Chapter 1 - Introductions

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I was excited, to say the least. It was a wonderful evening and we had just taken a long, anxious, road trip. Don’t get me wrong, I hated road trips. Despised them even. With the boring drives, constant stops to spend money on food, and the horrific traffic that you could run into at any moment. And we ran into everyone of those issues at some point, so this excruciating ride did not change my perspective.

None of that mattered now, though. All that did matter was our destination, Comic-Con. This was my first time doing this whole convention deal. Sorry, not everyone has the money or time to take themselves to some other state or whatever and spend days having fun. I wish I could. But that matters little, because I can finally enjoy the experience!

For my first con I decided not to go crazy overboard, just go and enjoy panels and other activities there. My friends: Ben, Marty, and Helen had decided to make a little competition for the convention. Each of them had created our own costumes to wear to the convention. Then we would ask complete strangers who has the best costume out of the four of us.

As I said, I wasn’t going to in a costume or anything. So that made me the judge. Whoopie. Now have to keep track of the votes from the people we ask to decided the winner.

I wasn’t the best plan, let’s face the fact the most people might not want to be bothered by a bunch of costume wearing nerds. But it gave them an insensitive to one up their opponents at our first convention, so they all took the challenge. Mind you none of them were famous for Halloween costumes, but they were still decent enough to cobble up something worthy to take on their foes.

We’re all nerds, let’s face it.

A lot of work goes into this stuff, it really does. Making a decision on what to wear was difficult, with all of the new games and movies coming out. You want to go as something unique. Something that will get people to say, “Wow, that’s neat! How did you make that?”. I had made a couple of Halloween costumes when I was younger, for me it was a big holiday. I helped a little with each of their costumes, using what we had to make up for what many would spend a lot of money on.

Overall, the costumes were not that bad.

Ben decided to go for an Oryx costume, in his Knight form. He made the sword out of wood and used paint to change it up. We colored his face and used cardboard to make those weird adornments that was on the Taken King’s head. Then We used some bathrobe, not the fuzzy one, and cut it up a little to resemble the cloak under the armor. The armor was more cardboard. He really liked cardboard……

Marty went for The Tragic villain, General Grievous. He chose to go with the one from the 2003 Clone wars series version. Since there were certain segments of Grievous’s body that would be impossible for a human to fit through, we had to improvise by making the suit bulkier. The head was even harder, luckily he could use the cape to cover his neck. But I pulled through. As for the lightsabers, I managed to give him some I had when I was younger.

Helen went for a humanized version of Zoroark. She used a fur coat and made it black and red with black cat ears. With my help we then dyed her long hair black and red, using a blue ring to tie the bottom to make a ponytail. Hers was more simple, if not elegant. She did pretty good job and she may win the competition, since hers was more simple---

“Philip,” A voice said, disrupting my thoughts. I lept up in surprise and looked to my right to see Helen giving me a skeptical look. “You daydreaming buddy?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “By the way, what does the winner get.?” I asked my friends. In our rush to actually create the costumes and got to the convention we had never decided what the winner actually gets for winning.

“What do you mean, ‘What does the winner get?’ Phil?” Marty asked, turning to look at me from the passenger seat. “Doesn’t the sense of accomplishment enough?” he joked.

“While I’m sure someone would love all of the titles that they would gain,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “I, personally, would rather win some money. Since I will probably need after this trip is done.” I had brought enough to sustain me, but it most likely won’t last long.

“Or that you finally beat me at something,” Ben added in from the driver’s seat. Marty mumbled to himself while Helen just waved her hand at the comment.

“We’re here for three days, Philip,” Helen deadpanned. “I don’t think you’ll be able to blow all of your money by then, unless you want to of course.” she then patted me on the head like a child and directed her attention towards Ben.

“But he is right about one thing,” she mused, putting her hand on her chin in mock thinking. “We should give the winner a reward!”

Ben was silent for a minute as he drove on towards our destination. He then filled the void of silence with an answer, “We could do money,” he pondered. “Though we’d all have to pool it in--”

“Except me,” I added.

“--No, you’re buying us dinner anyway,” he said offhandedly.

“Wait what--” I said, trying to get him to repeat that last sentence.

Helen then came up with an idea, effectively cutting me off. “Oh, I know!” She said. “We could buy something as a prize, and whoever wins gets it!” Marty and I gave her a skeptical look while Ben kept his focus on the road. Safety first after all.

“Right,” I said hesitantly. “but how would you all agree on something you would want?” We would spend hours trying to figure out what we would want to get, hours I didn’t want to spend.

Marty shrugged. “Just buy it after someone wins, then they get to choose,”

“Let’s talk about this later,” Ben said, stopping the car. “Right now, let’s do what we came here for.” We looked to see the convention in full swing. Ben parked the car and we got out, walking towards the door and going inside the building.

Inside the house sat six cloaked individuals, only one lantern lighting the room. There lay papers and maps, each one having been drawn on. All were silent, contemplating their reason being there. One of the figures tapped a shrouded limb onto the map.

“We’ll strike from here,” a masculine voice said firmly. “Quick and fast, none expecting it from happening.” Another one of the creatures shook their head inside their cloak.

‘During such an event?” the feminine voice questioned. “Surely there will be too many guards?” a couple of other hoods shook in agreement.

The first cloaked figure responded to the question. “Yes, but there will always be ‘too many guards’,” he said curtly. “At least we will have the element of surprise on our side. The smug bastard will be out in the open.”

The second figure turned to her college next to her. “You have more reason then any of us to end the tyrant, what do you propose?” all turned to the questioned individual, waiting for a response.

“True,” an old voice said. “He has taken much from me, and I would no sooner want his death to come quickly…”

“So,” the male questioned. “do you think we should follow through with this plan?”

“It’s risky….” the female fretted.

“When is it never risky?” the male said, slamming his limb onto the table with great force. This action knocked over some papers and sent one of the cloaked figures into a sprawl to collect them. “Every day it’s a risk, but we will have to take one eventually!”

“Enough, both of you!” another male hissed, cutting off the two. He then turned back towards his elder. “What would you have us do?” he asked him.

“.....We have no choice,” the old voice trembled. “each time we wait, we risk discovery. We must act now!”

Just then the doors burst down, four legged creatures swarmed into the room. One wore the armor signifying him as the leader. “Halt,” the voice boomed as a fanged equine walked over to the know restrained individual. “Remove the hoods of these traitors!” he said venomously.

The guards complied, tears the hoods of the mysterious figures’ heads. It revealed the cloaked figures as six more fanged equines, tuffs of fur on the tip of their ears. Two were feminine, the other four were males.

“I, Captain Thorn Brush, hereby arrest all twelve of you for treason,” he said. He then pointed his hoof at one of the guards. “Gather up as much evidence as possible, the rest of you come with me! We will escort the traitors to the palace dungeon.”

With that said, the guards marched the 12 struggling prisoners out of the building. This attracted the attention of the neighbors. They came out to see both friends and family being taken away to the large palace. They sent the curious children back inside, before shooting hateful scorns to the tyrants guards. The group trotted up towards the castle, dragging the unfortunate criminals with them.

Today was another dark day in Ashen Claw.

I’ll admit it, I was wrong. I expected no one to give a fuck, but I was wrong. When we went up to ask which nerd had out nerd the other with their costume people were quick to responded. I have no idea why. Maybe everyone was so hyped on being in the building that all things normal were thrown out the window.

“Who’s winning so far?” Ben asked, coming back from checking out some stand that was set up.

“Let’s see,” I said looking down at the pad I had brought. “you seem to be in the lead, but Helen is trailing in close behind you by only a few points.” I tapped my foot on the ground, looking around. While judging I managed to take a good look around, getting to see a few sights and talking to some people. It was overall a good experience.

“Look,” I said to my friend. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. So why don’t we get something to eat?”

Ben gave a glance around, most likely to find the other two cornerstones of trouble. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Let’s find the others and look for a place to eat.”

“Great,” I said. “Have any idea where the others are?” I asked, looking for Marty and Helen so I could get something to eat.

Ben raised an eyebrow at my question. “You’re the one keeping score of who’ll win, so shouldn’t you know where they are?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “But they went to see what others were selling, so I thought we would call a break.” He looked around again.

“Did they go that way?” I asked, pointing towards a room full of stalls.

“Yeah I think so….” I groaned, seeing that there had to be at least a hundred people in their.

“Well then,” he said. “I guess we’ll have to find them in that mob…..” he trailed off, realizing what we were about to go though.

“Yup,” I said. Both of us went towards the danger zone of the convention. People from all around would crowd the stalls in a withering mass, trying to get this or that awesome replica. It could take us a while to find our friends with the amount of people going in and out. At least this is the information Ben has given me.

Both of us sighed in annoyance. “Okay then, let’s go!” Ben grumbled. Both of us towards the crowded room.

When we had gotten closer to the room, the volume of voices got higher. Entering in, Ben and I had to swarm through the other cosplayers. I nearly lost an eye to one or two’s costume, people really liked spikes.

We saw some interesting things as we pass the stalls. Nothing that interested me, but it seemed like a couple of people had put some effort in the replicas so props to them (Get it, props!). It took us awhile, but we finally found Marty and Helen talking to one of the sellers. He was wearing a costume from RE4, a merchant I think. Helen was chatting to the guy while Marty was scanning his items. Ben and I made our way over to the three. “Hey,” I said as we approached the stall.

“Oh, hello,” the salesman responded happily. Helen turned towards us and waved.

“Hey guys,” she said. “We were just looking at this guy’s stock!” I looked over to see some impressive replicas. Some of the best I had seen. I also saw a Oryx's sword, a Zoroark Mask, and a General Grievous dark gray cape in the stall.

Huh, convenient......

Helen turned back towards the stall owner. “So, I was wondering if you could put that item on hold?” she asked.

“What Item?” Ben asked. I could see him and Marty eyeing the sword and cape.

“This one!” she said, taking a stuffed plush from the table. It was a Shiny Yveltal. It wasn’t a bad custom plush either.

“Yeah, sure.” the merchant said. “I’m open until the convention ends. Besides, you seem to be the only one to take interest in it.”

“Thanks!” she said, putting the item back down at the table. We said goodbye to the salesman and went on our way. “Come back soon!” the merchant called to us cheerfully.

I shuddered. “That guy gives me the creeps,” I whispered as we made our way out of the room.

“Oh nonsense!” Helen chastised.

I gave her a skeptical look as we left the crowded room. “Why didn’t you just buy it there?” I asked her.

“Cause,” she grinned. “I won’t need to, since I can use the prize money!” she said confidently,.

“I’m winning though!” Ben retorted.

“For now,” she stuck her tongue at him. “But we still have time to catch up!”

“Well,” I butted in, “That’s nice and all, but the only thing I have time for is food!”

“It’s always food,” Marty said. I glared daggers at him before turning back to Ben.

“You know any good places?” I asked.

The room was packed. Many of the citizens of Ashen Claw were asked, and by asked I mean ordered, to attend the trial of the would be assassins. The king preside over the court case, staring at the defendant’s with a mixed look of triumph and anger. The lawyer of the accused looked to be in the wreck, clearly he was stressed about defending the tyrant’s assassins.

“The court shall now proceed!” the prosecutor said. “The accused: Maple Treat, Dark Iron, Hardened Steel, Sucker Punch, Burnt Bark, and Swift Swipe are brought to this court today by charges of treason, plotting assassination, and disrupting the peace.” He listed the six and what their charges were.

