> Equestria and the Olympians > by Mrtyranno > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Humiliation, that was the only word that came to Tirek's mind. He had it within his grasp, all the power in Equestria, his to do with as he pleased. Then those ponies he had thought beaten had flung him back to his prison, placed in a new cage. Tirek snorted as he shuffled around his cage, noting his familiar surroundings, his four hooves shivering which each step taken on the cold floor. His red and black fur looked worse for wear, and his small stubs that were once massive horns, looked rather pathetic on the bearded centaur. Looking up far beyond the confines of his cage, he could see millions of various gems, metals and precious stones lining the great grey ceiling. With jagged stalactite shaped rocks poking through the cavalcade of glittering stones. The air was just as he remembered too, wisps of biting cold randomly infused with burning heat. It was effective at making sure prisoners could not adjust to the temperature, Tirek noted gloomily. Still he could at least note that things in Tartarus were not well, even upon being flung back he had managed a glimpse of lots of empty cells, their chains broken apart. He noted the empty pool that lay far beyond the steps that led to his cage. A fruit tree was bent over with it's branches touching the surface of the pool, but there was no one to grab the fruit. Further still, a great boulder was left abandoned at the bottom of a steep hill, bearing the marks of constantly being pushed. Tirek heard a loud whoosh followed by the roar of flames. Looking out of the corner of his eye he saw another familiarity. A great flaming wheel spinning through the skies of Tartarus, but this wheel also lacked a prisoner, the golden shackles were broken and that gave Tirek a great deal of satisfaction. Lastly there were deep gouges in the earth where it looked like gigantic figures had scrambled out of great crevices. Tirek grinned to himself as he thought, "The master of the house was going to have his hands full." Suddenly Tirek heard loud hissing, and he was filled with dread. Above him descended three black serpentine shapes, growing ever larger. As they landed Tirek took notice of their appearance. Gigantic winged snakes, their wings coated with fibers. The hair each of them had was simply a mess of smaller snakes all hissing and looking at him with menace in their eyes. The three were each clad in black robes with a single line of colour running through the robe, one of gold, another of silver and the third of bronze. They were the Erinyes, Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera, seekers of justice for crimes committed against the upper world. Tirek gave a yelp as they inched closer to his cage, hurriedly backing away as the sound of their hisses became too loud to bear. Alecto, unfurled her golden-lined robe, revealing a talon like hand swarming with snake limbs surrounding it as she thrust her hand into the cage to grab at Tirek. The other two rattled the cage, shrieking and laughing as Tirek was tossed around in his prison. Then, as abruptly as they started, they stopped their actions and held serious looks on their faces. Tisiphone stared at Tirek intently, opening her maw, venom glistening from her fangs as drops fell to the ground, landing on the floor with an acidic hiss. "Poor Tirek," Tisiphone hissed out, "All alone in his cage." "He must be so mad to be back in Tartarusssss," Megaera chimed in, prompting a chuckle from Alecto. "Stay back!" Tirek yelled, mustering the courage he could, but it was futile, he was weak and as if reading his mind the Erinyes threw their heads back and gave discordant laughter. "Tirek, be at peace," Alecto cooed, mockingly fluttering her eyelids, "We are not here to play today. Our master hassss sssssome questions for you." Then the colour drained from Tirek's entire body, he fell back on his rump as he wrestled with despair, knowing who was coming next. Sure enough the ground rumbled as shadows began to crawl towards his cage. The Erinyes slithered backwards as the air was once again filled with the sound of beating wings. This time however, the sound heralded the score of thousands of winged beings soaring above. Tirek could see their gnashing fangs and eager claws. Their bodies had the appearance of large grey moths, with the head and neck of a vulture. Multitudes of insectoid clawed limbs clicking in the while long spiked tails thrashed about. These were the Keres, harbingers of death on a large scale. Wherever there were large pockets of sickness and death due to battle they were sure to be found, dragging the kicking and screaming souls back down to the underworld to be judged by the members of the high court. Then the shadows coalesced and rose, and as if the shadows themselves were but a veil, they parted to reveal a gigantic armoured figure standing before Tirek's cage. He wore a black helmet in the style of the ancient Pegasi that covered most of his face. A long flowing cape the colour of multitudes of precious stones flowed behind him as the wispy air lifted it up. He was covered head to toe in black and gold feathers, his face like that of a Screech Owl. Gigantic brown wings unfurled themselves from underneath his robe, jutting out behind his shadowy black armour. The figure knelt down on his large large legs as he gazed into the cage, scrutinizing Tirek. For this was Hades, lord of this kingdom of souls and he was very much displeased. "Tell me, Tirek." Hades demanded with a voice that lay between a raspy screech and the hoot of an owl, "Where did the others go to?" > The Pelopeneighsian War: Of Berries and Messengers > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The room was large, filled with upward reaching structures, that towered over the two individuals in the room. One of which was an Alicorn, a pony with the wings of a Pegasus and the horn of a Unicorn, with a purple coat. Her mane and tail were dark blue with a pink and a purple streak running through them and upon her flank was a mark that bore the image of a large purple star surrounded by small pink stars. This was a cutie mark, a symbol that informed what the special talent of each pony that bore such a mark was. In the case of the Alicorn, her’s was magic itself. Her name was Twilight Sparkle and the pursuit of knowledge thrilled her and she was here to learn from the earth pony across from her. The earth pony had a plum coloured coat with a raspberry pink mane and tail. Her eyes the colors of fandango, her mark being that of grapes and a strawberry. This was Berry Shine, the most renowned brewer for kilometers. The bubbles frothed back and forth as the juice solution was poured from a measuring jug surrounded by ethereal purple magic into the small cup. As she set the jug down, Princess Twilight looked at Berry Shine with a hopeful yet nervous glance. The small hum of the large brown and mauve copper swan-necked stills that covered the expanse of the distillery hall only served to add to her uneasiness as Berry Shine picked up the