inquired “Thank?”

She put a hoof to her chest. “Thank.” She smiled.

He nodded and tapped his heart again. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” 

Dash giggled. He’s a nice guy, weird, but nice, she thought. They resumed their walk. 

Their remaining walk consisted of Darius pointing to different objects. In the thirty minute walk, he learned the, that, what, is, yes, no, my, his, her, they, and your, along with many objects they passed. He refrained from inquiring about body parts until he was sure that was okay to talk about. He was grateful Dash named the things he requested.

Wow, he was a fast learner, she thought, but he didn’t seem like an egghead, judging from that honed body of his. But why did he wear those...what do the Minotaurs call them? Pants? She shrugged and continued walking. 

As they neared the tree, he saw a rainbow in the sky. “Dash! What that-er-what IS that?” He corrected himself and pointed to the temple in the clouds. It was amazing!

The cyan pony saw where he was pointing and grinned. “Oh yeah, that is my home.” She grinned. “I’ve got the best place in my neighborhood.” She chuckled.

“Home?” He asked.

“My, home.” Rainbow Dash nodded.

His eyes widened realizing she must have lived there! “Your!?!” He glanced at it again. “Whoa.” He said in absolute astonishment.

Dash giggled, then was nearly startled when he stepped much closer by her side to bring his arm trailing a line to his finger in her sights, pointing to the rainbow fountain at her home. He smelled nice, she noticed. Was that his natural scent? She couldn’t guess. But she also noticed herself blushing, but hoped he didn't.

Darius also observed that the cyan pony smelled nice, like flowers, he gathered. “Is that a rainbow?” he traced it again.

That helped Dash regain her composure. “Yeah Darius!” She smiled and showed off her main and flicked her tail. “That is a Rainbow!” She giggled. “Like it? Well of course, who wouldn’t, especially on me?” She spun in the air and posed, showing off her mane.

Darius smirked and chuckled at her showing-off. He gestured for them to continue walking towards that giant tree. Dash walked closer to him.“You’re okay, Darius.” She said as they finally reached Twilight’s door.

“Thank you.” He replied. “You’re okay, Dash.”

“Okay?” She looked somewhat offended, then flew up in front of him. “Let me educate you on another word. I’m AWESOME!” She zipped into the air and flew around in a spectacular show of aerial stunts. 

Darius watched amazed, and applauded her. He deduced awesome was better than okay.

“Dash? Door?” He tried getting her out of her ego spasm. 

She heard and stopped in front of him, creating a quick burst of wind in his direction. “Awesome.” She grinned at him.

“Yes. Dash is awesome.” He rolled his eyes but smiled to assure he meant it. “Door?” He pointed to redirect her.

Dash landed and knocked on the door. They at least shared similar customs: knocking before entering, Darius noted.

“Hey, Twilight!” She called out.

“Coming!” Another voice faintly rang from behind the door. The door opened to reveal a lavender pony, crowned with a horn on her head. She smiled at Dash. “Oh, hello Dash, what brings youuuu…” She looked up at the Newman in front of her.
“D-Dash! What is that?” She asked, trying hard to keep her calm, but obviously nervous.

“Oh, don’t you know?” She made a foxy grin. “This is Darius, a Newman. He’s visiting here. Common Twi, I thought you eggheads knew about this stuff. Don’t you know of the Newmans?” She trotted inside, Darius followed suit with Twilight keeping her distance.

“Newmans? There are no books on that! At least I don’t think there are!” She ran about her encyclopedias in a panic. “Oh no! Did I miss that lesson at school? Maybe its in the Equestrian Geographic?!”

Darius gaped. The books were floating on their own. Nobody was looking in his direction, so he briefly invoked Light. And he saw it. The magical auras surrounding the floating books and the origin of its power emitting from Twilight. She was a magician! Were all horned ponies like that, he wondered? He quickly dispelled it as their attentions were returning to him.

Dash thought she caught a strange pattern of light emitting from Darius’s tanned body, illuminating those markings on him. But she passed that off as Twilight’s magic passing over him.

“Oh dear, was Celestia expecting me to meet him?” She frantically searched through other books, creating a pile on the floor. “First dragons, now a Newman. Have I really gotten that far behind in studying?”

Dash snickered, then broke out in to laughter. “No Twi, but I had you going there. This is the first time anyone has ever seen someone like this.” She pointed to Darius, chuckling.

If Darius didn’t know better, he guessed Dash was being devious to the purple pony. So she was a joker too.

Twilight stopped and scolded the cyan pony. “Oh Dash. This is the first contact with a new race, and your using him for pranks.”

“Ahh lighten up, Twi. Anyways, me and Darius are cool.” She tapped Darius on the thigh.

Dash certainly wasn’t afraid to touch him, the man noted. Thank goodness she didn’t touch him between his trunks. That would be awkward.

Twilight sighed. “Does he understand us?”

Dash frowned. “A little, I mean, I taught him the names of objects, and some sentence stuff. But I’m no lingo instructor, y’know?” She shrugged. “Figured, you could help. I have to go back to work, anyways.”

“So, we have a language barrier. Let me see.” She found a book. “Ah, ‘Meeting New Intelligent Life, 2nd edition’.” She happily read out loud and perused through the book. 

Dash kept their guest entertained as he pointed at different objects throughout the house. Dash named them off: Book. Floor. Stairs. Shelf. Flowers, etc. Just like they had done outside. And Darius committed each word to his perfect memory. One gift of Light was he never forgot anything. Their language was a bit messy, he thought, but it strangely made sense.

“Okay!” Twilight said with enthusiasm. She then trotted over to Darius. She bowed. “Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle.” She said.

Darius smiled and bowed in greeting. “Hello, Twilight Sparkle.” He got her name.

“Yes.” She nodded. “You are Darius, a Newman?”

Dash groaned. "I just told you he was."

Twilight told Dash under her breath. "I'm just following what the book says, Dash." Dash simply rolled her eyes.

Darius ignored that exchange and went along with Twilight's introduction. This was going to take a while. “Yes.” He spoke, noting the slight changes in the sentencing. “You are a pony, yes?”

She nodded. “Nice to meet you. Welcome to Ponyville.” She continued.

Darius mentally noted ‘Ponyville.’ That sounded like a place. Maybe this town, or land. Who knows?  He also gathered this horned pony must have been some lore master, or a sorcerer. 

Twilight closed the book and put it aside. “Okay. I think I can work with him until evening." She told Dash. "Can you get the others to meet us here tonight? I’d send Spike to do it but he’s on vacation in Canterlot to learn about the latest on dragons. I’m going to do what I can to teach him the basics of our language.”

Dash nodded. “You got it boss.” She fluttered up to Darius. “Twilight will take care of you for a bit. But I’ll be back later. Stay frosty, big guy.” She grinned and winked before flying out the door in a flash.

Darius watched her fly and smiled. Well, at least he had made one friend here. He hoped Twilight would be the same. Twilight seemed studious, but Dash’s confidence indicated she was strong willed, probably strong in general. He liked that. He wondered if other winged ponies could fly like her. His attention was torn from her to Twilight as she cleared her throat, bringing fourth another book with pictures, and written words. This must have been a language-teaching book. 

She smiled at him. “Let’s see how far we can get, okay?” 

The Newman nodded, seemingly understanding her intentions, but paused after his stomach growled. 

Twilight looked as he patted his stomach, then gestured as if bringing something to his mouth. “Oh! Um, gee, I wish Spike was here, I can’t cook to save my life. One moment!” She head to the kitchen. A moment later after hearing clanging and clattering around, he sat down as the lavender pony brought out two trays. One with a steaming pot that smelled of tea, and another tray with bread, cheese, and some berries. 

No cashews. Tuath, he loved cashews. He could really go for some.

“It isn’t a three star meal, but it’s delectable.” She hoped to Celestia he wouldn’t be poisoned by this spread. But judging how his eyes looked at it with enthusiastic hunger, she probably chose right.

“Thank you.” He said tapping over his heart.

Twilight smiled. “You’re welcome,” she poured them both a cup and joined him as they both sipped the tea and let it sooth them.

“Mmmm.” They said in unison. This was good tea, Darius thought. Well, at least they knew how to make the good stuff here.

And with food and drink, Darius began learning through the material she provided. They had several hours before the other five could finish their respective jobs and meet them. And Darius was learning fast.

Credits
Author - mavis13
Editor - frieD195

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


WARNING! THIS IS A DIALOGUE HEAVY CHAPTER! NOT MUCH ACTION, SORRY!


Edited by frieD195

It rose up from its respite within its temple. The green aura covering its pitch-black form, the energy of its very nature was dim. Its  wound festered. It would soon be dispatched for another century if it didn’t find a way. It roared.

CURSE YOU NEWMAN! AND ALL YOUR KIN! 

And the goddesses that saved them…

It pondered for many moments on its next course of action…revenge. If it will be defeated again, it will make him pay. It will teach this mortal why he and all his kin should fear it, goddesses or no. But it needed an edge, a way to beat him. He cannot count on besting him physically alone. And it would need to dress its wound with something…or someone. Yes…

The Wyrm looked around the surrounding land for a perfect servant to fulfill the task at hand. A flock of mountain vultures; messengers of death and big enough for the task. The mystical beast looked around and found an object belonging to its mortal nemesis. Must be a trinket, no matter, it will be the  perfect bait. It exhaled its corruption into the flock until it took the largest of them. Within seconds, the Wyrm was its new master. It obediently picked up the trinket and took flight to the southeast.

NOW GO, MY SERVANT. GO TO HIS VILLAGE AND BRING ME HIS PROGENITOR!

The Wyrm then returned to its rest, contemplating its next move.

Meanwhile

“And so, with Ahuitzotl defeated, huh, sounds like Newman name, strange.” Darius commented.

Twilight giggled. “You’re almost done.”

“Yes,” Darius cleared his throat. “and the sapphire statue secured. The world was safe and sound once again, thanks to Daring Do.” 

Twilight smiled impressed. “It must be great to have knack for learning like that. Have you always been able to learn languages this fast?”

“I have an edge, you might say.” Before she could inquire on that, he changed the subject. “You ponies have some fantastic heroes. I would love to meet this Daring Do.”

“Uh, she’s a fictional heroine, I’m afraid.” Twilight replied.

“Fiction? Oh, right. Made up. Why make up such a, what is the word,” He paused, the thought one he learned earlier. “awesome tale?” He looked at her quizzically.

The lavender pony returned his quizzical look. “Don’t your people tell stories for fun?”

Darius took a breath. “Yes, but those chants are real. There is much of our world we tell about. Our chanters often compete to telling the story better through art, dance, song, and acting. None of it is made up.”

Twilight scratched her chin. “Ah, but is it sometimes exaggerated?” 

“Exaggerated…yes, sometimes. It’s silly, but some chanters…um…embellish a tale.” He put the book away.

“You might say we make up stories because they sound exaggerated and exciting.” She returned the book to the bookshelf.

Darius raised an eyebrow. “So it’s entertaining to be lied to?”

Twilight giggled at the strange expression on his face. “No. It’s entertaining to imagine if it were real. But doesn’t an acting chanter deceive the audience in making believe to be a character?”

She had a point, Darius thought. “You reason like a sage, Twilight.” 

Twilight gave a confident smile. “Hm, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I think I understand your language well enough. Your people share many words that we do, in fact, and some basic customs. What would you say should be my next step?” He asked as he stood up and stretched.

Twilight thought for a moment before hearing a knock at her door. “Oh! Well, I think we need to make sure you have a place to stay,” She walked to the door. “a way to earn money, and then when Spike comes back tomorrow, we can request an audience with Princess Celestia.” 

“Celestia? Such a grand name! Fit for a princess.” The Newman remarked.

Twilight smiled before opening the door. “Good evening everypony.”

“We’re all here Twilight, as requested!” Applejack said at the head of the group. “Dash filled us in on tha alien.”

Twilight let them in. “Yes, I’d like you all to meet Dari-“ Her introductions were interrupted when Pinkie Pie zipped passed Applejack and Twilight, spinning them around dizzily as she approached Darius.

Darius braced himself and fell back on the couch now face-to-face with the very pink pony. He was fully alert to what might happen next.

“Welcome to Equestria, Mr. Alien! Sorry you didn’t get a bigger welcome, but we are so glad you’re here, have a cupcake!” She tried shoving a cupcake into his mouth but he quickly dodged. Pinkie blinked. “Hey,” She then tried futily again and again to get that cupcake to his mouth but the agile human moved his head out of the way each time. “Common, it’s good, I promise,” No luck. “I’ll put extra sprinkles on it!” By this time Darius shifting side to side avoiding the cupcake before Pinkie was now trying to physically get him to be still.

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Dash were busy getting Twilight and AJ back to their senses as Pinkie Pie chased the Newman around the living room. (and for some reason, Yakety Sax was playing in the background)

“It’s a Pinkie Pie special!” She tried pouncing on him before Darius leapt over her, landing at a corner. Finally the pink pony managed to corner the man. “Take…THE…CUPCAKE…” She huffed as her eyes burned with righteous determination. She placed the cupcake against the palms of his hands, then suddenly changed her demeanor to the most adorable pleading face, “Please?" She gave him the cutest Pinkie eyes.

Darius never met any creature as manic as she, and seeing that her friends haven’t restrained her, he assumed this was her usual behavior. He sampled this…confection, and it was surprisingly good! 

“It’s good.” He swallowed. “And you are?” He cautiously asked, hoping she’ll calm down now.

Pinkie Pie suddenly became friendly and happy. “Oh! I’m Pinkie Pie. Well, Pinkamina Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie. So where are you from? How did you get here? Are there others like you? Is Ubisoft™ going to sue us for copywr-“ She was cut off when she was teleported to the couch by Twilight with her magic.

“Now dun’t scare the poor fella, Pinkie.” Applejack approached. “Hi there. Names Applejack. I’m the owner of Sweet Apple Acers here. Rainbow Dash tells me yuh met her near mah barn.” 

“Ah, you’re a farmer. A pleasure to meet you.” He bowed.

“Farmer? Huh.” She smirked and tipped her Stetson hat. “An’ a successful businessmare, plus the most honest pony in Ponyville.” She said proudly and rapidly shook the man’s hand.

“Yes, whoa!” By the Sun and Moon, she was strong! He was tempted to invoke Dark to keep his arm from being dislocated. By the goddess she is strong! “Yes, a fine virtue. Businessmare, a merchant? Of course, you obviously sell what you harvest.” He shifted his shoulder to make sure it wasn’t detached.

“Yuh got that rite sugarcube.” She chuckled and gave him a bag of apples. “Here ya go. Consider this a welcoming gift from mah family to you.”

“Thank you,” He took them and put the bag aside. “and my name isn’t Sugarcube. It’s Darius, Son of Manden.” He corrected her.

Dash landed beside AJ. “She always calls people sugarcube. Think of it as a compliment.” 

“Ah, it’s endearment. I am honored to receive it.” He replied, eliciting a smile from the ground pony.

“Speaking of businessmares and honors.” Beamed Rarity. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Rarity, fashion designer and owner of the Carousel Boutique. I am charmed to meet you, Son of Manden.” She bowed politely.

“An esteemed pleasure, Lady Rarity. Fashion designer is as a clothier, if I may boldly compare?” He bowed on one knee.

Rarity smiled. “So polite. You may boldly compare, sir. But no average clothier can do justice to my skills. If you don’t mind me saying, and not to insult your choice of dress, darling, but if you would like some personalized styles of...what are those called, trousers? I am more than happy to oblige you.” She replied.

“I may take you up on that offer, m’lady. Once I can pay for your talents.” He said pleasantly. Reminds me of the noblewomen back home, he thought.

“Oh no, darling! It won’t cost you for the first two pairs. You’ll need a change of clothes to start you out. Besides it’s not often I may challenge my skills in designing for bipeds.” The white unicorn flicked her wavy mane with one hoof in elegant confidence.

Darius bowed putting his hand to his heart. Such generosity, he observed. “You are a credit to the hospitality of Ponyville.” He then noticed a strand of pink hair from the other side of the door.

Dash noticed too. “Oh geez. Come on Fluttershy, I told you he was cool!” Dash trotted and pulled the yellow pegasus inside by her tail. “See? He isn’t scary at all!” 

Fluttershy looked at the Newman in awe and fear. “…hi.” She squeaked.

“Flutter…shy.” He matched the words. “Is it your role in this world to be bashful?” He knelt down and smiled gently to the mare.

Fluttershy blinked, but seeing as he was no longer towering over her, she got more comfortable. “N-no, I take care of the animals.” She said with nervous haste, partly trying to hide behind her mane.

“A tamer of beasts?” He asked for clarification. 

Fluttershy blinked, then smiled warmly. “Tamer? No. I’m more of a healer and caretaker.”

“As that ponies are vegetarians, animal caregivers must be held in high honor.” He ingratiated the pony.

Fluttershy blushed, now much less bashful. “Oh, I’m not that special. But thank you.”

Darius turned to Dash. “And I have already met Ponyville’s most awesome pegasus.” 

She flashed her confident grin. “And don’t you forget it, big guy.”

“Well, now that we are all here…wait, where is Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie burst from the kitchen door pushing a cart with seven bowls of vegetable stew and glasses of iced tea. “Hope you don’t mind I commandeered your kitchen, Twilight. My goodness you made a mess in there. Doesn’t Spike teach you anything about cooking? Oh well, don’t worry about it. You all weren’t planning on skipping dinner, were you?” She giggled, it’s not a party, but she had one planned for the new guest.

Twilight scratched the back of her head and smiled embarrassed. “Thank you Pinkie.” She cleared her throat. “Well, while we eat, how about we let Darius explain where he came from, how he got here, and then we will ask questions?” She looked at the Newman for approval.

The Newman nodded. “Yes, let's.” This was more like it, he thought. Telling stories with good food, like back home.

They gathered as Darius sat at the center of the room. He only took occasion sips of that savory broth. Though, he noticed the ponies used their hooves to grab at their spoons. How could they grip with those things? He shook his head and began the chanting.

“I won’t go into too much detail about our creation stories, for it is a long tail and none but our elders could do justice in chanting that.” He took a deep breath. “My people are the Newmen, we have existed sense the Goddesses bestowed upon us great boons, that is…blessings. While the goddesses control the light and dark in our everlasting sky, we were bestowed with the magic to care for our land. I learned that here in Equestria, the forces of nature are managed by you ponies.” He nodded to Twilight, acknowledging what she taught him. “We Newmen do not manage them physically. Sorcerers, sages, and priests move the clouds, call the rain, speak to beasts, work the land, and read the stars.”

“Oh my. So your people use magic to make the weather?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes. We even have rainbows in our land, though they a rare sight. They are signs of life, a good omen to us.” He smiled to Rainbow Dash, who returned his smile. He resumed. “We Newmen lived since the day the Goddesses bestowed these gifts to us. So our civilization grew. We live in villages, few towns, large and small, and one great city.” 

“Didn’t he just say two Goddesses control light and dark, sound familiar to you?” Dash whispered to AJ, who nodded scratching her chin.

While Twilight listened, she magically pulled down her map of Equestria and hovered it in front of everypony. “You’re saying the Newmen dwell here?” She magically highlighted the lands marked ‘Lost World’. 

Darius looked at it for a moment. “Yes, the formation of the Ley Line matches our maps.” He nodded. “So…that is how far I am.” He muttered to himself. Lost World…how appropriate, he thought.

“But how did you get here?” Rarity asked.

Darius took another deep breath. “In our land, there is a great and powerful beast, known as the Wyrm. It is a deathless creature, which means it returns after being dispatched for a period of time.”

He was interrupted by Pinkie Pie. “Ooh ooh. That sounds like Discord. He’s a mean and chaotic guy that comes back every hundred years…usually.”

The Newman nodded. “So your kin have their own Wyrm to deal with? Well, this Wyrm is a destroyer, an ever hungry creature of entropy that threatens to gobble up creation.” He explained. “It would eat the Ley Line and destroy all the magic of the world to satiate him-“

“EAT THE LEY LINE?!” Twilight and Rarity exclaimed in unison. The other ponies silently gaped.

“How can anything eat the purest of magic?” Rarity asked in horror.

“Even the wisest of sages cannot answer, Rarity. The Wyrm…just is.” He sighed. “But the Goddesses of creation did not leave us helpless to combat it.” Darius stood and let Light and Dark show. On his torso, his right tattoos glowed blue, while his left tattoos glowed red. “Very few can bare the blessings of both Goddesses. I am one of those honored few. In our tongue, we call such an Avatar.”

Twilight gaped. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” She hopped off the couch and approached Darius, shining her horn like a flashlight over the markings. “It’s like they channel magic, but in different ways. The blue is serene and taps into the magical field, while the red is vibrant and gives from the magic field to your body.” She returned to her seat. “Is the blue the reason you learned our language quickly? I bet it enhances your memory too.” She postulated.

Darius nodded. “Light is the magic of the world. It is wisdom, vigil, and that which gives our sorcerers, sages, and priests the power to move the elements. Dark is aegis, strength, vigor, and that which gives Newmen the power to overcome any test of strength.” He smiled. “Each of us receives a blessing when they come of age, some light, some dark.” He then noticed Rainbow Dash staring.

“Beautiful.” The Cyan pony mumbled, then noticed Darius looking at her. She regained her composure. “I mean, your cutie-mark is cool!” She said.

“Is that what your kin call them? Those symbols on your flanks, yes? They symbolize your calling?” He asked.

Rarity answered. “Well, what makes us special, but yes, it often symbolizes our talents. And on that note, our flanks, good sir, are considered amongst our intimate places. So please refrain from staring.” She politely warned, blushing herself having noticed he was looking at their marks.

He nodded rapidly with a chuckle. “Right, ‘eyes up here’, as our women say.” He gestured with his fingers to his eyes, the pointed to theirs. That elicited the ponies to giggle.

“Where did you get your cutie-mark, Darius?” Fluttershy asked.

“They were bestowed upon me when I Dreamstepped, that is, sleepwalked, into the high temple many years ago. I had my vision there, granted by a deceased Avatar. In that vision, she chose me to be her successor, and rend the Wyrm before it would destroy all creation.” He said.

“He sounds like a big meanie.” Fluttershy replied, displeased by the prospect of this Wyrm destroying anything in its path.

“It is. Hence the reason why I was given this.” He manifested his sword, also channeling both powers through its mystic runes, “A gift from my father.” He showed it proudly.

The other ponies backed away, frightened, with Applejack and Dash remaining in front as if they were protecting them.

Tuath! He scared them! He acted quickly. “Please don’t be alerted. It isn’t dangerous to any friend or ally, I wouldn’t dare to harm any…anypony.” He laid it down in front of them. “It channels the powers of Light and Dark. My father forged it for me.” 

The ponies were somewhat relieved. “It’s not made of a metal I have ever seen.” Rarity looked at it. “So, this sword is for self-defense, I hope?” She asked.

Darius smiled. “Of course! We hold life as sacred as you and your kin do.” He noticed Dash eyes were staring at his tattooed body.

He took the sword back and it disappeared into a tattoo in the palm of his hand. “I fought it. It was a fierce battle.” He held back the grueling details. “I dealt it a great wound, though I know not if it has fallen.”

“But why hurt it?” Fluttershy asked “I mean has anyone even tried talking to it?”

“Fluttershy, this creature has murdered many in its long lifespan. It does not care about life as we do. We must defend ourselves. More than that, defend all creation. I would take that sin upon myself if it meant stopping the destroyer.” He sat down. “Well, I hope I did stop it. For it sent me all the way here after I struck my mightiest blow. Not one of my people has ever crossed the Ley Line, less we be destroyed by its energies.” He sighed. “So here I am, a long way gone from home.” He frowned and looked to the ground, feeling the sadness well up.

He suddenly felt himself surrounded by pony hugs. He tensed all around. By the stars! Did these ponies have no sense of personal space? But feeling the sincerity of their caring in their hugs (and their soft fur) he relaxed into it, but did not touch them. He didn’t know if or what would be appropriate to return the gesture. 

“Your poor man, being so far from your people. Have you family there too?” Fluttershy asked sadly. 

He choked back any further grief. “Mother, father, grandfather, siblings, relatives. I’m sure they worry for me.” He said as they ended the hug, but sat around him. “Thank you for your concern.”

Yet Dash kept a hoof on his arm. “Maybe they won’t worry forever. Princess Celestia is our…um…goddess here. She can help you. And you’ve got us all on your side.” Dash smiled and sniffed, holding back her own tears for her new friend’s predicament. She was a tough pony, but she had big heart.

“You give so much to this stranger.” He looked back at her, smiling softly. “But I don’t wish to be a burden on all of you.”

The ponies looked at each other and nodded as if they all knew what the other was thinking. “Darius, we are the Elements of Harmony, chosen by Princess Celestia to bear the strongest elements of friendship. It is our duty to handle situations like these when they emerge. In no way are you burdening us.” Twilight explained.

“Yeah!” Pinkie hopped up and down. “And besides, we’re not just being hospitable. We consider you a new friend. And friends help each other.”

“Sugarcube, if we have to sail you all the way to the southern Ley Line and try to get you across, we will.” AJ flashed that similar smile to Dash’s.

Applejack and Dash must have been sisters in their past lives, Darius thought. Those two share a lot in common.

The ponies and Darius sat silently as the man took all this in. He got on his knees, crossed both hands over his chest, and bowed. “You have my greatest gratitude…friends. I will be forever in your debt.”

“Aww, come on Darius. You don’t need to repay us.” Applejack chuckled.

“It is my people’s tradition to repay those who do good for us. So let me repay you all any way I can. You need work, I will work. You need help, I will help. You need support? I will be that support. You are in danger, I will rush to your aid, no matter the peril.”

The ponies shared a giggle. He began to scowl as if offended. Rarity interjected. “Please don’t be offended. We never met a stallion as selfless as you, Darius. There is no need to throw yourself into any danger on our behalf. We aren’t helpless.”

Darius blinked. Was she doubting him? Well, as a man, he must make it clear his courage is sincere! He flashed a grin worthy of Rainbow Dash. “I’ll face any danger, Rarity. Compared to the Wyrm, I doubt there is anything her I cannot handle.” There, that should convey his bravery to them. A man’s sincerity must not be doubted by any woman, so sayeth his uncle.

“Awesome!” Dash hoofed him on the arm. “We so gotta hang.” 

“Hang? Hang where, and from what?” He asked bewildered.

“Hang anywhere! I mean, where would you hang out back home?” Dash asked confused.

“We don’t hang ourselves Dash. We hang things like food to keep out of reach of…” He was the interrupted by Applejack.

Applejack laughed. “She means a get-together, Darius.”

Darius blushed very briefly. Those damn thoughts of mine, go back down between my trunks, he thought to himself! “Um…in what context?” 

“Like friends, dummy!” Dash crossed her hooves smirking. “What did you think I meant?”

Darius had to come up with something quick! “Nothing, excuse me, I should finish eating. How about you all tell me about yourselves?” He ate his still-warm stew and let his hosts take over the conversation. Each Pony described themselves as they felt comfortable. Darius translated this information to how his culture would interpret it.

Twilight, a lore-mistress.
Rarity, a fine clothier and merchant.
Pinkie Pie, a cook and reveler.
Dash, a crafter of weather and athlete.
Fluttershy, caretaker of beasts.
Applejack, a famer and merchant.

Then they spoke about Princess Celestia and Luna, those that moved the sun and moon, and how they were granted the Elements of Harmony, each according to their strongest virtue. Darius dropped the spoon.

“Your…princesses...can move the sun and moon?” He froze in shock.

“Uh, you okay there sugarcube?” Applejack waved a hoof in front of his eyes.

“Oh yeah, he said they’re, what did he call them? Goddesses? Who create light and dark?” Pinkie Pie reminded the group.

“That does not sound like a coincidence.” Rarity pointed out. “Darling, snap out of it.” She flickered a light in front of his eyes using her magic.