Many of the bystanders shot looks of sadness towards their revolutionaries. “Would the defense like to make any claims at this time?” the judge asked.

“No, your honor.” the lawyer croaked.

“Then we may begin?” the king asked, lazily looking around the court.

“Yes, your majesty…” the judge answered.

The king halted from scanning around the courtroom, resting his eyes on the traitors. “You are charged with attempt of murder,” he droned. “A serious crime, yes, but you are also accused of the would be victim of this heinous crime to be your king.” he gave a look to the prosecution and made a waving motion with his hoof.

The prosecutor took out some papers raided from the house gave them a look. “From the evidence we’ve gathered,” he proclaimed. “your intentions were clear, the usurpation of our king, Coal Patch.”

“Does the defense understand the charges brought against it,” the judge inquired.

“Yes, your honor,” the lawyer answered glumly. He looked over to the prosecution, his opponent shooting him a look of sadness and mouthing a silent sorry.

“And what,” the king asked. “Is the defenses reply to these claims?” The room was silent, all knew the answer.

“The defense cannot deny these claims,” the lawyer said sadly.

“Nor would we want to!” the eldest of the accused, Hardened Steel, spat. “For too long have I remained silent as you ruined this once proud kingdom!” many in the audience gasped in shock at the stallions words. “You’ve ripped out every last bit of honor we had, stole our money, and played with our lives!” he went to assault the king, only to be restrained by the guards around him.

“You accuse me of these lies?” the king sneered. “You forget my ancestors and the wisdom in which they rule? I have given us stability!”

“You have given us nothing,” another of the accused, Maple Treat, shouted in anger. “You are nothing but a thief, a coward using his lineage to justify his own actions!” the guards restrained her as well.

“Clover the Clever herself blessed our dynasty--” the king went to recite their history but was abruptly cut off by another of the traitors, no, heroes!

“Clover the Clever also warned that if your dynasty was to become corrupt, another would take your place!” the young colt, Sucker Punch, challenged the tyrant.

Coal Patch laughed at the antics of the assassins. “Well then, young one,” he teased. “Where is this ‘other one’ that will strike me down, that will take my place?” all went silent as he scanned the crowd, challenging those who were present.

No one answered that challenge.

“Well then,” he scoffed, waving his hoof at the judge. “You have your answer. These traitors have committed treason, and now you must pass down the appropriate punishment!”

The judge gave a pitying look to the defendants, no, his neighbors and friends. He sighed and spoke the words he dreaded most, that any in his position would fear to say. “Then I, Judge Fair Javel, here bye bring down my verdict. The defendants are guilty, and must be….sentenced to death in a day from now.” he choked on his last words, trembling in sadness.

The guards took the prisoners back to their cells, leaving behind a mourning court. The ponies shuffled out slowly of the room, going on with the daily routine. The dread of the execution they would have to bear witness to deep in their minds.

The Mane six were sitting about in their chairs in Twilight’s Castle. They talked about their day and what was what. Rarity had her Canterlot Carousel Boutique that was still making a huge success in sales and customer satisfaction. Rainbow Dash was frequently writing to Gilda since their trip to Griffonstone, they planned on meeting up again soon. Both Pinkie Pie’s and Applejack’s business were booming due to the co-operation they shared, both apples and baking. And Fluttershy was asked to make several appearances to many animal and nature organizations.

Twilight herself held many courts to listen to the inhabitants of Ponyville and travelers who could not make it to Canterlot. But there was something missing from the six mares. Over the years of their friendship, they had battled constant threats to Equestria.

Now relying on that map that pointed to where friendship and harmony was need, they had less adventures. It had been many weeks since the map sent them to Griffonstone and it had yet to inform them of any other quests they need to take.

Until the map did activate.

They were all speechless as the gave them their new destination. An group of Islands that lie between the Dragonlands and the Griffon Kingdom.

Ashen Veil, the collective Islands colonized by the Equestrians long ago.

Chapter 2 - Falling and Striking down Tyranny

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We sat down in a local restaurant, happily munching on our food. We’d found a good Mexican place to eat at while we took our break from the convention, everyone in their normal clothes. I was enjoying a delicious chimichanga, Helen and Ben had tacos, Marty was having burritos.

“So,” I said between mouthfuls. “Here’s the score: Ben with a whooping 20 points, Helen trailing behind at 18, and Marty in last with 15.”

The others pondered over the score. “We’ve got a day left,” Ben mumbled. “So it’s still anyone’s game?” We chose to end it a day before our last time here, since we could just do whatever we had missed.

“It looks like it,” Marty huffed, a little peeved at his score.

“Ah, cheer up big guy!” Helen giggled. “You still have a chance at second place!”

“Ha ha,” he snorted.

I shrugged and continued with my meal. We finished our food and went back to the hotel for some rest. I wasn’t a bad hotel, but it wasn’t the best either. By the time I got to take a shower the knob to turn it on and change the heat broke and clattered to the floor. Yeah that wasn’t fun….

I was having a great time and got to meet some interesting people. Of course, I felt a little left out due to me not bringing a costume. But it's the way the world works.

My cell phone went off as I was just settling in. I picked up the phone and swiped the answer button instinctively. "Hey," I yawned.

"Hey," the caller responded. "Am I calling late?" I looked up at the clock, He was about three hours behind San Diego's timezone.

"Nah," I said. "You coming down soon, Adam?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'll be there tomorrow in the late afternoon," Adam answered. "My shift just ended. How's Helen?"

I snickered at his question. He and Helen had been dating for two years now. "I'm hurt," I said dramatically. "My brother calls me and his first thought is about his girlfriend!"

"I'm sure I've deeply wounded you," my brother retorted. "Okay, how's it going Philip?" He asked.

"Oh fine," I mumbled. "Everyone's doing this costume thing and I feel left out!" I let out a fake cry of grief.

"Oh," Adam said, realizing what I was talking about. "Helen mentioned the competition, she even made me dress up for it!"

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "You're showing up in a get-up as well?"

"Yeah..."

"How did she get you to do that?" I asked.

"Meh, she told me it'd be fun," he answered. "Anyway, tell everyone I said hi. I've got to go on the plane, see ya tomorrow!"

"Bye," I said farewell to my brother, hanging up the call.

I got settled in again and began to chill out, slowly drifting to sleep. Tomorrow was gonna be a long, and fun, day.

Ashen Claw Prison was probably the worst place one could be on such an awful night.

Droplets of rain dripped through the steel barred windows as a storm brewed outside. The disheartened prisoners sat together, sharing their last moments together and hardening themselves for their execution. The court case was set against them from the beginning. Only the satisfaction from finally telling everypony what they thought of their “king” kept their spirits from plumitting.

“Well,” Hardened Steel sighed. The six thestral huddled close to each other to keep warm. “I’m sorry I dragged all of you into this. I know--”

“No,” Dark Iron interjected. “We all knew the risks. We did this because in the end we felt the same!”

“And we’re still right,” Maple Treat added. “Coal Patch is a tyrant, constantly dealing with the other kingdoms as their lap dog. Produce for weapons, money for protection!”

“When we could have done that ourselves!” Swift Swipe said bitterly, kicking a stone on the ground with her hoof. “The only reason we can’t is because we would rebel if we were given weapons!”

The six friends stirred over their words. “I’m happy I’ll be able to die knowing I tried something…” Hardened Steel rasped.

“Fluffed Cloud would have been proud, Steel…” Burnt Bark said reassuringly.

“If only somepony could help us, no, Ashen Claw…” Hardened Steel said mourningly.

The six kept each other comfortable and were silent as the storm raged on.

The Mane Six stood aboard the Merry Mare as the ship sailed towards the Ashen Veil islands. They acquired the ship after sending a quick letter to the princesses of their new mission. “What the hay is Ashen Veil anyways, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked as the six studied the map and a book the princess had brought. The captain had already set course to the islands.

“Ashen Veil is a group of islands,” Twilight answered the rainbow mare. “It was founded by Ashen Wing, a thestral knight who served honorably during the ‘Chaos Wars’ between the princesses and Discord.”

“So why did this Ashen feller do when he found these islands?” Applejack asked.

“When the princesses restored harmony to Equestria, they sent out many colonies to find new lands and all that came with it,” Twilight said. “He was sent to lead the settlers of all nine islands and keep them loyal to the crown.”

“Um, if the islands are still named after him I guess he was pretty successful?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied, nodding her head. “He lead each colony to success and they created powerful city-states,” she then gave a frown, getting to the darker part of the book. “But when Luna became Nightmare Moon, a civil war forced many to choose sides. Even the city-states of Ashen Veil weren’t safe…..”

“What side did the Ashen Wing choose, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Celestia of course!” Rainbow Dash butted in.

“I don’t know, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said softly. “The Thestrals seem to be Luna’s friends…”

“Yeah, but--” Rainbow Dash was about to argue before Twilight interjected.

“He chose neither,” Twilight said, stopping the brewing discussion. Flipping a page from the book she brought. “It says Ashen Wing and the other colonist were conflicted. Choose their patron of the night, or their benefactor, Princess Celestia.”

“So, what did he do?” Applejack asked in confusion. “If he didn’t chose either princess, what did he do?”

“He and the other colonies succeeded from Equestria,” Twilight said, moving through more of the pages. “He formed a kingdom from the nine islands, each having their own city. It says he ruled for seventy years, even after Luna was defeated, and his reign was blessed by Clover the Clever and Celestia….”

“So, what happened that made the map has us go there?” Rarity questioned.

“The book also says that the volcano situated near the capital Island, Ashen Fang, erupted. Destroying the island and killing Ashen Wing…” Twilight said mournfully.

“Not the brightest move,” Rainbow Dash commented. “Setting up a city, or anything really, near a volcano.”

The Multiverse is a...complicated thing. You never know who is listening and when they take interest in another beings life.

A figure cloaked in darkness shot his head up from his planning. He looked around disdainfully at his surrounding, lava flowing from one of the walls. “What’s wrong, father?” a shadowy figure asked the disturbed being.

“I feel like someone said something about volcano bases,” the strange creature said ominously. “And I really want to punch the rainbow one….”

hr]

“And now the nine islands are ruled by his heirs,” Twilight said, shutting the book closed. “Okay girls, it’s time to get some rest.” the six broke up and went to their cabins as the sunset.

Hopefully they would make it in time to help with whatever they were called for…..

Nah!

“Well,” I said as my three friends sat down at a table next to me, waiting for the waitress to take our order. “I won’t lie, I thought this was gonna be a flop. I mean, I never expected to give a d@mn about our little contest.”

“Gee, thanks….” Helen deadpanned.

The four of us continued our day at the convention, and bring our competition to a close. It had been closer than I expected. With Marty almost hijacking the win near the end. But it was finally to announce the winner. “Okay,” I coughed. “So, it was a close one. But the winner is…………..”

They gave me a skeptical look as I paused for dramatic effect. “Helen!” I announced. I heard a couple of groans from my friends and one excited squee.

“Alright, alright,” Ben said fishing for his wallet. “You win, you win.” Marty grumbled and followed suit. I collected the money as the waiter came and she took our order.

“Hey, Helen?” I asked her after the waitress left.

“Yeah?” she asked.

I took the winning money and got up. “You want me to get that plush you wanted?” I asked her.