drink she made and eyed the solution. With a calm sip Berry Shine paused as she looked like she was in deep thought before setting the cup down and giving Twilight a sad look. Twilight’s ears turned downward in despair as her thoughts of failure and being unlikeable ran rampant in her heads. As if reading her mind, Berry tapped the oak table the cup and jug were on to get Twilight’s attention and said, “I’ve had worse first tries from people I’ve tried to teach my craft to. Some have even made me sick. It’s drinkable, but it’s Manehattan quality and not Sweet Apple Acres quality” To Berry’s relief Twilight’s ears perked up ever so slightly but Twilight asked, “So...what exactly did I do wrong with making the brew?” Berry pondering before quickly replying with her assessment, pointing her plum coloured left hoof at the jug, “You added too much water to the mixture. Water is good for reducing the, for lack of a better word, punch of it but too much of it and the taste dissolves to the point that it’s barely detectable. What you need to do is figure out through trial and error what the right solution is.” Twilight replied with surprise, “But the books told me that this was the specific level of water, I took the measurements down to the last drop. This was still a disaster.” Berry slammed her hoof on the table with a stern face gesturing to the jug once more, “Books can only go so far Twilight. There are many situations where simple book knowledge can fail you. A lot of times you will have to be unorthodox about things even if they do not seem right at the time, but the results will surprise you. It may have tasted fine to you, but consider quality,” Berry’s expression then softened, “But thank you for coming to me with this, I want you to keep practicing on your own time and let your friends continue to try it out.” Twilight nodded her head in appreciation, taking care to magically pick up the jug and cup as the two ponies headed out the main door to another room full of jugs, cups and large juice bottles. After depositing her items she walked out with Berry Shine to the front of the store behind the counter where a female unicorn with a maya blue coat was attending to customers. Her periwinkle mane and tail had a pigment blue streak running through them and her steel blue eyes took notice of Twilight and Berry Shine emerging from the door, as she turned revealing her hourglass cutie mark, she uttered a sigh of relief. Opening the cash register, she uttered a groan as she said, “I was wondering when you would be finished Berry. These customers don’t like to take orders according to a strict timetable.” “I appreciate your patience Minuette.” Berry chortled out, “Thanks for watching the store for me.” Minuette nodded and pulled out a small watch from the cash register, putting it around her neck as she pushed past the salon doors connecting the counter to the rest of the store where a dozen ponies were lined up to get their order of juice. As Minuette left the store, she looked up at the sign of the brand new store that said, “Berry Shine’s magnificent juices, our products have a nice Punch” Twilight picked up a hoofkerchief and wiped the sweat from her brow as she noticed 2 ponies, a dragon and a tortoise with a helicopter rotor attached to its back waving her over. Smiling she trotted over to them and sat down next to her small purple dragon companion Spike who was ingesting the last of his coconut juice with a content look on his face. Across from her were two of her best friends, the always bubbly pink party pony with a balloon set cutie mark, Pinkie Pie, and the blue Pegasus with the rainbow coloured mane whose cutie mark featured a rainbow lightning bolt, Rainbow Dash. Nodding to everyone present they made their way out of the store. As soon as they left the doors Tank the tortoise activated his helicopter rotors and hovered in the air as his owner Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings and joined him in the air, slightly a few centimeters off the ground. The four were walking in the direction of Princess Twilight’s grand crystalline tree castle, that stood out amongst all the other structures in the little town of Ponyville. The hustle and bustle of the small town filled the air as a school bell rang, signifying that the school period was over for the day. Young foals scampered in the streets, and three young fillies were standing atop a fountain all trying to balance on it, though falling for their efforts. “I don’t get it Twilight.” Rainbow Dash stated with confused look on her face, “Why do you need to learn how to make brew’s the Earth Pony way? Can’t you just use your large amount of magic to simply poof a good tasting drink into existence?” Twilight shook her head before replying, “Food magic is extremely powerful and complicated. It requires a knowledge of how each food is made and the exact composition in order to taste right. I need to not only study the compound structure of each individual ingredient but learn the proper mixture so that they taste right.” Pinkie Pie giggled, bouncing off the paved cobblestone road as she noticed Rainbow Dash was mentally droning out Twilight’s words as the Alicorn rambled off more about the difficulties of making food using magic. Pinkie’s thoughts erratically turned to the idea of being able to make a banquet of the most delicious cakes in the country with just a mere thought. That in turn made her salivate as her next thought started to form as her nostril slammed into Tank’s shell. Pinkie in surprise rubbed her snout as she and the other two ponies and Spike looked at Tank who sported a look of awe. Spike raised his claw and looked upwards to try and spot what the hovering Tortoise was looking at. Twilight noticed that Tank had turned off his rotor and was on the road bowing. The other residents of the town that were in the area noticed this odd sight and then looked up as they heard a boom in the air, and what everyone saw startled them as a large figure came flying towards them. It had the shell and feet of a great green tortoise. Large chocolate brown hawk-like wings were attached to each of its four feet. Instead of having the reptilian tail of a tortoise it ended in the fluffy tail of a grey hare that was stretched out with spines on the sides. Atop it’s head were two large ram-like curved horns with a brimmed red cap in between. On his shell was painted the image of a purple Crocus flower and slung to it were large mail packages and a lyre coloured in the patterns of a tortoise shell. The great Testudine beast landed at an unbelievable speed in front of Tank, folding its wings against its feet as it did so, and looked at the small tortoise as Twilight began to appreciate its size. The animal was 3 metres long with a skull 1 meter wide and 3 meters tall. Lowering its long mottled grey sagging neck the giant Tortoise like creature nudged Tank with its snout and then appeared to notice Twilight and the others before fixating on Spike for a few seconds before rearing its head back and opening it’s beak. “You are the Alicorn named