Darius shook himself out of his shock. “I’m sorry. It’s just that the possibility of meeting them, I would very much like that.” He took a deep breath, reminding himself they must wait for this fellow named Spike before they can request an audience with these two Alicorns. “You have taught me a great deal, friends, if I may call you that now. Tomorrow, I wish to begin repaying you for your hospitality. I come from a family of craftsmen and women back home, so at least let me offer those skills to you in exchange for your hospitality.”

“Oh no, you shouldn’t simply be working for anyone without pay.” Fluttershy said.

“I assure you, it’s no trouble.” Darius replied. “I only request the bare necessities in exchange.”

“Yes it is trouble, young man.” Shy and bashful Fluttershy was suddenly transformed into a more assertive yellow pegasus. “No friend in Equestria would work another like a slave in exchange for their barest needs! You will have a comfortable home here and income so you can afford whatever you need and want! And that is final!” She said that with a stern look and nod.

“Y-yes ma’am.” The Newman replied, feeling a cold bead of sweat on the back of his neck, like he felt when he occasionally made his mother angry. “Then I guess I should exchange what money I have.” He took his pack and revealed a bag of doubloons, golden coins with symbols of sun and moon on either side. “I have about fifty. What can I get with this?”

The ponies gaped, admiring the pile of heavy coins he possessed. Applejack was the first to answer after a moment. “A one bedroom house for your size, furnishings, food for a week, clothes, and a little bit left for whatever you don’t need.”

Darius gaped. Gold must be rare here if he can afford all that with just fifty! “Convenient."

Applejack pulled aside Rarity and Pinkie Pie as Darius showed off the other stuff he had. Mostly survival gear of primitive nature. Finally, after Twilight decided to let him stay the night in her guest room, the trio approached the Newman.

“Sugarcube, yer gonna spend tomorruh with tha three of us, while we help you shop and learn how marketin' works here, that ahright?” She asked.

Pinkie was already out the door, mumbling something about cake and music.

Darius didn't pay that any heed, but nodded to AJ. “That would be wise.”

He then turned to see Dash hovering near him. “But we are gonna hang later, right?”

Darius shot her a grin. “It depends. How fast can you do laundry?” He hoped she understood the joke. He saw some ponies hanging clothes out to dry, so assumed they did their laundry the same way here as his people did back home.

Dash was confused at first, then snickered before she burst into a brief fit laughter. “Good one.” She smiled. “Tell you what, I’ll join you guys tomorrow.” 

“Great. How about you show me how ponies have fun here?” If there was one thing his grandfather taught him, it was if one must wait, then one should wait well. And Darius agreed. Besides, the Wyrm was either dead or too diminished to be a threat for a long time. He could afford a respite after his long ordeal.

“Heck yeah!” Dash beamed. “Good night, Darius. Good night everypony!” She took off at amazing speeds. Darius stood in admiration. He wished he could fly like that.

The other ponies bid their farewells to him, while Twilight showed him to the guest room. The bed was too small for him. So he took the bed-sheets off and placed it over his bedroll. He had not slept this safely and quietly in many months.

Meanwhile…

The Wyrm stirred in its sleep. Every once in a while, its wound would pain him. Keeping itself from dying was an uphill battle. But it had time for its plan to come into fruition. Still, it would be foolish to wait. The land North of them, they were there, it knew. But did they know he was there? It should not take the chance. Maybe its enemy was weakened as well. Then it should strike while he was vulnerable. It then noticed the Ley Line. A storm was brewing within the turbulent energies. Perfect!

It quickly scanned the field around his temple and breathed its essence into the obsidian statues. Their bodies came to life, like stone men brandishing their weapons. They approached the Wyrm. Their seams, symbols, and eyes brimmed with the Wyrm’s power.

MY GOLEMS! I SHALL SEND YOU TO THE NORTHERN LEY LINE TO A FARAWAY LAND. FIND THE ONE WHO WOUNDED ME, AND KILL HIM.

The living statues bowed and walked into the oncoming Ley Line storm as it raced with incredible speed and ferocity. The Wyrm’s magic took effect as the Golems were picked up by the storm, like a strong wind. The storm carried them their eventual destination, the land of the equines.

(Sorry if this was too dialogue heavy. But I had to establish the ethos of the Newmen and flush out character development between him and the ponies). Don't worry, there will be more action later.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited by the myth, the legend, the EDITOR!: frieD195

Thanks to all my readers for your feedback and support.

He beat the metal, shaping the blade. The glowing-red symbols on his smithing-arm trailed all the way up past his shoulder blades. The middle-aged man’s mind was troubled. So the smith worked it off as much as he could before his vigor was exhausted. His wife would remind him of his own advice, to not fill one’s mind with worry. But he couldn’t help it. His son had not returned and yet there was no indication the Wyrm had won. Did his son perish in his victory?

He quenched the hot blade in the water and put it on the table where his younger son worked.

“Phelan ut arflui.” (Boil it in oil) He said.

“Adon, ur clabiten. Fale taln?” (Father, it’s a knife. You mean temper?) The teen replied concerned.

The smith stopped in his tracks and looked at his younger son. He sighed and nodded before walking out. He looked up to the sky. The sun was out. The Goddess of Light greeted their village set in the middle of the valley, shining past the trees. Their cloud sage perched up on the tower waved his hands, which bore the Light markings of his trade. His magic parted the clouds to greet the sun. Many other villagers bared markings of either Dark or Light, each according to their trade. It was springtime, as the folk dressed appropriately for it.

“Ama Lumneite.” (Good morning) He prayed solemnly. Even the greeting of light could not clear his mind of worry, and it was interfering with his work. His view of the sun was briefly obscured by a large flying creature. A mountain vulture! This far out? It circled their village for a moment. Wait, no had one died here, did they? He took his machete and tracked it through the foliage as the bird began to descend. He made his way to where it perched itself on a tree branch. Something wasn’t right about this carrion-eater. Its eyes shined like emeralds! A Wyrm creature!

Then he saw a thing in its talons. Darius’s necklace! No! Goddesses no! Was this an omen?! Did he perish?! “Elcanimin fala peniah, Wyrm serbinat!” (Tell me your purpose, Wyrm-servant!) He shouted angrily at the creature, gripping his machete in case it attacked.

The vulture met his glare and screeched as a wound opened in its chest, bleeding a putrid luminous green fluid. What vileness! It dropped the necklace and flew off just above the forest canopy, leaving a trail of its corrupted blood.

But the man’s attention was turned to the necklace. He picked it up. It was his son’s. No, he thought. This couldn’t be. This had to be a trick! It mustn’t be true! Darius...his son…dead?!

He gripped it tighter. The tooth-shaped stones dug into his hand, drawing tiny rivulets of blood from his palm. He shed tears in anger and sadness. He looked to the sky to curse at the air, but he was too choked with grief to even speak. His son was slain! He fell to his knees, dropping his machete. He begged the Dark Goddess for this to be a nightmare. Let it not be true. But it was true. Or was it? Maybe he was alive. He must know the truth!

Those thoughts were halted when he felt the hand of his wife’s father touch his shoulder. The old man didn’t have to tell him he knew what this omen meant, but he wasn’t sure what his son-in-law was going to do about it. “Aquemen ti fale silni esini Manden?” (What do you intend to do Manden?) He asked him.

Manden opened his palm and stared at Darius’s necklace. “Arthi ke cirthele.” (Find his body).

The old man shook his head. “Nenbela.” (Foolish). He saw Manden stand and rush to his home.“Un necauta! Cormui brandoh!” (It is dangerous! It may be a trap!). “Manden!” The old man shouted as he pushed himself to catch up with him.

A woman was already at the front door, holding a bow and a quiver of arrows. “Alhanare?” (Husband?) She gasped. Her eyes widened when she saw Darius’s necklace and dropped her bow and quiver. “Telman eldami fo Darius! Aquedor lo fale telmen?!” (That belongs to Darius! Where did you get that?!).

She was clearly distraught. But Manden didn’t answer his wife at first. He packed food, survival gear, and took his personal spear as he walked outside with his wife pleading him to answer.

“Alhanare!!!” (Husband!!!) She gripped his arm. Her eyes burned with the demand for an answer as her father watched.

Manden looked at her. “Hle unquamin.” (He perished), he told her. He wasn’t sure but he should not leave his wife in worse uncertainty. If Darius was alive, it would be good news all the same. If their son was dead, then he would return without suffering her in wait.

The huntress sunk to her knees with her palms over her mouth withholding her cries. The tears formed and fell down her cheeks. Manden quickly threw his arms around her and hugged tightly. He held her for a long while as other villagers approached, deeply concerned.

But he couldn’t stay forever to comfort her, he had to go now. “Jasmina, Enuilen arthi ke cirthele.” (Jasmina, I’m going to find his body).

Jasmina nodded sadly. “Orien, penyi naedbe ethliben!” (Please, come back alive!).

Manden nodded and hugged her a moment longer. “Nurumin.” (I promise). He kissed her forehead.

Before he could take more than two steps out the village, his father-in-law put his walking stick in his way. “Or gruithe emb brandinar. Adi harpenan.” (Your enemy is a trickster. Be vigilant), he said before letting him pass.

Manden acknowledged his advice and hurried deeper into the forest. He relocated the trail of Wyrm taint, noticing how the forest-dwelling beasts and insects were avoiding it. It was clear now it intended for someone to follow it uninterrupted. And so Manden did just that. Trap or no, he would learn the truth.

Meanwhile…

Darius awoke to see the sunrise through his window. He gazed at their sun in awe. He never saw a sunrise over a horizon. Their land had very little flat ground for such. Only at the High Temple overlooking the gap between the two mountains was there a sunrise. But not like this.

“Ama Lumneite.” (Good morning). He praised the Goddess of Light.

Near the sun…

Princess Celestia felt the many thanks from her ponies for the morning sun, but amongst it all was a strange, almost unfamiliar form of praise. It was slightly different. She returned to her task of raising the Sun and sending it on its trajectory while Luna moved the moon. Once she was finished, she contemplated the praise again. It felt…nostalgic. Which pony in her kingdom could bring about such a feeling? Or was it a pony? But she did know its location…Ponyville. She decided she might have to hasten her plans to visit.

Back at Twilight Sparkle’s house.

Darius carefully descended the steps to the living-room. Twilight was up as well writing on a scroll.




Dear Princess Celestia;

Yesterday, Ponyville has been graced by a visitor from another land, what we call the Lost World! His name is Darius, Son of Manden, a member of the Newmen race. He has been a friendly and courteous guest in my home. After introductions, he managed to learn most of our language.

According to him, his race also bears cutie-marks (so to speak) that symbolize their talents. They wield magic in such ways that allow them to do the same tasks we ponies do. But Darius explained these tasks are divided into two tiers: Light and Dark. While Light seems to embody mental and magical tasks, Dark appears to embody physical tasks. Darius says he has both types of marks on himself, which define him as an Avatar.

I hypothesize that an Avatar is a multitasked protector and guardian. Darius says he was charged by the spirit of his predecessor to fight a creature called the ‘Wyrm.’ He describes it as a voracious destroyer. During their fight, it sent him across the Ley Line and into our land. I don’t know of any magic that could allow someone to cross the Ley Line, yet here he is.

So we are going to help Darius settle down here until we can figure out how to get him home. I ask for any help or advice you can give to us.

Signed,

Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle




Darius read over her shoulder. “So you correspond with your goddess by writing to her?” He chuckled.

Twilght jumped. “Darius! Wow, I didn't hear you!”

“I don’t clop when I walk.” He smirked.

Twilight blinked at first. Did he just say ‘clop?’ Did he know what clopping meant? Oooooh, he didn't mean that clop. She giggled. “Yeah, those feet of yours.” She cleared her throat. “Spike should have gotten off the train and…” The front door opened. “And there he is! Welcome back Spike!”

“Morning Twilight.” Spike entered and saw the Newman standing by Twilight. He looked surprised at first, then pointed a clawed thumb at Darius and looked Twilight. “Okay, what did I miss?”

“I’ll explain everything. You two introduce each other while I’ll make break-“ The purple unicorn was cut off by Spike.

“Oh no you don’t! You don’t cook, Twi. You burn. I’ll cook.” He went up to Darius. “I’m Spike, a dragon, nice to meet you.”

Darius smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Spike, I am Darius, Son of Manden, a Newman from the far South.”

“Cool. Good to have another guy in the house.” The little dragon chuckled.

Darius joined in the chuckle. “Indeed, and you’re a child, I take it?”

Spike sighed but smiled. “Yeah, got a while before I grow up. But it’s alright. I’m pretty mature for my age.” He pointed to himself proudly.

Twilight smirked. “When did that happen?”

Spike stuck his tongue out at her. “Oh stop it. Hey sit tight, I’ll make breakfast and you two can fill me in.” Spike walked into the kitchen.

“So you’re rooming with a Dragon?” He asked.

“He’s our friend and my personal assistant.” Twilight smiled. “He can be silly at times but he is a really good dragon.”

The three enjoyed breakfast as they updated Spike to current events. Spike seemed to receive this information pretty well, being the only dragon in Ponyville, he could relate to Darius’s plight. Later, the little dragon sent the letter to Princess Celestia. Spike then brought up his learning about Dragons, but Darius decided to leave Twilight and Spike to discuss this privately. There were dragons back at Rift, but they generally kept to themselves and rarely spoke to their kind. And he wasn’t ready to gauge that kind of knowledge today. Another knock at the door and Darius’s appointment to go out with the three mares (AJ, Pinkie, and Rarity) began.

This was the second day Darius walked through Ponyville. The reactions of other ponies changed a bit. Some ponies didn’t mind his presence, others simply stared, few kept their distance, and occasionally, a pony would run and hide. Those brave enough to inquire asked if he was a Diamond Dog, others a misshaped Minotaur. He had no idea what these creatures were, nor what they looked like. A simple ‘no’ sufficed. Rarity explained both creatures were bipeds, but one was doglike the other was bullish. He accepted that without question.

The first step was purchasing a home. They did find a single-bed home on sale that was bigger than normal and set next to the river. It was made for stallions as large as her brother, AJ explained. Made sense for Darius to take it given his stature.

What impressed Darius was how well AJ and Rarity bargained for the home. Pinkie told him that combined, those two mares could haggle like no-other. So they saved a pretty decent bunch of bits for Darius. Furnishing the place was simple: just request larger furniture. He had a difficult time insisting on keeping things simple. No luxuries, much to Rarity’s arguing for otherwise. Although their ice boxes were interesting as they kept things cold and fresh (convenient). Then there was the food, which was Pinkie’s expertise. Hay and most flowers were out of the question. Everything else was fine, though.

Rarity took him to her boutique and measured him for clothes. He felt embarrassed having to undress for this lady (yes, she was a pony, but enough a person too). Yet, judging from her diligence to her trade, she was very professional about it. She compared her clothes to patterns she had that were normally suited for minotaurs. While Rarity went to work making the new clothes, the rest went to his new home and put things where they could before the furniture arrived.

The last discussion was work. AJ offered a job doing some apple-bucking to start him out, but Darius refused. He instead asked if she could locate some metalworking tools, and gave her a list. AJ didn’t think he’d get a lot of work from that, so she advised against it but Darius made his case. He could fashion custom cutlery, tools, and metal parts hard to replace; even restore broken parts. Seeing as Pinkie supported his decision, AJ went along with it without further argument. The bed and couch arrived soon after, with the rest arriving within the week.

Seeing as AJ had the most connection for tools, she took it upon herself to get these things for him. The most difficult thing on the list was to find someone to build a watermill for metalworking. But with the amount of bits he could spare, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a contractor.

Darius was about to snack on the apples AJ gave him before he felt a wafting of air behind him. He smirked and turned to see it was Rainbow Dash.

“You’re late.” He greeted.

She smirked back. “I was trying out a new maneuver. It took more tries than I thought it would. Got to get it right, y’know?”

He nodded. “Where did you train this time?”

“At the nearest mountain range. Used to be a dragons’ home but they migrated, so it’s good for flying practice. You hungry for more than just that apple?” The blue mare asked.

“Indeed. I’m assuming you ponies have eateries and taverns here?” He asked.

“Sure! I’ll show you my favorite.” Dash smiled and they went out the door.

“Then you show me where you were flying.” He smiled following her.

“Yeah but you can’t fly. I mean I don’t mind being watched but-” She then saw Darius leap over her very high and landed on her other side, the Red markings indicated he invoked Dark.“What? Huh?” Her eyes widened.

Darius said nothing and smiled confidently resuming his walk. He didn’t know why he felt the need to show off to her, but it felt cool (as Dash would say).

Dash smiled admirably at him. “Okay. You’re showing me your moves after lunch.”

Elsewhere in Equestria…

Near the northern Ley Line, a watch-post sat overlooking the turbulent wall of magical energy, rising as far as a sky scraper, too high up for even a pegasus to fly without suffocating. The violent Ley Line storm passed, which was being observed by several ponies.

The older one, who gazed it through a pair of tinted safety glasses, pointed a front hoof where the Ley Line met the ground. “Does anyone else see that?” He asked his colleagues.

A mare took out her binoculars to get a look at whatever her older colleague was seeing. “There is…there is something coming out of the Ley Line! No, somethings!”

Shortly after, the ponies exited the watch post to meet the figures that were exiting the Ley Line storm. Though they could only meet them halfway, lest they be hurt by the maelstrom of energy.

“What are they?” They gazed upon the stone bipeds, about twenty of them. Some wielded clubs, others brandished staves.

“They look like statues, but alive!” said the older pony. “Well, stone or not, this is a first contact everypony! Be on your best…” Suddenly, the golems nearly trampled the ponies as they ran swiftly. The ground shook with each tramp they made. When the dust cleared, two ponies were hurt.

“Someone get the doctor here!”

“OW! We need to tell princess Celestia!”

“Where are those things going?”

The golems were already a mile away, heading straight towards the village of Ponyville.

At Canterlot Castle…

Luna awoke suddenly, despite it being noon. “Again?” She said and jumped out of bed and flew to Celestia’s balcony.

Celestia finished reading her letter and noticed her sister flying to her. “Sister. You felt it, didn’t you?”

“Another crossing, sister. Several of them. But, I recognized it!” Luna was visibly worried.

Celestia hesitated before she said it. “Entropy.” She sighed. “So it’s still making trouble. And I think I know the reason.” She showed Princess Luna the letter from Twilight Sparkle.

Luna gasped. “A Newman? Here in Equestria?” She was so torn between fear and joy at all this, that if she did not burst it would be a marvel.

“I think you and I should visit Ponyville sooner. But first, we should send a contingent of the guard to intercept whatever Entropy sent here.” She trotted with her sister to the Captain’s office.

Luna gulped. “What if it comes here? You know how violent it is!”

Celestia didn’t answer. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

At the mountain range near Ponyville...

Dash rarely experienced flying through around mountains, and it was thrilling! Every once in a while she would look down to see her friend leaping, climbing, landing, and running with incredible swiftness and acrobatics. She then decided to fly low and see how he was doing this. As she expected, those ‘cutie-markings,’ (Dash decided they should be named) were responsible. She even noticed how they were on his ankles too. She wondered if they covered that honed body of his. Wonder if he’d show her. She snapped out of that thought when she nearly crashed straight on into a cliff face.

“Woah!” An immediate pull-up and banking to the right and she was right on course.

“Lost your concentration?” He chuckled between breaths.

Dash smirked and flashed her confident grin. “Think you can do better, big guy?”

Darius laughed leaping over a chasm and shouting a lament of joy to the sky. “How about a contest?” Darius proposed when he landed.

Dash grinned. She hadn’t had a racing contest sense the Iron Pony match with Applejack! Awesome! Another competitor! “Okay, Darius. See that big hill with the super windy currents? Whoever reaches the top first treats the other to dinner!” She zipped towards to brave the intense wind currents to the top. Well, she could’ve chosen a hill with calm winds, but she wanted to challenge herself too.

With his training in parkour, Darius began his ascent. The wind currents were nothing more than a nuisance as he was too low to the ground. As each got closer to their goal, they pushed themselves harder. Dash had to maneuver and use the currents to the best of her abilities. It was like a maze of powerful winds. Some were strong currents like tornadoes; others were gusts that blew out from nowhere. Darius had to be mindful of loose rocks as he negotiated this rocky hill while keeping up his pace.

The Newman glanced to see how Dash was doing. She was trying to slingshot herself to the top using a gale-force tornado current. It worked...too well! She was on the verge crashing into the face the hill!

He thought fast and found a lengthy hanging vine, it was strong enough. Time to swing it! He leaped, gripped, and used the vine as a swinging anchor and swung into the winds. He then switched to Light. Holding on the root with all his all his normal strength, he hoped wind magic would work here. He felt the wind obey his command as it pushed him to intercept Dash. Just a little closer…closer…DARK!

Pull up! Pull up! PULL UP! She screamed in her mind. “Wha?” Dash suddenly felt herself in the arms of her Newman friend. Then with a heavy thud, they landed…at the top of the hill. Dash was in a daze for a moment.

“Are you okay, Dash?” Darius asked.

“Uh…of course! Why did you do that, huh? Didn’t you see I was going to land just fine?” She tried covering up her error. Damn! This was embarrassing. Crashing was one thing, but being rescued by a guy? Well, at least it was him.

The Newman was pretty sure she was going crash, but took her word for it. “Apologies, it just looked like-“

Dash felt bad for lying to him, stupid pride. Then she noticed she was a bit pressed against her friend and blushed furiously as she realized his hands were on her back... “Woah!” She got out of his hold. “Uh…but thanks anyways, Darius.” She turned away trying keep calm. Okay Dash, play it cool. He didn’t know.

Darius scratched the back of his head, realizing their "compromising" position a moment ago. “Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, my wings and back…those are intimate touch-spots.” She looked at him and smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll remember that. Oh, and tapping me on the thigh is getting close to my…privates. So be mindful about that, okay?” He may as well educate her as well.

Dash was a shade of purple now. “Oh dude! Sorry big guy, I didn’t know!” She turned away looking at the ground.

He sat by her side. “Don’t feel bad about it, Dash. We are still learning about each other and to your credit, you have been the best friend I have had here in this short span of time.” He smiled.

That made her feel better. “It’s good to have someone to share cool stuff with.”

“Like athletics?” Darius laid back and watched the sky.

“Yeah. My dream is to join the Wonderbolts. You heard of them? Oh wait, duh, you’re still new here.” She giggled. “I’ve gotta show them to you. They’re the best flyers in Equestria!” She relaxed next to him. “You got any elite athletes where you come from?”

“Yes. We have a game we play that involves passing a ball and parkour, which was what I was doing while racing you. It’s a rough sport but the players have amazing prowess.” He sighed, pining to be back home now, but tried hiding it. He closed his eyes and imagined being home for a while.

Dash could see it in his face, he was homesick. Who could blame him? After a moment of silence, she asked him something. She didn’t know why, even as her tone softened. “Darius, what are your mares like where you come fr-“ Dash was interrupted when Darius stood up and turned back overhearing something tramping on the rock. “What is it?” She stood with him. And then she saw it. Two bipedal…statues? They leaped up from behind the rocky edge and landed in front of them, each brandishing a club of some kind. “Friends of yours?”

“Wyrm!” Shouted Darius as he formed his sword and blocked their incoming strikes. His feet sunk into the ground from the impact. Tuath, they were strong! And he was already weary from their race.

Dash snarled. They were attacking his friend! “YAAAAAAAH!” She battle cried, pounding her chest with her hooves and bucked one of them right in the face, knocking its head right off its body. But it didn’t stop moving!

“Dash! Escape!” He was deflecting the clubs out of the way. Despite being tired after their race, he kept Dark going and slashed as hard as he could, cracking the torso of the Wyrm-servant. He then flipped back to avoid its counter, then slashed forward to sever an arm, only to put another crack into the stone. Thankfully the sword channeled Dark with him to strengthen it against the stone. A normal blade would have been notched.

Dash was holding her own against her headless opponent. It was pretty agile, but Dash was too. “Common, rock head! You call that a swing?” She bucked it in the chest hard enough for it to fall. “Awe yeah! Who’s the mare? Who’s the mare?” She mocked it. The golem did a leaping stand and attacked swifter. She dodged, barely. “Omygosh!”

Darius, distracted by Dash’s situation, suffered a blow to his chest. That hurt. But it was nothing compared to what he did in return. He grabbed its weapon and yanked it from its hand, then leaped up and brought both sword and club down upon the golem, shattering it into pieces as Wyrm's power dissipated.

“AAAH!” Darius heard Dash cry out as her attacker (now missing an arm) thwacked it’s club into her side, hard. She even made an imprint slamming into the ground. “Prind nenalne famen nagre!” (Thrice cursed son-of-a-serpent!) He raged and chucked that club hard into it, breaking it in half. He huffed and saw Dash lying on the ground, whimpering in pain. He invoked Light, wincing as it left him without resilience to his own injury. But, he didn’t care about that now. He carried her to a better spot on a patch of grass on checked her injury. The purple mark indicated she was bleeding internally.

Dash could barely perceive anything else, this hurt so much. She was strong but she was not used to fighting something armed. Every move shot a sharp pain into her side.

“Try not to move.” Darius rolled her to her good side. Okay, how did the healing sage teach it? He took a deep breath to calm himself and felt the magic field answer his call. The blue light shined off his hands, giving them purpose to bring healing to his friend. Therefore, he pressed them against her injury.

Dash shed tears and whimpered feeling something touch that tender spot. But the sharp pain to her side and wing was quickly replaced by comforting warmth. “D-Darius.” She murmured. Was this his doing? It was starting to go dark.

Darius felt the magic did what it could. But this magic was made for Newmans, not ponies! He couldn’t run carrying her, could he? He didn’t think about it and took her in his arms and decided to just leap down the hill and run as fast as he could. Despite the pain in his side, he would endure it for her. But he stopped in his tracks as he saw more golems climbing up the side. Six more obsidian Wyrm-servants leaped to the top and surrounded him.

“Tuath!” He shouted. He carefully put Dash down and drew his sword. “Dominah nuin liyeni ore!” (Goddesses please don’t forsake her).

“Esse eldamon.” (We have not). Chimed a voice from behind him, soft, yet strong. He turned to see a…horned pegasi? Then turned to see in front of him was another one. Both were taller than the other ponies. One white with a multicolored mane, the other dark with a mane like the night sky!

They faced down these golems, while Darius took two for himself. For Celestia and Luna, their horns shined brightly with their respective powers of…Light and Dark, the Newman witnessed! In an instant, the power within the golems was dispelled, and they crumbled into piles of stone.

Inspired by this turn of events, Darius pushed himself to use ‘joining.’ Both Light and Dark combined. His markings shone gold and channeled the energy into his sword for a double slash against both his targets. Both strikes connected and he felled the two. Now he was spent. He grudged for a rest, but Dash was more important. He picked her up and struggled, trying to stay standing. He then felt Rainbow Dash being lifted from his arms.

The unconscious Cyan pony floated to Luna and was carefully was laid on her back. “Sister, I’ll bring her to the hospital.” She immediately launched off the top of the hill and was on her way toward Ponyville.

Celestia nodded, then approached Darius. “It’s been a long time since I have seen your kin, Darius, Son of Manden.” She smiled.

Darius knew in his heart it was She, and her sister too! He fell to his knees. “Goddesses! Is it truly you?” He worshipfully gazed at her.

“Stand Darius. We never decreed you or your people to treat us with such reverence.” She smiled. “A simple greeting will suffice.”

Darius slowly and nervously stood up. “What of Dash? I did what I could for her.”

“You saved her life, Darius. Their healers will do the rest.” She looked at his markings, the power slightly faded from his fatigue. Darius sighed in relief.

She gazed at his markings. “Amazing. Your people channel magic so unlike my little ponies. And now some of you can bear both our blessings. You have come a long way.”