“Oh,” she said. “Sure, we’ll wait for you here. Thanks!”

I got up and walked towards the room where that merchant was set up. I once again swam through the mob as I made my way towards the guys stall. I saw it in the distance, dodging an enthusiastic member of the convention from lobbing my head off. “Watch it!” I shouted.

“Sorry!” the guy said before taking off with his friends. Some people get a little to happy yet.

I looked back at him for a bit before walking back on my direct path towards the salesman. I finally reached the man to see him talking to other people. He got a happy nod from them but they left without buying anything. He looked over and saw me approach, “Hey,” he smiled as I stood in front of his stall. “You came back for that Yveltal plush, didn’t you?” he asked, getting up and fishing in the back for the product.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said. This guy really gave me a bad vibe. It took him a while until he found it.

“Here it is,” he said as he brought it to the table. “That would be sixty-five dollars!”

I almost choked. The money they pooled was a small amount, there wasn’t enough….Ugh. “Okay,” I said, pulling out some of my money to pay for the plushie. He smiled and took the money, handing me the item. “Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” he answered creepily. “Have a fun trip down!”

I looked up and gave him a strange look as he grinned like a chesshire cat. “I’m from Philly, so I would be going--” whatever I was going to say was cut off as a hole opened under me. “--the fuck?” I mumbled as I fell down, losing consciousness.

Deadbluff’s cliff was named after a gambler/criminal cutthroat who was ironically thrown off the cliff from one of his debtors. Investigations were never made….nopony really like that guy. The cliff was used as a way to execute criminals. Or how Coal Patch kills dissidents. Ponies were gathered around (by force) to watched the execution.

“We’re all here for the execution of these six ponies,” Coal Patch shouted as he stood in front of the crowd, shield by his guards. “Unfortunately, these ponies chose a dark path. They sought my life because they were displeased with my rule.”

The bystanders were silent. Afraid to speak, it could be them next to walk towards the chasm. He scanned the crowd to see if anypony would speak. Seeing only fear drip from the crowd, he chose to continue the process. “They will be forced to jump the cliff--”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” all of the ponies jumped in shock at the scream. They looked up towards the sky to see a white and red blur speeding at alarming rates. It’s direction was clear and It cut down right towards the tyrant.

“What the---” Coal Patch yelled as the blur crashed before him. He was sent flying, over the cliff. The crowd rushed towards the edge to see their king sent into the water as vicious creatures below attacked him.

“Your majesty!” Captain Thorn Bush shouted in shock.

All were silent as they stared into the water. All that remained was the crown, barely afloat in the crashing tides. They felt a shadow cast over them. “Oh shit….” a voice said, the ponies looked to see the king-slayer.

My head was pounding as my vision was blurred. I blinked to regain my sight, it eventually returning after a while. “What the hell,” I said, the wind roaring in my ears. I looked around to see clear skies surrounding me. Huh, weird….I looked down to see myself fast approaching towards what seemed like an island from above. I wonder where I---

Wait, above? Ohhhhhhhhhh no. No, noooooo. I was falling! “The fuck?” I screamed. “Why am I falling, why!?!” I questioned in fear. I looked to see my hands were...different. I turned my furry neck towards the rest of my body, a mirror flying besides me.

“.......” I stared blankly at the mirror as I saw my image. Silently processing what was happening.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” I screamed as I descended. What the hell is happening?

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,”The crew and their passengers jumped in surprise as they heard the screaming.

“What the hay is that!?!” Rainbow yelled. The other ponies looked on dazed.

Canterlot, with all its glory, was a quiet and peaceful city. One could enjoy the beauty of this silence almost every day---

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” The three princesses perked up as they heard the distant scream.

“What is that offending noise?” Luna bellowed.

“I….I don’t know…” Celestia said in shock. A flash of light appeared behind the three mares. They turned to see a mischievous draconequus holding some binoculars and staring off in the distance. “Discord,” Celestia said happily. “Whatever are you here for?”

“This was the best spot,” he said, not looking away from the binoculars. The three princesses gave him puzzled looks.

“For what?” Cadence asked in confusion, cocking her head to one side.

“Oh,” he snickered in his own thoughts. “For real fun in a loooooooong time!” Everyponies face paled at his answer.

“Ohhhhh no,” Luna groaned.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” I continued my screaming as I plummeted to my death. Oh god, I can see the ground now. Noooooo, I don’t wanna go splat!

“What the---” an ashy-gray pony, bat thing, said as he saw me approach him. I landed right in front him, sending the poor bugger flying off the cliff.

Uh Oh!

“Your Majesty!” one of them shouted, a crowd of adorable horses ran to the edge of the cliff.

Your Majesty? Double Uh Oh!

I got up and looked at my surroundings. It took a bit to get use to walking with my bird-like legs, but I got by. I walked over towards the rest of the group, overshadowing them as I looked to see blood and a dented crown float in the water.

“Oh shit….” I groaned. All of the equines turned towards me, big eyes staring into the very fabric of my soul. “Ummmm, look,” I said hesitantly. “I know I might have just offed your king, but if I could expla---”

The herd rushed towards me, cheering and praising me. “What the heck?” I uttered in shock. I got a few hugs and some of the younger ones climbed onto my back.

“We’ve been freed!” One of them shouted, the rest cheering along with his words.

“All hail to our new leader!” another yelled amongst the crowd.

Freed? New king? Was this king some kind of douchebag?

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I saw some chained ponies standing a little too close to the edge for my comfort. “Why are those six there?” I asked, the others went silent. I looked around at the crowd. “What are you guys doing? Get them away before they fall!”

They gasped in shock, but then smiled. Some of them went and freed to captive ponies. They came back and huddled around me. “Okay,” I said, the crowd hanging onto my every word. “I’ll bite, what the hell is happening?”

Chapter 3 - Learning some history and becoming the best lawyer

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Well, no one explained anything to me. They just cheered and swept me away towards the palace, holding their own mini parade. While I was taken to god knows where I saw the guards restrained by some of the citizens and other guards. Okay, what the fuck have I done?

It didn’t take long before we reached what seemed to be a palace. They swung the doors open and squeezed me inside, with my protests of course, and I was lowered from the wave of hooves. I shook my head to regain my senses. Looking up I saw what seemed to be female unicorn with a red coat and black mane.

She gave the crowd a bewildered look, her mane looked like she had just woken up and a coffee cup floated in front of her. “What the heck are you all doing,” she said in shock. “If Coal Patch catches you with this...this thing he will--”

“Coal Patch is gone,” a member of the crowd cried with joy. “This creature saved our friends and liberated us!” the crowd rejoiced once again.

“Wha---what!?!” she questioned, dropping her coffee mug. She immediately turned towards me. “You...you killed him?” she asked skeptically.

“I have no idea,” I cried. “One minute I was falling, the next minute I’m being whisked away by a group of colorful ponies!” Not gonna lie, I was starting to freak out. Okay, I just killed a king, by the sound of the inhabitants that was a good thing, and now I’m being praised as some kind of hero.

What the hell is going on? I’ve gotta be on some kind of drug or sleeping, because this is some weird crap. “Okay, look,” she said to the crowd of ponies. “Why don’t the rest of you go on home or plan some kind of party while I explain to what’s happening to--”

“--Philip,” I said.

“--while I explain what’s happening to Philip.” she finished. The ponies cheered once more before taking off, leaving me alone with the unicorn. “Oh, what a mess today,” she muttered as the enthusiastic crowd exited the building. “Okay, follow me, your majesty.”

“Um, your majesty?” I repeated in confusion. She nodded and motioned me with her hoof to follow her. I followed the mare for a while as we passed the rooms of the palace. Getting use to walking with these bird legs was a little strange, but I managed to not fall on my ass.

We got to what seemed to be some kind of office. She opened the door and let me in first. I looked around, seeing a comfy office. It had a normal wooden desk with some cabinets, book shelves against one of the walls, and a fireplace near a comfy sofa and table.

The mare trotted over to a coffee machine and made another mug for herself. After she made more coffee for herself, and a mug for me, she sat down on the large sofa. “Sit down,” she said and patted a spot next to her with her hoof.

“Um, okay…” I said hesitantly. I sat down, my sheer fluffiness engulfed my side of the couch. “Look, about this whole ‘killing your king’ thing--”

“--He was an ass who deserved everything coming to him,” she said bluntly. “While it shows that you clearly didn’t intend to kill him, you’ve still done us a great favor.”

“Oh,” I said in surprise, taking a sip of my coffee. “Well, I’m happy I could help. But I’m not from around here….so if you guys could just help me get home I would appreciate it.”

“Where do you live?” she asked.

“America, but if you can point me to San Diego that would be great---” I saw her give me a confused look. I sighed, well it was worth a try. “You have no idea where America is, do you?”

“Um, not really,” she said apologetically. “I’ve never heard of the place.”

“Yeah,” I huffed. “Well it looks like I’m stuck here…” I looked down at my mug. Where ever I was, it wasn’t Kansas. From what I’ve seen and what I am, I’d bet my money on a different reality or universe. Not gonna lie, I was tearing up.

“Hey, you okay?” she asked, her voice clearing my thoughts.

“Yeah,” I sniffed. Her eyes went wide as she saw my eyes mostien.

“Are--are you crying?” she asked in shock.

“No!” I snapped. She raised an eyebrow and gave me an O’really look.

“You wanna talk about it?” she asked. I gave her a suspicious look but took her offer and told her what was bothering me. This resulted in me turning into a blubbering mess with my head on her lap as I cried my problems away. What, you think you would be different? Here, let me send you through a dimensional rift where everything you have changes and the chances of getting back to your loved one ranges around 7%.

Yeah, I though not….

Anyway, she stroked my neck as I rambled on about my problems. “An--and who will feed my guinea pigs!” I stuttered. Yeah, this went on for a while.

I’m impressed the unicorn actually listened to me, let alone cared. “You feel better now?” she asked sympathetically.

My fur was matted with tears and my breathing was choked, but I managed to nodded my head in a yes. “Mmhmmm,” I sniffed. I raised my head and situated my body next to her. “Thanks,” I said in embarrassment. “I know my issues aren’t really your problem…but I have a feeling I’m not here for a therapy session.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes,” she said. “Well, as you may not know, I’m the royal advisor to the king. While Coal Patch was an idiot, he was still king. With him dead, and the issues we already face because of him, I have a favor to ask you.”

“Uh huh,” I said. “Well, what is this favor?” I asked, though I already had a feeling on what it was from the crowd of ponies declarations.

“We need a leader, a real leader,” she said. “For too long we’ve been the stomping ground for the other island kingdoms.” her face turned into a scowl. “And with you, a strange new creature, showing up and usurping our previous king, we need even more help.”

“My help,” I affirmed. “Look, Ms. umm---”

“--Parcel Dove,” she answered. “that’s my name.”

“Okay, Parcel Dove,” I continued. “I’m not a leader, and you’re asking me to fill up the hole your Nero dug.” She nodded solemnly.

“I know, it’s a lot to ask,” she said. No, begged. “But our economy is a wreck, the natives, Drakes, are at war with us, and we have the other kingdoms just waiting to take over!”

I was silent for a while, pondering what she was saying. She gave me big pleading eyes. It was hard, I’d be sticking my head out the window and screaming ‘Come at me’ to the world. But, I could do something. Something good.