Twilight Sparkle?”, the creature asked Twilight, it’s large oval blue eyes bearing down on Twilight. Twilight gulped as she nodded, noting in the corner of her eye that a lot of the residents of Ponyville were in hiding, except for some reason, the various mail-ponies that did not seem too perturbed by the great creature’s presence but instead were bowing as well as Tank. Then the wheels in Twilight’s brain kicked into gear as she added all the facts together. Gathering her courage, Twilight looked up at the creature straight in the eyes with a confident appearing pose and replied back, “Yes, and I welcome you to Ponyville, Hermes Olympian lord of herds, travel, trade, heraldry, language, athletics, thievery and messages,” she finished with a graceful bow as her practice with the high Alicorn ruler Celestia had taught her. Hermes looked surprised at this but then threw back his head and gave a great laugh which reverberated throughout the town. Looking down at Twilight again, he posed the question to her, “I suppose Celestia and Luna taught you the proper way to greet an Olympian young one. That is good on you. As to why I’m here, I think it’s pretty obvious.” Before Twilight could respond Pinkie jumped up and excitedly, her apprehension all but forgotten as she screamed out, “Is it because you have a super special message for us?”, her eyes looking like they were about to pop out of her head with perturbed Hermes. Slyly he thought “Dionysus would love this one”. Hermes nodded and to everyone’s surprise his eyes suddenly gave off a golden magical glow as one of the backpacks on his shell opened up and a scroll rose out of it, covered in golden ethereal light before landing in Spike’s claws. Hermes furrowed his brow at Spike and asked him, “Am I to understand that your dragonfire is a method of message transportation?” Spike gulped and nodded in response. Hermes paused and stared intently at Spike before finally saying, “I’m very annoyed that I did not conceive of such a method. I have to give praise to Celestia sadly for that. Though you save me the trouble of flying to Canterlot to deliver a similar message. You and Celestia and correspond and give me your answer when you are ready. I think I will stay in this town and enjoy its novelties while I wait for you. I do advise to be quick, are not known for being very patient.” Before any being had the time to respond Hermes zipped past them, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped as she saw the speed at which the great tortoise moved. Meanwhile Pinkie Pie and Twilight looked at the letter in Spike’s hand that still had a glow about it. “Get the others,” Twilight said hurriedly, “Let’s go to the Castle and see the contents and figure out what’s going on. If the Olympians want something from us, then we better not keep them waiting or disaster might come to Ponyville and Equestria.” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash nodded and scurried off to get the other members of their group, haste guiding their hooves and wings. > The Pelopeneighsian War: Bakers, Traders and Letters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bakers, Traders and Letters Twilight gave a quick sigh of relief as all her companions entered the large crystalline doors to her castle. With haste everyone was seated on the seven large crystalline chairs that each bore the same cutie mark that each of them had upon their hindquarters sans Spike. Amongst her other companions that Hermes had not seen were Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy. Spike whipped out a scroll and a quill, ready to write down whatever Twilight would have to say, for if the contents of that letter were indeed dire than she would likely send a message to her fellow Princesses Celestia and Luna. Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity all looked very confused whilst Rainbow looked deep in thought about something. Spike however figured that possibly Rainbow must have been trying to figure out if she could beat Hermes in a race, though he felt positive that nopony could beat Rainbow in sheer aerial speed. Twilight focused quietly and let the magic flow through her, directing it to the letter and making it slowly enlarge. The letter grew to encapsulate the large hall and hovered above all seven of them as everyone saw the words. Princess Twilight Sparkle. It has come to the attention of the mighty Olympians that you were instrumental in returning Tirek to Tartarus. We highly insist on speaking with you at a location of your choice, preferably a spacious one, so that we may discuss matters regarding the state of Tartarus. We are aware of your use of dragon communication, so you may correspond with your fellow princesses before giving your location of choice to our swift messenger Hermes. Failure to comply would result in disastrous consequences for you and your kind. Signed Zeus Kronos-son, Ruler of Olympus. Rarity was the first to speak up with indignation, brushing aside her royal purple mane with her white hoof as she did so, “Well, I don’t know who this Zeus is, but he sounds very rude. That letter is nothing short of an outright threat.” Twilight’s ears flopped downwards as this was the reaction she expected. Truth be told, she didn’t much like the tone of the letter herself. However she had to do her duty for Equestria, so she quickly responded before the others could chime in on their disagreements with the letter. “The Olympians, “ Twilight began to say, “Are an ancient and long lived race of chimeric beings. Similar to our friend Discord.” she paused, noting a glimmer of recognition in their eyes. “They were responsible,” She continued, “for a lot of things that went on in the world. Before ponies had magic they were the ones who moved the sun and moon across the skies. Controlled the weather, land, food and forests as they saw fit. They even decided what happened to a pony after they had passed away. You all remember when I returned Cerberus back to Tartarus?” Everypony nodded inside the room. It was hard not to remember a gigantic three head pit bulldog that had been rampaging through ponyville, only to be stopped by Fluttershy’s amazing ability with animals. Pinkie mused, it was also the day Twilight had been going crazy about her future. Twilight saw Pinkie snorting, and quickly shut down a bashful smile of her own, “When I went to Tartarus I met the ruler of Tartarus. An Olympian named Hades, he had thanked me for returning his dog to him, but he didn’t answer my question about why Cerberus had left Tartarus in the first place. All he told me was that it was beyond the matter of a mortal.” “Seems now whatever was ‘beyond’ us, now includes us.” Applejack said sarcastically. As Twilight went on, she was beginning to dislike these Olympians less and less. From what Twilight was saying, they were even more powerful than Discord with much more arrogance. The thought of an entire race of creatures like Discord in his early days made her feel sick to her stomach. When Twilight was done Spiked chimed in his own question, “What would you have me