Darius nodded like giddy boy to a loving mother. “We are always grateful for everything you have done for us Goddess, er, what may I call you by?”

Celestia giggled. “Call me Princess, if you will.”

He nodded. “Princess.” He was at lost for words, then the sudden realization hit him. Those golems, the Wyrm! “It isn’t dispatched…is it?” He fell to his knees. “I…failed, didn’t I? The Ley Line, magic, creation! What will happen now?!” He started coughing blood. Damn, his side was worse than he expected.

Celestia touched her horn to his forehead. He immediately felt a calming sensation wash over him. “First, I am going to take you to the hospital. You will rest, then we shall talk. That was only half of what it sent here. My guard-ponies are looking for the others. Don’t fret. We will deal with it in time.”

“Yes, Princess.” He replied.

“Good. Now on my back so we can get going.” She turned her side to him.

“W-what?” He froze. Did the Goddess of Light just offer him a ride? “Is that proper, Goddess?”

She giggled and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so timid, Darius. I won’t have our wounded hero walking back.” She picked him up with her magic and placed him comfortably on her back. She launched off the ground.

No one back at Rift would believe this chant, Darius thought. This was unreal!

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several grammar errors were successfully ninja'd away by frieD195

It didn’t take long for the doctors to patch up Darius’s wounds. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna instructed the doctors on how to heal a Newman. They knew their physiology. A few adjustments to the healing spells and a few additives to the healing potion; and he would make a full recovery next morning.

Thankfully, Nurse Redheart kept Darius updated on Dash’s situation. Unfortunately, Dash needed more work. Dash’s ribs were cracked, though it looked like they had just recovered from being broken. Darius explained his healing magic was responsible. But there was some minor organ damage that had to be fixed. Some potions made by somepony named Zecora will take care of that. And of course, her wing was hurt from her fall, but nothing serious. Two days rest for Rainbow Dash.

That evening, Darius couldn’t sleep. He sat on his bed but wouldn’t lie down. There was too much on his mind. His thoughts were interrupted when the two Alicorns entered his room.

They brought in tea. A nurse brought in his dinner and left them to speak. Both ponies sat across from him and used half his bed as a table, seeing as he was sitting cross-legged.

“We are glad Dash will recover. We saw her earlier but she was asleep.” Celestia informed. “Here Darius, you haven’t lived until you have had Pearl Grey tea.” Celestia served Darius a cup.

He sipped and prodded his food with the spork.

“Your mind is troubled.” Luna could tell.

He just nodded.

“Understandable. But before we decide what must be done next, Darius, I would like you to tell me how your people have fared since the Ley Lines destabilized, what happened during your fight with the Wyrm, and what are the extent of your powers?” Princess Celestia calmly asked. “And forgive me, but do you mind speaking in our tongue to do it? It’s good that continue to practice it.”

With that encouragement, the Newman chanted an abbreviated version of his people’s history sense the two left. Tribes, then small provinces, and now a united council. Then he told of his battle with the Wyrm. This wasn’t a pleasant story, but it was crucial for Luna and Celestia to assess how strong Entropy had become. Then came Darius’s description of his powers.

An Avatar can learn the magical talents of other Newmen, though to a limited extent. He could never be a master of any save his or her original calling, which for Darius was metalworking. Yet Darius excelled in skill alone in their arts of parkour and fighting. He had to. But the real power of an Avatar was they could briefly combine the powers of Light and Dark to achieve great feats; called ‘Joining’, which was exhausting to maintain. So far Darius learned only one Joining spell that made him incredibly fast and strong for as long as his vitality can hold it. It was his only asset against the Wyrm. He was told Avatars can learn other Joinings but he didn’t have time to explore this.

“Incredible! For the past two thousand years your people have been holding the Wyrm at bay?!?” She asked amazed.

“I suspect these Avatars are like creation’s immune response as a result of its meddling.” Celestia postulated. “If I recall, your people fought with us to suppress the Wyrm. Now without us, your people evolved to handle It yourselves.”

Except he didn’t handle it. “I’m sorry I was the first to fail.” He sighed.

Luna put a front hoof on his hand. “Do not despair. If you failed, the Ley Line would be gone, and so would we.”

“However, we have done some thinking on this and have decided a new course of action should be taken in dealing with Entropy.” The princess of the sun smiled.

Darius looked forward to hearing this. Certainly the Goddesses could handle anything.

“It’s time to end this cycle of fighting between us and Entropy.” Luna added.

“Yes sister. And Darius, we are going to teach you a new joining to aid you in this. And the Elements of Harmony will help you learn it.” Celestia softly smiled.

“I don’t understand.” He replied. “What are these elements and is it possible for me to learn the magic of pony-kind?”

Celestia finished her cup and explained. “I believe it’s very possible.” She let that settle in before continuing. “As for the elements, you met them when you first came here. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy each embody an Element of Harmony. The magic of friendship.” She smiled.

Now he was at a loss. “Will this magic be enough to destroy the Wyrm for good?”

Princess Luna thought a moment before answering. “It will make a difference, we assure you. It defeated Discord and changed me when I was Nightmare Moon.” Darius stared at Luna very confused. She explained. “Yes, even a goddess can make mistakes. I once betrayed my sister and my fellow ponies.” She looked down guiltily. “I was banished to the moon for a thousand years for refusing to set the moon and antagonizing my people. Even after I served my sentence, I learned nothing but to grudge them. Then the six elements came and reformed me.”

“But…you’re a goddess. You’re omnipotent. Infallible. You couldn’t have…” He became apprehensive. To hear this story was difficult to accept. It challenged everything he believed about them.

“Darius,” She replied sympathetically, “never did Luna nor I ever say that we were perfect. Those concepts were no doubt invented by your people after a long time. Even I make mistakes.” Celestia sighed. “Do you understand? We maybe powerful but we are not without faults.”

Darius didn’t reply to that. He decided to change the subject before contemplating that any further. “So, the magic of friendship can help. How do I learn it?”

The two princesses smiled. “Stay in Ponyville and protect it. Help out the six in any way you can. You owe them a debt of gratitude, so I am sure you will have an opportunity to spend time with each of them.” Celestia instructed.

“You will learn each element from them.” Luna added. “You may already have learned one, in fact. What would Rainbow Dash’s element be?”

Darius thought on that for a moment: She refused to leave even when she was in danger. She is courageous. Was it courage? No. It’s about friendship. And one can be bold but disloyal. Wait, that is it! Loyalty! “Her element is loyalty!” He voiced the thought.

“Your insight serves you well.” Celestia nodded in approval and poured another cup. “And your food is getting cold.”

Darius began eating his supper. “But what Joining will result from it?” He asked.

“We’ll get to that at another time.” Luna replied.

“And what of the other golems?” He asked.

“Well, there are two less for us to worry about.” Said the voice of Applejack and the other ponies (save Rainbow Dash) as they entered his room. They bowed respectively to the princesses. “How’re you doin’ Darius? I heard you and Dash got into a ruckus with those statues.”

Seeing his friends here was uplifting. “I’ll heal. Have you seen Dash?” He asked.

Fluttershy piped up. “Oh, Dash is resting. She was barely conscious when she spoke to us. The healing potion made her very tired.”

“The poor mare even tried to get out of bed. Such a stubborn pony. She abhors hospitals.” said Rarity. “But she was trying to get up to check on you, darling.” The pearly furred pony said with a foxy grin.

Darius didn’t know why she was making that face, so he didn’t pay heed to it.

“Can you tell us what these stone creatures are?” Twilight asked the Newman. “I have heard of magic that can bring inanimate objects to life, but these moved and acted very violent.”

“They are Golems: statues brought to life by powerful magic. Well, they aren’t living, but they can be made to function as if they were. The Wyrm sent them here to dispose of me.” Darius frowned.

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down on his bed at the center as the Alicorns withdrew the tea set. Darius saved his food. All attention on the pink one! “Yeah but you should have seen what Twilight and Applejack did to the two in Ponyville.” The manic pony choreographed as she described the events. “First AJ was like you get ‘Outta mah orchards!’, and then it was like thud thud thud, I’m a biiiiig mean statue! And AJ stood in front of it, then it swung this big club, then AJ dodged under his legs, and bucked it so hard it fell to PIECES! And Twilight saw another chasing after Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetiebell! Well it wasn’t really chasing. They just didn’t get out of its path. So Twilight and Rarity lifted it high into the air with their magic but it kept flailing and flailing. So Princess Luna told them to drop it on a nearby boulder, and they did, and then CRASH and CRUMBLE! It was so cool!” Pinkie Pie landed and sat on the bed huffing. (applause)

Darius couldn’t help but give a smile. This pink pony could spin a tale pretty good. “Very good chanting.” He complimented her, who just huffed and smiled appreciatively and hopped off the bed. “I’m glad to know you ponies can take care of yourselves. I feared the worst if they came for you.”

“Well, Ah’d rather not do that again.” AJ said. “Don’t get me wrong, Ah’ll stand up to any bully. But darn if it isn’t mah nature to be benevolent.”

“Agreed.” Rarity concurred. “I certainly hope we won’t have to deal with any more brutes after those.” She flicked her beautiful mane. “Fluttershy spent hours comforting my sister and her friends.”

Fluttershy frowned. “They were really shaken by that experience.”

“Well, I think Darius has been kept awake long enough. He needs his rest.” Celestia said.

The four little ponies went “awe” in united disappointment of having to leave so soon. But each bid their good nights before they left. Celestia and Luna were the last to step out.

“Princesses?” Darius beckoned before they left.

Luna and Celestia looked back to him.

“Two questions. Could you request the healers allow me to visit Dash?” He asked.

The two looked at each other, smiled, then nodded to him. “And your second question?” Luna asked.

He hesitated in asking, but he had to know. “Will I ever be able to go home after all this?”

Their smiles became sympathetic. Luna bade Celestia to go ahead of her. She was the ‘Goddess’ of Dark. Addressing and explaining ill omens and bad news to his people was her domain long ago. “You remember why we told you we are not infallible?” She said in a caring tone. “Neither I or my sister can guarantee you will return to Rift. There was once a time when the Ley Lines were safe to cross. But you remember what the Wyrm did to it?”

“Tried to eat it.” He said, feeling his heart sink.

She nodded. “It nearly finished its first bite that time. Now the Ley Line energies are destructive. It would take another thousand years for the lines to fully heal and be safe to cross.” She sighed seeing him shake his head in disbelief. “Darius, the lines are greater than me and Celestia. Even we have our limits. I am sorry but I we do not have the power to-“

Darius raised his voice in an outburst of desperation. “But the Wyrm could send things across the line! It sent me! You’re a goddess! Why can’t you help me if it can-!” He stopped himself, shock as to what he was seeing. Tears. “Oh Princess please forgive-“ He was literally shaking he couldn’t believe he popped off to her like that.

Luna never felt so much sympathy for a single being before. She put a front hoof around his shoulder and drew him into a hug. She felt Darius froze in place for a moment, before he relaxed into it. She could hear him try to hold back his sobs. She felt the moisture of his tears mat her fur. “I wish I could undo all of this for you.” She said softly. “My sister does too. I won’t promise this will get easier,” She withdrew to look at him. “But you have friends here. You can make a life here. You will never be alone.”

Clearing his tears, he whispered, “Apenda chur nano fo fale.” (I’m sorry I bewailed to you).

Luna smiled like an understanding mother. “Don’t apologize. There was no harm done. This is hard on you. So don’t hesitate to make your feelings known.” She kissed him on the forehead. “Especially to your friends.” She finished and left his room.

The Newman watched her leave and took a deep breath. He needed a moment of reflection. He is in a land he may never return from. The Wyrm is alive. His friend got hurt. His goddesses were not all-powerful as their legends spoke of. His family…he wished at the very least his grandfather was here. He’d know what to tell him. He stared out the window seeing his friends and the princesses leave and chatting. He looked up then at the night sky sorrowfully. His family no doubt missed him. This was too much to bear.

After a moment he propped himself on the windowsill. He took a deep breath and began to sing a chanting to help himself cope. It was a chant in the old tongue that his mother taught him if he ever despaired. He recalled her telling him about it when he was a boy.

(Click here to access the song on soundcloud. See description for explanation and copyright acknowledgments)

Sing away your sorrow, my son. Give your woe to the sky so you may carry on. Your heart can only carry so much weight before it could bear no more. But the sky is great and everlasting, and it will always hear your voice. It can bear all the sadness of the world. Let it take some of that weight from you so you may walk without a heavy heart.

In Dash’s room, the resting pegasus awoke thirsty. She weakly sipped water from her bedside straw and then overheard it. That voice was next to her room. It was Darius. She could tell. His voice was beautiful. But how could anyone sing so sadly? She had heard and sung many happy tunes in her life, but never one expressing sorrow. She didn’t have the strength to get up. She wanted to go to him and comfort him, but she couldn’t. She closed her eyes and tried laying her head down and fall asleep as her tears fell to her pillow. She hated being helpless, especially with a friend in need. A moment after the singing stopped she heard her door open.

“Okay, you can sit by her bedside, but don’t wake her. She needs her rest.” Nurse Redheart whispered as she led Darius in.

Dash made a sigh of relief, but didn’t move, nor open her eyes. Her door shut and Darius pulled up a chair and sat next to her bedside. He was staring at the floor. She wiped the tears off and turned in her bed carefully till she was on her good side, facing him. She couldn’t see his face, only his dark hair. She whispered to him. “Big guy?”

Darius looked up to see Dash partly awake. “Did I wake you?”

Dash weakly shook her head. “You’re looking better than how I am doing.” She jived.

Darius lightly smiled. “Heard you’ve been stubborn to the healers.”

“I can’t help it.” She gave a pained giggle.  “I heard you saved my life. That is twice I owe you.”

“You saved mine too, evening the odds.” He replied.

Dash frowned. “As if.” She disagreed. “It was still standing before it slammed me.” She hesitated and told him. “I lied to you about not crashing. That time you caught me? I’m sorry I fibbed.”

Darius looked at her concerned. “Don’t be upset about it. It’s more important you’re alright. I’m not hurt now so-”

Dash interrupted. “But you are hurting.” Her tears returned. “I heard you sing it for Celestia’s sake. What happened? I have to know.” She sniffed.

“Dash, you’re hurt. You are more important now. You needn’t think about my problems.” He tried to assure her.

“Don’t tell me not to think about you!” She replied angrily. “I am loyal to all my friends. Now tell me what is wrong.”

Darius frowned but wouldn’t deny his friend. He sighed. “I don’t think I’m ever returning home. Even the Princesses cannot send me back.” He sadly confessed. “I may never see my family again...or my people.” That was pretty much what grieved him the most. He went back to looking at the floor, and then he felt a hoof softly touch his chin so he would look at her again.

Dash shifted closer to him and weakly put a front hoof around his neck and one under his arm trying to bring him into a hug.

The Newman got the idea and very carefully joined her in a hug. He minded where his hands were, avoiding her wings and where they met her back and especially her injury. He felt her nuzzle into his neck. He never met anyone who could show so much caring for a friend like this. For a pony that maintained such a tough exterior, she had a big heart. And he admitted it. He needed some comfort from her.

She sobbed. “I’m sorry Darius. I wish there was something more we could do.” The pegasus tightened her hug.

They stayed in that hug for a while until she stopped sobbing. Darius helped her lay back down and looked into her crimson eyes. “You have helped me, more than you realized.” He smiled. “Being here for me even while you’re hurt. I’m very grateful you are my friend, Dash.” He gave a front hoof a soft squeeze.

Dash sniffed and softly smiled. “You should sleep. You need your rest.”

He smirked. “Says the pony giving the healers a hard time.” They both shared a soft chuckled. “I will if you promise to cooperate with them.”

Dash lay down and gave a tired groan. “’Kay, fine. But you have to stick around so I don’t get bored.” She closed her eyes. Just as sleep instantly took her, she could have sworn she heard him whisper, “I promise. I won’t leave your side.” But she was asleep before she could confirm hearing it.

Darius sat by her bedside for a while and looked at the stars through her window for a moment before borrowing the neighboring bed. That night, he managed to sleep easy.

Meanwhile, near the Southern Ley Line…

It was evening when Manden finally at the temple ruins where the Ley Line was. He took his son’s necklace and fastened it around his neck. Gripping his spear tightly, he made his way carefully through the ruins, following the vile trail. There he reached where the vulture had landed, or crashed-landed more likely as it was spayed out dead on the ground.

The smith looked around until he saw through the opened doors of the biggest temple. Two large green lights…no…EYES, glaring at him from inside. THE WYRM! It growled thunderously, making his bones vibrate.

NYE IORN COGNITI UR TEL HIRNOLTA. (I DID NOT THINK IT WOULD BE THIS EASY.)

Manden stood stalwart and held his spear ready to throw, his machete in his other hand. “Aquedor emb fama melare, ugre ge arpeni?!” (Where is my son, beast of ruin!?) He shouted at the Wyrm.

Its eyes glowed brighter as its pitch black form was outlined by the green aura.

NYE ANULDON FALEN ES ORE, ANDIRSE OLAUN NYA PETUNQUAMI ETHLIBAN! (I WILL TAKE YOU TO HIM, RIGHT BEFORE I EXTINGUISH HIS LIFE!)

He was alive! Manden’s thought was interrupted as the draconic beast roared and lunged at him from within the temple. “DARIUUUUUS!” He battle-cried his son’s name and chucked his spear towards its open wound!

…

…

Back in Ponyville Hospital…

The next morning, Dash awoke with Nurse Redheart giving Darius…a lecture?

Darius put his hands up in surrender as the nurse chewed him out. “Mr. Darius! I am no expert in Newmen culture, but when I said you could visit Dash, I did NOT say you could sleep in her room overnight! Next time, you return straight to your bed! Those are hospital rules!” She lunged at him with those last two words to the point where the man fell off the bed and hit the floor.

“Oof!. Y-yes Ms. Redheart.” Darius meekly replied, quite shaken.

Dash blushed a bit. He really did say that last evening. And he meant it! That was the coolest thing anyone had ever done for her. Then a thought entered her head and she got that devious grin of hers. This was too good to pass up. She made a fake yawn and stretched her hooves. Time for the punch line, heh. “Oh, good morning, big guy.” She spoke in a sultry voice, grinning sexily at him. “That was one awesome night last evening. You are quite a stallion.” She purred and winked. “Even with my side hurting, you were sooooo good to me.” She blew a mock kiss towards him.

Darius looked at Dash indignantly, his mouth dropped. He then felt really small as Nurse stood over him, her eyes filled with fire glaring down on him. “OUT!” The ground pony growled menacingly. In an instant he was tossed out of the room. Tuath, these ground ponies are strong!

Darius stood up and dusted himself off. “You devious mare.” He groaned. He then saw his doctor was waiting outside the room, taping a hoof annoyed. Sigh. After another lecture, then a thorough checkup and being given the bill of health, he ate breakfast then returned to wait outside Dash’s door.

A moment later Nurse Redheart came out with Darius waiting outside the door. “I’ve got my eye on you, Romeo.” She shot him a warning glare and left.

Darius said nothing but nodded submissively. Don’t argue with the healers, for they are tougher than iron, he thought to himself. He entered Dash’s room. The pegasus gave him a snickering look, then began to laugh hysterically.

He smirked. “Funny.” He sarcastically said and sat by her bedside.

Dash cleared the tears from her eyes. “Sorry big guy. But you should have seen the look on your face.” She giggled. “It’s okay; I told her I was joking.” She smiled softly. “But that was very cool of you guarding me.”

Darius smiled. “Can’t have Ponyville’s most awesome mare getting bored. Besides, if any more golems come back-”

“You’re going to lead them here to my room?” She smirked.

“Uh, wait, no I meant if they came for you.” Darius tried to save face.

Dash chuckled. “I’m kidding, silly!” She hoofed him on the arm. “Besides, I think I can take them better now. Next time I’ll protect you.” She winked.

They both shared a chuckle. That morning, between her physical therapy and checkups, they chatted about each other’s culture, home, sights to see, and sports. Dash likened the Newmen ball game (Parkour) to Hoofball. They both compared the similarities and differences. It was fun to talk about sportsmanship, honor between opponents, and competitiveness.

During and after lunch, her friends had taken turns visiting, with Pinkie Pie’s being the briefest visit for some reason. Then Twilight Sparkle gave Dash a surprise: the first of a new series of Daring Do! Apparently the author’s son began to carry on the series, much to the cyan pony’s delight. Dash practically squealed in excitement. She insisted that she and Darius take turns reading. A good chanting is always entertaining to pass the time, he agreed. Besides, it was amusing to see her get as giddy as a filly over this.

The second day Dash surprised the doctors with her speedy recovery as she managed to fly, move, and perform quite well outside. Never underestimate a pony determined to get out of traction! By noon, she was released. They met Fluttershy at the entrance, who said she was going to take them to Darius’s place.

“Thanks for taking care of Tank for me, Fluttershy.” Dash nudged the yellow pegasus in gratitude.

“Oh, it’s no problem.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Fluttershy,” Darius said as they made their way to his home. The Yellow pegasus looked up. “I was wondering if I could help in any way with your animal care tasks?”

“What do you mean, big guy? Don’t you have your own work?” Dash didn’t know why but she questioned that.

Fluttershy glanced at both Darius and Dash. A hint of realization hit her face and she replied. “Oh, it’s alright Darius. I can do the work myself.”

He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, let me explain. The princesses have asked me to learn the magic of friendship from each of you. You each embody an Element of Harmony, yes?” He asked.

The two pegasi nodded. “Yes, mine is kindness and Rainbow Dash’s is loyalty.” Fluttershy explained.

“Heck yeah.” She fluttered up proudly.

“Indeed. I learned yours the night of our adventure.” He smiled to Dash, whom blushed in response.

There was something there between them, it was very brief, but then they overheard Fluttershy giggle, who looked away innocently when they glanced at her. “Um, yeah, I could teach you the best I could. If that is alright.”

Darius nodded. “I suppose that will be a practical start.” He stretched. “Though I am not sure how this magic will take form.” He thought aloud.

“The cool stuff with our magic happens when we’re all together.” Dash overheard him and replied. “But why do the princesses want you to learn it?”

Darius hated to withhold information but he decided a cryptic answer would be best. “An Avatar can learn the magic of other Newmen. So the Princesses are interested if I can learn the magic of your kin.” It was one thing to share his troubles with Dash, but in no way will he have anypony, her especially, follow him to his second battle against the Wyrm. He knew well enough Dash would follow him into a dragon’s den if he let her. Thankfully, Dash seemed to have accepted that.

They arrived at his home, and much to Darius’s satisfaction, he could see the watermill and workshop was set up next to it. Incredible! In just two days these ponies can build stuff like this. He and his father had taken weeks to get their watermill set up. At the door was a pink banner over the door with black letters saying “Welcome Home Darius!” Below was a second with blue letters: “Welcome back Dashie!”

Darius opened the door and were suddenly welcomed by a crowd of ponies. The other four elements, three fillies, and few other guests.

“SURPRISE!” Said a chorus of ponies, with Pinkie Pie setting off confetti launchers. Darius looked terribly confused. What was this? He knew a party when he saw it but they could have told him about it.

Dash trotted in happily. “Thanks guys. Quit standing there, big guy! It’s a party after all!” She tapped him on the leg this time.

Fluttershy whispered to Darius. “Just go along with it. A surprise party is a very good gesture here.”

Darius smiled and nodded.

For that afternoon, they enjoyed the company. Darius took the opportunity to establish better rapport with the new faces he met: The Cakes, Ditzy, Lyra, Bon Bon, and others filtering in and out. Then he and Dash told their epic story of how they raced at the mountain range and faced down two golems before the Princesses came and aided them. Of course, she embellished it, but he didn’t mind. As things began to wind down, he let AJ and Rarity show him the workshop. It was well made and fully stocked. It even had books on ingots of metal he had never seen before. He resisted the urge to rearrange everything to his specifications. He didn’t want to insult their efforts.

“Speaking of which, sugarcube. Pinkie advertised your shop and got you some orders to start yah up.” AJ tipped her hat. “Ah for one could use a new axle if you can make it.”

“Piece of pie. I take it was Pinkie was the one who organized this party?” Darius asked.

“Cake, piece of cake, Darius.” She corrected him. “And yep, this was all Pinkie’s doing.” The ground pony smiled.

“It is certainly her finest talents.” Rarity added.

“Um, Mr. Darius?” An orange filly with pink hair tugged at his pant leg, with her two friends, a white unicorn and yellow ground pony with a big bow in her mane.

Darius knelt down. “Hello little ones.” He said. “So who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“We’re the Cutie-mark Crusaders. Ah’m Applebloom, Applejack’s sister. This here is Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo.” She introduced her friends.

Ah, those three fillies Rarity mentioned. “Crusaders? I don’t know what that is but it must be special.” He smiled. “So what can I do for you?”

“We made you something for your work, we hope it helps.” They presented him a smithing hammer.

He was wide eyed. The grip was pretty good, formed perfectly for his hand. Even after their ordeal two days ago, they took the time to make him a gift? “You little ones made all this by yourselves?” He took it and brandished it in his hand. “It’s perfect!” He smiled. “Crusaders, I’ll make you each something special in thanks for this gift.”

Their happiness was tangible as the trio jumped and high fived. “Cutie-mark Smithies! YAAAAAAAY!” They ran off back to the party.

“Adorable.” Darius chuckled and looked at the anvil. He struck the hammer on the anvil. The metal rang beautifully. It was a way he and other smiths blessed their workshops. I’ll make you proud, father, wherever you are, he thought to himself as he went back to the party.

On the Southern Ley Line…

…

…

The Wyrm’s green and dark dragonic form slowly snaked through the Ley Line. It moved with purpose. Though it could not cross the line...yet. It would require another storm to cross over, just as it used one to send its enemy away and to send the golems too. But it would not waste time waiting for one. It may as well get as close as possible.

On top of that, it had the perfect dressing for its wound. Protected from the destructive energies, a biped form was bound inside the Wyrm’s being, right in front of the beast’s heart. He remained unconscious inside it, unable to move. The beast couldn’t have planned this any better. It will meet the Goddesses and the Avatar on the field of battle. It cared not whether it would survive this final showdown. It will have its revenge.


HOPE FOLKS ARE ENJOYING THIS.

> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

WE ARE SORRY FOR THE PRESENCE OF GRAMMAR ERRORS. THOSE PRESENT HAVE NOW BEEN SACKED.
THANKS TO frieD195

As the party concluded, Fluttershy arranged for Darius to meet her after lunch tomorrow. Dash and Pinkie remained behind to help Darius clean. After the confetti was cleared and rearranging the furniture, the Newman could see he actually had a decent place to live. He was used to wicker and padded cloth, not cushions.

Pinkie repacked her party canon and hopped her way back home as night dawned. 

“So big guy, how are you holding up?” Dash rested her on her hooves over the side of the couch watching him inspect his kitchen. She marveled how it looked so different to a pony’s kitchen. Rather than cabinets, Darius had ingredients in baskets hanging over the counters with twine. Oh, he used the fridge for the perishables, of course, but he really expressed his culture here.

Darius paused as in self-reflection. “My heart feels a bit lighter.” He sat on the couch next to her. “Though I can’t help but think we’re missing something.”

Dash looked confused, then grinned remembering. “Oh yeah! Our bet. So who got to the top of that hill first, you or me?”

He scratched his chin. “It seems we both did. So…”

She smirked. “Yeah, we didn’t say how we had to reach the top.” 

He raised an eyebrow. The goofy expression made Dash snicker as he replied. “So how about you buy me dinner one night, I’ll buy you dinner next night?”

Dash stared for a moment. She wondered if her friend knew what this was coming close to. It was one thing to spend occasional time with a friend, but now it was coming close to dating. She never usually thought hard about that sort of thing, and that felt strange to her. Usually when a stallion asked her out, she played it by ear. Mostly she would lose interest since none of the stallions she met had enough qualities she liked…or liked the qualities she had. But this was different. Was it because he was of a different species? She broke the stare trying to keep her cool. “That’s fine. But not tonight.” She stretched.