“Alright,” I said confidently. “Though, if I’m gonna be king, I’ll need my advisor.”

She let out a squee and hugged me. “Thank you!” she cried in joy. I looked at her in shock.

Damnit, these ponies are getting to me……

I had a couple of issues on my agenda that Dove and I would need to address. One of them was the zero knowledge I had of this island, let alone this world.

So, Parcel Dove broke it down for me. The first was the other civilizations and their species. And my god there are a shit to of species!

First was Equestria, the land of ponies and one of the most magical of any species. Equestria was currently ruled by, and for a long time, 4 alicorn princesses. Now, these alicorns were by far the strongest, and most magical, of the pony species; consisting of all three pony races. The three pony races are the Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies. The Pegasi can manipulate the weather, Earth ponies magic is connected to the earth, and the Unicorns can concentrate their magic with their horns to perform spells and other magical feats.

I didn’t have much trust for them. They kingdom I now rule use to belong to them, so I had a feeling they might want it back…….

Next was the Griffon Empire, one of the closer neighbors of Ashen Veil. The Griffons are ruled through houses, each house represents a certain type of griffon. Griffons are different from the mix of bird and cat they are. While there are many different types of Griffons, the ruling class is a mixture of hawk and panther know as the House of The Nighthawk.

Another major civilization is the Scorpion Kingdom. It contains two species known as Centaurs and Gargoyles. The Gargoyles were skilled craftsman and the centaurs were unprecedented when it came to manipulating the very fabric of magic. It was smaller than many of the other major world powers, but the empire has existed longer than Equestria.

One of the most...diverse civilizations would be the The Republic of Zecornia. It consisted of different tribes that dwell on something similar to the African plains. Now, are you ready to get hit by the boatload of inhabitants: Zebras, freakin Elephants, Rhinos, some swagger Ostriches. They have a democracy that consisted of representatives of each one of the races. They also were at war with Hyenas because of some kind of dispute no one could remember.

Dear God, it sounded like Lion King minus the ‘lions are master race bullshit’.

Changelings, the mere name caused Parcel Dove to shudder. The Changeling Empire is ruled by an Empress who chosen amongst the changeling hives for being worthy. To be worthy one’s hive must have the most love, which is a food source of the Changelings. From the details given to me, the changelings could be a great friend or foe. They have the ability to not only change shape of any body part, but said part becomes real; such as a griffon’s claw.

The Changelings were well known once and were a great friend to many nations but after the coronation of the latest Empress, around 300 years ago, the changelings disappeared. Their last location that is known was somewhere in the plain of Zecornia.

“So, we have no idea where the greatest natural spies are located?” I asked in concern. She shook her head to confirm my fears.

“I’m afraid so,” she answered, pointing with her hoof towards a castle attached to a mountain on the map. “But we have info that Queen Chrysalis invaded Canterlot, but was eventually defeated.”

Another thing that had me worry was Equestria. Besides the interest they would have in my kingdom, they were also a breeding ground for super villains. I pity Celestia, she’s gotta constantly deal with enemies of great power.

“Okay,” I said. “we’ll have to see what information we can get on Chrysalis, I rather not find out Bugzy is plotting to pull the rug from under me until it’s too late.”

The Diamond Dog’s had a small kingdom in Canineda, north of Equestria. The Diamond Dogs there more sophisticated than their cousins in Equestria. They’re the manufacturing country in the world and have a heavy industry in mining. Out of all the races, they would seem the most open to negotiations with us.

“We can set up a meeting with King Mudclaw,” I noted. “If we can get into diplomatic relations with them we might be able to bring our economy back and running. Dove, see if we can arrange something.” She nodded her head and wrote it down on a notepad.

We only had three more left to jot down. I told you this was a freaking dosey. Anyways, the next on the list is the Minotaurian Kingdom. They were known for their brute strength and determination. They were also known for their wealth after years of constant plundering. All I’m gonna say is that I wouldn’t trust them with shit, cause they’d take it and then break everything around it.

And last would be the Dragons. After years of being a world power, they ruled with harmony and peace. I know, it sounds nothing like dragons. A great problem arised when Princess Celestia and Luna’s parents, Crescent and Solaris, had reports of dragons attacking nearby towns. Instead of finding out the issue they decided to create an alliance with many other races, called the Alliance of Harmony, telling them the horrors the Draconic Empire had imposed on the poor little ponies.

What was really going on was that King Brimstone had recently broken a cult centered around the Red Dragons. The cult, known as the Red Bloods, believed that all other dragons and races were inferior to the Red Dragons. It is said the King Brimstone fought a hundred of the cult members on his own, driving the survivors out.

Guess where the survivors went. Ding ding ding! If you guessed Equestria than you are correct! So these draconic douchebags attacked the ponies, who, in return, blamed the other dragons. After the alliance invaded the dragon kingdom, they crumbled everything the pure civilization once stood for.

Once the alliance discovered the truth, it was too late. Even now the Princesses try in anyway they can to help the stubborn and now greedy dragons.

Unfortunately, information of any other civilization was lost long ago. Only Celestia or Luna would remember them. Maybe I should meet the two and get some more information.

I stared off into space, processing the information I had gained. A couple of ideas came to my head that I would implement later. There was one more thing I needed to be clear though. “What about Ashen Veil after the destruction of the capital?” I asked Parcel Dove.

She let out a sad sigh before replying. “It became a power grab,” she said. “Some of Ashen Wing’s children took over, but others fell to outsiders,” I wave my wing at her.

“Tell me….” I said. I knew this was hard for any of them, history hurt.

After Ashen Wing died the 8 remaining islands split from each other, forming small independant cities. 3 where taken by pirates that now circled the ocean around us, forming an oligarchy of the strongest pirate captains. They called their new kingdom Wyrm’s Tooth. 4 other kingdoms were taken, counting Ashen Claw, by the remaining children of the old king.

In Thunder’s Peak, one of the 4 islands, one of Ashen Wing’s sons, Spirit Trip, became a philosophical pony. He believe in the improvement of his city by creating a more equal and democratic government.

After several years in office, he resigned and handed to torch to the people to choose the next leader. Now named the Ashen Republic, they focus on diplomatic relations and trade with the other nations.

Another, by the name of Sharpened Axe, was able to take the island called Kraken’s Isle. They set up a strong and prominent city that leads as a military power. After a couple of kings, they crowned Shield Breaker as their new king. Kraken’ Isle are the ones who were supplying Coal Patch with weapons. All he had to do was to offer tribute to aid the war between Kraken’s Isle and the Pirates of Wyrm’s Tooth.

Lunar Island formed around to preserve the teachings of Princess Luna and to keep record of Luna’s true history secret until her return. They became a religious group and were ecstatic once Luna returned. It only took a while before they became a vassal of Equestria.

“And now onto Ashen Claw,” I pleaded. A man can only take so much knowledge at a time. She nodded and began the tale of my new home. Turns out Coal Patch’s ancestors slowly rotted into the bag of shit that became our craptastic king.

The first ruler after the collapse was named Blackened Fur. Once his father died, Ashen Wing, Blackened Fur was quick to remove any challengers to his throne and take his own little kingdom in Ashen Claw. He ruled for a couple of years but eventually was killed by the natives that already dwelled on the island.

“Natives?” you say. Yes, natives….

All of the islands had native inhabitants that resembled lizard like creatures, Drakonians. Of course, Celestia being the kind motherly figure she is, forbade the colonists from fighting the native tribes or taking their homes. That was all and good, before Blackened Fur got into a heated argument with the chieftain of one the Drakonian tribes, Chief Bulkwater of the Red Spear. This argument lead to the stubborn king having a spear inserted into his skull.

Now you would think that his son, guy by the name of Gleaming Sword, might have learned the error of his father’s ways and not piss off the natives, right?

Nope.

The moron not only declared war on the tribe, but managed to bungle up the invasion of the Read Spear tribe by getting his troops lost in that freaking forest. Poor sap. By the time they got out, they lost over 70% of their forces.

Lesson learned, right? Wrong again!

This dumbass is now left to defend what he can but even then homes are plundered and farms are raised by angry lizard-men. Instead of pushing for peace and helping out his people he just raises another army with forced conscriptions. But here’s the bright side; before he could begin his next invasion of the tropic jungle he was unfortunate enough to order an exotic meal of pufferfish.

You can guess how that went.

Luckily the idiot managed to do one good thing in his short, five years to be precise, reign as king. He died and left the kingdom in the hands of his daughter, Ivory Tuft.

Unlike her warmongering father and moronic grandfather, she managed to get real shit done. The farms and homes that were pillaged by angry Drakonian were rebuilt. And the Red Spear was dealt with in a civic manner, she even convinced them to join their city, more labor and more soldiers. All and all, she managed to keep things afloat for awhile.

But good things don’t last forever, and Ivory Tufts died during a embassy trip to the Griffon Kingdom. Some called foul play, but the ship and all onboard it were never found. Her brother, Coal Patch, was the only one who had legitimacy to take the throne and when he did he allied with Kraken’s Isle and banished the natives, starting war with them once again.

Ding, ding, ding! Bullshit detected!

Okay, I can actually use this to my advantage. I looked at the clock to see the time, it seemed we spent the entire afternoon talking. Time to deal with my second agenda. The retrial of the six assassins.

Yes, they were trying to help their country by killing the weed. But the law was the law, and if I were to ignore it I would be as bad as Coal Patch. But with the new information I had just required, I might be able to save their lives.

“Okay,” I said, getting off the sofa. “Parcel Dove, I need you to get the court ready.” I began to walk away and opened the door. “I’ll meet you there, I need to run somewhere.

“Um, okay,” she said in surprise. “But why don’t you fly?”

“Fly?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” she said in confusion. “The way your body is shaped it looks like you could fly. I closed my eyes and thought back to my old Pokemon days. Ah, that’s right! I remember what this Pokemon was since Helen was always an enthusiasts of the franchise.

And since she was dating my brother and one of my best friends she managed to drag me into it during X and Y. I mumbled to myself as I went through a mental list of my moves.

Ohhhhh this is going to be more fun than I thought. Now that I think of it, I think Yveltal is like the Embodiment of Death or something. I activated my life absorption powers, the wooden floor slowly started to wither away and Parcel Dove began to wobble.

Not good!

I stopped my power, feeling rejuvenated. “Are you okay?” I asked Parcel Dove with worry.

“Y--yeah... what was that anyway?” she asked in confusion, still tipping over a little bit. “I felt powerless and….I felt like I was being drained.”

“Sorry, that was me,” I apologized. “I’m not quite use to my power yet….”

“Just don’t do that again….it felt weird.” she said, giving me a punch in the shoulder as we walked out of the room.

“No promises,” I snickered.

(Ashen Claw Stadium)

The stadium wasn’t the greatest of locations, but it was large enough to house a large number of ponies and myself. That and I made the choice to have laws debated here, this way others could see the debates know the ins and outs of our kingdom.

Judge Fair Gavel sat on the highest platform with a desk in front of him. The only one close to the judge was Parcel Dove and myself since I was the king and she was my advisor. The prosecutor and defenses desks sat opposite of eachother. The crowd would be able to view the entire presiding on the bleachers of the stadium.

“I, Judge Fair Gavel, will now announce the retrial of the six accused,” The judge said. “Will the prosecution now read the crimes that the defendants are accused of.” many of the ponies were hoping that the six ponies might go free, or at least get a lighter punishment. But laws were laws and even the king would have to follow them, unless he be a tyrant.