tell Celestia exactly Twilight?” Twilight paused for a second then extended her hoof and declared, “Spike make a quick copy of this letter, and send it to Princess Celestia. She’ll have a quick response though I have ideas of my own.” Spike hurriedly wrote down the print onto one of the scrolls he had gathered. Once he was done he rolled up the parchment and blew his green fire over it. All seven beings in the room watched the parchment disappear in the magical flames and waited for the quick response. It came half an hour later, surprising everyone who had been pacing around. Spike caught the letter as it fell into his claws and he tossed it to Twilight who unfurled the parchment using her magic. “What is she saying Twi?” Applejack asked worriedly. “She says, “ Twilight answered while reading the parchment, “To perform a visual communication spell on my end.” The others murmured with fellow worry. A visual communication spell used up a lot of magic to perform. I allowed for a magical projection of another pony to appear in a far away location in the form of a large magical screen. Normally it too a group of unicorns to set one up but Twilight had the magical capability to pull it off by herself. They all saw Twilight concentrate deeply as two large screens began to appear over the round crystalline table at the center of the 7 chairs. The screens widened until in one screen appeared Celestia and Luna in their castle in Canterlot, and the other showing Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire. Twilight fell back into her chair with a proud sigh as the large screens hovered above the air. She had opened up her own connection, and now for a while the connection would be stable. “Are you alright sis?” Shining Armor called out from his end of the screen looking mortified as he saw his exhausted sister. “I’m fine Shining, but thanks for asking.” Twilight said with a smile. “Not to be rude everypony, but we cannot hold these screens up for long.” Luna said sharply, the image of her flowing mane slightly distorted by the screen. “Agreed sister” Celestia noted with a quick glance before turning her gaze on the main 7 individuals in the room. “We were honestly not expecting the Olympians to request our presence. But we have no choice but to respond. We barely know what they want but we doubt it’ll be good.” “Umm….are they all that mean?” Fluttershy asked shyly. Celestia gave Fluttershy a warm smile in response, “No, not all, some of them are friends of mine, but most have an arrogant air about them. Though I fear we will be seeing more of the aggressive ones.” “As for a meeting location that was requested in the letter,” piped Cadence, “I suggest we have them meet us in the Crystal Empire in 5 days time. From what Celestia and Luna have told me, they tend to make grand entrances, so we’ll repurpose the training fields that we used for the Equestria games to accommodate their entrances.” Everyone nodded in agreement with Cadence, in the background Shining Armor was already calling his guards to help set things up which didn’t offset the amount of dread Twilight was feeling in her stomach. With a nod of understanding, the other princesses used their magic to turn off their screens and the hall was silent. Twilight leapt off her chair past the tables and made a beeline for the large door. The others followed her while Spike was quickly scribbling the response down on a scroll. As Twilight opened the door she stated with her heart beating fast, “All Right, we’ve all got to find Hermes and bring him back here to Spike. I warn you girls, Celestia tells me that it is hard to persuade them to do something. You’ll know Hermes when you see him, he’s kind of hard to miss.” Fluttershy felt the most apprehension, as she found herself flying through Ponyville searching for this Hermes guy. He sounded scary like the other Olympians Twilight had been mentioning. What if he was one of the really mean ones? Fluttershy turned her head swiftly as she heard large gasps and one scream coming from the cake shop belonging to Mr and Ms. Cake. She flew in at speed, hoping the Cake family was ok and what she saw stunned her. Mr and Ms. Cake were sitting down at their largest table, looking half comfortable and half tense as on the opposite end of the table was the gigantic winged horned Tortoise like creature that had started the trouble in the first place. Hermes was eating one of the cakes in the shop and seemed to be enjoying the taste greatly. He looked down at the Cake family and in a gentle voice that did not seem to fit his large stature. “So you’re telling me, with food this well made, that you never tried expanding your business?” Mr and Mrs. Cake looked at each other before Carrot Cake looked up at Hermes’ face and gave his thoughtful response, “It’s not like we never thought of doing so. But we’ve seen what happens to a lot of ponies who tried to expand their business beyond their town. Some lost sight of their goals and were too focused on pushing out their product that it lost their quality. We’re protective of our confections being very well made.” “Plus, “ Cup Cake butted in, looking more confident by the second, “We have two children to take care of and although we have a babysitter, she often has other things to do and we can’t stand to be away from our kids for too long.” Hermes furrowed his wrinkly brow in slight annoyance before he relaxed his expression with understanding. “Being good at your craft would take priority wouldn’t it? I can respect that, even as a trade lord. Well I have another idea, what if I make a large order from you to be delivered to the Great Plains?” “THE GREAT PLAINS?” both Ponies yelped in surprise. “But why there, and how large is this order?” both chimed in unison Hermes gave a hearty laugh, “I have a friend who is helping his friend throw a large feast there, and although he’s a good cook himself he doesn’t know many of the dessert recipes you have on display here. As for the order, can you make thousands of cakes of your various delicious confections? But don’t worry the party isn’t for several months.” As soon as Carrot Cake heard the word thousands escape from Hermes’ beak he promptly fainted whilst his wife looked at the serious look on Hermes face. She gave him a stern look and carefully responded. “And you can pay for all of this?” she asked tentatively. Hermes gave her a massive grin and brought out several large bags out of his knapsacks. Ms. Cake stepped back as he placed them all on several of the tables in the store as they quickly filled up the space. Looking inside one, she saw a host of gold coins, all in the Equestrian currency of bits. She was speechless as she realized how much money was potentially in all those bags. The jingling rattle of the coins woke up her husband as he slowly took in all the money bags. Looking at Hermes, he swiftly got up and extended his right hoof,Hermes looked slightly perplexed and then grabbed the pony’s hoof and shook it. Looking pleased with himself, Hermes grabbed a few more cakes for himself and was on his way to walk outside