Darius stood up and offered his hand to her to help her off the couch (force of habit). “Indeed. I need to get started with work. So tomorrow night then.” He asserted. 

She glanced at his hand, not sure what the gesture meant. Then her eyes locked onto something on the dorsal side of his hand (opposite side of the palm). “Darius, your hand!” She pointed a hoof to it.

He looked closer and noticed right there a new symbol now on his right hand. “This is new. I’ve never seen a symbol like that before.” He knelt down to get a closer look.



Dash looked closer. “That's my element!” Well it lacked the color given it matched the color of his markings, but there it was! She looked at Darius in amazement. “They weren’t kidding. You can learn our magic!”

Darius would be surprised if the Princesses hadn’t told him it was possible. He looked at the pegasus and smiled. “I had a good teacher.”

Dash looked at him and felt something between them, again. She wondered if he felt the same. ‘Buck me, what was this?’ she thought to herself.

“You’re blushing.” Darius pointed out smiling, which snapped her out of it.

“I’m…just embarrassed that a cool guy is wearing my element.” She smiled. Stupid Dash, what kind of answer was that?

“Want me to cover it up?” He asked concerned.

“No!” She reacted like she may have hurt his feelings. “I mean, don’t cover up your cutie-markings, they’re beautiful, uh, that is.”

Darius stared. Beautiful? Did she mean...“You mean handsome?” He inquired. Even if she was a different species, she is by all accounts a lady; a very strong and confident lady, with wings and hooves. But to know his looks were appealing to women was important back home, and he was curious if it would be here too. 

“Yeah.” The cyan pony’s eyes trailed over his markings. “Do they go all the way?”

Darius eyed her confused.

“I mean, do they cover all of you?” Her eyes briefly looked at his waist, then back to his eyes to give him the idea. Buck! This would be so much easier if he were a pony! No, that wasn’t right. He was fine just the way he is, she asserted to herself.

Darius laughed. Dash looked like she was about to get mad thinking he was making fun of her before Darius smiled warmly. “Yes, yes they do. From neck to toe. You’re curious how they look down there?” He gauged for her answer with a fascinated look.

Blushing again. The poor cyan pony didn’t know if he was flirting or not. She didn’t know what to say, she was too nervous to offend him. “Well, I know you don’t like baring yourself.” She fluttered up quickly. “Well, I better get home.” She could buck herself for acting this way. This was so different than her talks with other stallions. “But we’re doing dinner tomorrow, right?” She complimented herself on that save. That was easier to talk about. 

Darius nodded. “Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for…” He paused for a good noun. “…another party.” He chuckled.

Dash chuckled as well. “Don’t let Pinkie Pie know you said that! Goodnight…handsome.” She spoke the last word in a soft tone, flew off with a smile on her face.

Darius did hear her and grinned like a fool as he flopped on his couch. “Eldamon hle.” (Still got it). He began folding the new clothes Rarity made for him as he thought about making a life here. Work, home, friends….family. That was on his mind now. He believed it was least likely considering the species barrier, but Princess Luna said he could start a new life and he would never be alone. That recent conversation with Dash got him thinking about it. He didn’t want to think idly, so he headed to the workshop and began re-organizing everything inside till it made more sense. May Applejack forgive his compulsions.

The next morning Darius was hard at work. Dark shone on his torso as he hammered, heated, shaped, and lathed a variety of metal parts according to the specifications his customers provided. Many of them were for the local hardware store. He liked that he could work with an open door as his magically-heated furnace would have overheated the whole shop. Best of all, he had a good view of the sky so to occasionally see Dash zipping by and performing her aerial acrobatics now and again.

By lunch time he had finished the orders he planned to do for the day. He cleaned the sweat and grime off and made himself his noon meal. It had been a while sense he had grilled plantains and much to his delight; cashews! Thank the princesses that they had them in this country! He heard his mail box open and shut and checked it as the grey pegasus, Ditzy flew off. He read the letter, which had a familiar charcoal artwork on the backside.

It gladdens me that you are well.
Though it’s been a while, I can certainly tell.
To the Newman blessed by sun and moon
I would like to meet you very soon.
-Zecora

He noted that and pocketed the letter before heading out to his appointment with Fluttershy.

At Fluttershy’s home, he knocked on the door. A moment later the door opened but he couldn’t see the yellow pegasi. Rather, a small rabbit was at the door…standing on two legs like a man.

“So you’re the door warden?” He asked it in a mocking tone.

The rabbit looked suspiciously at the human and angrily balled his paws and put them up threateningly, making it clear he was not welcoming the Newman.

The Newman scoffed and put his head through the door. “Fluttershy you in-“

He was interrupted as the rabbit did a backward summersault kick into his chest and knocked him out of the home. He got up and blinked in total surprise. What was she feeding that rodent? Pure rage?

He was seconds away from invoking Dark to teach that rodent a lesson and stopped himself remembering who takes care of these creatures. As barmy as this seemed, he may as well appease the creature. The small ones are always hiding dangerous surprises, so sayeth his cousin. “Well, mighty rabbit, it seems I must earn your trust. Of what quest may I perform for you to earn your leave, sir?” He knelt on one knee to the creature and bowed. He felt so silly doing this but his instincts said he wasn’t getting passed this creature without its approval.

The rabbit blinked in confusion, then thought for a moment, scratching its chin. Then tapped him on the shin and grabbed a carrot and pointed it at it. Then gestured the number ten with its hands.

“Very well, I shall retrieve ten carrots for you. By your leave, sir.” He walked away muttering to himself and bought some carrots at the market. After returning he found the door shut and knocked again. He knocked and placed the carrots on the ground and knelt before the doorway as the door opened.

“Sir Rabbit, I have retrieved your…” He looked up to find a very confused Fluttershy looking at the carrot pile “…carrots?”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Darius. We have plenty here, but that’s okay I’ll add them to the rest.” She carried them with her teeth and put them in the fridge, which already had quite a lot.

He muttered embarrassed and walked inside to find that long-eared bugger reclined on a cushion chewing on a carrot, shooting a sly grin at him.

Darius scowled at the creature and shook his head. He is brave, but Celestia-be-damned if he wasn’t an deceitful opportunist.

“Um, well it’s that time of the week I go into Everfree Forest in search of any wounded animals. So you can come with me but stay very close. It’s dangerous there.” Fluttershy said as she strapped on some saddle bags containing healing ailments and a foldable stretcher. “Lots of predators roam it.”

“I actually landed there when I was expelled from Rift.” He mentioned. “But you go out there by yourself? Forgive my presumptions but you didn’t strike me as one to go into dangerous places without a bodyguard. You’re braver than I thought.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, I am scared of some of the animals out there. But even if they can be aggressive and scary, they too deserve what help I can give them.” She said in a very serious tone.

Darius realized this pegasus took her work very seriously, enough to even conquer her own fear. “Well, what do you need me to do?” He asked.

“Um…” She thought. “You can use healing magic right? I guess if we find any injured animals you can help with that. Oh wait, that requires your, um, Light Powers? Can you also use them to see better?“

Darius immediately switched to Light. “My vigil is at your disposal.” He walked by her side.

Fluttershy smiled. “No wonder Dash likes you so much.” She said in a low voice.

He glanced, not quite hearing what she said, but shrugged and followed her into the forest.

About half an hour into Everfree, they had spotted one or two smaller wounded animals, but nothing more than that. The healing magic and first aid fixed them up quick. So far, it seemed peaceful until they approached a huge cave.

“What beast made this its home?” Darius asked.

“That is Ursa Major’s cave. She is a Stellar Bear. Her cub is there too. I check up on them from time to time.” Fluttershy entered the cave as Darius followed. “Oh by the way, they are big, I mean real real real big. So be careful not to disrespect them.”

“I’ll take your word for it-“ They then heard a roar from within the cave. “Is that how she usually greets…TUATH!” He grabbed Fluttershy by the sides and got out of the way of a huge starry-bodied bear as charged out of the cave. It was a narrow escape.

Fluttershy made a brief yelp, then saw the bear as it glared menacingly with glowing-green eyes. “Oh no, what is the matter Ursa!?”

It lashed out with its claws, but this was blocked by a Dark-infused sword held by a very quick Darius standing between it and the pegasus. “Get out of here! Its Wyrm tainted!” This thing was gigantic! It was taking every bit of vigor he had just to block that!

Fluttershy gasped. “What? What do you mean?” 

Darius used his known Joining and pushed its claw away with all the might it gave him. “It’s cursed! It can’t be saved, she’ll have to be culled!” He sadly brandished his blade.

Fluttershy looked at Darius in horror. “Y-you can’t!” 

“Look at its eyes, its corrupted by the Wyrm! I know it’s not her fault, but-“ He could feel his belt grabbed by a very strong grip and realized Fluttershy pulled him away.

“No! You said yourself it wasn’t her fault! So let’s find a way cure it!” She said with that glare of hers that forced the idea of euthanizing this bear out of his mind. “Now go into her cave and find any clues!” The humongous bear growled readying to lunge until Fluttershy stood in front of it. “Ursa! I know you don’t want to do this! Think of your cub! You are a proud bear of the stars, not a monster!” She stared into its eyes.

Darius gaped watching this pegasus submitting this gargantuan animal to her stare. He didn’t question it further headed into the cave. He looked around as he explored inside. It could not have been done by the Wyrm itself. It would have been obvious if it were in Equestria.  So what did this?

While Fluttershy continued talking down the creature, he ran into the cave. As he got deeper he saw it: A Mage-Golem! One of the remaining eight. It was thinner or more brittle than its club-wielding counterparts. It hovered above the ground and struck its staff into it, sending a shockwave at the Newman. Darius stabbed his Light infused sword into the ground as the blade met he shockwave and split it to either side, wedging a nearby boulder out of place. 

Still using Light, he brought his hands together and invoked dispelling incantation. It surged like lightning and as the golem blocked with its staff, which crumbled in its hands as the spell took effect. Darius finished it off with a Dark slash strong enough to shatter it. Its sorcerers were always the easiest to break, from his experience. He then noticed that boulder partly blocking a cavern and overheard the wailing of an upset creature behind it. With Dark, he shifted the rock and found what he deduced to be the Ursa’s cub.

This one didn’t look corrupted. Did the mother trap it here to protect it? He didn’t have time to ask as it growled in fearful warning at the Newman. Darius knelt down before it and looked directly into its eyes, just as Fluttershy would. “Your mother is hurting. We are trying to help her, but we need your help, brave cub. We share your pain for her suffering, friend. Will you help us?” He bowed to it. The cub stared, then sniffed at Darius. It made a desperate noise and nudged him with its nose towards the exit of the cave. He guessed it got the idea and led the way.

Fluttershy was still speaking to the creature. The bear was shaking its head, fighting a battle of will against the corruption. “Common Ursa, keep fighting it, just hold on until…” She then saw Darius running out of the cave along with Ursa Minor. The little bear cautiously approached its mother. It then hugged and nuzzled her.

Ursa Major cringed and let out a feral sound of despair, but the cub would not let her go. Fluttershy tearfully hugged her too. At this moment, Darius got an idea and placed his hands on Fluttershy’s hooves, concentrating on healing. The pegasus watched in awe as the magic coursed through her hooves to Ursa Major. Within moments the giant bear relaxed as her eyes returned to their normal color. 

“Be free of It.” Darius whispered.

Once Ursa Major was fully calmed, it lifted its head and looked at her cub, then the pony, then the Newman. It then smiled towards her saviors, bowing its head in gratitude before taking her very relieved and happy cub back to the cave.

Fluttershy smiled and cleared a tear from her eye. “Thank Celestia.” She squeaked.

“I didn’t think it would work. Who knew such kindness combined with strong will could dispel the Wyrm’s curse?” He sat down amazed.

Fluttershy looked at Darius. “Especially when friends are helping.” She kept that gentle smile of hers.

Darius nodded in agreement. “There was a golem in her cave. I dispatched it. Forgive me but those can’t be…”

Fluttershy nodded. “I know. But you showed an act of kindness today, the very highest.” She put a friendly hoof on his left hand.

He noticed brief flicker of light on his hand. “Well, would you look at that?” He showed her the new symbol on his left hand.



She looked at it and smiled. “I guess that means you graduated.”

They shared a chuckle as they headed back to Ponyville.

It was mid-afternoon when Darius returned home and delivered the metal parts he completed and received his pay. He noticed now most ponies didn’t mind his presence now. In fact, he was approached by some who inquired about his shop. 

He then heard from behind his back. “Hello Newman, it is good to see. An ancestral friend from across the sea.” Darius turned around to see a pony…well it was striped like a …ZEBRA!

He then spoke in his native tongue in delight. “Tel Zebra!” (A Zebra) He knelt down to meet her face to face. “Tol teldor dior Equestria!” (Here in Equestria!)

The Zebra pony smiled pleasantly. “They still chant of us in song? For our two races were parted long.”

He nodded happily. “We only have drawings back home of your people. But even the youngest chanters speak of Zebra and how they were our friends until the Wyrm bit the Ley Line.”

Zecora nodded. “I heard much that-“ Her words were stopped after a powerful gust of wind happened. 

When the dust cleared, Rainbow Dash was fluttering beside them. “Darius! I heard you and Fluttershy were attacked by Ursa Major! Are you okay?” She huffed.

He nodded. “The Ursa was…sick. But Fluttershy and I managed to help her.” He showed her the new symbol on his other hand. “As you can see, it turned out just fine.”

“I shall leave you two to be alone. Darius, feel free to visit my home. There is much of your people I wish to learn, to bring to my kin, should I return.” She bowed pleasantly to Dash and trotted away.

Dash waved. “See ya, Zecora.” She looked at Darius. “What was that about?” 

Darius smiled. “Her race and mine were once good friends before the Ley Lines became unsafe. Even after a thousand years we still pine for those day to come back.” He looked at her grinning. “You mind feeding me? After all, I just survived a bear attack.”

She laughed. “Come on, I’m buying.” She walked with him as she took him to her favorite restaurant in town.

The weather was perfect for outdoor eating as they sat at their table. While Dash had cider, Darius sampled the honey wine (or marnobe, as they called it back home). Both breathed out with a refreshed ‘aaaah’ after a big gulp.

After ordering their food, the two chatted. Darius talked about his parents and siblings and what it was like living with a big family. Dash was an only child whose parents also had very colorful manes like hers. She didn’t know what circumstances would cause her to get the rainbow mane but she wasn’t complaining. But they encouraged her athletics and competitiveness to do her best.

The topics then evolved to education, both agreeing it was boring. Darius retained his humility and admitted it was helpful for learning other forms of magic. Dash accepted that, but was thankful to drop out of professional flight school. Finally, after Dash finished her third cider and Darius was on his third mead…

“So…the women of your people. What are they like?” She asked, finally remembering that question never got answered thanks to those golems on the hill.

Darius thought of how to describe them. “Okay, picture me, now make my body more curvy, my face would be a little heart-shaped.” All of the sudden he saw the mare blink, torn between confusion and horror. “Hm…not the best description, I guess I never had to describe it.” He chuckled.

“…Okay but what about below the neck?” She asked, not liking the imagery she is getting from this.

“Oh, well, you see these pectorals?" He remembered what minotaurs called them and gestured to his chest.  They...protrude more on a woman. Below the belt is different, obviously. And you would normally see them with longer hair and occasional coloring or jewelry.” He finished.

Her mind was fixated on that pectoral part. “How do their...pecs get that way? Are they all pregnant or something?” 

He could see the stares of people overhearing this conversation. He decided to end this before it got worse. “Look, if ever I can find a mind reader and illusionist in this land, I’ll show you a picture of one.” He wanted to end it there.

Dash snorted. “I don’t know how you find that attractive.” 

Is she challenging the beauty of our women? Time to go on the defensive, he thought and leaned forward propping his arm on the table. “Where I come from, there are women of such beauty they can be the envy of the Princesses.” He sipped his second mug of mead without taking his eyes off her.

Dash leaned forward as well. “Darius, they sound like a deformed version of you. That couldn’t hold a candle to me, I mean a mare!” She bucked herself for that slip.

Darius scowled, but didn’t catch her slip. “What is that phrase? Treading on thin ice? Yes, you’re doing that now. If you have actually met one, you wouldn’t be saying that.” He asked her, daring her to respond from that.

She paused and looked away. “Fine, I’m sorry I asked.”

He wasn't satisfied with that. “But you’re not sorry for insulting my people?” 

Dash got defensive. “How do you expect me to think of it when you described it that way?”

Darius slammed his mug on the table. “I wouldn’t have to if I was actually with one! But that isn’t possible, is it?!” He stood up and staggered feeling the vertigo from the alcohol rushing out of his head and back. He cursed and walked off.

Dash sneered and looked down to the table trying to figure out what just happened and more importantly, why? She then looked up to find a very unhappy Pinkie Pie sitting across from her. “P-Pinkie?”

“What is the matter with you!?” She suddenly shouted, surprising the other patrons.

Dash fell off her chair as Pinkie glowered over her, now from the top of the table. “That is no way to treat a friend! What is it with you? Even when you’re drunk you’ve never acted like this!” She scolded the cyan pony.

Dash looked up then guilty looked down. “Oh rutt, I really screwed up this time.” She looked back up at her, who was now sitting on her chair, hooves over the backside.

“What is going on, Dash?” Pinkie asked concerned.

“It’s just that, I like hanging with him, but it’s like there is something else and I don’t understand it.” She got her footing and sat on the ground. “I’m curious about him, like more than I’ve ever been about a stallion.”

Pinkie eyed her inquisitively. "Go on.”

“He isn’t all about my looks. He likes me for me. I could count on him for anything. It’s just that...when he went out with Fluttershy, I was…was…” She said something under her breath.

Pinkie Pie pointed her ear to the cyan pony. “What? Can’t hear you.”

“I was jealous, okay?!” She snorted in frustration. This was embarrassing. “I’ve never felt like that for a colt.”

Pinkie Pie hopped down and spoke to her like a wise mare. “Well, maybe because you found a real good friend you can share the things you enjoy with, and your curious if it can get better.”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

Pinkie Pie smiled. “You’ll figure it out. But right now, you should find him and apologize!” She ordered.

She smiled appreciatively at her friend. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Thanks Pinkie!” She paid the bill and flew off. It was dark but her eyes were keen enough to find Darius stacking firewood.

She landed on the grass near his home, keeping a distance. “Darius?” She said.

Darius didn’t answer and kept working.

“I’m sorry, big guy. I was wrong, very wrong.” She said solemnly. “It was dumb of me to say those things and judging people I never seen or met. But if you’re still too angry to talk…”

Darius said nothing at first, then looked at her and sat down next to her on the grass. “Of course I forgive you. Besides you had too much to drink and so did I.” He shook his head in regret to that scene they made. “What I don’t understand is where did that really come from?”

“Promise not to laugh?” She asked.

Darius nodded. “Cross my heart.” He smiled.

She softly smiled. So they have that in their world too. “You know when you went on that trip with Fluttershy?” She paused in anticipation of humiliation for this. “I was...jealous.”

“Why?” He looked at her inquisitively.

Dash blushed. “You’re the first stallion…guy that I met that doesn’t make fun of me or like me just for my looks.” She flicked her mane. “And you enjoy the things I like! I even like the things we talk about.”

“So you want me all to yourself?” He looked at her with that sly grin again.

There it is again! Is that a flirt? Darnit! She can’t read his face! “What do you mean?”

“I was flirting and joking, Dash.” He saw her look of realization that made her more comfortable now. “So you think about me in that way? I didn’t think it was possible, to be honest.”

‘Me neither’, Dash thought. She looked into his eyes. “How does a Newman woman tell a man that she likes him?”

That caught him off guard but he was quite sure this implied Dash was getting interested in him. “Whoa.” He said expressing his surprise to the situation. “To be honest, I’ve never experienced it.” He looked at her embarrassed.

Dash gaped. “You? You’ve never been approached by a girl? What is wrong with them?” That was hard to believe! Even she could tell he must be good looking for his people’s standards.

He chuckled. “Hard to be approached when they know you’re gonna fight The Destroyer.” He said. “Dash, do you really like me in that way?”

Dash nodded. “I think so. You’re the first. I’m not asking if you wanna be my coltfriend right now. But you do interest me.”

Darius thought about that for a moment. A pony companion…he didn’t know if that was possible, but he couldn’t think of a rational reason to oppose it. Heck, members of his people have become brides/husbands of dragons, Zebra, and other beings throughout history. So… “Are you ready for my answer?”

Dash nodded nervously.

“I’m glad it’s you.” He said, seeing her face change to surprise. “I’ve never spent this much time with a…mare.  Indeed, I learned a lot about you in this short time.” He lay down on the grass, gazing at the stars. “And I like the things I learned.”

The pegasus sighed in relief and lay down beside him. “So…where do you want to go with this?”

“You mean where do we.” He corrected. That made her smile. “How about we have a better dinner tomorrow night and see what happens?”

Dash liked that. “So even if this goes nowhere, we stay friends?”

He nodded. “Always.”

“You’re a cool guy, Darius. Don't ever change.” She said as they shared a grin.

After a few minutes just watching the night sky, Dash spoke. “So who are you going to have mentor you next?”

“I have no idea. Any suggestions?” He asked as Dash looked up at the night sky.

She thought for a moment. “Pinkie Pie. She’ll teach you a thing or two about pony culture. She may seem crazy random sometimes, but she knows a lot on the ‘how-to’s’ and what-not of pony-life.” She yawned.

Satisfied with that, Darius did a leaping stand. “Excellent.” He saw her flutter up as well. “Then I bid you good night...” and as he turned to his house. “…gorgeous.” He walked away returning her compliment from last evening.

Dash shot him a grin and bit her lower lip before she flew back home.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

All your grammar corrections are belong to frieD195

The next afternoon Darius approached Sugarcube Corner after finishing work. He didn’t have any idea what to expect from this meeting. Pinkie always presented herself as a bubble-headed maniac. Laughter was her element, which was no surprise to Darius when he found that out. This should be easy, right?

The door opened and out bounced the pink pony herself. “Hi Darius! Good morning! I hope you and Dash made up. It would be horrible if you two broke up before your date tomorrow.”

Darius deduced ‘date’ meant a get together in the slightly intimate context. It was also a fruit and alternative word to day. “How did date get three meanings in your language?”

Pinkie giggled. “It just did. Ready to learn from the master of laughter?”

“Yeah, sure. But what are we doing? I mean I make Dash laugh all the time. It’s a wonder I haven’t learned your magic already.” He said.

Pinkie looked up at him like a teacher to a student who disappointed her. “There is more to my element than just a few chuckles.” He didn't expect that from her.

He nodded humbly. “Okay, okay. Maybe I took it too literally. Then what does your element mean?”

Pinkie smiled and led the way to an estate in Ponyville. “You’ll see.”

Darius never met the wealthier ponies in this land. He expected a larger home, but to see gardens and sculptures of foliage, that was weird. Why not let them grow as they are and cut them when needed? More importantly, why put a price on land? He inquired to Pinkie about this.

“Oh…well I guess that is silly, buying land and all.” Pinkie replied. She thought of a way explaining all this culture to him. “But the trees, bushes, and flowers really look pretty." She sneaked to a flower bush and bit one off eating it. "And delicious." She said trotting mirthfully.

Darius shrugged and accepted it. “So, who is he?”

“We’re gonna see Filthy Rich’s son, Gold Crown.” Pinkie replied as they reached the door.

“His father likes money and filth?” He grimaced.

She giggled. “No silly, his name is a figure of speech meaning he’s got a lot of money.” She knocked on the door.

Opening the door was, in fact, the wealthy-pony himself. “Oh, Pinkie! Welcome, welcome! Oh, but is this…the Newman? What is he here for?”

Pinkie explained as they were led in. “This is Darius, and will be my assistant for the day.”

Darius bowed politely to the pony. “Greetings Mr. Rich.”

“Well, I suppose more than one would help. Greetings, Mr. Darius.” He bowed pleasantly. “He’s in his room, Ms. Pie. Now if you excuse me, I have business to attend to.” He trotted off to his office. “And thank you again.”

“Okie dokie lokey.” Said the mare as she hopped and led the way.

Both Pony and Newman entered the bedroom with somepony in the bed.

“Hi Gold Crown!” She hopped in. “What are you doing in bed? Its morning! Common we got lots of things to do today!” She pulled the covers off.

The pony was a Unicorn. He must have been an adolescent. He too big to be a filly, Darius observed. But when he saw his face he saw white and white eyes! No color in them.

“Go away, Pinkie.” He grunted, tossed a pillow in Pinkie’s direction.

“Oooh, very good! You must have heard where I was.” She pushed him out of bed. “Now come on. You won’t get better laying here all sad and grumpy.”

The pony growled at her and got out of bed grudgingly. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” Shouted at her. He sniffed. “And who else is in here?” He looked vaguely in Darius’s direction.

“Very good, Crown. You’re getting good at using your other senses.” Pinkie smiled gently. “His name is Darius, a Newman from very far away. I’m teaching him, just as I am teaching you.”

The pony sniffed. “Yeah, I can smell him from here!” He snorted and headed to the bathroom.

Normally Darius would have talked down to this brat until he realized what he suspected was right. The way he walked cautiously and nearly bumped into the doorway. This pony was blind!

…

Well this morning wasn’t going well, Darius thought. So far he wasn’t learning laughter or smiles. Just frowns and pity.

The cause of this pony’s blindness was when Queen Chrysalis and her army of Changelings attacked Canterlot. Gold Crown was with his father when a Changeling shot him in the eyes, permanently blinding him. No healing spell has been able to reverse the damage given they know too little about Changeling magic. Gold’s progress in coping hit a standstill. He used to be angry and vengeful, wanting to find that Changeling and make him blind too. But those attitudes weren’t right in pony culture. Even though the attack hurt some and terrified others, the Ponys’ virtue of forgiveness persevered. But Gold Crown was struggling with that. Who could blame him?

Darius recognized this teen’s suffering like he in did in other folk having lost an arm, leg, or sense back home. This pony hated his life. He felt alienated despite everyone’s relentless attempt to help him. And worst of all, there was no justice. Pinkie had a reputation for helping the people in Ponyville be positive, if not happier. This was her toughest case. She could put a smile on the face of many when she worked hard at it, but Crown had a lot going against it. It would take a breakthrough for him to smile again.

Crown did very little as he walked through town without any aid. Pinkie explained he received training on how to hear his way around things, like the sonar of bats, which a lot of ponies thought was pretty cool. In addition, he even learned to use his horn start magically sense things. But what of reading? What of visual art? Those were things still denied to the pony. What was worse was Crown ignored or discouraged other ponies from approaching him. He was possibly the only pony in Equestria permanently blind. It was heartbreaking.

Then an idea came to Darius. There had to be a way to reverse this. If there was no known magic to cure it that Equestria had, the Changelings just might be able to. He whispered very low to Pinkie his idea for helping him, as crazy as it may sound.

Pinkie looked at Darius interested at his plan. “Oh my. Well, they did attack us but maybe. Are you really thinking they would? I don’t think Mr. Rich would approve, though.”

The Newman sighed. “Tell you what. Let me ask Twilight about the Changelings and for her to write to Princess Celestia about it. I think this kid deserves a chance demand the Changelings make amends for his injury at least.”

“But what if they can’t, or worse, won’t help him?” She asked very seriously.

“We have to try.” He replied. “I know encouraging him to adapt to his condition is his best hope for a life right now, but wouldn’t giving the Changelings a chance to make amends give him some closure?”

Pinkie thought about it for a moment. “Only if Mr. Rich and Princess Celestia approve.” She said sternly.

That was another thing he learned about the pink pony. When she got serious, she meant it, especially when it came to protecting her ward.