“The crimes still stand,” the prosecutor said. “Unless the king wishes object?” even he looked at me hopefully. I stood up in a regal position.

“Even though it pains me to see these six brave stallions and mares on trial,” I said, bring my gaze towards the six defendants. “We cannot ignore the law the states murder and treason against the crown be a crime. If I were to do this, I would become the very tyrant that came before me.” with that I sat down.

Many gave me sad, yet respected looks. I saw the reaction of the six ponies, instead of hate I saw admiration. The prosecutor then solemnly read the charges brought against the six ponies.

“The defense, as before, cannot deny these crimes,” The Defense attorney said. “But as stated by my clients before, they do not regret their actions.” They six nodded in agreement and stood proud and firm.

“Are there any objections?” The judge asked.

“I do, your honor,” I declared. The entire crowd, judge, defense, prosecution, and Parcel Dove gave shot me surprised looks. “One of the crimes listed is treason, is that not true?” I asked turning my gaze to the prosecutor.

“Yes your majesty,” he answered the strange question. “you would be correct.”

“If I remember correctly,” I mused. “You can only be king if you are a citizen, correct?” he nodded in agreement.

“What are you getting at, your highness?” Fair Gavel asked. I chuckled at him, a mischievous grin forming on my face. “I’m afraid if you are planning to take Coal Patch’s citizenship, I must inform you that to do so is to break one of our most sacred laws!” the judge said with worry, did they really get a better leader?

“No,” I laughed with glee. “If I were to do that then I would be no better than the tyrant I replaced. But if I am not mistaken, I can remove citizenship if evidence proves one guilty of murder.”

“What murder?” Fair Gavel questioned. “While Coal Patch had committed many cruel acts, he never murdered anyone.”

“After learning of your history, I found one thing fishy that was never resolved,” I mused. “The death of Queen Ivory Tuft,” the crowd gaped at the mention of their good queen. “After finding evidence in Coal Patch’s own office, I’ve found significant evidence linking the death of Ivory Tuft to Coal Patch and King Shield Break of Kraken’s Isle.”

The crowd burst into chatter. Fair Gavel slammed his gavel down many times to regain order in the stadium. After all the ponies had calmed down the judge turned to me with a smile. “Then, by the authority I posses, I revoke the citizenship of Coal Patch, thus dismissing the treason charge!”

Many cheered with joy, ready to parade the six defendants away. Once again the judge banged his gavel to stop the commotion. “While the treason charge is no longer on the table, plotting murder is still consider to be against even outsiders!” The crown was silent, realizing that the six heroes were still on the chopping block.

I then turned towards the prosecution. “Is it not true that as king, I am allowed to choose the punishment of those found guilty?” I asked.

“Yes, your majesty!” the prosecutor replied. “While death is one of the penalties, as king you can give leniency and assign a different punishment.” the eyes of the crowd bore into me, waiting for my decision.

I got up from my chair and walked down the steps towards the defense. I reached the table and meet 14 eyes of the attorney and his clients. “Tell me,” I urged the six thestrals. “If I were to pose the same threat to you as my predecessor would you not hesitate to strike me down, even if I showed you leniency?”

The question shocked many, but they hoped their friends would make the right choice. I was Hardened Steel who spoke, “I would not hesitate for a second to stop you,” he replied sternly. “For if an honorable creature such as yourself should fall to corruption, then I would preserve only the memory of the good you had done.”

This response elected audible gasps from the crowd. “Do your compatriots follow the same ideals?” I questioned with a scowl.

“Yes,” they all said in agreement.

The ponies waited for me to strike at them. To smite those who disrespected me and threatened me. I stared at them with a fake scowl before bursting into laughter. All eyes widened while I continued to laugh. “Then I see only one way this can go,” I chuckled, some might think I was about to go Palpatine and kill them in glee. “For your punishment, I assign you to work in public office!”

Many sweatdropped at my proclamation. “Wha--what!?!” every shouted.

“That’s right,” I smirked. “You will be forced to not only deal with the mountains of paperwork, but also the stress of dealing with yours truly!” I strutted back up to my seat and plopped down on the throne. “I think that adjourns this court, but I would ask you all to stay for the trial of the previous captain of the guard!”

The crowd once again went silent. My six new political officers would meet me later about their new job. For now, I had Captain Thorn Brush to deal with. I had read over the reports of him and his guards and saw the issues they presented. For one, Thorn Brush himself had no real power over his own guard, adding to that he was completely clean of any corruption.

So what do I do with him? I could take his position away, but I know for a fact he can lead the guards back to their former glory. Keeping him was a must, but I still need to give him a warning. Obeying your king is not a crime, so I wasn’t about to punish him.

What guards were honest and I deemed worthy to stay in service had restrained their comrades during their king’s untimely death. They brought the former captain before me, the crowd having unsure feelings.

“Captain Thorn Brush,” I said kindly. “It seems I have reached a dilemma.” he gave me a bewildered look, unsure of what was to become of him. “Obeying your king is not a crime, whether or not you enjoyed what you did is unknown. So I want you to help me with something.”

“How can I be of service?” He asked in shock. Maybe he was waiting for me to strike him when he least expected it.

“I want to believe you are fit for your command of the guard,” I said, leaning my head toward him. “Can I trust you?”

“Yes,” he said with conviction. “I serve my king, no matter who he be. My actions were only those asked by our former king.” he bowed before me, his wings touching the ground.

I nodded in agreement. “Here’s a new rule for you,” I chuckled. “only follow orders that abide to the laws of this kingdom, not the rule of the king. If I do any stupid shit, you have permission to slap some sense into me.” The crowd stared at me, completely dumbfounded.

“But I warn you, Thorn Brush,” I said, my mood becoming more dark. I felt the crowd shiver as the air around us turned cold, my body setting of red-purplish glow. “If I am to learn of you abusing your power, their will be no second chance! Do I make myself clear?” Pure malice poured from my voice.

“Y--yes my lord!” he stuttered in fear. Many ponies made a sigh of relief as my menacing aura dissipated.

“Good,” I smiled as if nothing had happened. I shot looks over to certain ponies in the crowd, those who might have had thoughts of taking my crown. Emphasis on the word “had”. “I think that takes care of all--”

“HELP!” a voice shouted. All of us turned to see an Earth pony galloping towards us. He panted for air, collapsing to the ground. “T--he Dr--ak--onia--ns are at it again, this time at Pumpkin Patch!”

“Guards,” I ordered, shooting up from my seat. “Come with me, we’re going to Pumpkin Patch!” The guards saluted and Captain Thorn Brush took off with his new guards.

“What are you going to do?” Parcel Dove asked, giving me a worried look.

I opened my wings and prepared to take off. “To deal with agenda three…” I flew off towards my destination.

“Pumpkin Patch is the other way!” she shouted.

I sweatdropped and a blush came to my muzzle. “Right, I knew that!” changing my direction towards Pumkin Patch. “Okay asshats,” I said to myself. “Time to learn not to fuck with my subjects!”

Author's Notes:

*Finishes typing* It's done! Yeah, I had some issues with this chapter. I had a change of heart on how I'm going to write. I chose that all of you deserve longer, and better, chapters. I want to improve myself, so I scraped my first shot at chapter 3, remaking it. Then the document I made it on got deleted.....so I wrote it again!

I want to thank all of you for the support you've given me. When I saw 60 likes, the favs, and more followers I was shocked. Yes there are also 14 dislikes, but I hope if you have any issues that you would tell me so that I could improve my writing!

I also want to give you guys a better look at what Philip looks like, so here is some more are from SoftMonKeychains! I know SoftMonKeychains' Yveltal is a girl, but Philip is a guy so yeah. This art is just so FLUFFY! That and I couldn't find any work that was so impressive as hers for Yveltal.

Here's a map based off the Cutie Map!

Chapter 4 - Meeting the Natives and Trouble Makers Arrive

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The crew of the the Merry Mare had better days. Their ship had been constantly harassed by pirates who were looking to take some unsuspecting travelers. What they didn’t expect was a ship holding a superpowered alicorn and her friends.

“Get you vermits!” Applejack shouted as she bucked another one of the raiders overboard.

The fight having lasted only a few minutes, the Mane Six had managed to bring the beat down on the pirates.

“Awww Yeah!” Rainbow Dash cried with joy as she delivered a sickening punch to one of her opponents.

“Let’s get out over here!” One of the pirates cried as he scrambled back towards their ship. The others followed suit, quickly scurrying away from the six mares. They hopped aboard their ship, sailing away as fast as they could.

“whew,” Twilight sighed in relief. “Let’s hope we don’t run into anymore of the!” The crew of the ship stared in amazement as the mares wiped the floor with some of the most deadly foes on the sea.

“How long until we get the Ashen Claw, captain?” Twilight asked the old sea-dog, making him jump in shock.

“O--of course your majesty,” He stuttered, trying not make eye contact with the purple warrior.

“Good!” she said, clapping her hooves in excitement.

I flew towards Pumpkin Patch with all haste. I scanned the ground below looking for the farm. I wonder if they actually sell pumpkins or if they just named it that because I don’t think pumpkins can grow in this climate. What are pumpkins even good for besides Halloween? I’m not going to let the farm burn down, but I need to find out what the hell we’re growing here!

I heard yelling towards the east, gliding off I found my destination. Man, those Drakonians remind me of Murlocs. I descended closer to the ground, hearing the natives speak in their language. Dear God they’re Murlocs. Goddamit, why did it have to be Murlocs!

I saw the creeps point their spears towards the family who owned the farm. An earth pony and pegasus with their unicorn daughter. How does that work? Can any pony race have a child of another pony race, regardless of their lineage? Could earth ponies have a unicorn or pegasus as a child?

Okay, these questions can wait. “Hey, slimeballs!” I shouted, grabbing the murlocs attention. “I want to give you a suggestion.”

“And what would that be?” one of them grunted. Good, they speak a common language. More emerged from the house, carrying looted items in their arms. Asshats, robbing the poor and sticking a spear in these ponies faces.

“Live…” I said emotionless. They gave me a skeptical look.

“Live?” one of them asked, tilting it’s head in confusion.

“Yeah,” I said, letting out a primal growl, my Dark Aura activating. “Cause if you don’t leave...you’ll be the opposite of that.” they still looked puzzled. Freaking idiots. “The opposite of living….” the family stopped cowering in fear and just stared at me with confusion. The Drakonians still looked confused.

“Opposite living?” It grumbled with confusion. Oh come on! There had to be a smarter one here.

“Yes,” I growled. “The opposite of living. You came to this world alive, if you don’t leave, you’ll leave this world unalive.” Recognition lit their faces, now understanding my threat. The family held at spear point face hoofed at my shenanigans.

“Oh,” the leader said. “We understand now. Well, we will have to unalive you!” four of them rushed towards me to try and take me down.

“Of all days today,” I muttered, flying up out of spear range. The little idiots tried to impale me but all they did was spear the air. “Shadow Claw,” I sighed in annoyance. My wings burst into shadows and I slashed them, sending them sprawling back. This was a waste of time.

“Gahhhhhh!” they cried, squirming in pain. I looked over my list of Pokemon moves, luckily I didn’t have to deal with that four move bullshit.