of the door when he noticed Fluttershy standing in his way. The small pony before him said something, but she was so softspoken that Hermes had to ask her to speak up. Fluttershy squeaked and then told him that Twilight had her answer ready. Hermes nodded and then without her prompting he lifted her up using his magic as he went out of the door, increasing his size as he did so, and put her on his back. With a yelp, Fluttershy hung on for dear life as he raced towards Twilight’s castle. > The Pelopeneighsian War: Trains, Entrances and Sentences > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shining Armor didn’t like it. He knew that the Olympians were going to arrive soon but he was not in favour of how they were going to do so. The Princesses had informed him that their entrances would likely be destructive as to make a grand entrance. The thought of powerful beings entering the Crystal Empire so brazenly made him want to paw the ground needlessly. That aside he had several of his crystal citizens on standby to deliver food to the Olympians once they arrived. Hermes had assured him that they would all land in the center of the city’s grand stadium so he had many guards place shielding along the lines of the stadium so that the infrastructure would not suffer damage. He had made sure to deploy his guard Flash Sentry to wait at the train station to receive a special guest for the matter. Hearing the beating of wings he felt at ease as he saw the four princesses land in the center of the stadium followed by the rest of Twilight’s friends rushing through the doors. In a blinding flash, Discord appeared behind Fluttershy with a very dour look on his long face. Shining Armor didn’t think he’d ever saw Discord look so uncomfortable. Though he had seen Tirek gain power previously that was done by stealing Discord’s own magic, so the thought of a large number of beings far stronger than the Draconequus was very...upsetting. Fluttershy saw the look on Discord’s face and reached out to his hand with a gentle hoof and tapped it. Looking down with a jolt Discord instantly relaxed the moment his saw Fluttershy’s smile. Taking a deep breath he spotted a dot on the horizon and he knew immediately what was to come, and what he had been dreading for quite a while since the whole incident with Tirek. As the shape started to get closer he could feel the ground start to rumble under his feet. Feeling the increased wind pressure in the air as coal black clouds started to form over the stadium. From afar he could hear the sound of surprised yelling coupled with the sound of a large wave. The princesses quickly set up a forcefield spell as Hermes forcefully landed in front of them. The great tetsudian being gave a quick smile as he bowed before everyone. Taking in a deep breath Hermes bellowed with all his might, “I present to you, the lords and ladies of might Olympus, may it never fall.” The moment his words ended there was a great flash of lightning crackling across the sky and to everyone but Discord and Hermes’ surprise a gigantic funnel of water appeared over the stadium, bending inward whilst roaring, it’s saltwater spray sliding down the shields that had been placed before. The ground shook with an unbearable heaving as the water bore into the ground before finally parting to reveal six figures standing proudly in the middle of it. The first, to Shining’s surprise, was a large Zebra mare, but instead of black and white stripes she was sea-green and black. Her hair was the colour of sea foam and it was curled to resemble a nautilus at the back of her had. Atop her forehead was an ochre crown, forged in the shape of crab claws with a crescent moon shaped diamond at the center. Running down her back was a large glistening platinum coloured dolphin fin. On her hooves were shoes shaped to look like royal purple starfish. Her eyes were large and round like an ox, with no sign of an iris in them, just darkness black. Where there should have been an equine tail, there was a tail akin to a dolphin moving up and down in an irritated manner. Shining’s mental note identified her as Amphitrite, so-called Queen of the Oceans. The second was a Zebret. Though he leaned more towards a horse type lineage he seemed to have twin fish tails erupting from his hindquarters. He had a few stripes at the front of his body, but like Amphitrite the rest of him was a sea-green colour. The Zebret sported multi-coloured hair that looked like a coral reef, held back by a smaller crown that looked like lobster claws. His long flowing beard and his large eyebrows were a dark blue and they seemed to be reflecting the images off the ground. Slung around his spiny finned back was a large golden conch horn, it’s inner works adorned with bright pink pearls. His hoof adornments were salt white and it appeared like the white was floating off into the air constantly. Shining thought to himself, “Triton, prince of the seas!” The other three females were also Zebrets like Triton, with the same appearance but each a wildly different colour. The first seemed to have her body stripes contour to look like a low mauve coloured tide crashing along the beach constantly, and unless Shining’s eyes were deceiving him, the tide was constantly moving. Her mane was covered by a large sea shell with a solar emblem atop it and her muzzle had sandy brown freckles covering it. The second Zebret female’s stripes move around similar to ocean currents, bobbing upwards and downwards with deep aquamarine swells. Her crown oddly enough was not sea themed but had two large points resembling the stumps on the head of a giraffe. The third’s stripes were disturbing, violently thrashing like a terrible sea storm, with the center of her stripes swirling like a dizzying hurricane. Her crown had many small numerous little primate hands jutting out from it. All three Zebrets were listed as Rhode, Benthesikyme and Kymopoleia, the three princesses of the sea. The male figure in the center though, commanded the most presence. His jet-black mane flowing in the wind. A golden trident hovering in the air before him. He was a tall horse-like unicorn with a horn shaped like the spiral horn of a narwhal. Unlike the other four large figures he did not have a fin or spines on his back, rather his back was metallic grey and looked like seal skin with his tail ending in the shape of a seal’s tail as well. He was cloaked in a pearl encrusted cape with starfish and trilobite emblems across its edges, like the stripes of the Zebrets the cloak appeared to be moving in a wave motion. Shining Armor could feel the pressure coming from the figure and the trident he was holding. Poseidon, the being who styled himself King of the oceans, earthshaker and benefactor of equine races. Though the thunder boomed overhead and there were small cracks in the ground still forming the five Olympians proceeded to sit down on the ground. At first Shining was confused but then he saw Poseidon’s horn glow, and five thrones shaped like clams appeared around them, with Poseidon’s the largest. Poseidon turned his head and gave