Noon was nearing. Before Darius proposed anything, he had to learn about the Changelings. Luckily Twilight was actually writing about them. Spike mentioned she very much wanted to be the first published author to write about their species, but she was hesitant because sadly, she had nothing good to promote any hope they could be friends to Equestria someday. So he listened as Twilight summarized what they knew so far.

Rarity was also present as she was measuring Twilight for a new outfit. Though she was getting distracted constantly turning her attention to her little ‘Spikey-Wikey.’ Darius was a bit disturbed the pearly unicorn having such…regard, for a twelve-year-old, even if he was a dragon. While Twilight thought on Darius's suggestion, Rarity added her two bits.

“Are you sure this will work, darling? After what they did and how we drove them out, I’m not sure they will be friendly with us.” Rarity said. “Can you explain your reasoning?”

“Back home, whenever there was a grievance between folk of one or more provinces, the leaders of both would meet to decide the best and fairest way to settle the dispute before it grew into something worse.” Darius explained. “Before any talks took place, both leaders would exchange a gift of some kind as a show of sincerity.”

Spike finally piped up. “But what can you give a Changeling? They feed off love, but we can’t exactly offer that.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s very strange but they treat love like food. Though I don’t know exactly how they extract it. I only remember seeing Princess Celestia cocooned…I feared they were trying to…” She turned a little pale and shuddered. Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder to snap her out of it.

“Can’t we offer something of that nature to them?” Darius said. Everypony looked at him like he just took his head off his body. “I mean in a different way.” He quickly recovered.

Twilight understood and then had a sudden realization. “Your right!” She got an idea. “And I think Zecora can help us with that.”

***

It was not easy getting Filthy Rich to agree to this meeting. If Celestia had not approved of it, he would have downright refused. That and Diamond Tiara, Rich’s daughter pleaded her dad to let her beloved brother have this opportunity. For a snooty filly, she at least values her family. Mr. Rich would only agree if Darius was made to be Crown’s bodyguard, just in case things got out of hoof. Of course, Darius agreed.

Luna decided transport them by carriage as well as to accompany them along with her Nightwing Guard. It was a good strategy sense Queen Chrysalis never encountered or dealt with the night princess.

The carriage flew towards the Forsaken Forest, where the Changelings resided. Darius couldn’t stop looking out the window. This was only his second experience flying. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, and a very nervous Gold Crown was with them. Luna was overseeing the flyers in her seat outside.

Crown was almost shaking. Darius looked at the unicorn and finally spoke to him.

“You’re nervous, huh? I thought you were looking forward to this.” He spoke.

Crown frowned. “Well, I am but…I never thought of what I would do or say if…” He went silent, turning slightly pale.

The Newman could see it in this kid’s eyes. His attitude and form changed. He was no longer a pony that would lash out at anyone who approached him. Now his defenses were down. “Crown. Do you want to hurt the Changeling who blinded you?”

Gold Crown looked as he was wrestling with that option. "I don't know anymore."

Darius thought for a moment and remembered something back home. He leaned over to Rarity and Pinkie Pie as they had a private chat.

“Rarity, back home there were some Newmen who would give of themselves to heal others. It’s a magic I was taught but I’m not sure it would work on ponies without help.” He asked.

Pinkie Pie was at a loss to what he was talking about. Rarity took a guess. “Give of themselves? You mean like an organ transplant?”

The Newman nodded. “If transplant means giving one’s own blood to help another who needs it. Then yes.”

The two mares looked at each other to see if the other got what he was insinuating. “But your magic barely works on ponies, Darius. And even if we could do that with our magic, that would be a great sacrifice to ask of a pony.” Rarity asked.

Darius felt they landed. “It isn’t a pony I intend to ask.” He stepped out.

A moment later a horn was blown by one of the guard. Darius stood beside Luna who was still sitting at her place. For some reason he didn’t feel so…humbled by her as much as he used to. If not he was inspired that she was here with them. Goddess or not, he was glad she was here.

It took half an hour but soon they were approached by what everypony recognized were Changelings. Darius grimaced at their forms. Like insects but unlike insects and like ponies yet unlike ponies. The tallest who led them was their queen, judging by her stature. They flew at great speeds and landed across from the ponies, but keeping their distance.

“So, Princess Luna approaches the borders of my lands. Very bold of you.” The Queen gave a half-sneer, half-amused face. She then looked up and saw the Newman. She gaped in surprise. “What is a Newman doing here? Have the Ley Lines finally calmed after all these centuries?”

Luna shook her head. “He was spirited here by the Destroyer, Queen Chrysalis, if that means anything to you.”

The Queen looked surprised for a moment but retained her composure. “Well, in that case it matters little what Entropy is up to, so long as he does it there. What brings you here?”

Darius invoked Dark and Light and jumped. Every Changeling thrall was alerted, their horns brimming with green energy. Darius landed equidistant between both ponies and Changelings. He addressed the Queen first, bowing. “Your majesty. I am Darius, Son of Manden, Avatar of Rift.” This was tough. He only witnessed a negotiation once. There was a lot of expected formality and he was doing this from scratch. “I have been given leave by the crown to mediate this meeting.” He made a gesture as Rarity and Twilight came out the back way with a vat floating between them.

“YOU!” The Queen snarled at Twilight. “You ruined everything!” Now her horn glowed before Luna created a lightning bolt that struck a mile away from them. It was loud enough to make her point clear for Chrysalis to not try anything. Despite her anger, the Queen didn’t attack. It was clear a fight here would be a big mistake. She knew very little of Luna, much less their allied Newman who already demonstrated some strange magic and physical prowess. “What is it this purple hussy brings to me?” She pointed a hoof at the vat.

Rarity was resisting the urge to chew the Queen out for insulting her friend, but she kept her calm and spoke. “Your majesty. We are aware your people feed off love for food. We offer this as our peace offering.” She lifted the cover and showed inside a pink liquid.

The Queen looked as if she had just saw heaven in that vat, if her senses weren't fooling her. Her minions floated to it almost drooling, but she hissed and they kept their distance. She kept her composure despite its heavenly aroma. “And this offering is?”

Twilight finally spoke, retaining her strong, yet intellectual composure. “It’s called a love potion, Queen Chrysalis. It is made using specific ingredients native to Equestria. Unlike love poisons, this potion fills a person’s heart with love. In other words, it’s a substitute for having to extract love from any unwilling beings.” She explained.

The Queen eyed it suspiciously. She first ordered a thrall to taste it. Without hesitation the creature lapped up a sample. And then it shed greenish tears releasing a very happy buzzing noise. Then the queen sampled it and became wide eyed. “It’s love! REAL LOVE!” She took another big gulp and nodded for her servants to engorge themselves on the sweet nectar.

Luna said as they finished. “And Ponyville can make more of it. If you will accept this as our peace offering.”

Queen Chrysalis looked into Darius’s eyes, then Luna’s. She knew ponies were magnanimous and soft hearted, but she wasn’t stupid. “But you expect a gesture of peace from me.”

“Yes.” Darius concurred. “One good turn deserves another. There is a member of your army that inflicted a grave injury against a citizen of Equestria.”

Pinkie Pie walked out with a very frightened Gold Crown. “Common, don’t be afraid.” Pinkie encouraged him.

“Who is this blinded pony?” The Queen asked looking coldly at the teen, who was too shaken by this to speak now.

Darius intervened for him. “His name is Gold Crown. His blindness was caused by the magic of one of your thralls. And there doesn’t appear to be a cure.”

The Queen thought for a moment. “If you came here seeking one from us, we have none. We regenerate our injuries. We have no need for healing magic.” She could see the pony was saddening now. She let out a quiet snort and rolled her eyes, like she was fighting off a feeling of pity for the visually crippled teen. Yet she gave in. “But I am a generous Queen. In the interest of peace, I will see that you shall receive your justice.” She nodded to one of her escorts and he flew away.

Things were quiet as they waited for what would transpire from this. Crown, on the other hand, was wrestling with the thought of taking back his dignity at the expense of his attacker. But it wouldn’t give him back his sight. He felt so torn.

Finally an armored vassal landed before them.

The Queen spoke. “This is the one whom I learned had blinded a pony fitting your description after we were...retreated from your land.” She said to Crown. “As a show of gratitude for introducing us to this new food source, his life is yours. Subdue him!” She ordered.

The armored vassal looked at his queen in shock as his armor was suddenly removed magically. The thralls proceeded to shoot him from all sides as he yelped in pain. The ponies looked away in horror.

Crown didn’t need to see to know what was happening. He made his decision. “STOOOOP!” He shouted.

The thralls disengaged their assault on the now-injured Changeling, who whimpered as he stood up and looked at Crown with combined relief and guilt.

Darius felt the time was right and knelt down between Pony and Changeling. “Changeling, what is your name?”

“We have no names.” He replied weakly. “Only our Queen takes one unless we mimic one of you.”

“Fair enough. You know what you did to this Pony?” He said. Seeing the Changeling nod shamefully, he spoke again. “Are you proud of blinding him?” The Changeling shook his head rapidly. “Why?”

“I meant only to stun him.” He frowned. “I was ordered to subdue, not maim. I…lost control and misfired.” He looked at Gold Crown pleadingly. “I maybe a Changeling but I am no monster. If I could give you back your sight, I would. I am very sorry for what I did.”

Darius then eyed Rarity, a pony so generous to him when he first arrived…Generosity! That was her element! He gestured for Rarity to come forth. “Rarity, generosity is your element, isn’t it?” The purple-manned pony nodded as she stood across from him. “I need help from your element.” Darius then addressed both princess and queen. “Princess Luna, Queen Chrysalis, it is within both your powers make this happen. Through the element of generosity, I propose we try this. Changeling, you sacrifice the sight of one of your eyes to restore one of Crown’s. You can never make up fully for your crime, but you can at least show your remorse is sincere. Is this acceptable, Crown?”

Crown was wide eyed and thought for a moment. He nodded. The vassal nodded as well. Luna and Chrysalis eyed each other as if gauging the other’s intentions. There seemingly was an unspoken understanding between them as they too agreed. They closed their eyes and their horns glowed, surrounding Crown and the Changeling their respective auras of magic.

“Rarity, your element.” He whispered took the hooves of both Changeling and Crown and concentrated on the sacrificial healing spell, while Rarity used her power to make this happen. There was a flash of light. When the light faded, Crown opened his eyes as his left eye changed back to its normal color. He stood face to face with the Changeling, who’s right eye was faded dark from blindness.

“How do we look?” Darius asked Crown.

Crown looked at Darius. “Weird.” He looked at the Changeling. “Sorry.” Then to Rarity. “and beautiful.”

There was a pause as Crown took a deep breath and slowly walked up to the Changeling. “I can forgive you now.” He then looked at Queen Chrysalis. “You gave me his life, and I have spared it.”

The half-blind Changeling looked like he was withholding his own tears as he bowed humbly in gratitude to Crown.

Rarity cleared a tear and sniffed as the negotiations came to a conclusion. She then noticed Darius’s foot had shined for a second as a very familiar symbol appeared there. She smiled. Well done, Darius. Well done, she thought.

***

The trip back was much more positive.

“This couldn't have turned out any better. We just made peace with the Changelings now. I know Chrysalis can be mean sometimes but I never thought she’d help with something like that.” Twilight smiled. “I can’t wait to write to Princess Celestia about it.” She fished for some paper and pen.

Rarity smiled as well. “Yes. And to see a Changeling sacrifice something of his to give joy back to another has certainly changed my opinion of them. It reminds me how I gave my tail to that serpent way back when.” She turned to see Darius with Pinkie Pie giving Crown some pointers on his new sight.

“Okay, you have no depth perception. That is okay, you just need to learn how to bob your head a little when you move to get a good idea of how far things are, let’s try it.” He removed the moccasins from his feat. “I’m going to move my hand or foot towards your face. You have to move out of the way.” The Newman began to slowly do slow mock-punches and kicks towards Crown as he dodged them enthusiastically as Pinkie happily egged him on.

‘Dear Princess Celestia…’

Twlight began to write.

‘With the help of Princess Luna, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Gold Crown, and Darius, we have made history. The Changelings have accepted our gift and have agreed to not make any more mischief. Queen Chrysalis has agreed to future trade negotiations for more love potion.

But more than that, I witnessed the emotions of remorse and redemption in the Changelings. I learned that not all of a group should be judged, even by the acts of the majority, and while Gold Crown only has half his vision, the sacrifice the Changeling who wronged him renewed his hope and helped him remember happiness.

It should be noted Darius was the one who came up with idea for this negotiation. I do believe he and I can learn from each other about our respective magical abilities to further advance our understanding of…’

She continued to write as the pleasantries carried on.

“I hope he’s going to be alright from now on. I’m sure we can get that other eye of his colored to look like his better eye…if he wants that, that is.” Rarity mentioned as Gold Crown laughed as he merrily dodged Pinkie's mock-hoof punches.

Pinkie Pie joined laughed as her bubbly disposition returned. She looked at Darius with a silly toothy grin gave Darius a strong hoof pat on the back. “Consider yourself passed, Darius! You get an A plus from the element of laughter!”

And it was here he learned ground ponies were simply strong in general. AJ was not alone in this trait. “WOAH!” He twisted himself and managed to fall onto his back as he hit the soft floor of the carriage, feet up in the air. He groaned annoyed.

Pinkie giggled. “Sorry about that, wait was is that?” She took hold of one foot and inspected the element of laughter on it, not knowing her fluffy mane was tickling the sole of his foot.

Darius began to snicker and was struggling to get up from his awkward position. “P-Pinkie, my feet!”

Pinkie wasn’t paying attention. “Cool, look he has my element on his foot!”

“Oh, really? Let me see, this is very fascinating!” Twilight got a closer look as her mane tickled his toes.

Darius chuckled uncontrollably finding it impossible to get up at this rate. “Ponies, your hair! Er tonbeni!” (It’s ticklish!)

Rarity grinned mischievously. “You should see his other foot; it has my element on it.”

Twilight and Pinkie Pie both got wide eyed: “IT DOES?!” They scrambled to look at both now.

From the outside, Luna could hear Darius laughing hysterically. She didn’t know what exactly those little ponies were doing but she guessed it was good for him.

***

The trip concluded with a happy reunion of Crown and his family. While the little ponies returned to their respective homes, Luna stayed to briefly chat with Darius.

“How are you feeling, Darius?” She asked.

“I’ve found ways to cope. Work, friends, learning, your quest for me to learn the elements…” He listed as he walked with her to his home. “I learned four in two days." He showed his hands and then pointed to his feet.

“We knew you could do it." She said proudly. "And what of companionship?” She asked smiling.

Darius took a deep breath. “I have a date with the element of loyalty tonight.” He hoped that wouldn't sound weird to her.

Luna smiled. “You chose well. Rainbow Dash is not the kind to limit herself based on differences. And neither do you, it seems.”

“Well, I don’t know if this will go anywhere. But I don’t think I’ll last long going celibate here.” He gave a low chuckle.

“Nor should you have to.” Luna giggled. “You also aren’t as humbled being around a Goddess, it seems.”

Darius thought on that for a moment. “I was depressed at first, but now…now that I know who the Goddesses are, I’m inspired. You cared enough to tell me the truth and to help me.” He looked at her. “Now I honor you both.”

Luna smiled warmly. “We honor you as well, Darius.” She looked and saw the sun setting. “Well if you excuse me, duty calls. I hope you and Rainbow Dash enjoy your time with each other.” She flew off.

Darius watched her fly to the horizon (where the moon and stars awaited) for a moment before heading home. He freshened up before hearing a knock at the door. He opened it to see the cyan blue Pegasus at his doorstep.

Dash flew right up to his face and looked at him annoyed. “That's twice you go on a dangerous adventure and you didn’t invite me!”

Darius explained. “Luna felt it best to limit our group.” He smiled. “Besides I know if we were in trouble, you’d come rushing to our aid, right?”

Dash smirked forgiving. “In ten seconds flat, big guy. I’ll let you off the hook this time.” She smiled. “Oh yeah, what do you think?” She turned around and showed off what Darius assumed was a saddle for pegasi, leaving her wings free. It was golden in color with a silvery trim.

Darius didn’t notice she was wearing anything at first. He almost never saw anypony wear clothes and only just learned from Rarity they sometimes wore jewelry, cloaks, and the occasional shoes for formal occasions. But saddles? They were for riding, yet apparently it was a style in this land. Regardless of the differences, it did make her look more beautiful. “It looks good on you.” He complimented and it came to mind he did find Dash attractive in looks as well as personality. “You are beautiful, you know that? I know it’s different coming from me, but I mean it.”

Dash turned around and smiled blushing. “I usually don’t get dressed up like this, but we’re going someplace fancy tonight. Rarity kept egging me to try it sometime but I couldn’t find a handsome guy to go with.” She winked at him.

“Until now.” Darius grinned and put a leather vest on that matched his trousers. “Then I guess we should both look good for the occasion.” They walked out together. “What a pair for a night on the town, eh? Most awesome flyer in Equestria?”

She grinned. “Coolest Avatar from Rift? The best pair!”

They both chuckled at the stroking of their egos as they headed to the restaurant.

I have to admit, this was the hardest chapter I have written. Finding a good and significant way to represent the learning of laughter as an element was not easy. But I think it works here. I had thought of doing a silly chapter for laughter, but honestly I'm not very good at writing comedy. Comedy relief, yes, but pure comedy? Not so much to do Pinkie Pie that kind of justice. So I wanted to show a side of Pinkie that is represented in MLP and her efforts to make others happy. And I think that represents the spirit behind the element of laughter. Not just laughing, but happiness and joy. And what better way to show her determination than to give her a really tough case she would never give up on? No matter how impossible it may seem. Anyways, I'm open to criticisms in this chapter. Like I said, this was the hardest to write.


> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No iron can pierce the heart with such force as a period put just at the right place." –Isaac Babel 
Thanks to frieD195 for your diligent editing.

This time the two refrained from drinking too much. That and they felt a little out of place here. The food was exotic by Equestrian standards. Though it seemed half of it Darius can get back home anytime. Darius chuckled as he and Dash talked about food. He found it funny that these ponies thought rice was an exotic ingredient, as well as mushrooms and potatoes. They were common ballast for an empty belly back home, he described. As they waited for their meal, Dash brought up a relevant topic.

“Okay, those teeth of yours. That means you eat meat, right?” She asked.

Darius nodded. “Well I can eat meat. Back home I did, if that is what you’re wondering.”

Dash grimaced a bit at the thought of eating another living creature, but she remembered this time to inquire more instead of judging. “So…your people would have to kill the animal, and do something else with it. I mean, Gilda ate fish and all, but…” She was trying to get her question down.

“How about I describe our culture on meat?” Darius offered. Seeing she nodded, he began. “We value life as you do, but we do have dietary needs. I can subsist on Equestrian cuisine; you have a larger variety of fruits and vegetables than we do. Back home, however, we don’t and thus we do murder animals for our survival. We aren’t ravenous about it, nor do we take enjoyment in such. Our hunters are humble and respective to what they kill. Spiritual even. We apologize to the creature, even when preparing and eating it; we honor the fallen beast for keeping us alive.” He took a sip of the wine. “Just as there are larger predators that will hunt us, we hunt as well. Thus, we Newman are part of a cycle of life that we must respect and understand.”

Dash listened very intently as the rolls were brought to their table. “Huh, that’s pretty deep. I just learned it was horrible and we can’t live off meat, anyways.” She grabbed a roll in her mouth and ate it merrily.

“And yet your kin also regards animals as equals as another reason to not eat them, much more to be benignant to them.” Darius observed.

Dash blinked. “Benig-what? Oh, you mean benign? Yeah, I guess. Fluttershy could relate to that.” She then saw their waiter bringing the main course of a shared hot pot with a side of rice. “Let’s dig in.”

Dash tried eating as how Rarity instructed her for more expensive places. It made Darius snicker seeing her trying to act classy in front of the other patrons. In time, she just gave up seeing as how Darius wasn’t putting that much effort to mimic the patrons in terms of mannerisms. The Newman glanced and caught some ponies staring at them. Well, he shouldn’t be surprised. A pony very much not known for fancy interests and a foreign creature having a candlelight dinner. Let them stare, he thought. Then he saw one particular stallion eyeing at Dash’s saddle as his eyes traveled downward towards her…time to put that stallion in his place!

He leaned forward and caught the wealthy pegasus’s attention with his glare. “Something I can do for you?” He said in a tone that chilled the gawker’s blood as he tore his gaze away and went back to minding his own business.

Dash noticed and giggled. “Can you blame him? It’s hard not to want a piece of Dash.”

Darius was about to protest before he slightly jumped in his seat feeling a hoof softly brush against his leg. Well played, Dash. He regained his composure but couldn’t hide the flushing of his cheeks, much to the cyan Pony’s amusement. “Sneaky.” He mock-scolded her.

Dash snickered. “You’re more fun than Gilda.” She ate.

“Who is Gilda?” Darius asked.

She sighed. “My best friend since I was a filly. I told you I hated professional flight school. She was the only friend I had to make it bearable. After she left I just couldn’t take it anymore. We tried being friends when she visited, then she started treating my friends here like the others back in school. It’s sad she didn’t outgrow that but I can understand it. I was constantly getting teased by ponies for being too competitive, but she always had my back.” She looked into his dark eyes.

He caught on the ‘being teased’ bit. “Let me guess, you were better than everypony in your class and they were trying to hold you back.” He added.

She snorted. “My class? Try the whole school! That school was too much about being fair, instead of letting the best be the best. So instead of being admired for it, I was the outsider.”

“That was their loss, then. They missed an opportunity to follow your example.” That cheered her up. “But what about the Wonderbolts? Don’t’ they require schooling?” Darius asked.

Dash shook her head. “Trust me, if that were true I would never have left. Did you know Spitfire dropped out too? The Wonderbolts are awesome. They’re not looking for pegasi who let themselves be grounded. They’re looking for the coolest, the determined, like me!” She said looking up to the stars with her trademark confident grin; like she was envisioning herself as one right now.

Darius applauded her tenacity. “Heh, so you school yourself the way you see fit. That is different than how it went for me.” He enjoyed his meal.

“Didn’t you have mentors?” She asked. “The physical stuff sounds fun, but the magic stuff? I can’t imagine you as an egghead.” She grinned to him.

Darius explained. “Well, the best part about being an Avatar is you learn intuitively. You don’t spend hours reading scrolls and listening to sages; just hours listening to sages with occasional conk,” he tapped his head with his fist, “for falling asleep.” He laughed.

She laughed with him. “That is so our professors back at school.” She mimicked the voice of an old pony. “Pay attention you youngin.” They laughed so more.

He sat back. “Well the sages used their magic around me and I had to let it be part of my Light. So it was trial and error. Trust me, the errors in magic weren’t exactly fun to deal with.” He humorously grimaced remembering the time he air-blasted himself into a wall or accidentally set his hair on fire. “I like to think these markings are badges of honor for hard work.”

“Mind showing them to me again?” She asked warmly.

Darius gladly invoked both Light and Dark. Other patrons couldn’t help but stare at spectacle. Some even approached and looked closer.

Dash gazed admirably at him then noticed the growing audience. She scowled and propped herself by her forehooves on the table, standing on her chair. “Back off. He’s mine.” She warned, spreading her wings in a gesture of dominance. The other patrons, not wanting to incur the wrath of a pegasus who can create a tornado, all returned to their tables and tried not to gawk at the Newman.

Darius toned down the power so it barely shone on his body to stop drawing attention as he looked surprised at the mare. He leaned forward when Dash seated herself again. “You know, it’s different seeing a lady do that.” He grinned.

Dash blushed and giggled. “You like seeing me assert myself?”

“Indeed. So have you already decided I’m the one you want?” He cracked that grin, which Dash remembered was his ‘flirting face.’

Dash blushed more. “You mean like a special somepony?”

Darius figured that must be important in pony relationships. “Is that like a mate or something?”

Now she was purple. “N-no, well, sometimes, I mean it just means you’re special and loved by…” She was nearly stuttering at this point. Celestia! He really knew how to get her flustered.

Darius chuckled and put a gentle hand on her hoof, noticing she warmed up to his touch. “I think I get it. We called that 'nelina'; or 'cherished' in your language.” He withdrew smiling and finished his share of the food. “Mr. Cake told me about Hearts and Hooves Day. I heard ‘special somepony’ had something to do with that. Is that the holiday for ponies to seek such?”

Dash nodded and frowned. She spent many of those days sometimes being alone, sometimes with a stallion that didn’t interest her, or turned out to be a jerk. Would this one be different? Her thoughts were interrupted when the dessert tray was presented to them.

Darius looked impressed at the display. “I see why the food is so expensive. They put it all together like an art piece.”

Dash smiled and they each chose their desert. The two switched to conversation to talk about other adventures and exploits. Dash could tell Darius was holding back on some of the details of his journey before he faced the Wyrm. What he felt comfortable sharing sounded harsh. She almost pitied his race having to deal with such a violent monster. Ponies have had moments of danger and violence in history, but the Newmen’s situation was worse. It’s no wonder his people have less taboos on death and killing. They are fighting to survive. She understood that now.

The desert was finished. The bill was paid. Upon leaving the restaurant they took the longest path back to his home, continuing to talk about their adventures. Dash noticed a slight grimness in his tone that indicating his being homesick. Dash figured it was some lingering sorrow being away from his family. She finished the story of how she and Fluttershy rescued Rarity and Spike when the little dragon became a huge monster, and that reminded her of an important point to inquire about.

“This…Wyrm you told us about. You think it would try to come here?” She asked.

Darius dreaded Dash would ask this question. “It’s…unlikely.” He hoped that would settle the topic. Please, he begged in his mind, don’t ask anymore, Dash.

“But you’re not sure?” She asked concerned.

The Newman cursed in mind, heart, and soul. May Celestia forgive him. “Dash, I wounded the Wyrm greatly. I’m sure it just sent the golems in an act of desperation. Even if it could muster the strength to travel all the way to the Northern Ley Line, it wouldn’t last the trip.” It hurt to withhold information from her. The princess obviously knew the Wyrm is alive, and is coming here. In his heart, Dash was now becoming a more important part of his life, he realized. He just needed to learn the elements of harmony to do this himself, so nopony would be at risk. Especially her.

Dash accepted his explanation…mostly. She couldn’t help but to think that wasn’t all of it, but she wouldn’t push him for more. “Well, even if it does, you have all of us to back you up, especially me.” She displayed her confident grin.

Darius hesitated as he pushed that subject to the back of his mind as they reached his house. He turned to her and decided to try something different tonight. He put his arms around her and brought her into a hug.

Dash blushed and put her forehooves around his neck. She softly nuzzled his cheek. This felt wonderful, she agreed. She draped her soft wings onto his arms in appreciation. “Definitely an awesome night.” She whispered.

“Two questions; how about joining me, Applejack, and Twilight tomorrow? Got to two more elements to learn.” He smiled.

Dash nodded. “Okay, just don’t conk me if I sleep during Twi’s stuff.” They chuckled. “And your second?”

Darius smiled. “Do you still want to see all my markings?”

Dash warmed up in his arms. “But, you’d have to…” She looked at him blushing.

“I don’t mind for this moment. Besides nopony else is around. I think can tolerate it for your curiosity.” He smiled gently.

“O-only if you’re really sure.” Her wings extended to the thought as she landed and Darius stepped back into a shaded area out of the moonlight. Now he was a shadow figure in her vision. He promptly undressed in front of her. It was too dark to see anything personal. Then it happened. He let those markings glow in all their glory. The bluish and reddish cutie-markings glowed like they were painted over a dark silhouette from head to toe. It was breathtaking. Even better, she could see four out of six elements of harmony glowing with them on his hands and feet. Then she watched him look up at the sky and they glowed golden now. Was this the 'joining' he was talking about? She stared in awe at him before he broke the silence.