“Enough!” A voice commanded. I turned lazily to see another Drakonian marching with some more of his troops. This one was bigger and was blood red. He also have a strange gem on his spear and wore a weird voodoo mask with another weird gem.

“Chief Bulkwater, I presume?” I asked the newcomer.

“Yes, that would be me,” he snarled. “Who are you strange bird?” His spear aimed towards me. This one might be a challenge and I had to take into account those gems, who knows what they do in magic land.

“I am Yveltal,” I said, raising my head and looking down at him with contempt. “New king of Ashen Claw. You are trespassing and harassing my subjects, leave now.” Many of his guards backed off, giving me a fearful look.

“New king?” He questioned. “So, that fool Coal Patch is dead?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I have no quarrel with you, so leave now!” I repeated my command.

“Wrong, bird,” He snarled and got into a battle stance. “Coal Patch may still be dead, his crimes pass down to you!” His spear glowed red and he shot at an unimaginable speed. So that’s what it did.

“Phantom Force…” I said, vanishing from where I once was. His spear pierced the sky. His head turned in confusion, searching for his foe.

“Where did you go cow---” he was interrupted as I sent him flying. He clutched the ground as he hauled himself up. I slowly stalked towards my shocked foe. “You mock me?” he cried in anger. “Well then, mock this!” The gem on his mask shot a laser towards me. I let it collided with my body, it having no affect.

“Im-impossible!” He cried in confusion.

“I’ve had enough of this,” I huffed, activating my life absorption. He and the other Drakonians stumbled. My eyes glowed purple, “Dark Pulse!” I screeched. A purple ball of pure darkness launched towards the chief. His mask created some kind of barrier, but it couldn’t withstand the attack.

The Drakonians laid in a smoking crater, having no energy to move. Thorn Brush and his troops flew down to the scene to witness me walk towards the chief.

I reached him and I place a claw on his chest, pinning him down. “You are correct about one thing, Bulkwater,” I said, the chief gurgled. “You have been wronged, but this is not the way to fix it.” I lifted my claw off the chief, using my wing to reach out towards him.

“Who are you?” He asked in fear, taking my wing with his hand.

“As I said before,” I said, pulling the downed chief onto his feet. “I am Yveltal, King of Ashen Claw. I offer you the chance to bring back the days of peace. The days the Ivory Tuft ushered between our two people.” He looked down with a sad look. My subjects looked shocked.

“She was a good queen,” he choked, looking up at me with sad eyes. “She was kind and wanted to help my people...but then the selfish brat Coal Patch killed her!”

“You loved her, didn’t you?” I asked with sympathy.

“....Yes,” he sighed. “We loved each other, but I couldn’t protect her!” he gave himself a look of self loathing. I heard audible gasps come from the ponies.

“And would she be happy that you are attacking her subjects?” I scolded. He shot a guilty look towards the farmers his warriors had been raiding.

“No…..” he flinched, wilting under my disapproving glare.

“Ugh,” I huffed, slapping my wing over my face. “Look, we can work this out. But I need you to stop this silly quest for vengeance!” he gave me a skeptical look, searching for any lies.

“Alright,” he said, throwing away his pride. “What do you want to do?”

“Take me to your village,” I said sternly. He looked ready to argue but I silenced him, “If we’re going to trust you, you have to trust us. I’m opening the city up for you, but this has to go both ways.”

“O--okay,” he said in defeat, motioning the other Drakonians to follow as he took me into the forest.

“Wait, your majesty,” Thorn Brush said, galloping towards me. I turned to see my captain come up behind us. “If you’re going, so am I!” He waved his hoof towards the other guards. “The rest of you return to the city, inform Lady Dove of what has transpired!”

They saluted and took off back to Ashen Claw. “Look,” I chuckled at Thorn Brush’s antics. “While I appreciate your dedication, I don’t think I’ll ne---”

“I won’t take no for an answer,” he declared, putting his hoof down. “I literally have one job, to protect you!”

I was tempted to mention what happened to the last guy he was suppose to guard, but I didn’t want to be a dick. “Alright, alright,” I said. “But you gotta keep up!” I shot off after the Murl--Drakonians! I heard him fly after me as we entered the tropical forest.

“Land ahoy!” the pegasus on the crowsnest shouted, alerting the rest of the crew. The six mares and their loyal dragon companion dashed towards bow of the ship, taking in the landscape before them. It was a tropic island with white sandy shores. They could see the city and the small houses outside it, bordering a lush forest. A volcano sat in the middle of the island.

“I have that volcano doesn’t make any issues….” Rarity said with worry.

Fluttershy let out a terrified gasp. “Oh no,” she ranted. “What if the map wants us to stop the volcano or save the city!” she began to shiver in fear of what dangerous task they would have to perform. Applejack went to comfort their cowering friend.

“That would be awesome!” Rainbow Dash squealed with delight, ignoring Fluttershy’s antics and soaring into the air. The others gave her glares, making Rainbow blush and fly down to rejoin them.

BOOM!

All eyes locked onto the explosion near the forest a dark ball of energy had created. “What,” Spike said, biting his claws with anxiety. “Was that!” the ponies and dragon looked stunned.

“I think that might be what the map sent us for…..” Twilight said.

Thorn Brush and I were escorted into to village by Bulkwater and his guards. I saw some nervous looks from the villagers, not knowing what my intentions were. As we reached the center of the small village, my eyes widened in shock. Before me was a group of dark-type Pokemon standing in the center, as shocked as I was.

“L--Lord Yveltal!” A Zorua shouted in glee, dashing towards me. This seemed to calm the Drakonians down. A Liepard purred as she brushed across my leg while a Murkrow landed on my shoulder. I heard something clatter to the ground and saw a Umbreon poke his head out of a hut in disbelief.

"Um hi,” I said as the Zorua clambered onto me. Bulkwater gave an interested look at the spectacle. “Could you explain what’s going on?” I asked.

The Zorua gave me a little shove. “Come on,” he smiled. “You’re our new boss!”

How the hell am I getting all these guys to flock towards me. Heh, flock. Like a bird! “I am?” I asked the small fox. “How am I your boss?”

He got more comfortable in my fur. “Well, you’re Yveltal,” he said, his tone implying anyone should know this. “You’re one of the patrons of dark-types. Therefor, we naturally look towards you for leadership!”

Huh, cool.

I heard a cough and I turned towards Bulkwater. “While it is nice to now know where our friends come from,” he said, giving a small smile towards the other Pokemon. “I believe you wanted something…” Wanted some----

--Oh right! My glorious ‘join me’ speech! “Right!” I said, clearing my throat. More of the villagers crowded around the clearing, staring at me with interest. “Villagers of the Red Spear!” I shouted. “Coal Patch, the one you have grown to despise, as been slain by my own claws!”

The villagers turned their heads towards each other, muttering to themselves. “I am the new crowned ruler of Ashen Claw,” I proclaimed. “I will bring Ashen Claw back towards its golden age, an age that had both our peoples united.”

The crowd broke into murmurs of excitement. “I offer you a place in my kingdom,” I said. Time to cast the fishing line. “Not just as Drakonians, but equals!”

I heard cheers of excitement. They bit the hook, now to reel them in! “And I offer you citizenship and peace, and all you have to do is follow the rules of the city. No contracts, no secret catches, just both of our peoples working together.”

“And who would lead us?” Bulkwater asked, still skeptical of my offer.

“Well, as King of Ashen Claw,” I said. “I would your ruler, but we would still need the hierarchy of the tribe to properly represent the Red Spear tribe.” That seemed to get him aboard. All rulers fear losing their power, and all you had to do is assure they would still have some kind of authority.

“What do you say?” I asked the chief with a grin. He gave a look towards his people, seeing their eager looks. Much wealth, food, and power were to be gained in a city.

“Yes,” he sighed, giving me a weary smile. “I, Chief Bulkwater, hereby pledge the Red Spear tribe to serve under you, King Yveltal.” I smiled at the chief.

“Good,” I said, then giving the chief a smug expression. “But, I believe you haven’t told me everything….” he paled, realizing his secret might not be so secret.

“Wha--what do you mean?” He laughed nervously. “What would I hid from you, your majesty?”

“The child, Bulkwater,” I sighed at the chief’s attempt to trick me. “I want to see him or her. If I wanted to hurt the kid I would have already.”

He shot me a serious look. “Okay,” he snarled. “But damn you Yveltal, if I think for one minute you will cause her any harm I will kill you!” I shook my head in understanding.

He grunted and led me towards his hut. Inside I saw a filly working what seemed to be a bandana. Her art supplies were scattered across the floor and she was marveling at her creation.

The filly herself had the body and head of thestral, her coat being a watery green, and having a blue and faded white mane. Her tail was fish-like and she had Drakonian backlegs and for her front legs it was that of a pony. She also had spines trailing down her back.

I wasn’t surprised with her appearance, considering who her father and mother were. “Hello there,” I said warmly, gaining the filly’s attention. Her eyes went wide as she saw me before bouncing towards my direction.

“Hwllo,” she mumbled with the bandana in her mouth. She then laid it down at my feet and looked up at me. “Are you daddy’s birdy friend?” she asked innocently. I heard Bulkwater mumble something about friends and such.

“Why yes,” I smiled. “I am. May I ask who you are?”

“My name is Coral Tuft!” she stated, her chest puffing out in pride. She looked over to see Bulkwater. “Daddy!” she cried with excitement, rushing past me to meet her declared father.

“Hello sweety,” He said happily, giving her a hug. It was a little weird to see a Drakonian give a hug since they have a...menacing look. Damn, that was racist.

My train of thought was interrupted by Bulkwater. “This is my daughter, King Yveltal, but I think you already knew that.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yes, and would my assumption of her mother be correct as well?” I asked even though I knew the answer.

He was hesitant to answer me. “Yes, Ivory Tuft was her mother….” he said, drawing Coral Tuft closer to him.

“What do you assume I would have done with this knowledge,” I snapped in anger, shocking him and the others in the house. “Killed a child? What have I done to prove myself so psychotic as to harm a kid?” Coral gave a confused look while everyone around her looked stunned.

“What?” I asked bitterly, turning towards my captain. “Is that a custom around here?”

“N--no!” Thorn Brush stuttered. I let my eyes bore into him for a while before shooting Bulkwater the same look. Un-fuckin'-believable, how dare they think that I would actually do that!

I calmed myself down and resumed my warm smile as I looked at the filly. “Hey Coral Tuft,” I said warmly. “You want to come with your father and I to Ashen Claw?” I asked with a grin. If I know anything, I know kids love Disney Land. And I will make this trip Disney Land. No child should be denied a trip to that magical place

“Yes,” she squeaked in joy, breaking from her father’s embrace and going towards her bag of art supplies. Bulkwater looked more relaxed. Seems like my outburst had cleared any of his worries.

Coral Tuft zipped around, gathering her stuff. After she was done packing she walked back towards us. She picked up the bandana with her mouth and held her head as high as she could, offering me the cloth.

I cocked my head with interest. What was this, a gift? I took the bandana from Coral and examined it. It was a dark gray with two red, jagged, claws with the tips of the claws touching. In the middle there was a red spear with a tiki masked mounted on the shaft.

“What’s this for,” I asked the filly.

“I made it,” she replied. “It’s based off mommy’s drawings!” Bulkwater gave her a sad, yet happy, look while Thorn Brush smiled at the girl’s kindness.

“And you’re giving it to me?” I questioned.