a slight smile and a nod to Celestia who gave a curt smile and nod back before looking at the small cracks in the ground start to spiral. Discord snapped his fingers and had everyone hover above the ground just before it caved in under everyone’s hooves. A large hole now was in place of where the center of the stadium was and from the great hole burst a swarm of terrible creatures looking like a mix between moths and vultures circled above, taking clear to avoid the lightning. They were lead by a more beautiful looking creature, one that looked like a mix between an iridescent butterfly and a dove. Beneath the swirling mass of Keres the three Erinyes soared upwards, their clouds billowing high as they observed the crystal ponies running in terror from the commotion they could witness at the stadium. Shining could see large onyx steps forming as they climbed up to the edge of the hole’s mouth. Peering through the darkness he could see four shapes walking upwards with three larger ones coming behind them. Each of the approaching four gracefully stepped out of the shadows, three he recognized from the books, the fourth was a being he had not heard of before. She was a tall bipedal kitsune. Her otherwise red matted fur was powdered ghostly white with large black lines around her eyes. She wore a large furisode kimono, the great sleeves a mixture of black, gold and red. In the center of the kimono was the image of a crab holding up a series of islands together . The large robes failed to hide the nine tails trailing out from behind her across the steps. In her left hand she held a small red umbrella and strapped to her back was a naginata spear. The blade tip of the spear was a dancing swirl of red and black and the kitsune’s face would alternate from looking healthy to a decayed head to a skull and back with frequent intermittent pauses. Shining was wrestling with his knowledge because he knew this Kitsune was not an Olympian so who was she? He didn’t have time to as the other 3 figures were certainly striking but much more familiar to his knowledge. The first was a large Minotaur dressed in gold and black robes. The gold and black colours edged around each other in the shape of a large labyrinth. However his skin looked as though it had been boiled by scalding water. Large red patches where the matted blue fur should have been. His horns were curved inwards and pointed upwards like that of a buffalo. “This must be former King Minos”, Shining observed mentally The second was also another Minotaur, this one with gigantic horns protruding from his head at a 45 degree angle like those of a watusi. He was also dressed in the same manner as Minos but his fur was untarnished. In his hand he held what looked like a book of law, clutching it tightly and in the other he held a large pen. This would be Rhadamanthus and Shining noted that the four figures must be the judges of the underworld, though he still did not know who the kitsune was. That mattered little as the final judge was insectoid in appearance. He appeared in the form of a large soldier fire ant standing upright. His large jaws chomped the air as if in slight distaste. He wore no raiments unlike the other three but his thorax and abdomen were patterned with images of lightning bolts streaking across from them. The final judge Aeacus. Beneath them the hole began to shrink in size as the ground was returning to normal, feeling it was safer Discord lowered everyone down to the ground. Poseidon and his group were unperturbed, looking bored by the whole ordeal, with Triton fiddling with his beard. To everyone’s shock though, out of the ground leapt two ponies, both familiar and surprising to see. One was the former tyrannical King Sombra, looking maliciously at Cadence and Spike and the other figure, one that put a great amount of sorrow on Celestia’s face, was Starswirl the bearded, bounding up before setting next to the underworld entourage. To Celestia and Luna’s joy a very friendly and familiar figure leaped out of the whole, surrounding by a yellow magical haze. Bounding out on all fours the being had the front half of a Polecat with a dark mask across her fur and a red and white underbelly, and the back half resembled that of a large dog. The being waved at Celestia and to this Olympian the sisters of Sun and Moon gave beaming smiles to. This being they knew to be Hekate, the Olympian of magic. Hecate gave a snort and planted herself next to the Kitsune who nodded and whipped out a small fan as thrones made of precious gems arose behind them, causing Rarity to have a fit. The final two to exit where a pair of beings with hands intertwined. The first wore a black helmet in the style of the ancient Pegasi that covered most of his face. A long flowing cape the colour of multitudes of precious stones flowed behind him as the wispy air lifted it up. He was covered head to toe in black and gold feathers, his face like that of a Screech Owl. Gigantic brown wings unfurled themselves from underneath his robe, jutting out behind his shadowy black armour. Hades lord of the Underworld! His companion had a much less imposing appearance. Where Hades appeared similar to a screech owl she appeared similar to a normal fruit bat but her colours resembled the patterns of a parrot. Atop her head was a wreath of pomegranates and she held a scepter in her left hand that was adorned with many flowers at it’s top and as she walked, the grass beneath her feet began to grow quickly. Noting this the figure moved her scepter and the grass receded before nodding at her husband and continuing on. This had to Persephone queen of the underworld. Hades gave a stern look at his brother Poseidon as he sat on his throne facing opposite from him. Shining then calculated, that if Hades and Poseidon were here then the clouds above could only indicate the main guests to appear. As if to answer his questions large gusts of wind swirled around everyone with a rage. Opening his eyes weakly Shining swore he could see the images of gigantic Pegasi inside the wind, but as if their bodies themselves were made of wind. His mind was confirmed as one of the Pegasi smiled at him before continuing on its way. Thunder boomed and lightning crackled as the clouds parted to reveal a golden light and several figures floating downwards from that ray of bright light. To Shining’s shock the first figure to burst out of the light was a Draconequus, similar in appearance to Discord but with much greater wings and horns. She did not sport a beard of any sort, but her long white hair flowed chaotically in the wind as she landed in front of the group, staring intently at Discord before looking at the Princesses with loathing. With a twitch of her eye she disappeared and reappeared next at the center where the hole in the ground had finally vanished sitting on a curved throne in the shape of a golden apple. At the sight of the throne Discord rolled his eyes till they fell out of his head before picking them up. Large vines erupted from the ground, rising to catch the second figure before lowering her gently downwards