“Well, what do you think?” He asked.

Dash had no words for this. Not only did he put his trust in her to put aside his nudity taboo, but gave her a glimpse of all his markings. She hovered up to be face to face with him, avoiding looking down past his waist for fear she’d ruin this and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “Awesome.” She smiled. “I know it feels awkward, but you really do look cool like this.”

Darius chuckled. “Then I am not ashamed.”

She giggled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, handsome.” She fluttered back and began to turn around but paused and looked back at him with one eye as he redressed his trousers, waiting for him to look up.

Darius looked up finally fastening his belt to catch a glance at the smiling mare showing off a little flank, flicking her tail and giving that sultry smile she made in the hospital before, only it seemed sincere this time. With a wink, she turned and flew off. He was dumbfounded at first, but the realization hit him. He chuckled thinking how strange he could now recognize what ponies considered physically appealing in a potential ‘cherished.’ The funny part was it was starting to work on him…well for Dash anyways.

****

“Captain? How many of those golems are left?” Princess Celestia asked as she walked with him down a corridor in Canterlot Castle.

“We demolished two, your majesty. Darius told Princess Luna he dispatched one as well after it corrupted a Stellar Bear. These things are proving to have thinking minds, it seems.” The guard pegasus said. “But the fewer there are, the harder they will be to find.”

“I’m sure your soldiers are doing their best. Has the Northern Line watch-post been evacuated?” Celestia asked her subordinate.

“Yes, and we established a perimeter forbidding anypony from coming within ten miles of the Northern Ley Line.” The Captain replied.

Princess Celestia thought for a moment. “Darius has learned four elements…" She spoke. "Captain, have all information about the last sightings of those golems sent to me immediately.”

****

Early rise, early finish. Darius sung a working tune in his native tongue as he completed his orders before lunch with a motivated energy he had not had since he left home for his quest. His mind was on last night, what else? He felt a burst of enthusiasm today. After cleaning up the workshop and forge, he cleaned up just in time to hear a knock at his door. “Nomda dior!” (Come on in!).

His door opened with Applejack and Rainbow Dash entering. “Howdy Darius! Heard yuh gave Dash ah bit of a show last night.” She grinned teasingly.

Darius froze. If that meant what he thought it meant. “Dash?” He scowled.

Dash looked at him innocently. “I didn’t say a thing, big guy, I swear!”

AJ chuckled. “Nope, twasn’t her. Mah sneaky sister an’ her friends got interested in yer cutie-markings and stalked you home after you flared them up at the restaurant.”

Darius couldn’t believe this. That was for Dash, and Dash only. If it hadn’t been for the fact ponies had no concept of nudity taboos, he’d be upset now. “Tuath. Did anyone else peep that late at night?” He asked annoyed.

“Naw. Cherilee confirmed from them nopony else saw you.” She said casually.

“They told…their teacher? Did news spread to anyone else?” His right eye twitched.

“Most the town.” AJ smiled sympathetically.

Dash progressed from a giggle to full on laughter rolling on the couch.

“Not funny.” The Newman scolded her tossing his sweat rag on her, she kept laughing despite it landed on her head.

AJ chuckled. “Awe come on Darius. Dun be embarrassed. Nopony’s teasing you because someone saw you unclothed, jus’tat yuh finally stopped bein’ so modest for uh bit.”

He groaned. “You mean the fact I cover myself down there is humorous?” He walked with them out of the door.

Dash threw off the rag and fluttered up, hugging him. “Hey, nobody is making fun of you.”

He sighed and smirked, then put his arms around her and returned her hug. “I believe you. Anyways, good morning.” He smiled.

“I like this one, Dash. Don’t let him go astray.” AJ approved.

Dash just grinned and stayed close to her coltfriend.

They made their way to Twilight’s home. After a knock, they were welcomed in by Spike.

“Hey guys, come on in.” Spike gingerly greeted them. All of the sudden he belched his signature green flame to reveal a letter they received from Princess Celestia herself. “Just in time.” He said and read the letter. “Is she serious?”

Twilight turned from her piles of books she had been reading about magic and teaching it when she approached Spike. “What is it, Spike?” She magically brought the letter front and center. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. It has come to our attention that the remaining golems have likely taken refuge in some old ruins located at the northeastern mountain range that accompanies Everfree Forest. I am requesting you, Darius, and anypony you can take with you to investigate. Do not take any unnecessary risks and have Spike to send for help here if you encounter trouble you can’t handle. Signed, Princess Celestia.” The purple pony looked up from the letter and squealed excited. “Finally! I have been wanting to go there for months!”

“Ruins? RUINS! OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!” She fluttered around excited. “Just like Daring Do! This is gonna be awesome!”

To see both Twilight and Dash get excited about the same thing seemed rare, as AJ chuckled at the sight. But something occurred to Darius. “If not for the fact you ponies handled yourselves against the bigger ones earlier, I’d have insisted you stay put. Although, maybe you should…” He then looked into Dash’s eyes, which displayed fiery determination (and warning) that told him he’d better not dare try to keep her from coming with. “…should take extra supplies with us just in case.” Wow, he thought. He only remembered seeing his mother give his dad that glare once.

Dash flashed her confident grin in victory. “Don’t worry, I won’t let the same thing happen to me twice. I told you, I’ll protect you this time.” She softly hoofed him on the chest.

AJ, the voice of common sense, spoke up. “Now hang on there sugarcubes. We ain’t goin’ on ah vacation here. It’s right in the letter. Them ruins have got them statues waitin' for us. And need ah remind you wut else lives near the mountains?” She pointed a hoof at the two.

Twilight was the first to remember. “Diamond Dogs.” She sighed.

Darius remembered hearing of them. “Can I get a better description of these…dogs?”

Dash clarified. “Well, they’re kinda like you, but doglike. They tried kidnapping Rarity so she would find gems for them. But Rarity totally messed with their heads and they begged us to take her back.” She chuckled.

“But they do carry weapons. Though I think, they’re just fer show. Ah never heard of a Diamond Dog hurting ah pony.” AJ added her two bits.

Darius shrugged. “If they get violent, then they’ll get hurt.” He pointed to the sword-marking at the palm of his hand. The other ponies looked at him a bit scared. “Oh, right.” He kept in mind how violence of that nature was rare and horrifying to ponies. “Save my sword for the golems, go easy on the Diamond Dogs.” He cracked his fists.

Dash grinned. “Awe yeah, they won’t know what hit them.” She crossed her front hooves as she hovered beside him.

***

AJ thankfully could carry enough supplies for journey and back, but Darius advised her to pack more veggies and fruits that can keep longer. He had been through Everfree Forest twice and could easily show them what to forage for to save on provisions. Twilight kept the list of things needed in check and brought with her research material on the ruins. The other three of the mane six regretted not coming but they had work to catch up on.

Spike was excited this time to finally tag along instead of being left behind to run the library. He bragged how it impressed Rarity as he showed off the kiss of ‘good luck’ he got from her.

The journey southwest through the forest was uneventful. Both Dash and Darius were perceptive enough to keep their group on track and to avoid dangerous predators. Spike showed to be more apt at foraging than even the Newman. So they weren’t short on food or water as the little dragon fetched nature’s bounty and refilled their canteens at nearby rivers and springs. AJ kept the group’s enthusiasm with traveling tunes.

But things had to get quiet as they approached a winding mountain trail. The forest was behind them and the rocky path slow ascended left and right. Poor Spike was ever hindmost having trouble keeping up. He may be a dragon, but he was still a kid. It reminded Darius of his little brother back home. So like a big brother would, he took the little guy on his shoulders. At first Spike was completely shocked and had no idea how to react to this, but then equated it to Twilight letting him ride on her back. Besides, it would have seemed silly if Darius got on all fours and did the same. The dragon comically elected Darius better for it sense it made him feel taller (and chuckles were shared).

No sign of Diamond Dogs, serpents, or any other mountain creatures, Dash reported as she swooped back to the group after scouting ahead. She didn’t go too far up. Twilight insisted she stayed near. It was nearing the afternoon that they approached what appeared to be stone-steps. They were old but still usable.

“Yep, these are the steps to the ruins alright.” Twilight read in her book for clarification.

“Well, duh. What else would they be used for?” Dash remarked.

Twilight ignored that and led the way this time. “This is so exciting. Nopony has been to these ruins before. Did you know it was the Griffons that first saw them…” There was a faint rumbling, and it was getting louder.

Darius switched to Light and cursed looking up the stairs. “Dash! Twilight!” He hoped Dash understood as he yanked AJ by the tail and picked up spike to take cover behind the nearest rock face off the path. Much to his relief Dash grabbed Twilight by her tail towards the rock face on the other side, avoiding the falling rocks. The rumbling was like thunder as the boulders violently rolled down the steps. After the dust cleared, the five sighed in relief.

“What could have caused that?” Spike said shaken. “Should I contact Princess Celestia?”

Darius shook his head. “Shh.” He waved his hands to Dash and Twilight on the other side. He then pointed to himself and pointed upward. Then pointed to them including AJ and pointed to the ground. He hoped they got it he wanted them to stay put. Darius then kept Light going and concentrated hard as his skin began to change color and texture to match the very rock. The other ponies gaped at this feat of magic.

Darius crept up the edge of the stairs as quiet as can be until he got a view of what looked to be the entrance to the ruins. Above the arched entrance was a statue of a wolf’s head, claws draped over the top of the arch, warning against intruders with bared teeth. The boulders themselves seemed to have originated from inside the ruins, given the path debris they left behind. But not a soul was to be seen. He then ended the spell and waved to the Ponies, who caught up with him shortly.

“Where did them balders come from?” AJ asked nervously.

“From inside. They weren’t intended for us, I believe.” Darius said. “Whatever they came from was probably set off by someone else inside and just happened to be on this path.” He stood.

“What was that magic you did?” Spike asked. “That was neat!”

“It’s a hunters’ talent known as 'chameleon'. But I can’t do that too much, it’s exhausting.” He said wiping the sweat from his head. “Dash, I hate to say this but I think you should hover ahead of us, while Twilight shines a light your way. Your eyes are keen and most of the traps here are likely to be for ground-pounders like us. So you’ll detect them better without setting them off.”

Dash saluted. “You got it big guy. Just keep your eyes ahead and not on my flank.” She winked.

Darius smirked. Good one, you flirt.

AJ chuckled. “Very good idea…on both suggestions, Romeo.” She tapped Darius on the shin jeeringly.

“That means AJ should be behind me in case I step on one so she can pull me back. I'm not as fast as Dash. Darius, you stay behind us. And Spike.” Twilight got out a big stick of chalk. “You’re picking up the rear because you have to mark an arrow where we have gone so we can backtrack.”

Spike nodded.

They had a plan and a formation, and so they journeyed by magic light into the dark ruins, with Dash silently giggling like a giddy schoolfilly, feeling like her favorite heroine.

> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know, this chapter used to be grammatically incorrect manuscript. Then it took a correction to the text!
Thanks again to frieD195 for your edits

Tearing Twilight away from the various glyphs and writings on the walls was difficult. It was annoying the group to no end, especially Dash who needed her light to see the ground below them.

“Sugarcube! Enough with the sight-seein’! We can come back after we know it’s safe!” AJ scolded the purple pony.

Twilight sheepishly apologized and resumed helping the group. Darius made sure Spike kept up. The last thing they needed was for anyone to get lost here.

Then there were the traps. The first trap they discovered opened the ceiling, but only a few pebbles fell out. The group deduced it was the boulder trap that was set off from earlier. The others were pressure plates scattered down hallway. Some of were already set off. Thanks to Darius’s sword, he need only push down on each plate to see which would go off and which were safe. The most impressive trap was the net traps that fell apart. Apparently certain traps rot with age.

Down the hall they arrived at an intersection.

“Hm, according to the Manual for Ruins Exploration, we should go left first, then once we are done exploring that, we return and take the…” Twilight was about to finish.

Dash interrupted. “Oh please. In all the Daring Do novels, the important stuff is always straight ahead.”

“Um…guys?” said Spike trying to get everyone’s attention as he gazed down straight ahead. His keen dragon vision could see what looked like eyes.

Darius kept his Light going until he stepped into the intersection, then his Light stopped…no, it was being suppressed! What?

“Dash, this isn’t fiction. We need to comb this place thoroughly. Those golems could be hiding anywhere.” Twilight retorted.

“Guys?” Spike raised his voice a little. To the right was another pair of eyes moving closer.

“Tarnation, how about we just compromise and take the right path?”

“Guuuys!” Spike pointed to the left as a doglike shape came out of the shadows.

“What?” All three ponies turned their attention to Spike.

“My Light isn’t working here!” Darius switched to Dark, it worked just fine, all attention was on him this time, then finally they heard the raspy voice of a five foot brutish-looking Diamond Dog.

“What have we here? More intruders?” Said the tallest. The average one growled in warning. The shortest snarled. “Maybe they were called here by them.”

Back to back, the ponies, Newman, and Dragon stood guard.

“Who’s the taller one? He one of us?” The average sized asked.

“No… too ugly to be a Diamond Dog. But he looks an awful lot like them statues!” Said the shortest growled.

The Newman spoke up. “There are five of us, three of you. Do you really want to start trouble?”

“We took these things from your friends.” They took out obsidian staves with the greenish runes on them. “I say that makes things even!”

“EVERYONE, DODGE!” Darius shouted as he leapt high over. Dash followed suit while the rest scrambled.

And with that, the dogs pointed their staves and fire green bolts of energy from them. “Hold still!” Shouted the average size dog.

“Don’t touch those staves!” Darius warned and formed his blade and landed in front of the tallest, connecting with the staff of the tallest Diamond Dog. “You have any idea what that IS?!” He shouted at the canine. All the sudden his Dark stopped working, but his Light worked! What is going on? The tallest pushed him back and fired as Darius slashed his sword and destroy the bolt. Upon stumbling back onto the floor of the intersection, his Dark started working again. “Huh?”

Dash proved impossible to hit as she circled around while the average-sized dog fired at her. Seeing her best friend getting shot at, AJ charged and bucked the average canine down the hall, where he landed with an agreeable thud. Dash grinned. “Awe yeah.” 

The smallest went from firing bolts to shooting green-lightning as Twilight kept a shield going to keep it off. Thinking quickly, Spike breathed fire below its feat, heating the stone floor as the three foot mutt ‘danced the hot-foot.' Ow! Ow! Ow! Taking this opportunity, Twilight floated the staff away from the dog and dropped it elsewhere.

Darius, however, had to take note of these floors and how they were affecting him. He couldn’t best this bigger one with strength as long as he stood there, but he couldn’t safely over power his magic from a distance. Oh well. He dashed forward and slid, ducking the dog’s bolts and went to Light immediately. He projected dispelling into his hands but he wasn’t fast enough. Grabbing onto the staff, he tried casting the spell, but the bigger dog was stronger (and faster) and threw him off against the wall. Pointing his staff at Darius, he grinned until he was hoofed in the face by a flying cyan pony.

“Stay off my coltfriend!” Dash shouted as the dog stumbled back.

The dogs yipped and ran off into the dark, leaving their staves behind.

“Horsefeathers! The nerve of them dogs! Ah thought they were a bunch of hooligans, but now they crossed the line!” She stomped her front hooves into the ground.

“These staves are odd. I have never seen a magic like this before.” Twilight peered closer to the artifact.

“Right, and it’s a magic you need not learn. That the Wyrm’s essence. It does nothing but destroy.” He felt Light no longer work and Dark working again. “And we have another problem.” He realized.

“What is it, big guy?” Dash asked.

“These floors are enchanted to suppress my power. On this floor, Light doesn’t work, so I cannot use any spells. The one up ahead suppresses Dark. This was set up for me, no doubt.”

Twilight took a risk and scanned the staff with her magic. “I see. It’s entropy magic, eww.” She tossed it aside. “And as for the floors,” she contemplated. “Let’s see...” She projected a spotlight from her horn down the hall, illuminating the auras on each floor showing off Blue and Red on some floors. “Well Darius. I think I know the problem. These floors were recently enchanted. If you step on a red floor, you can only invoke Dark, but blue floors only permit Light.” She proudly figured it out.

Darius snorted. “I doubt these dogs could pull that off. So…I guess I’m going to rely on you to point them out. As for the Diamond Dogs, I don’t think they understand how dangerous it was to use those staves. I’m amazed they managed to take them from the golems.”

“They’re good at taking things that don’t belong to them." Spike remarked.

"Okay, we should proceed straight ahead, same formation, same caution.” Twilight replied.

Dash looked at her surprised. “I thought you said we should explore the other ways.”

“Yes, but the Diamond dogs always travel in packs. Those three had to have all come from a single point of origin that all these passages connect to. So the logical step is to keep moving forward.” Twilight reasoned as she shone her light further down the stairs. “And with some adjustments…” She concentrated and her light was now revealing red and blue fields that outlined the floors. “Perfect.”

Darius nodded impressed. “Indeed.”

Spike continued to mark the way they went as they went down the stairs. Before they knew it, they encountered another intersection with paw prints indicating the three they encountered earlier all met here and ran further down the corridor. All of the sudden there was another series of ‘yipps’ as the Diamond Dogs were making a b-line in their direction, terrified.

“Here they come again!” Applejack stood ready.

“Hang on.” Darius stepped forward. “What are you running from?!” He shouted.

“Th-th-hey broke free!” Said the small dog.

“Th-they’ve remade the main chamber!” Added the tallest.

“Please don’t hurt us! Just let us go! You can have the sanctuary!” The average one begged.

“We’re not with them!” Twilight scolded. “Is that why you attacked us?”

The three looked shamed realizing their mistake. “The thing is, they walk on two legs like that guy.” The smallest pointed at Darius. “Yeah, we thought you were with them.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Idiots.” He grumbled.

“Let ‘em run. We can handle them. These lug-heads will just get in the way.” Dash remarked.

The tallest glared and snarled. “Hey! It’s not our fault they've got magic! Bet you can't do any better!”

Dash got in his face. “Oh yeah!?”

“Enough!” Darius shouted. “You three are coming with us!” He pointed to the Diamond Dogs and shocked everyone and everypony. “You attacked us with their weapons! Those vile things would’ve KILLED us! If you want to make up for that and your past wrongs, you will help us destroy those golems and cleanse this sanctuary!”

The dogs looked at each other. “Work together?” They all said to each other. They huddled and mumbled to each other for a moment before they turned to the group. “Okay, we’ll join your pack.” Said the tallest.

“Big guy, you sure about this? They’ve been nothing but trouble!” Dash interjected.

“And it’s time they made up for it.” Darius walked ahead. “Okay dogs, you got further than us so lead the way.” He commanded.

“We take the short cut this time; the longer way has more traps.” Said the average.

And so they followed them. The dogs lead them on a path of tiles, which avoided the spike traps. They then took the shortcut. As they ran down the corridor, Dash scouted too far ahead to notice when they encountered a new trap. The large floor below them opened down towards a pit! What is worse was it suppressed Dark. Darius barely managed to grab the edge on the other side. Twilight teleported herself and Spike to safety. The dogs were already at the edge, but poor AJ was slipping of the floor as it opened down to the pit below!

In a feat of quick thinking, the three canines formed a chain-link as the smallest leaped to AJ and grabbed her tail, with the average leaping and grabbing his tail, then the tallest holding on to his tail from the edge. After pulling everyone up, they sighed in relief.

AJ caught her breath from that scary experience. “Okay, you dogs earned yer merit.”

The dogs nodded proudly and said: “Thank you.”

Dash helped Darius up. “You okay, big guy?” He nodded and pointed ahead for them to continue.

They reached a larger chamber but the dogs stopped. “This is where we found them!”

They approached an entrance overlooking a chamber about 50 yards long and wide, which consisted of a series of platforms held up by pillars. They stood across from each other and over a nasty drop into a bed of sharp rocks. The entrance had only a short lip of stone overlooking it as Darius stepped forward. Upon entering the chamber a field of energy separated him from the others, and the lip began to slowly withdraw.

“Tarnation!” AJ cursed.

“Darius!” Dash shouted as she and AJ bucked against the solid field, but to no avail.

The dogs themselves also pounded against it. They then whispered to each other and ran back down the hall.

“Where are you going?!” Spike shouted but they were already out of sight. “I knew we couldn’t trust them!”

Twilight shined her light through the field, thanking it still worked and found the platforms emitted the same blue and red auras. “Darius, jump ahead!” She shouted as Darius switched to Dark and made a leap for the nearest red platform. He then heard a noise coming from the northern, eastern, and western sides as sections of the walls opened up to reveal the three mage-golems they were looking for!

The northern golem held his hands up and formed a ball of green energy, then fired it on a red-pillar. All the red pillars erupted in a column of blasting-force, sending Darius flying off the pillar, but he managed to grab onto the edge. He quickly pulled himself back onto the platform and took note of the north one’s magic. The western then cast a spell. In Twilight’s light, all the pillars changed color to their opposites. Darius changed from Dark to Light. Then the eastern one sent a shockwave in Darius’s direction. Darius countered with a dispelling as the two spells slammed into each other mid-range.

“Twilight! Where is the next red?!” He needed Dark to reach these platforms but couldn’t use it where he was now. And that north one was preparing another spell.

“Northeast!” Twilight shouted.

The wall was closer to him than the pillar, so he used his skill in parkour to leap towards the wall, switching to Dark. Using the friction of the roughly cut stone, he pushed himself off the wall to reach the platform edge. He gripped the edge and climb onto it.

A blast erupted on each blue platform. Now it was the western golem’s turn as it changed the platforms again. But Darius moved quickly and leapt high off that platform onto one that changed red, and avoiding the eastern golem’s shockwave as well.

The northern golem was the most threatening. With Twilight’s help, he made his way north. He kept the pattern in mind: Blue or red erupts; platforms change color; shockwave from the east golem; leap to another red platform to avoid it. He was glad mage-golems were limited to patterned strategy. He leaped to the northernmost pillar to avoid another eruption attack, but realized despite it being red now, this statue was too far away to reach it. What was worse he couldn’t manage a dispelling while that east golem was shooting at him! Tuath!

“Darius, deflect the shockwave!” Twilight instructed.

Now THAT was an idea! He formed his blade and waited for his pillar to turn to Light. It did. The western golem fired its shockwave. The Newman braced himself and he angled the flat of his blade, putting all his magic into it. BOOM! It hit hard, but the magic did the trick and sent the wave directly into the northern golem. The golem had no concept of avoidance before the wave smashed it into gravel. With the pattern broken, the golems changed strategy. Both statues targeted Darius with a double shockwave! 

At the same time, the Diamond Dogs returned with the Wyrm-enchanted staves and pressed the tips against the barrier, putting all the magic the artifacts had into destroying it. In an instant, the barrier shorted out and the staves shattered. Darius dispelled one shockwave, but the other sent him flying up and off the pillar.

Dash flew into action as she sped her way towards Darius as fast as her wings could push her. She was nearing sonic-rainboom speeds before she caught her coltfriend by his belt several feet from the rocky bottom. With all her effort, she managed to carry him back up drop him onto another pillar, landing beside him.

She panted. “Told yah I’d save you.” She managed a smile.

Now it was Twilight’s turn. She teleported Applejack to one golem, and the dogs to the other. With one buck and a series of poundings, both mare and dogs made short work of the brittle statues. And with that, the purple pony teleported them all into the main corridor.

“Doggonit…” AJ huffed, then noticed the three Diamond Dogs looking at her annoyed. “Uh, sorry, heh. I meant tarnation. That’s twice I had to get rowdy. No offense Darius, but that had better be the last of them things.” She said walking with them out the temple. “Gonna need some therapy if ah have to do that ah third time.”

Darius chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that was the last of them.”

***

It was nearing evening when the group returned to the entrance to the ruins.

Darius turned to the Diamond Dogs. “So, where do we stand now?” He asked.

The Diamond Dogs looked confused at first, but the smallest got what he was insinuating. “We’re sorry for kidnapping Rarity. You helped cleanse our ancestral home. The Diamond Dogs are forever grateful to you and the ponies.”

“Ahem!” Spike tapped his foot. Ignoring the others giggling.

“The dragon too.” The tallest corrected. The averagely built one spoke. “We promise to be good to our neighbors from now on. Farewell.” They took a different path into the mountains, no doubt heading back to their mines.

Twilight let out a satisfied sigh. “Well, if that means what I think it means, the Diamond Dogs just might treat ponykind much nicer from now on. And maybe they’ll allow me to come back here and study this place!” Her eyes sparkled with glee. “Oh, and Darius. You performed excellently. The magic you displayed in this quest has earned you the element of…Darius?” She looked up seeing he and Rainbow Dash sharing a tender hug.

AJ giggled. “Give ‘em a moment, sugarcube. After that experience, they need some relief.”

Dash nuzzled the Newman’s cheek feeling his arms hold her close. “Have I told you lately that you’re my brave stallion?” She said softly.

“Nope.” He smiled. “But don’t let me stop you.” He kissed her on the cheek this time, making her wings flutter. “But don’t forget yourself, Dash. You were awesome back there.” The two got lost in each other’s eyes until AJ cleared her throat.

“Not to interrupt yer moment, folks, but can you consummate yer relationship after we get home?” AJ teased.

The two blushed furiously at that statement and looked at AJ. “We haven’t got that far, yet!” They hastily replied, then turned redder with embarrassed faces. And laughter ensued.

***

It was late at night as they hiked through the forest. Darius momentarily admired the symbol of magic on his forehead using Twilight’s spare mirror. “I can’t wait to see what will come of this when I learn the final one.” He said.

Dash grinned hovering near him. "It’s a good look, big guy.”

AJ was in thought as they walked back. How is she to test Darius’s honesty? The guy must be honest, right? But then he’d have learned her element anyways! Oh dadburnit, she didn’t know enough about magic to figure this out herself. She pulled Twilight and Spike aside.

“Hey sugarcubes, I’m in a bit of a conundrum here. Darius hasn’t learned my element yet. But he’s been honest with us, right? So what’s the holdup?” She whispered.

Twilight thought for a bit. “That is odd. It’s not as if he’s been lying about anything.”

Spike piped up. “What if he is?”

The two ponies gave him an annoyed look. Spike put his hands up. “Hey, don’t get mad. But come on AJ, you remember the time you were so ashamed of not winning that metal, you kept the truth from us?” He asked. “Darius is a good guy but nobody’s perfect. Maybe he has something he’s afraid to tell us.”

AJ nodded. “Got a point there, Spike. Dun suppose we can test Darius, can we?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “I have an idea. Let’s stop by Zecora’s. She has something that will help with that. It’s going to be late soon anyways and I’m sure she’d welcome some guests tonight.”

They agreed and caught up with the cyan mare and tanned Newman. “Hey sugarcubes. It’s pretty late. We’re gonna crash at Zecora’s if you don’t’ mind.”

“Sounds cool AJ, but does Zecora have the room?” Dash mentioned.

Twilight replied. “She recently added a second hut for guests. That should be plenty of room for all of us.”

“Great!” Darius said enthusiastically. “We Newmen haven’t had relations with the Zebra sense the Ley Lines cut us off. Besides, she’ll likely want to hear the latest history of my people. We can sit around a fire, eat, I’ll chant Newmen history, Dash will sleep through it.” He jived his marefriend, chuckling.

Dash laughed and playfully hoofed him on the arm as they made their way to Zecora’s abode.

***

Upon finally reaching Zecora’s home, the Zebra pony was meditating while balancing on a bamboo stick. When she finally came out of her meditation, she gladly welcomed the group inside and helped to string hammocks to the stone load-bearing supports for them in the guest-hut.

“Make yourselves home, I’ll prepare food, it gladdens me, your adventure fared good.” The Zebra went to her kitchen with Spike in tow to help her out. As the group sat and rested their weary feet/hooves, Twilight snuck into the kitchen.