“Yes,” she said, digging the ground with her hoof. “When I saw you talking, you mentioned unting Ashen Claw. My mom wanted to use this...but then she went away. But, I thought you might want to wear it!”

I was stunned. I swear, these ponies’ kindness was unparalleled. I took the gift and the Murkrow on my shoulder tied it around my neck. “Thank you,” I said sincerely. I wore it like Bowser Jr wore his bandana, my adorableness overloading.

“Well then,” I said, bring the others back into reality. We a ways to go before we get to the city. Should we go soon?”

“Yes,” Bulkwater said. “Let’s go!”

With that said, we left the village to return back to Ashen Claw. I looked up at the sky to see the sun setting, marking my first day on this crazy island coming to a close. I chuckled to myself as Coral Tuft bounced on my back, what a fucking day.

The Equestrians had made a camp far away from the city. They started a fire and brought their supplies out, prepared to have a long stay on the island. The Mane Six were in the makeshift tent and were talking over their plans.

“We have no idea what we could be facing,” Twilight said as she scanned the map. The others nodded in agreement.

“And we don’t want to repeat a ‘Starlight Glimmer’ incident….” Rainbow Dash trailed off, she and the other five shuddered at the memories of that uncomfortable predicament.

“Agreed,” Rarity said. “But what do we do?” Twilight put her hoof on her chin, thinking of an answer.

“We don’t want to rush in bindley,” Twilight said, stating the obvious. “But we can’t get the information we need without going into the city….”

“Oh, oh, I know!” Pinkie Pie bounced in excitement. Twilight sighed at her friends antics.

“Yes, Pinkie,” She chuckled. It had been a long voyage so any ideas would help.

“What if we went undercover!” She said, pulling out a cloak and striking a pose. “Ohohoho, mysterious!” she waved her arms in a spooky gesture.

“This is serious, darling,” Rarity said.

“Wait,” Applejack interrupted. “She might have a point…”

“Uh, what?” Rainbow Dash questioned. Twilight’s face lit up, catching onto what Applejack was saying.

“She’s right!” Twilight exclaimed. “If we go in disguises we won’t have to worry about any ruthless pony wanting to ransom us.”

“So,” Rainbow Dash said. “We go into the city undercover, find whatever the map sent us for, and take it down? It’s just like Daring Do and the Hidden Crypt of Prance!” she jumped in excitement to perform another stunt like her favorite author.

“Then It’s agreed!” Twilight said. She then turned towards the captain. “We’ll bring an emergency flare if we need an emergency exit. If you see it, your orders are to sail as quick as you can to the city’s port.” The captain nodded in understanding and left to inform the crew.

“Well,” Rarity sniffed as she looked at the cloak. “I think we need to make some changes to these. Give me a while and I can fix something up!”

“Okay,” Twilight said. “We’ll go early in the morning, so don’t sleep in. That means you Rainbow!” she scolded the rainbow mare before trotting out.

“Yeah, okay,” Rainbow Dash said in embarrassment.

The Six mares and the purple dragon left the tent to get some sleep. They would need to make an early start tomorrow. Hey, maybe they can get some kind of parade after they save the city. It would be good to get some real recognition for their efforts.

Besides, the food was praised as some of the finest cuisine and the beach resorts were said to be the best!

Chapter 5 - Dark Discoveries and The Kidnapping of A Life Time

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We continued our journey back to Ashen Claw from the Red Spear Tribe, nightfall soon approaching. Bulkwater had brought some guards along with him so we could buff up the defences while having the Drakonians intermingle with the citizens of Ashen Claw once again.

It wouldn’t be that difficult, since not so long ago they were friends. But there would still be those who held a grudge, those who had sided with Coal Patch and had been his allies. Now, as we walk through the jungle, they plot to destroy me.

I scowled at myself, shooting a look of pity towards Bulkwater and his sleeping daughter. He blamed himself for not warning her in time, for not stopping her from leaving.

But he had.

He had stopped her from going on that ship. She got his warning, but it was too late. Too many ponies had been involved, they were everywhere. Kraken’s Isle was but just one player who aided in her downfall, Coal Patch was just a pawn………

I had left Parcel Dove in the office and headed towards Coal Patch’s room. It wasn’t long before I spotted it, the door frame adorned with gold. I walked into the room to see it lavished with items worth thousands, if not millions, back home.

Dear God, this guy really liked to prove he was the boss with all of this expensive shit.

I went for the drawers first, rummaging for anything I could find. Just some useless papers and out speeches. Nothing with while….wait, what was this? The drawer was recently removed, someone had pulled it out!

I pulled the drawer out, feeling around the inside the desk. It took a while, but I felt a strange grove that was different from the rest of the inside. I pressed down on it, hearing a click as a small compartment popped out.

Jackpot! Now to see what secrets this guy had.

Wow, what a jackass. Looks like my little theory was right. That jackass paid off Kraken’s Isle to kill his own sister! Let’s see what it says.

“Once you locate the ship, dispose of the body below the deck…..”

Something was wrong...he said body below deck. But, how could she already be dead? Ah, here’s one to another party!

“You will be well rewarded for that amazing act boarding the ship…….”

Act...okay, something was wrong.

No. It doesn’t matter, I have all the proof I need to remove his citizenship. After that I can remove the treason charge, but I should read the rest so there are no loose ends……

“After the ship leaves, grab the girl from the Red Spear. I’ll make sure they can’t interfere by having that slime ball, Bulkwater, and his disgusting people banished.”

What would he want with some girl from the Red Spear? And this Bulkwater guy….I think Dove mentioned him being close towards Ivory Tuft. But why target the Red Spear, did he hate his sister that much as to ruin……

No…..That sick! Twisted! Bastard!

I bolted out of the room towards Ivory Tufts old suite. Dreaded filled my heart on what I was processing. Body, Bulkwater, a girl. I snapped myself back into reality as I reached the former queen’s room.

I opened slammed the door open, bolting for the drawer. If Coal Patch had one of the compartments, then sure as hell she had one. I ripped the drawer out and looked for another compartment. I frantically searched for it but my large hands proved to make it a challenge.

Screw it!

I smashed the entire desk, papers flying everywhere. Shit! I shuffled through the scattered papers until I found some of them having a different style of paper from the others.

I took one and read it out. “My dear Bulkwater, it has been long since we last meet. I miss our times and foundly---”

I blushed at the rest of the letter. I never would have thought from what I was told about Ivory Tuft was so...naughty. Oh God there’s more, stop reading you dirty pervert!

I was about to stop until I saw the big news she sent him. She was pregnant. It was a while before her death, so the kid had to be 12 years old. It seems like she made plans and sent the kid to be with her father, making constant visits.

But what caught my eye was the warning he sent to her. A warning detailing the exact plot on how they planned on killing her. How he found out, I don’t know, but if this is the case then why would Ivory Tuft go on that ship---.

Body…..

She didn’t go on the ship….her body did. But she was seen boarding the---

Act……

Act as Ivory Tuft. But who could look exactly like---

“Queen Chrysalis’s whereabouts are unknown,”

Dammit! This asshole was either an idiot who was being played, or he was a scheming genius. I’m going with the former.

The question is, “did he get the girl?”. And the only two who could answer me was Coal Patch, and this Bulkwater. One is dead and the other is at war with us.

If anything these letter say is true about this guy though, then he should be reasonable. Well, I have the evidence that I got from Coal Patch’s room so I should be set. Now to read the rest of these love letters for….the investigation.

Don’t judge me!

Guilt clutched my chest. I couldn’t tell Bulkwater or Coral Tuft any of this. As much as it would ease Bulkwater to know he had done everything he could have, there were too many unknown entities.

I couldn’t tell anyone, even Parcel Dove. Because the fact that Coal Patch orchestrated the death of his sister before the trip meant that others were helping him. And there was still that changeling that was on the loose. If I revealed any of that at the trial or now, then I risk the chance of tipping them off.

I’m sorry, Bulkwater……

“And that’s how it is!” I shouted to the crowd that had gathered for my speech. I gave everyone the down-low of the whole Drakonian situation and what was going on. Most of them took it pretty well, but that may be due to the two groups being friends before Douche Patch came into power.

Unfortunately, some were more skeptical than others. A few hooves raised to ask questions. After a while of answering questions I go down to the last two. “Yes, you in green hat!” I said, pointing to the first questionnaire.

“How do you suggest we handle the fact that we will be living with the barbarians who’ve been terrorizing us for years?” He demanded. Okay, found on xenophobic.

“Well, these 'barbarians',” I made air quotes with my claws. “Terrorized you because your king declared war on their tribe. If I remember correctly, not so long ago the Drakonians were contributors to our society.” All I got was an annoyed huff from the the pony before he lowered his hoof.

I scanned clearing and spotted another hoof raised high. “Yes, you in the back,” I called out. She pointed her hoof at herself to make sure it was her I was calling. “Yes, you,” I said.

“Um,” she said, looking around at her peers to see them staring at her. “How do you plan on keeping the village and the city connected?”

I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, a question that mattered. “My plan is to build a railway to the village and back,” I said, getting a nod of approval from Bulkwater. She lowered after she got her answer,

“Well then,” I said, clapping my wings together. “If that is all then this public forum will now come to a close. If you need me I will be sleeping.” I then turned around and head for the palace.

“Oh God,” I sighed as I dropped down onto the bed. I stretched my limbs and I grunted as my joints popped. It had been one day, one day and all of this shit happened! Don’t get me wrong, I loved my new gig and all but damn it was stressful.

At least no one had come to usurp me or pull coup d'etat bull shit.

I closed my eyes and went into a restful slumber. My fears were projected in my dreams as tireless thoughts flooded in my head. What if I never get home? How the hell can I keep up managing an entire population? How can I not piss off Celestia. All of these worries were things to fuss over, but I can’t deal with them if I’m tired.

I let out a content sigh lost consciousness, all of my worries fading away.

“Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhn,” I yawned, waking up to the sound of chirping birds and the streets of Ashen Claw becoming active. I got up and stretched my muscles.

I stumbled out of my room and down to the dining area to get something to eat. As I entered I was greeted by my six new officels and Parcel Dove. She was a little mad because I had slept until lunch time, but she gave me some slack since it had been a long day.

While we sat down and waited for breakfast to show up I decided to inform my new officels on what they would be doing.

“Okay,” I said, getting their attention. “Here’s the thing. I need six of you to manage certain aspects of Ashen Claw,”

I turned towards Hardened Steel and Dark Iron. “Metalworking has dropped due to most of our weaponry coming from Kraken’s Isle,” I said. “Since they most likely won’t be supporting us in the near future, we’ll need to make our own. I have reports that you two use to have a smithy once,”

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, your majesty.” he said.

“Good,” I said. “I’ve also seen in the reports that it was shut down. How about a new one, eh?” Both of them gave me a stunned look. “Hardened Steel, from this moment forward, you and Dark Iron will administrate our armories and workshops!” They both gave me a salute, acknowledging they understood their new roles.

“Maple Treat, Burnt Bark,” I called the youngest from the groupe. Currently they were fooling around with the silverware.

The snapped in attention. “Yes your majesty?” they both asked.

I chuckled at their mock salute. “Maple Treat,” I said. “From the information I have required, I’m told that not only have you owned your own farm, but that you have a couple of ideas on how to get our agriculture back into shape. Is that ture?”

“Yes, sir!” She affirmed.