and retreating back into the ground. This was Demeter and she had the head and wings of a crane with red and black rings around her mostly white feathered neck. Her arms were similar to that of a green spotted gecko with a serpentine torso and pig legs. She held a lotus staff and gave a withering look at Hades before sitting down on a throne made of vines and harvest plants. Persephone sighed and squeezed Hades’ shoulder as his feathers had started to rise in irritation. The final two beings were covered in robes of splendor, with brightly flashing patterns. The female, Hera was a large peacock with her robes resembling the tail of the male of the species. She had large peacock wings on her back with the face of a Heifer and the body of a Lion and her crown was shaped to resemble a cuckoo. The male, Zeus had the face of a Golden Eagle with the horns of a bull atop its head. Large eagle wings were spread out from his back and his lower half resembled a minotaur but with the legs of a swan. Poking from out of his golden lined toga a great crackling lightning bolt in his hand in his other hand a bangle with the image of coins draped across it. The pair landed on the largest thrones, shaped like oak trees that towered over the other thrones. As Zeus firmly took his seat the clouds dispersed as quickly as they appeared. Once Shining was convinced that everything was clear he sent a magical bolt into the the air sending out a bright signal and almost immediately tables carrying a lot of plates with great amounts of food on them flew in and positioned themselves before all the different olympians. Each plate corresponding to what he hoped his research had borne fruit about their different tastes. To his relief all the Olympians unceremoniously started to dig in, marveling at the foods and content to eat them. ￭￭￭￭￭ An hour later once the Olympians had their fill the crystal ponies cleared the tables. With Twilight and company starting to feel very nervous once again. With the last table cleared Celestia decided to be bold and make the first move, knowing the risk and knowing all eyes were upon her. “Zeus, lord of the sky and king of the Olympians, what do you portend for us?” Luna muttered to herself that it was archaic that the Olympians wished to be spoken to in outdated fashions. She kept quiet as she could feel the pressure from everyone’s looking at Celestia, the air was even humming as the large wind-Pegasi in the background snorted. “What I portend, Alicorn,” Zeus slowly said in a great booming voice, “Is for you and your mortal companions to bear witness to or partake in the trial of Hades, for his negligent management causing the release of multiple prisoners of Tartarus, leading to the temporary loss of Discord’s powers.” Everyone fell silent, especially Discord as he could see Eris frowning and looking at Hades who was bristling under everyone’s gaze. Zeus made a wave motion with his arm and Rhadamanthus got up from his seat and walked to the center of the stadium and opened the large scroll he had been holding. “The charges filed against Hades,” he began, “Are sent by Eris, Queen of Chaos, mother to the victim Discord, and Ares Lord of War who could not appear here today. You are charged with leaving the underworld with Persephone and your judges, including your new one Izanami-no-Mikoto in order to take your citizen Orpheus to attend a concert manned by a female pony named Octavia for reasons not revealed. At which time Sisyphus and a lot of other denizens of Tartarus were somehow able to chain Thanatos lord of Death, Cerberus, Charon, the Erinyes and the Keres, preventing them from doing their duties and preventing every being on the planet from dying.” Twilight’s ears dropped as she looked at Hades whose face was riddled with fury as his judge was listing off the accusations. “Your negligent actions,” Rhadamanthus continued, “Were only halted by Ares discovering soldiers were not dieing and freed the denizens of the underworld and sent Cerberus to find them which he was unsuccessful in doing so. Thus we come to Tirek, a prisoner sent there by Alicorn Princesses Luna and Celestia, who proceeded to wreak havoc across the land of Equestria and steal Discord’s magic. It was thanks to the Princess Twilight and her companions using Harmonia’s magic that Tirek was sent back to his cell. Hades, the other prisoners are still on the loose and any havoc they cause is a result of your negligence. This court puts you at the center to ask you questions.” Rhadamanthus put down his scroll, shaking as he did so and as he walked back he was not willing to meet Hades’ eyes but Hades nodded and tapped him reassuringly on the shoulder before standing at the center. Zeus rose from his chair and slammed the ground with his lightning bolt, sending the very air crackling around him. “Hades, would you be kind enough to tell the court why you were listening to a pony concert?” Zeus said menacingly Hades looked up at the surprised equines behind him and sighed before replying, “My wife enjoys Orpheus’ music. But Orpheus wished to know what advances music had made since his time. I thought it would be both a learning experience for Orpheus and a chance for my judges to get the time to observe the mortal world, we are stuck in there so often that we run the risk of losing touch with the newly dead.” Cadence felt slightly touched at that remark but also sorrowful, so he was being punished for doing something to please his wife. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Izanami, the identified kitsune, squeezing Persephone’s hand as she looked distraught, but Demeter and Eris looked ecstatic. Poseidon’s group began to murmur amongst themselves but everyone was waiting for Zeus’ response to this. “You feel out of touch with the mortal world Hades?” Zeus asked with an innocent tone, “Well I can understand, and maybe we have a solution to your problem, I will consign you to search for the other prisoners on your own. Though they are hidden to us for unknown reasons, I’m sure they will turn up sooner or later.” “If it makes amends for what occurred I will gladly take your quest, “ Hades replied brazenly. Zeus mouth twitched with anger and he raised his bolt, the pure energy crackling from it and aimed it at Hades who tensed up as the Alicorns quickly set up a shield. To everyone’s surprise a large voice boomed out the words, “STOP!” and everyone turned to see a Centaur, with a bovine face similar to Tirek but without the nose ring. His fur was glistening silver and small starry lights danced around his flank as he galloped towards everyone. His appearance looked very aged, but his body looked fit and the epitome of health oxymoronically. “Why are you so late Chiron?” Starswirl asked worriedly from his seat. Chiron chuckled before replying back to Starswirl, “I arrived on time but the Pegasi guard waiting for me at the station was trying to prevent me from going into the stadium worrying I would get hurt by the bombastic and overblown storm that was there.” he said with a bow as graceful as he could make to Zeus. Poseidon