A moment later they came out with bowls of food as they sat around the clay fire pit. “Chant to us, my ancestral friend, your kindred’s history, please do append.” Zecora requested.

As they ate, Darius chanted the history as well as he could. Doing justice to the sages who were masters of historical chanting wasn’t easy. Plus, he didn’t want it to be boring. The first part was about the goddesses and their teachings to the Newmen race. To his surprise, nopony was shocked by this tale. In fact it interested them more. Twilight pointed out the aid the then-goddesses (now-princesses) gave the Newmen was not all that inconsistent with how they historically helped ponykind. That gave him the enthusiasm to continue. Zecora listened with a serene calmness that kept everyone relaxed. He finished the chanting as it was nearing the end of dinnertime and finally sat down to let others talk amongst themselves.

Zecora approached AJ and whispered something into her ear. They exchanged whispers as Dash and Darius exchanged jokes.

How many earth ponies does it take to fill an oil lamp?
How many cloud sages does it take to change the weather?

Chuckles were exchanged at the punch lines.

Finally, AJ drew attention to herself. “Well, Darius, think it’s time you learn the element of honesty.” She took some seeds and dug a small hole in the ground and planted them. “Zecora?” She let her do the explanation.

“The seeds of truth, were used to cure, Applebloom’s pox when it matured. But for this test, I do forsooth, can detect when you speak the truth.” Zecora described.

Then Twilight explained. “The plant will grow when you confess a lie, Darius. If you hadn’t lied, it will grow anyways.” Twilight added.

Darius eyed that small mound where the seeds were planted for a moment, it didn’t grow. Then it dawned on him what this test meant. His heart sank. Why did this have to be the final element? He opened his mouth to speak but the images of the Wyrm flickered in his head, and the imagined scenario that his friends, or worse, Dash would be killed entered his mind. He clamped up and broke out into a cold sweat.

“Big guy? It’s okay, I know you’re not perfect. You can tell me.” She rested her head on his shoulder.

He looked at her almost terrified. He ran a hand through his hair anxiously. “You need to promise me something.” He told her. “No, everyone,” He told the group, “Promise you won’t go with me after I confess it.” He said sternly.

“Go with you where?” AJ was confused.

“What do you mean, big guy? I’m the element of loyalty, your marefriend, I’ll always be there with you.” Dash replied.

“Dash, you especially. You…you can’t go with me when….” He hid his face behind his knees. “Tuath, please promise you will let me go alone when I ask you to.” He pleaded.

“What are you talking about?! Are you leaving us? Is that it?!” Dash exclaimed.

“Dash, that isn’t it. You won’t survive what’s coming.” He felt a vice on his heart.

The flower began to grow.

“Darius…tell.” Zecora said gently.

Darius looked at everyone, then to Dash, then looked to the ground in guilt. “The Wyrm is still alive, the princesses confirmed this. It…it is on its way to Equestria as we speak.” He said sadly. “And you mustn't go with me to fight this thing.”

The stem of the flower fully grew and it began to bud.

This invoked an air of fear amongst the group. Even for Dash, the thought of this monster setting one hoof in her homeland was scary, but for Darius to ask her to sit back and let him face it alone? HECK NO! “Not gonna happen, big guy. You’ll never get rid of me, or our friends!” She replied sternly.

“Darius, we are the elements of harmony. It’s our duty to protect Equestria from these threats. Have we not proven we are capable of facing such dangers?” Twilight inquired sympathetically.

Darius stood, having lost his calm. “You fools! You have no idea what this thing is like! It is terrible! Terrible! Its only motivation is to destroy, kill, unmake everything! This is my destiny and mine alone! I accepted it so nobody, nopony else would have to face it!” He huffed and was about to continue until he felt a hoof thump him on the head.

The flower fully bloomed. Zecora smiled and nudged AJ, who smiled as well seeing it worked. Now it was Dash’s turn to set him straight.

“You dummy!” Dash shouted after conking Darius. “Why do you think the Princess had you learn the elements, huh?” She sniffed. “Don’t you understand what they mean? The elements of harmony work together! Me, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are at our best when we work together!” She shed tears. “And now we’re sharing our magic, our friendship with you!” She put a hoof on his element of loyalty. “And it will be for nothing if you don’t let your friends help.”

Darius stared into her rosy eyes silent for a while before he replied. “It will be extremely violent.”

Dash replied. “I know.”

“The Wyrm is powerful, huge, it can…” He added.

The cyan pony put a hoof on his mouth. “Stop trying to scare me, it won’t work.” Dash cleared the tears from her eyes. “You’re stuck with us, especially me.” She softly smiled.

AJ tapped the Newman on the leg. “Kneel down for a sec, sugarcube.”

Darius did so, not knowing what to expect. AJ grinned and hoofed him on the chest. “Yer a selfless fool. But me, nor Dash dun blame you. We can relate.” She chuckled. “So consider yourself passin’ the test of honesty.” The final element appeared where she hoofed him. “Now no more despairin’. When that day comes, we’ll back you up. But if yer having trouble, we’ll jump right in to save you.” Seeing as the Newman didn’t object, she considered that matter settled and went back to her spot.

Darius sat down. Dash landed next to Darius and nuzzled his arm. “You alright?”

Darius sat down with her and put an arm around her. “Still scared for you and the others…but feeling better I’m not standing alone.”

Dash smiled and rested her head against his arm.

The night carried on until finally, when nopony, nor dragon, nor Newman could stay awake, they went to sleep. Darius got the extra-large heavy-duty hammock for himself (originally meant for if Big Mac ever visited) and made himself comfortable. A moment after he closed his eyes, he felt a slight air blowing from above him. He opened his eyes to find his marefriend landing comfortably on him and snuggling. Even though he was half dressed, he didn’t feel embarrassed. Besides, the combined warmth of Dash and her softness was heavenly. He softly stroked her main her head down her neck.

The mare blushed and smiled. “F-Y-I, this is normal for two ponies dating.” She whispered and let out a happy sigh to those wonderful fingers of his.

“So ponies do this before they progress to kissing more?” He asked.

“Mhm.” The pegasi tiredly confirmed.

“I think I can get used to it.” He grinned.

Dash giggled softly. “It’s because I trust you to not try anything. Besides, you’re comfy.”

“Does this mean I’m pardoned for lying to you earlier?” He asked.

“Yep. So don’t dwell on it.” She made a cute yawn and began to doze off. “Goodnight, handsome.”

“Goodnight, my blue angel.” He whispered.

***

It finally reached its destination, for it could sense them from across the threshold. It was a long journey. And that time spent using the Ley Line to travel was well spent for planning his next move. Now it can only wait for the next Ley Line storm to approach. It had to time this perfectly. It was one thing to use it to send man-sized objects through it, but this will be different. Still, if it was going to fall, the harm he will do to both the Goddesses and the Avatar would be irreparable.

CAN YOU SENSE ME, ALICORNS? CAN YOU FEEL MY RAGE? HEAR MY ROAR? DOES IT MAKE YOU TREMBLE IN FEAR?

***

Indeed, the two Alicorns could feel the familiar presence of The Destroyer on the other side of the Ley Line, waiting like a patient snake ready to strike.

“Luna, I’m going to Ponyville to get Darius and the elements here. Keep watch for me.” She launched off her balcony and took the sky.

Luna watched the Ley Line, unable to deny her anxiety for what will come through it.

IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT CREATING AN EXTENSIVE SERIES OF ACTION SCENES, ESPECIALLY ONE THAT REQUIRES ONE TO VISUALIZE IT. I WANTED TO CREATE THE PLATFORM SCENE IN HONOR OF OUTLAND, GIVEN THAT IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT THE GAME IS ALL ABOUT. I HOPE IT WASN'T TOO CONFUSING. STILL, I AM QUITE SATISFIED WITH THE CHAPTER.

ALSO! NEW CONTEST! THIS ONE IS EASIER. YOU SEE THE TWO INCOMPLETE JOKES IN THIS CHAPTER?

How many earth ponies does it take to fill an oil lamp?
How many cloud sages does it take to change the weather?

FIRST USER(S) TO WRITE IN THE PUNCHLINE FOR ONE OR BOTH GETS AN HONORABLE MENTION NEXT CHAPTER!

> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honorable mention goes to treg388, Tacotown, and refferee for completing the punchlines to the jokes in Chapter 8! You win pinkie points for laughter!

And speaking of jokes!
Hey, Pinkie! How many editors does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Pinkie: Only one; but first they have to rewire the entire building!

:D

Thanks again frieD195!

Morning came and after a hardy breakfast, the group returned to Ponyville. They were welcomed by Princess Celestia and the remainder of the mane six.

Princess Celestia greeted them. “My little ponies, let us go to Twilight’s. We have something to discuss. You too Darius.” She said as they trotted inside the big tree, with Darius and Spike in tow.

The mood changed from pleasantry to serious as Princess Celestia took a deep breath. “Darius, have you told my little ponies what is going on?” She asked.

Darius hesitated. “I am sorry, Princess. I kept the detail of the Wyrm from them, and only recently confessed it to Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.” He looked apologetically to the other three ponies. “You three have my apologies for this, I hope you can forgive me.”

“Wyrm? That horrible beast Darius told us? Oh dear, I think I already know what this entails.” Rarity gulped.

Celestia nodded sadly. “It is right on the other side of the Nothern Ley Line.” That elicited a gasp from the mane six and spike as well. “I’m sorry, everyone, I will be needing you and Darius to be ready for the danger ahead. This will not be like your trials with Discord, or Nightmare Moon. The Wyrm is indeed a violent and malicious creature, and destructive.” Her horn glowed and the elements of harmony appeared on each of the ponies. “But there is hope. Darius, you have learned the magic of the Elements of Harmony. But I have a confession. Although we are sure a joining will result from this new magic, we are not sure what it is, nor how it will manifest itself.”

“I think I am the one meant to figure that out.” He replied.

Celestia nodded. “I hope you do, Darius. It has been a long time sense me and Luna created a new magic. I would encourage you to consider it an honor if I was not asking you to do this while the world is in danger.” She looked at each of the mane six. “This time Luna and I will be joining you. I don’t know the extent of the Wyrm’s power, but it will be a violent struggle, I regret.” She projected an illusionary image with her horn. “This is what it looked like when last we did battle.”



“I see he hadn't changed in thousands of years.” Darius glared at the visage.

Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind the couch shaking. “H-how are we supposed to deal with that monster?”

Darius stepped forward. “In any way we can. But I must insist that you leave the physical combat to me and the princesses.” He saw Dash getting mad. “Dash, I’m not asking you to stay behind. But I am asking you to accept that you can’t match The Destroyer physically. This isn’t some dragon you can buck around until he falls. My joining just barely gave me a chance to beat it, and it wasn’t at its full strength when we met. Now it’s had several days to recover.”

Celestia added. “As I told Darius earlier, Luna and I want to finally end this cycle of violence. Each time Entropy is dispatched, its spirit reforms its body after one hundred years. Therefore, we shall use the Elements of Harmony to stop it once and for all.” The princess explained. “I, Luna, and Darius will hold it at bay to buy you time to use your elements.” She took another deep breath. “Are you all ready?”

Dash fluttered beside Darius. “Heck yeah!”

“I’m not lookin’ forward to watching that monster try an’ hurt you three, but I am with you all the way.” AJ added.

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down. “Of course I’m going with. I’m scared like everyone else but what would the world be like without magic if the big scary Wyrm eats it up?” She said hastily.

“I for one will not tolerate something so brutish endangering Equestria, or anyone else for that matter. I will go.” Rarity added.

Twilight nodded. “As your student and the final Element of Harmony, I will stand with everyone to protect our world.”

Fluttershy hesitated from behind the couch, then squeaked. “I-I’m coming.” She sheepishly smiled as she came from behind the furniture.

Darius didn’t have to say anything. He was going.

Princess Celestia’s horn glowed as Spike hugged the mane six and anxiously watched them step into it. With a final hug from Twilight, and a peck on the cheek from Rarity, the little dragon watched them go as the portal shut.

***

On the other side of the Northern Ley Line, the beast opened its eyes. It could feel the Ley Line storm approaching. It slithered its body directly into the Ley Line and roared in pain as the wall of unstable energy syphoned its being, preventing its crossing. But the Wyrm would not be denied. The storm was close, it just needed to endure for a bit longer. Once the storm hit, it will not just pass through the Ley Line…it will use it!

On other side, Luna stood stalwart. The other soldiers were told to leave the area and make preparations in case the worst should happen. She then glanced to towards the east at the oncoming Ley Line storm. Then she looked behind her as the portal opened. Celestia, Darius, and the mane six came through.

“Sister.” She nervously pointed to the storm.

Celestia sighed and looked at the mane six. “No matter what. I am very proud of all of you. If something should happen us both, my friends, please carry on the magic of friendship. Life will go on in Equestria, with or without us.” She said like a loving mother. “Now keep your distance.”

Darius stopped Rainbow Dash and put his arms around her. He was about to kiss her but she stopped him. He looked at her confused.

“No kissing until we win.” Dash grinned.

Darius blinked, then smirked. “We’re about to battle a creature to save the world, and your saying we can’t share a kiss without victory?”

Dash nodded, still grinning. “It’s a great motivator, isn’t it? So no selfless sacrifices, okay? We’ll win this together.” She said that with meaning that reached to the Newman’s soul.

He looked at her and hugged her. “Okay.” He watched her fly back with her friends.

Darius then stood between the princesses. “Princesses, I know you’re not goddesses, but if I may, I want to thank you for everything you’ve taught me.” The storm was yards from passing them.

THIS IS IT!

The Destroyer opened its gaping maw and bit down on the line as the storm crossed its path! It roared painfully into the bite as the energies coursed throughout its body. Then it moved forward.

The princesses stared in horror watching this violent maelstrom of energy hold still right in front of them. Them they winced and yelped.

“What is wrong?” Darius asked.

“It…its coming.” Luna whimpered. “H-hurting the Ley Line.”

Darius looked up to the horror as the giant monster he fought earlier tor through the Ley Line with all its might!  The damage to the line itself hurt the princesses as they struggled to remain standing. Darius had no idea how to help them but invoked Light and tried to invoke the elements of harmony to help, concentrating on healing. The magical healing fields coursed from his hands to the princesses. It seemed to work as they regained their composure, looking at Darius surprised.

“You learned a joining already?” Luna asked him.

“No, but the elements are affecting my magic, that’s for sure.” Darius said.

After a moment, the two princesses seemingly felt better. “We are fine now, save your strength, Darius.” Celestia instructed.

Darius did so and then looked up bringing forth his blade, invoking both Light and Dark.

The giant beast finally made its way through. But something was much different. Its body was no longer outlined by the green aura. Now it was aqua, the same color of the Ley Line.  What devilry was this?

The ponies could see this thing. It was as unreal as it appeared in Celestia’s spell. It reminded them of the smoking dragon they dealt with a while back, but bigger, and freakish. It coiled its lower half around as it stood towering above them. It had no actual eyes, save the ones outlined by its aura. And its voice shook them to their bones. The ponies banded together to be ready to use the elements when the time was right.

“MY ENEMIES: A FAILED AVATAR, AND THE SO-CALLED GODDESSES. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN, LIGHT AND DARK? DO I STILL HAUNT YOUR NIGHTMARES? DO YOU CURSE HAVING ABANDONED THE NEWMEN TO FIGHT ME ALONE?” It growled, causing the earth the tremble.

“Your mind games didn’t work with me then, Wyrm! It won’t work on us here!” Darius replied.

The beast looked down upon Darius. “NEW GAME, NEW RULES, NEWMAN. HERE YOU STAND, BEARING NEW MARKINGS. AND THESE WHO STAND BEHIND YOU, AN AUDIENCE TO WATCH YOU PERISH?”

“Entropy,” Luna interrupted. “If you came here to talk, then we will talk. But if you are planning to harm the creatures of this land, then we demand you cease your attack.” Said Luna.

“This doesn’t have to end this way, Entropy. You are a creature of death and decay. We do not ask you to deny your nature, but destruction can only exist as long as there is creation.” Added Celestia. “We can coexist.”

“SILENCE YOUR SELF-RIGHTEOUS RAMBLINGS! YOUR FATE IS SEALED! BEHOLD MY VERY BEING AND DESPAIR! I HAVE THE LEY LINE COURSING THROUGH MY BODY! I SHALL NOT TAKE PLEASURE IN DINING ON ITS ENERGIES, FOR IT IS NOW A PART OF ME!" It roared menacingly. “FOR IF I MUST PERISH, THEN THE LEY LINE FALLS WITH ME!” It grinned. “AND THAT WILL BE THE END OF YOU TOO!”

The sisters went silent and looked at each other. It was telling the truth. What an evil fortune, so be it. They then returned their attention to the Wyrm. Celestia spoke. “If that is what it takes to end your reign of terror once and for all, then we will gladly sacrifice ourselves to stop you.” Said Celestia.

“Even without magic, the world will go on.” added Luna.

The beast glared at them. “SO BE IT! FEEL! MY! WRATH!” It roared and uncoiled itself, lunging at the three.

The princesses brought forth their magic and slammed the beast hard with their telekinetic fields, causing it to lunge back. Darius then moved like lightning as he invoked his original joining.

The Wyrm growled and began to maneuver quickly. It first thrashed its tail-end at Luna, who nimbly dodged. It clawed at Darius, but only for the Newman to leap over him and land on its backside. Finally, it bit towards Celestia, only for her to magically slam it to the ground.

Darius ran up its back, scraping his sword upon its scaly pitch-black body as sparks flew off. He reached its head and sliced off one of its horns. The Wyrm roared and stood up, sending Darius flying back as he landed. The giant beast grew angrier and struck at Luna with a lunging attack. This time it connected, but only served to slam her to the side. Luna quickly recovered and used her magic to shield Celestia as its tail whipped around and smashed against the shield. Celestia teleported behind the Wyrm and magically brought it down again as Darius ran up to its face and stabbed at its eye. It roared as it bit down on his sword and parried it away. It lunged several times to bite him again but Darius quickly backed up and his sword scraped against its sharp teeth to parry it back.

The very ground was cracking and breaking below this massive beast. The dragon-like giant darted below the princesses as they attempted to hold down the creature again. It then lunged up in an attempt to bite down on Luna, who kept his mouth open with a shield, struggling to keep him from closing its jaws. It continued its assault trying hard to overpower her, and snapped its jaws shut…on nothing, as Luna teleported and bit down on its tail. The creature gasped painfully as Luna yanked hard and caused the massive beast to flop to the ground…hard, shaking the very earth.

The Wyrm opened its eyes and got up. Then glared down at the little ponies. Suddenly there was a magic emanating from them. It went wide eyed in realization what this was. They weren’t witnesses! It had made a dangerous mistake!

The eyes of each of the mane six glowed white as their elements flared with them magic of harmony and projected their respective power at the Wyrm. But much to their shock, the Wyrm opened its gaping maw and breathed a maelstrom of aqua-fire. The magic of harmony and entropy magic slammed in the middle before both dissipated. The ponies scattered to throw off its counter attack and then began to regroup.

The princesses witnessed this in shock! It just defended against their most powerful magic! The Wyrm glared and opened its mouth for another blast to wipe out these little creatures until it felt a cutting pain on its tail as Darius sliced hard, removing five feet of tail. It roared as Darius quickly ran up its body. It coiled around to get at him but Darius leaped and hung on to one of its fins, then swung up slashed at one of its claws. Sword and claws connected as the beast managed to reach and grab Darius with its other claws. Darius stabbed its hand to loosen its grip. The Wyrm, consumed by intense frustration simply batted the Newman away. Darius landed and rolled hard but got up, despite all his bruises.

At that very same moment, the princesses touched horns and formed a silvery magical rope between them. The Wyrm fired a second blast that strafed towards Darius, but was interrupted when the princesses began to entangle the rope around the Wyrm, flying around him at great speeds. Soon its claws were restrained and they tied around its muzzle to keep it from using that hideous fire. With all their might, the alicorns kept the massive beast upright with its underbelly exposed.

“Darius! Its heart! Strike its heart!” Luna used her Canterlot voice so he’d hear him over the destroyers audible growls and thrashing.

“But the Ley Line! You’ll die too!” Darius shouted back in hesitation.

“Princesses! There has to be another way!” Twilight pleaded.

“We are sorry everyone! But, for the world, please!” Celestia said sadly, shedding a tear. She was going to miss everypony.

Darius grimaced angrily at this prospect, but he could see no other way to stop this creature. He leaped up. “Telmen i lobeeeeee!” (This is the end!) He struck into its underbelly, where he had wounded it during their first battle. The cut opened its belly. He hung on and began to pry it open to get to its heart. But he looked and stopped to gaze in horror.

In front of the luminescent heart of the vile creature, was a Newman body shielding it…it was his father! What? How!? He struggled to hold on as he shouted to his dad. “Adon!” It couldn’t be! How did it capture his father? Did he come looking for him? “Adon!” He tried to cut at the bindings, but to no avail. They were of its scales, unbreakable!

“Darius, what is the matter?!” Luna shouted struggling with her sister to keep this creature steady.

“ADON!” Darius shouted.

Suddenly, Manden came to. “Melare?” (Son?) His eyes shot wide open. “Darius!” Manden shouted. He struggled remembering his predicament being captured by the Wyrm, now being used as Newman-shield. “Darius! Hle ancui nenoldna hen esfile!” (It’s too late for me!)

Darius struggled at Manden’s bonds. The princesses hold on the Wyrm was weakening as it laughed.

“WHAT IS THE MATTER, AVATAR? YOU CANNOT FINISH US OFF? YOU CAN SACRIFICE YOUR GODDESSES? BUT YOU CANNOT SACRIFICE YOUR FATHER!” It snarled.

Darius shook his head in disbelief. “Nuiii!” (Noo!) He yelled in his futile effort to free his father. He would have to stab through his father to reach its heart! He couldn’t bring himself to do that!

“Melare! Fale silmi! O i-donume fander arpenan!” (Son! You must! Or the world will be destroyed!) Manden pleaded to his son, who was shaking his head.

The beast thrashed its head hard, sending Celestia and Luna flying to the ground as they lost their grip. The creature was still tied up, and struggled to undo the bonds as Darius flew out and landed in front of it.

The other ponies gatherer around the Newman.

“Big guy! What is it? What happened?” Dash asked.

“It has my father!” He shouted. “I can’t, I can’t kill my own father!” Now what was he supposed to do?

“Everypony, we have to try again!” Twilight ordered as they gathered. They began to shine forth the magic of harmony against the creature.

The harmonious energies struck the creature, but nothing was happening! Oh, it was visibly unpleasant for the creature as it winced, but it was resilient.

“It’s no use!” Rarity shouted. “It’s body is too strong!”

“It needs to reach its heart!” AJ said. “But we can’t get to it!”

“ITS OVER!” The Wyrm growled. Its mouth was still tied shut, but it shot out a burst of fire through its nose, which exploded and sent the mane six flying back, but still on their hooves.

Darius looked in horror as his friends were nearly killed. He saw the princesses get up from their landing  and flew back up. Twilight was right, there had to be another way. It then occurred to him; the joining; the Elements of Harmony. What was it Dash said? “Well, the cool stuff with our magic happens when we’re all together.” He had an idea. It was their last chance.

“Princesses!” He shouted. “Restrain it again!” He ran forward. “Ponies! Shine your magic on me!”

The princesses had no idea what Darius was planning but had faith he knew what he was doing. They flew over and grabbed each end of the magical rope again, sending their power into it to strengthen the binding as Darius leaped up and stood inside the wound again.

Manden saw his son again. “Aqueman falen canesinan!?” (What are you doing!?)

“Cautan essa perresh!” (Saving us all!) Darius replied and braced himself, now standing inside the gap. “NOW!” He shouted to his friends.

The ponies gathered together and fired their magic towards Darius. The colorful magic of harmony swirled around into a single beam of energy as it struck the Newman. All the symbols of harmony on his body shined brighter and brighter. Then he felt it, his new joining. No, our joining. He activated it and from around his body erupted with the magic of harmony. It suddenly coursed into the being of the Wyrm from its heart and outward. The giant beast made a long gasp of shock, then it unleashed a roar to the heavens. But the energy didn’t stop there. It spread from the Wyrm to the very Ley Line giving him power. The two Princesses landed next to their ponies and watched in amazement as the Wyrm was suddenly drawn into the massive wall of energy, its opaque form fading away.

“Darius!” Dash made a break for it and tried to fly inside.

“Dash! No!” AJ ran after her. But the two ponies were stopped in their track as a sudden, scintillating wave of energy burst from the center and ran through the entire Ley Line. Everypony, save the princesses shielded their eyes.

Finally, after the light faded, the ponies and the princesses looked upon the Ley Line. There was no Wyrm. It was gone. But the Ley Line had changed. Instead of a wall of luminous, violent energies, it was replaced with a serene, translucent, and beautiful field of energy. It was like the aurora borealis, but at ground level!

And at the ground, exiting the newly calmed Ley Line walked forward two Newmen. Manden, who’s left arm was slung over the shoulders of his son, Darius to help him walk. Darius looked at his friends and waved smiling.

Dash sighed in relief and took off before she stopped in front of him with a gust of air. The pegasi looked at Darius with a joyful smile, and hoofed him in the chest.

Darius winced. “What was that for?”

“For nearly scaring me.” She answered grinning.

Manden raised an eyebrow and looked at both his son and this…female? Then took his arm off and stood on his own to see what would come of it.

“Well sorry, I just came up with the idea-” Darius's words were interrupted when Dash flung her hooves around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

She broke the kiss shortly after. “And this is for not leaving us.” The pegasi added softly.

Darius smiled, closed his eyes and put his arms around her and returned her kiss without hesitation.

The two stayed in their embrace for what seemed like an eternity until Manden cleared his throat. They looked at the middle-aged Newman, who had his arms crossed looking at Darius with fox-like grin. “Tel aquemen eldamen canesino, sen buren faler emon ar adon garnthe?” (So what else have you been up to, while worrying your mother and father sick?) He asked, snickering.

Darius snickered with him before it evolved into a full on chuckle.

The father patted his son on the shoulder proudly. “Eriol autama atanedi i aerunen.” (Well as long as you invite us to the wedding). He looked at Dash and patted her on the shoulder as well with an approving smile, who grinned in acknowledgment and nuzzled Darius happily.

“Bet you’re glad we won, huh?” She whispered into Darius's ears and gave it a nibble, causing him to flush. She giggled and brushed her soft tail on his side, making him flush more.

The other ponies approached, all glad and relieved things turned out well.

***

It needn’t be said the Princesses recovered from their ordeal much faster than the others. During the day-long recovery, Manden was introduced to everypony and all was explained, though Darius had a time translating for him. Regardless, the smith was proud of his son and glad he had a life here. Spike later arrived and was happy that his friends were alive and safe again.

The next morning, they were invited to the throne room at Canterlot Castle. Both Manden and Darius were dressed in Newman-tailored elegant fashion for the occasion. Although the style felt a bit awkward, they said nothing for fear of making Rarity upset. In addition, Manden was provided a spell of translation so he could understand their language, and they could understand him. The princesses entered as everyone/pony kneeled down in greeting.

“Stand, friends.” Celestia spoke as everyone stood. “I know this isn’t a grand celebration, for none but my family knew of Entropy.” She indicated to Cadence, Blueblood, and the others. “We are not only here to celebrate your accomplishments, but to mourn for Entropy. It is not the way of anypony to take the life of another, and I am ashamed to say we had nearly gone that far. The Wyrm’s existence has now been changed from a ravenous destroyer, to a passive, harmonious spirit that is now one with the Ley Line. It will be some time before it will make itself known, if ever at all. Thus, I ask we claim victory not in its defeat, but that it was given a second chance to exist without harming others, and that we managed to avoid lowering ourselves to its level for the sake of survival.” She said wisely. There was a moment of silence and contemplation of this.