and the others snickered a bit before quickly shutting up as Zeus glared at everyone. Chiron cleared his throat as he stood beside Hades. “Lord Zeus, how do you expect Hades to find the prisoners if they are hidden to us. He does not know how the land has changed since his time and I fear him getting lost would be a blemish to you, so I wish to make a suggestion. Let him have guides to the lands to aid him in his search.” Twilight started to get an inkling of dread and relief as Chiron then pointed at Celestia. This was Celestia’s plan, she had previously engaged in dialogue with Chiron to use this quest that Chiron knew Zeus would set for Hades, to improve relations between Equestria and the Olympians and at the same time to clear any possible outside threats to their lands. Of course Zeus was not aware that everyone knew what he was going to say but they had to play their parts of course. “So who will guide Hades across the lands?” Luna piped up, causing all eyes to turn on her, “It needs to be a mortal, as only mortals will be in touch with the lands. I elect Princess Twilight and her companions, for they were ones that imprisoned Tirek and would have the best ease of access around the lands.” Zeus stared at Luna,aware of Demeter and Eris looking at him with asking glances. He knew what the moon Alicorn said was correct, but he could not agree so easily, not without a consequence. Who knows, maybe the ponies would have a greater chance, and it would amuse him to see Hades beholden to mortals. But as he looked at Poseidon he knew that his brother would give them aid, as would the wind Pegasi that looked ready to help them. “I have considered your statement, Luna of the Moon.” Zeus replied with a voice that reverberated around the stadium, “But I have my own conditions, you and Hades may not receive any direct aid from any Olympian. Plus, if Hades is to travel with mortals then he shall be mortal until I feel he has earned his immortality back.” The Olympians except for Eris and Demeter gasped and before anyone had time to respond Eris, Zeus and Demeter stretched out their hands and Hades was on the floor in agony as an ichor coloured stream was being pulled from his body and coalescing into Zeus’ hands in the shape of a small apple. Persephone looked like she was about to burst into tears and Hades stood gasping as if he was breathing for the first time in his life. Eris shrieked out as the apple was fully formed, “He still has his powers of shadow, shape shifting, minerals and release my Lord Zeus. If he is to quest like Herakles once did then we must diminish him further.” “I agree,” Demeter concurred, “Bind his gifts, and have it so that only an Olympian can take off the binding and for each prisoner he captures one seal may be lifting. I want him to only show his full strength though, to the prisoner he is about to capture though at a reduced level if he does so before the binding on that power is sealed.” Zeus nearly balked but kept his face steady and looked at Poseidon and the other Olympians who sighed as they all stretched out their hands. From Poseidon’s corner came a large stream of ethereal blue chains that wrapped themselves around Hades’ neck, squeezing tightly whilst a chain of bones came from Thanatos, Persephone and the other Judges, combining with Zeus’ corner. Even Chiron looked uncomfortable as a large wispy black smoke cloud appeared as though it was being forced out of Hades who was still writhing in pain. Then the darkness erupted in a brilliant white light and in place of Hades was a small Screech owl with a golden collar around its neck with several gems encrusted on it and glowing. Hades shakily got up as Eris and Demeter floated gleefully towards him, Eris turning herself into a magic mirror as she did so. Hades touched his face with his wings and let out a scream that was unbecoming of his now miniscule body as he saw his reflection and Persephone looked away. Zeus bowed his head as he made a sweeping motion as he and the other Olympians disappeared, Persephone stretching out her hand, then she was gone from her husband’s sight and the arena was finally silent. Hades was still breathing heavily as Chiron picked him up in his arms and started walking outside as everyone began to follow him just as Flash Sentry arrived at the entrance heaving. A few minutes later Hades calmed down and spread his wings and perched himself on Chiron’s back looked ashamed at his body whilst Twilight and the others remained silent. Hades looked at Luna and spoke finally, “I….thank you for offering to assist me, but I doubt I will not be doing much for this particular quest as I am very….diminished.” Before Luna could say a word Fluttershy flew towards Hades and started petting him on the head saying with a soothing tone to her voice, “There there Mr. Hades, we’ll get you fixed up soon.” She quickly drew her hoof back as Hades angrily tried to bite her. In response Fluttershy gave him an intense stare and to Hades shock he immediately felt cowed which made Discord snicker,but as soon as Hades glared at him he pulled a zipper across his mouth. “Regardless, Chiron, I’m assuming you know where to start looking? Tirek disappointingly didn’t know anything despite all my….prying.” Hades asked Chiron nodded as he responded, “Yes Hades. I’m aware of Ixion’s location but the others I’m afraid not. But he’s conveniently in Centaur Lands and I have a suggestion to find the others, but let’s get on Toumazos first.” Hades looked up in surprise, “You came with an Atmomichani? I suppose I’ll have to listen to it blither the whole way there.” Chiron scoffed, “Relax, he’s a really useful engine Hades, I’m sure you’ll appreciate is help. But citizens of Equestria, Alicorns and present company, I give you my old friend, Toumazos.” As they came upon the train station the mane 6 finally saw what Chiron and Hades were talking about. They spotted a short blue locomotive 10 metres long. It had a boiler protruding at its center, a long black funnel at the top. Red lined buffers at the front and back and extended side tanks at its rear. It had two white coloured lights above the front buffers and on its sides read AK&SI in bright gold letters. Two cylinders lay inside the driver’s seat, but where there should have been a driver there was no one there. Behind the driver’s station was a small container with glowing green rocks inside of it and a golden whistle placed just in front of it. Attached to the locomotive where two long brown and white coaches which had the names Annio and Claire. What surprised everyone the most though, was that there was a round face attached to the front of the train. It was a gentle and kind face with puffy cheeks and it was smiling kindly at them. Twilight felt she had seen this time of face before in one of the worlds she had visited before but she pushed it out of her mind. “Hi!” The train said beamingly, “I’m Toumazos and I’ll be your train for today.” The mane 6 looked at each other but Rainbow Dash was the one to speak her mind first, “Looks like it’s time for a long and crazy adventure.”