Luna broke the silence. “As for all of you, you have shown great bravery and courage. You not only found a way to stop Entropy without resorting to killing, but displayed unrivaled friendship by banding together, despite your fears.”

The mane six smiled, along with Spike, Darius, and Manden.

“Have any of you something to say for this?” Luna asked.

“I have something.” Darius said. He was bade to step forward. “My dearest friends. In this short time, we have gained so much. I have become very close to you all, though closer to one.” He looked and smiled at Dash, who smiled back. “You have shown me a magic that is more than just about cutie marks, Light, Dark, and joining. And I am grateful to have learned it. It was your loyalty, kindness, happiness, generosity, wisdom, and honesty,” As he spoke these words, he gesture to each respective element, “that gave me this gift. I say this to you now because I must return home with my father, and share this gift with my people.” He said. “For now the Wyrm is gone, the Ley Lines can be crossed, the Newmen will want to reunite with the rest of the world. They will need someone to prepare them.”

Dash’s expression changed and her ears drooped.  “You’re coming back, right?”

The other ponies looked concerned as well.

Darius kneeled in front of his marefriend. “Yes, of course. I know what is coming up,” He winked. “and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He held one hoof in both hands. “You have my promise, my cherished.”

Dash just smiled and kissed him. Being a pony of action, nothing else need be said to that.

Manden smiled. “It was good to meet all of you. I know our people will look forward to a brighter future to meet old friends and new friends across our borders.” His enchantment translated. He told Dash. “Don’t worry, we won’t keep him long.” He smiled. “Besides, our family will want to meet you, brave pegasus.”

Dash looked at Manden and grinned. “You got it, pops.”

Darius chuckled.

Celestia cleared her throat to gather everypony’s attention. “To commemorate this better future, our arcane builders have added to the northern watch-post of the Ley Line, a special temple. This temple is magically connected with the ancient temple where the Wyrm originally slept at the borders of Rift. Within both temples are magic circles used to teleport from one to the other, connected by the Ley Line. It is our reward to Darius so he and Manden may return home easier, and perhaps bring their people here to meet us.” She smiled. “Go with our blessings, Manden. We look forward to visiting your people soon.”

Manden bowed. “Thank you, princesses. The chantings of my son’s adventures and the truth of your existence will be well received with honor, I assure you.”

Luna approached Darius. “Darius. Kneel.”

Darius did so. “It is by the power invested in us and my sister, that we knight thee, an Avatar of Harmony, an honor of service to both Equestria and Rift.” She asked.

Darius smiled and bowed. “I gladly accept this honor.”

There was mutual applause until it was interrupted. “Hey waitaminute!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and landed on her party cannon. How she got it into the palace, nobody knew. “It’s not a celebration unless it’s a party!” She giggled. “So let’s get his party started!” She set off her cannon and in a short moment throne room was decorated with all that was to be expected of a Pinkie Party, including food, music, and fun, much to the delight of everypony in the throne room.

From then until noon, the throne room of Canterlot Castle was a center of celebration for joy, friendship, and a brighter future.

***

A great temple stood upon a high mountain overlooking a valley at the center of Rift, where the great Newman city stood. Jasmina was dressed in her finest hunting outfit. She prayed between the statues of two goddesses, one of white marble, the other of black obsidian. It had been five days sense Manden had left, but she would not simply wait at home. She would bid the goddesses for his return, and for a small hope her son was still alive. Her attention was turned from prayer as a crowd developed at the entrance to the temple.

Several of the great sages exited their chambers at the news they received from the other patrons. They bade the men, women, and children to give the two Newmen room as Jasmina stood a still as the stone she prayed on. She sighed in relief as Manden was the first to appear from the crowd. The smith smiled and stepped aside for Darius to appear. Jasmina was about to faint before Manden rushed to keep her up and standing.

She regained her composure and saw her son again. This was no dream or illusion. He was alive! She rushed to her son, hugging him tightly, praising for the miracle of her boy's return. Darius was overjoyed to finally be with his family again. His brothers, sisters, relatives, and grandfather were there with them. He looked around and they were once again surrounded by a growing crowd. Many looked at the new symbols on his body with wonder. There were so many questions asked, but Darius could not answer them all at once.

Finally, his grandfather struck his staff onto the stone to silence the crowd. He put a hand on his grandson’s shoulder and led him to the higher step, a place used by chanters of the temple. “Elcanci essen, lastemelare.” (Chant to us, grandson). The wise elder bade him. “Aquedor eldami fale eira?” (Where have you been?). The old man smiled and sat down to let him speak, and everyone else followed suit.

Darius took a deep breath at the new task set before him. He let his markings show, which were now naturally golden. No longer were they Light and Dark, but unified in the magic of harmony as everyone gazed in awe. “Telgael audi huin nya elancia, alares. Elcanen alor i-ile, autam huin i-aneste, ar i-ninya alares esse eldami teldor.” (Then listen to my chanting, friends. I shall tell you of the land far to the North, and the new friends we have there.)

BUT WAIT FOLKS! THIS ISN’T THE EPILOGUE! THERE IS STILL ONE MORE CHAPTER!

> Chapter 10 - Epilogue + Credits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now…the Epilogue! - edited this time!
I've got nothing clever to say. Just thanks to frieD195 for all your editing awesomeness!

Dash rested on her cloud. Today was just another day of weather control. But what was bothering her was just that. It was just like any other day! She remembered what day it was too, which is why she was high up in the clouds this time. She expected things to be different in the morning when she awoke Spike to ask Princess Celestia if Darius returned. Spike was getting annoyed at it all. After all, she asked him twice a day for an entire week! Darius had better have a good reason why he didn’t write to her.

She turned her head on her cloud, trying not see what was going on below her, or to hear it. It was Hearts and Hooves day, after all. A day she almost petitioned to have it changed to Single Ponies Awareness Day. She giggled at that thought, it helped her to laugh through each time she had a failed date or early break-up. Still, those were three days she couldn't get back. She had faith Darius won’t miss this day, of course. It was the waiting for him that was a pain! She hoped to spend the whole day with him. Well, so far it was two hours till noon. She should probably search again and suffer the heartbreak of watching everypony else having a wonderful time with their special somepony.

Then she finally caught the look of what looked like a biped. And it was not a minotaur, much to her relief. Yep, it was the big guy alright. She could just pounce him right then and there…naw, that wouldn’t be her. Besides, she should pay him back for not sending any messages. Time for some fun. She immediately flew down to AJ’s farm, to find her bringing back the fruits of her labor (pun intended) from selling treats for H&H Day.

“Howdy RD! You still waitin’ for your special somepony?” She asked.

AJ was never one for tact. That is why RD respected her. Straight-forward and to the point. “Oh he’s here alright. Took him long enough, but…” She grinned. “I have an idea. Can you send Applebloom to tell him to meet me near your barn? Over by the tree and bushes.” She pointed to the place.

“Where you two first met? Awe, how romantic.” The orange ground pony smiled..

“Yeah, we’ll set up the picnic there. But I need you for a sec.” She grinned.

“Uh oh. What are you plannin’?” AJ asked smirking.

Dash whispered in her ear. AJ blushed for a moment and then tried hard to withhold her laughter. “Yeah, I can do that. Just wave to me when you see him coming.” She got the basket filled with goodies prepared by Pinkie, Spike, and AJ herself, while Dash carried the blanket.

Entering town, the Newman couldn’t help but notice he felt more at home here than he did back in Rift. Maybe it was the fact he didn’t have to do so many bloody days of chanting. First to his family, then at the temple, then again to the sages, then more in front of the council, then reintroducing the princesses to everyone, UGH! Then sitting through their chants about Equestria, the clarified history of Rift. He was practically screaming deep in his mind to do something that didn’t involve a long story, which is why he was glad to have returned.

He looked forward to getting back to his workshop in Ponyville and do what he enjoyed most…correction, the second thing he enjoyed most. After all, the favorite thing in his life was being with Dash. Now where was she?

He wanted to show her his new joining, one taught to him by a friend. But before he did anything he stopped at the market. Immediately he was recognized by other ponies with warm regard. It was a nice change to see the other ponies treating him like one of the residents and not a foreigner. After all, news traveled throughout Equestria of how he, the princesses, and the mane six handled a giant, ‘insane dragon’ that invaded Equestria. He deduced that may have influenced their disposition towards him.

Ever sense the Ley Lines were calm, there was rumors from other lands about first-contact with other races, creatures, and magic. As for his people, they were granted a building in Canterlot; what the ponies called an embassy; where selected ambassadors from the council would be staying. Likewise, the ponies did the same in Rift with the Wyrm's old temple now being converted into a new border city.

Rift was certainly different before he left, Darius thought. The ever-present threat that once loomed their world was gone, which made way for a sense of peace. Avatars were now symbols of self-improvement and inspiration as well as protectors. Darius was no exception. He was in the service of the Princesses, and would one day be called to do important deeds. However, it wouldn’t simply involve a fight anymore. It could be a task for any element of harmony.

He stopped by Sugarcube Corner and knocked on the door. “HI!” Burst Pinkie Pie from the front door. “Welcome back Darius! ‘Bout time you showed up! Poor Dash waited for two weeks! I mean I know your people don’t have much of a mail service back home but don’t you think you could have sent something over to say how things were going?” Pinkie poked him in the stomach with a candy cane.

“Good to see you too Pinkie.” He greeted her. “As for messages, the Princesses messaging magic has a limited range, as it turns out. And our couriers were busy running so many messages due to all that has transpired,” He sighed. “I couldn’t send anything to anyone. Oh, speaking of which.” He gave her a few scrolls. “We don’t have many dessert recipes but I think you’ll like these.” He smiled.

“Oh, wow! Exotic desserts from your home! Mr. and Ms. Cake would love to make them! Cool!” She took them into her mouth and put them aside. “Now, what can I get for you?”

“Actually, I need to know what gifts I can give a special somepony for Hearts and Hooves day. You know about pony culture, so I’m seeking the Sage of Happiness for that.” He smiled.

Pinkie giggled. “You sought the right pony, my student.” She said mimicking a wisemare, then giggled again. “For Dash, just be straight forward. Some roses and just spend the day with her doing whatever.” She eyed his pack. “Or did you buy her something already?”

“Maybe.” He made a coy smile. “Thanks Pinkie. Hope you enjoy this holiday.” He bought a bouquet of roses until he felt a tug on the pant leg by a familiar filly.

“Hello Applebloom. How are you?” He knelt down and patted her head.

Applebloom smiled. “Doin’ fine, Mr. Darius. You lookin’ for Rainbow Dash, she said to meet her where ya’ll first met.” She smiled. “Also, thanks fer makin’ us our crusaders pendants.” She proudly displayed hers. “Didn’t know you could make jewelry.”

Darius smiled. “If it’s made of metal, I can make it. Besides, what are cutiemark crusaders without something to show off?” He chuckled. “Thanks. I’ll see you around. Say high to your friends for me.”

The Newman stopped by his place and noticed he already had orders ready for him to do next week. He should thank AJ for keeping him in business for when he got back. He then headed to that spot where he first gazed upon that beautiful pegasus. Walking passed AJ’s barn, he noticed an argyle-patterned blanket on the grass behind some bushes, under the tree, and laying down on it was what looked like a rainbow colored tail peering from behind the bushes. He got closer until he overheard something from behind the bushes.

“Aaah, Dash! Right there!” He heard Applejack moan. “Use your tongue!”

He stood still as stone. Okay, he believed fidelity was part of pony culture, although multiple relationships was not unheard of…I mean, there were men and women back home with more than one spouse, who were others to judge? But at least she should have told him if...! He sighed and walked around the bushes and contained his anxiety. Don’t get mad, just inquire. “Dash?” He saw AJ sitting innocently in front of what looked like a long-haired brush painted to look like Dash’s tail. He blinked.

“Hey there partner!” AJ made a silly-toothy grin.

He sensed mischief. “Okay, what are you up to?” He crossed his arms.

“Nothin’. Just thought you’d be more shocked by it all.” She giggled.

“What do you mea---ack!” He heard a sudden sound of thunder, then a shock on his bum as he jumped in the air. He looked up to see Dash up rolling on the thundercloud laughing, AJ on the blanket laughed hysterically. “One of these days, honey, I’m gonna to prank you good!” He chuckled.

Dash cleared the tears from her eyes. “Figured you deserved a surprise welcome, handsome.” She giggled.

He looked at AJ. “If you’ll excuse us, AJ.”

AJ tipped her hat and headed back to resume work.

Darius looked up at Dash and let his markings show.

“I’m gonna miss the blue and red.” Dash grinned. “But you still look hot.”

Darius leaped up and landed on the cloud, much to Dash’s surprise. “Woah! Hey…you…never told me you could do that.” She said.

Darius grinned. “I wanted to. But we had no couriers available and the princesses had limited range for sending messages. I’m sorry about that.” He felt her brush a hoof softly on his cheek in forgiveness. He took and it and gave it a soft squeeze. “Anyways, I think you'll find this pretty interesting.” He lifted another hand and the thundercloud went up…fast.

Dash looked around. “Oh cool! So this is how your Sages move clouds?” She looked up at Darius impressed, but he still grinned and said nothing. “Um…big guy we’re pretty high up. The picnic is down there, unless you want to have it up in the air.”

Darius began stepping back, not changing his expression, then suddenly fell back and began his descent.

“HUH?!” She jumped off the cloud and immediately dove to catch up to him. “DARIUS! WHAT ARE YOU-“

Suddenly Darius’s markings shone on his back as two luminous shapes of wings formed and caught the air. She maneuvered with him as he steadily pulled up and circled around with her till they both hovered across from each other. Dash looked amazed.

“Show off.” Dash mock scolded him. “And cool wings! Where did you get them?”

Darius hovered with her. “I knew an Avatar nicknamed ‘Old Thunderbird’ back home.” He smiled. “Grandpa invited him when he heard you’re a flyer. So he taught me his joining. How could I refuse? I want to enjoy everything about you, especially what you love doing.”

Dash bit her lower lip and smiled. “Y’know, we can have that picnic at my home instead, right?” She let her blushing indicate what she was offering. "And...um...maybe after..."

Darius stroked her cheek but lead her back to the ground as they descended. Dash observed his maneuverability and speed could probably only be half as good as hers. Not that she minded. The fact he can enjoy the air with her was awesome enough!

“As much as I want to experience that with you, I think it’s moving too fast.” He said as they landed, then pulled her into a tender hug.

Dash smiled and they shared a kiss. “So you want to experience my 'other rainboom' after being together longer?” She asked in a sultry tone.

Darius felt a shiver. Whoa, she was good at that. “Yes.” He managed.

The pegasus landed at the blanket. “Well, if those anatomy charts Twi showed me are accurate, then it’s gonna be worth the wait.” She giggled then saw him blush giving her a raised eyebrow-look. “What? I had to make sure we could, y’know? Besides, Twi told me you looked at ones of mares earlier.” She shot him a foxy grin.

Darius laid down beside her and gave her the roses. “You caught me, love.”

Dash smiled. “For me? Awesome! They look tasty!” She began to carefully eat the petals, avoiding the thorny stems. “Mmm. I’m so saving the rest for breakfast.” She said before she swallowed. They began to eat for a bit before Dash moved onto another topic. “I need to ask this before you and I continue this. Cause…well…a special somepony is a big deal.” She took a deep breath. “Do you want to have kids?”

Darius was afraid to answer this. He only told Dash half the truth about being an Avatar, could she accept the rest of it? “Can I ask you that question first?” He looked into her eyes.

Dash snorted. “Oh come on. It isn’t easy for me either.” She saw the pleading in his eyes. “Okay big guy. I…I don’t see myself becoming a mother in my future.” She waited for it, prayed this wouldn’t end their relationship. To her relief, he seemed relieved as well! Okay that was a good sign. “I mean, I want to be a Wonderbolt, more than anything. But I can’t be that and a mother. Spitfire told me Wonderbolts who became mothers sometimes never come back. Even fathers have a harder time.” She frowned. “It isn’t just a dream, it’s how I see myself years from now.” She sighed. “I mean, pregnancy, birthing, that would set me way back. And besides, I’m not much into taking care of kids beyond the whole big sister thing.” Recently, she was mentoring Scootaloo in flying, but she couldn't imagine being her mother. She didn't know how her mom does it.

Darius stroked the mare's mane down to her neck. She relaxed and let him reply. “Thank you for telling me.” He took a deep breath. “You remember when I said women didn’t give me a chance because I was gonna fight the Wyrm? That was only half the story.” He hesitated. “I can’t have children, Dash.” He frowned. “It’s the price for this gift. Avatars are…sterile.”

Dash looked at him surprise. “So…you can do it, but you can’t make foals?” She looked at him with sympathy. “I guess where you come from, that is hard to deal with.” She moved close and rested on his chest as he laid back against a tree.

“I think you and I are lucky we found each other.” He stroked her ears, making them twitch. “I asked the spirit of my predecessor how she was able to deal with it. She didn't pull any punches. It was a hard life, but rewarding in the sacrifices we make for others, and the honor we gain from it.” He reflected. “It helped me accept this price a long time ago, so I’m not upset about it. But my fear was being alone.” He felt Dash softly nuzzled her cheek affectionately against his chest. “I’m glad that fear didn’t come true.” He smiled lovingly to her. “Especially with one so soft.”

The blue mare giggled and rolled over, feeling his hand trail downward across her stomach. Her tail flicked merrily indicating she was enjoying this experience.

“Heh, your wing muscles and wings are intimate but your…what is that, barrel?” He asked. Dash nodded blissfully. “No problem with that, huh?”

Dash murmured something inaudible, she was enjoying the attention too much.

“I think you’re getting addicted.” He chuckled.

Dash giggled. "Not a bad thing." She purred to his touch.

The Newman chuckled. “So, I think I should give you this then.” He gave her a package bound in cloth and thongs.

Dash let out a disappointed ‘awe’ when stopped, then looked at the present. “Another gift? Cool!” She untied the thongs with her teeth and tore off the wrapping before she gazed at the contents with wide eyes. The pegasus actually let out an audible squeal and proceeded to repeat OMIGOSH about ten times as she lifted the official Wonderbolts flight suit and goggles. But this one was tailored for her; not by Rarity given her styles were more for aesthetics rather than practical use. It was midnight blue and had a rainbow stripe down the backside along with lightning decals. It was…original, like it emphasized her uniqueness and skill, instead of being ‘just another Wonderbolt.’ And the matching goggles were superb. She looked it and hugged it. Then pounced her special somepony and hugged him tightly. “THIS IS SO AWESOME! I CAN’T WAIT TO SHOW IT OFF WHEN I COMPETE NEXT YEAR!”  She was so happy she was shedding tears.

Her coltfriend hugged her back. “You know it’s adorable when you get giddy as a filly.”

“Just don’t tell anypony I squealed.” She nuzzled and kissed him on the cheek. “Oh yeah, your turn now!” She went behind another bush and brought him a wrapped-up portrait.

He unraveled it and gazed at something he never had before. “Dash…wow.” He had seen these images on ‘glossy paper’ at other pony's residents, but for one of his entire family and friends back home. “When did you…how? We don’t have the magic to make…what are these called again?”

She giggled. “Photographs.” She gazed at it with him. “I asked the princesses before they visited to get their photographer to commission a picture with your family.”

“So to help me cope with missing them, I’ll always have their image here.” He looked at her and kissed her on the lips. “Thank you, my cherished.”

The two looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and kissed again, which quickly bloomed into a full embrace, holding each other close. Time almost stood still in their passion. For what seemed like forever, they stopped before things got more intimate. But they were breathless to say the least.

“Wow…,” Dash said panting a little. “Gonna be interesting holding ourselves back for a while.” She chuckled.

“I’m game if you are. Bet I could last longer.” He chuckled.

The mare laughed. “You know I'd take that challenge. Even in that.”

He laughed as well. “Knowing how we compete, we may never get there!”

The two shared another round of laughs and jokes before they enjoyed the rest of their picnic together.

***

Back at the Temple of the Friendly Bridge (officially named), Luna and Celestia teleported into the circle, gladdened to have returned home. The sun pony’s little sister was still sobbing tears, caught in between nostalgia and joy.

Celestia smiled and nuzzled her sister to comfort her. “It was wonderful to see how they have grown so much, isn’t it?”

The moon pony sniffed. “Yes sister. But just seeing them welcome us and smiling reminded me of way back when…when…”

“Sis, you had two crying fits during our visit. Do you need some time off?” She asked concerned.

Luna took a deep breath and regained her demeanor. “N-no. I’m okay sis. But those were very wonderful days. I wonder if we made them proud.”

Her big sister smiled. “I know we did, Luna. I know we did.” They trotted to the temple, but were met by several guard ponies escorted by one of the watchpost scientists.

“Professor Studious, how goes studying the new Ley Line?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, very well, your majesties. But…well, one of our scientists just recently found something having manifested itself at the teleportation circle the day before you arrived.” He adjusted his glasses and led them to the laboratory. “We have been keeping it in a magical field, as it seems less dependent on temperature, and more on…well, magic.” He opened the door.

Luna blinked. “I’m sorry professor, but I am not sure what you mean. What did you find?”

“Look for yourself.” He showed them what was being bathed in pure magical energy…a crystalline egg.

The princesses looked at each other, then looked at the egg closer. Inside slept a baby serpent-dragon of rainbow-like scales.

“I didn’t expect it to manifest itself this soon. But…well it would appear it is adjusting well.” Celestia smiled.

“I think it is going to be a he, sis.” Luna smiled. “He’s going to be adorable when he hatches.” She giggled. “But what should we name him? We can’t call him Wyrm, anymore.”

Celestia was thoughtful. “Tranquil is too feminine, Harmony too. He’ll need a stronger sounding name. How about ‘Concord?’ It has the same basic meaning.”

Luna smiled and gazed adoringly at little Concord. “Y'know, we’ve never been parents before.”

“That is a good idea sister. The least we could do is raise little Concord when he hatches.” She turned to Professor Studious. “Professor, make preparations for the egg to be transported to Canterlot castle. We will have a nesting chamber ready for when it arrives.”

The two princesses stayed a little while longer with the reincarnated dragon, both wondering how the days ahead will be with this next new development.

***

Hearts and Hooves night finished with an evening concert of romantic dance music. Neither Dash, nor Darius ever learned to dance, but they tried it anyways despite feeling silly doing it (you only live once). They pretty much did boring circles around but it was okay, they were having fun and that was more important. The night tarried as the two table-hopped socializing with other members of the mane six, or other friends such as Ditzy, Lyra, or Octavia. But the night was concluding as both wanted to sleep. The two flew up to Dash’s home.

Darius was looking forward to waking up to seeing Dash's home in the morning. He wanted to see it up close. He looked at it many times but never could reach it until now. But even at night, it was still fantastic. Just the fact someone can construct something out of cloud was unbelievable.  Much to his liking, he was able to walk on the clouds passively without having to invoke anything. He figured it was thanks to Dash’s element he could do this.

“You haven’t lived ‘till you’ve laid down on a cloud bed. I feel sorry for ground ponies and unicorns. Feather mattresses don’t come close to being as comfy.” She grinned and showed him. She removed the covers and patted the bed. “Give it a try.”

Darius smiled and laid down. “Nice, I can (yawn)…see…why…it…zzzzzzzzzzz.” He fell asleep right then and there, unable to resist the supreme softness and comfort of the cloud mattress.

Dash went wide-eyed, then chuckled. Okay, note to self, Dash, Newmen are sleep-prone on cloud beds. She giggled and climbed up. After giving him a kiss on a cheek and whispered ‘good night’ sweetly into his ear, she comfortably snuggled with him, thankful for every moment and thereafter the future will bring both of them.

The End

...

...

Credits
Darius: Huh? Where? Dash?
Pinkie: HI EVERYONE!
DiscordsAdvocate: Yo. Credits Pinkie?
Pinkie: Credits, D-A!

Author: DiscordsAdvocate
DA: One and only.
Pinkie: Why did you name yourself that? Mavis was just fine!
DA: ‘Cause I thought it was clever. Y’know like Devil’s Advocate?
Pinkie: You mean with Keanu Reeves? My cupcakes can act better than him!
Darius: Where the heck am I?
DA + Pinkie: Shhh, your dreaming, just go with it.
Darius:…kay.

Editor: frieD195
DA: Have I praised this guy enough? Seriously, I’m running out of clever editor praise. Thanks again!
Pinkie: This is going to be a very short credit list, you know that?
DA: Hm...
Darius: What are credits? And why is there a black screen? And why are their words floating from the bottom upward into empty space? More importantly...how are we all sitting here it without furniture!?
DA: You ask too many questions. Have a cupcake!
Darius: (eye twitches)

Darius: Based on the main hero from Outland
Darius: Outland? Sounds like a lame chanting title.
DA: Hey! That was a good game! I was on my butt for hours trying to beat it!
Darius: Hours sitting playing a game? Lazy bones.
DA: WHY YOU! (jumps Darius, who easily conks him on the head)
Pinkie: Darius! You dazed the author!
Darius: Not much of an author, he just wrote himself getting pummeled.

Wyrm: Concept based on Werewolf the Apocalypse, by Whitewolf Games
Pinkie: (sings) Aaaoooooo! Werewolves in Equestria!
Darius: Where do you come up with this random stuff?
Pinkie: Ask Lauren Faust, I have no idea, silly.
Darius: Who?
DA: (dizzy on the 'ground') Loooook…stars.

All MLP:FIM characters by Hasbro
Pinkie: We worship you, Hasbro!
Darius: I thought your creators were Celestia and Luna.
Pinkie: Um…
DA: (shakes head and comes to). What did I miss?
Darius: More scrolling words?

Outland by Ubisoft
Darius: Look, can I go back to dreaming about Rainbow Dash?
DA: What exactly were you dreaming about?
Pinkie: (looks from behind the black screen like it was a curtain) Nothing we can mention without the mature rating.
Darius: PINKIE! THAT IS A PRIVATE DREAM!
Pinkie: Oops!
DA: HA!

DiscordsAdvocate created by Mr. and Mrs. DiscordsAdvocate
Pinkie: Okay, now you’re just wasting the readers’ time.
Darius: That’s it, I’m going back to my original dream.
Pinkie: Don’t forget to stroke her-
DA: (puts hand to her mouth) Pinkie! Teen rating!
Pinkie: Oops, right! Oh wait! It’s the end of the credits! Bye everypony!
DA: Thanks for reading!

Special thanks to all my readers, critics, and fans. I had fun making this. And yes, I do intend to do a sequel, but don’t hold your breath. I have ideas for other fun things (MLP:FIM based, of course) I’m tossing around in my head and can’t decide which I want to try next. Also, I'll be taking a break.

So in the meantime if anyone has questions about the fic or inquires about my ideas surrounding this fanfic, feel free to ask in the comments section and I will answer there.


> Chapter Not Appearing in this Story
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello readers! In celebration of breaking 100 favorites and finishing this story, I have two announcements.

1) I am working on the sequel. I decided I love the story and setting so much, my mind is pumped to continue writing on it. However, its gonna be a bit slower due to IRL stuff. But it is being worked on.

2) While your waiting for the sequel, I have requested the artistic talents of a talented artist (this redundancy was approved by the Department of Redundancy Department) to make 5 artworks of the best parts of Long Way Gone that I can afford for him to make. I am not sure how long until I get all five of them, so I'll post them to this chapter as they come in, with an announcement on my blog when the next one comes in.

Thank you for your attention.

Artist is this dude: http://alienmastermind.deviantart.com/


First Panel AlienMastermind! The scene is from Chapter 2 when Darius explains all to the mane six. I must say I like how the character is shown in this. The art is like Samurai Jack meets MLP:FIM. The glowing auras of his markings are a nice touch. Though in these scene, he isn't as relaxed and cheerful :-P , but oh well.



This scene is from chapter 3. Dash and Darius versus golems. And overall, exactly how I would picture them!  :)