“Good,” I smiled. “Then you will be in charge of rebuilding and improving the farms that have gone through recent decay.” She gave me a determined nodded, accepting the position. “Burnt Bark,” I said, calling the colts name.

“Yes, Lord Yveltal!” He said firmly.

Looks like I’ll be getting all of the title drops today. “I’ll need you to get our business and trade back on top. So, from now on you will be the financial advisor for the kingdom.”

“Yes, your majesty.” He gave me a small bow. I then turned towards Sucker Punch and Swift Swipe who anxiously awaited their orders.

“As for you two,” I said, addressing the last two of my six new helpers. “Your orders are in your room, in a concealed envelope. You are not to discuss its details with anyone and you will follow its words carefully!”

With excited faces they quickly nodded, nervous on what their mission was and why it was so secret.

I let out a sigh of relief as I saw the waiter approaching. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday and I was dying for a cheeseburger or----

“What the hell is this?” I asked as the waiter set down some strange looking french fries. I gave a smell and I backed away from it. Whatever it was made out of, it sure wasn’t potatoes.

“Hay fries!” Parcel Dove said happily, the rest showing just as much enthusiasm.

“Hay fires?” I cried, horror riddled my face. “Why would I want hay? I’m a bird of prey, I eat meat!” Everyone flinched on the last part.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me……

“But you’re part bat!” I cried in dismay, pointing towards one of the bat ponies who happened to be Maple Treat. “Surely you also eat meat?”

“Not all of us are part of the same bat,” Maple Treat answered. “Most of us eat fruit, due to the climate we’re in, and sometimes fish, but only on rare occasions.”

“Noooooooooooooooo,” I moaned, sadness overtaking me.

“Well, we have other things!” Parcel Dove said, trying to save the situation.

“Like what?” I cried in dismay, my head laying on the table as I gave her my famous puppy dog eyes.

“Ummmmmm--” Parcel Dove tried to diffuse the situation, but Burnt Bark beat her to it.

“There’s this great pizza place called Tony’s Pizzeria,” Burnt Bark said. My eyes widened with pure joy.

They had pizza! THEY HAVE PIZZAAAAAAAA!

“Okay, okay!” She shouted in defeat. “We’ll walk all they way to the restaurant, which is 7 miles away, to get you pizza, which I find uncivilized!”

“YAY!” I yelled with glee, giving my adviser a bear hug.

The six mares and dragon friend had woken out sometime around 6:30AM. They had packed up and Twilight used her magic to improve their disguises. By the time they had set off it was 7:13AM, twenty minutes past Twilight’s scheduled time.

She had a breakdown that lasted ten more minutes…..

They finally set off towards the city. I was a long trek from the encampment to the city and naturally they ran into some issues. One of those issues was a giant freaking crab jumping from the ocean depths to devour the ponies.

This ended in a smoking crab and some ruffed up ponies. After that unfortunate accident, they braced themselves for the unexpected. And that defense was tested when they reached the gates to the castle, seeing strange reptilian creatures guarding the doors of the city.

They weren’t big gates, nor was the wall stone, but it provided adequate defence from the outside world. The guards saw them and stiffen, planting themselves between the ponies and the city.

“Halt travelers,” One of them gurgled. The seven stopped in their tracks, obeying the guard’s orders.

Rarity nearly fainted upon looking at them. Rainbow Dash and Applejack took battle stances while Fluttershy and Spike hide behind them. Alerting the guards to brace themselves.

“What the hay are---” Rainbow was about to instigate the two guards, but was cut off by Twilight.

“Forgive my friends, they aren’t use to seeing other creatures.” Twilight stepped in front of her friends to stop any conflict. “My name is Twi--Twister Storm! It’s nice to meet you Mr.---”

“Venom Tooth, mam,” He said, saluting the ponies. The two guards had visibly relaxed upon her stepping in. “You seem to have traveled far. Am I right to assume that you come here for rest?”

“Yes, Mr. Venom Tooth,” Fluttershy said, slightly interested enough in the strange creatures to speak to them. “We would really appreciate if you would let us in, if that’s okay with you of course!”

The two gave her confused looks, not understanding her shyness. “Of course,” Venom Tooth answered, signaling the other guard to open the gates. “I hope you enjoy your stay, travelers.” he gave a bow before stepping out of the way to let the ponies and dragon in.

Twilight and company gave their thanks to the guards before walking past them inside the city. It wasn’t as shiny as Canterlot or urban like Manehattan. It had more of a Ponyville style, but more tropical.

“Wow…..” The seven breathed, taking in the beauty of the city.

“Okay girls,” Twilight said as they walked on the street. “If we’re going to find this ‘friendship problem’ we’ll need to find something...off with the city.”

“No offense Twi,” Rainbow Dash said, hovering above her friends while they explored the city. “But with those guards, I don’t know what this place can consider strange….”

Twilight shook her head. “Those are Drakonians, natives to this island,” she lectured. “It’s only natural that they might mingle with ponies. What I mean is to look for something that doesn’t look like anything this island might inhabit. You know, the stuff I didn’t read to any of you!”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I didn’t really pay attention to that, sorry.” The others nodded in agreement, letting her know none of them had.

Twilight looked ready to explode, her facing turning red. Rarity put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “Twilight dear,” the seamstress said sweetly. “Why don’t we ask the locals what’s happening?”

Twilight took a deep breath to clear her mind. Now calm, she trotted up to a stall to speak with the merchant. “Hello there,” Twilight said, smiling at the salespony.

“Oh, hello there!” He greeted. “How may I help you today, madam?”

“I was wondering if I could get some information?” Twilight asked the stallion.

“Sure kid,” he said enthusiastically. “What do you want to know?”

Twilight pondered what she would ask him. Directions, strange sightings, or the Drakonians in the city. But the best idea would to be ask about the king. “Can you tell me about your leader, I believe that your latest king is Coal Patch?”

The salespony laughed at her question. “Sorry Lass,” he chuckled. “But if you’re looking for Coal Patch, then I’m afraid you’ll have to look in the ocean.”

“Wha--what?” she asked in shock. The other five mares and Spike were equally shocked by his words. “What happened to him?” she asked nervously.

“Oh, don’t worry,” He said. “Our new king, Yveltal knocked the spoiled brat off the throne!”

“You mean he killed him!?!” She shouted. The merchant rubbed his ears in pain. He gave her a nodded to confirm her suspicions. “But why?” she asked in confusion. Celestia had told her that taking a life was a last resort.

“Cause he was off his rocker, lass,” He sighed. He then told the Mane Six and Spike the events that lead up to Philip’s arrival.”

“Well, I can see that Coal Patch was a bad guy,” Twilight said. “But he shouldn’t have been killed. That makes this Yveltal just as bad!” The salespony held up his hoof to interrupt her.

“Whatever you think,” He retorted. “But I, and many others, disagree with that statement. Unlike places like Equestria, Ashen Claw is real. We don’t have some mushy princesses running their nation like a storybook.”

“What?” Twilight nearly screamed, but kept her voice down. “Equestria has faced many challenges and the princesses have led us through those rough times through their wisdom and compassion!” With that said she stomped away from the, leaving the stall owner to roll his eyes at her declaration.

She trotted on down the road, her destination unknown by even herself. But she kept on, driven by her own frustration. Her friends were quick to catch up to her. “Twilight,” Applejack said, bring the alicorn out of her clouded rage.

Twilight let out a sigh. “I know, I know….” she said. “But this Yveltal guy is bad news, we have to do something about him!”

Applejack let out a groan of annoyance at her friends recklessness. “While I agree that this Yveltal varmint is a no good rattlesnake,” Twilight was about to speak but Applejack stopped her. “But, at the same time he saved this place from another rotten apple. I’m not saying that he had a right to, but we can’t go around making a fuss of it---”

“--because we don’t know who to trust!” Rainbow Dash muttered. “It’s Starlight Glimmer all over again.”

Pinkie Pie was look with worry at her distressed friends. She thought on ways to cheer them up, and that’s when she saw it. The one thing that would make anypony smile. Food.

Tony’s Pizzeria!

“Hey girls!” Pinkie shouted, ignoring the fact that Spike is a guy. “Why don’t we get something to eat?”

“Pinkie I don’t---” Twilight tried to interject but the pink menace would have no of it!

“Oh come on Twilight,” Pinkie Pie giggled. “What’s the point of coming to save an island if you you can’t enjoy it.”

Before any of them could protest they were already inside the restaurant. It had a simple decor, one which Rarity would want to fix, with booths and tables to sit at. They looked to see a pony with a white chef’s hat waiting by the counter.

“Hello!” He bellowed as he saw his new costumers. “Welcome to Tony’s Pizzaria!” His accent was flawless, pure Italian. “Where would you like to be seat, my ladies?” He gave a small bow of respect before taking seven menus in under her front leg.

“The one by the corner, please!” Pinkie Pie asked, giving the owner a big smile.

“Alright, follow me!” He said, walking them to their table. When they were seated down, Twilight shot Pinkie Pie a look of frustration. “Pinkie,” she wined. “We need to be looking for this king, he might be the problem that we were sent her---”

“I told pizza would be better than that silly hay, Parcel Dove!” All seven turned to the source of the voice. What their eyes meet left them in shock.

A giant red, gray, and white behemoth of a bird sat down in one of the booths, looking slightly cramped. They also saw a unicorn mare with a red coat and black mane, styled much like Rainbow’s, sitting opposite of it.

“I guess you’re right, Philip,” She sighed with pleasure, taking another heavenly bite from the pizza.

“I’m always right, Dove,” The creature laughed. The mare simply rolled her eyes. Our Equestrian travelers continued to stare in shock at the creature, a beast they had never seen before.

“Yes, King Yveltal,” She mocked, taking a fork up like a spear. “You are the most fearless and powerful individuals Ashen Claw has ever had!”

They continued their playful banter as they ate their food, the six processing the events they were witnessing. Twilight began to formulate a plan after she recovered from her initial shock. After piecing together an idea she chose to inform her friends.

“Okay, everypony,” Twilight whispered, gaining her friends’ attention. “We need to separate him from her.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash hissed. “Are you crazy? How are we suppose to get that--that thing away from anything?”

“I agree with Rainbow, dear,” Rarity joined in. “If that’s the brute we’re after, then how do we do anything that won’t start a fight?”

“Oh!” Pinkie Pie whispered in excitement. Pulling out a strange bottle from her hair. “This will make him go nighty night!” The others gave a look at her, trying to understand the pure creepiness of her statement.

“Um, why do you have that with you, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked with concern. The others giving silent nods of agreement with the question, wanting to know why the party pony had such contents.

“Oh, Zecora asked the same question when I asked for it!” She answered with glee. “You never know when somepony might get a little too rowdy. This helps the calm down!”

Rainbow Dash backed off a little, sliding away from the pink mare. Twilight gave her a dubious look before shaking her head. This could work.

“Okay,” Twilight said, a devious grin forming on her face. “Here’s what we do---” she then whispered what their plan was and what their part would be.

(Operation "Big Bird")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnuPC7aFmYo

(Play this until the end of the chapter!)

After muleing over what they were doing Fluttershy got up, carrying a glass of wine with Pinkie’s brew in the liquid.

As a waiter passed by she got up to stop him. “Oh, Mr. Waiter” she called after him. She then pretended to stumble, spilling the drink over the bird and unicorn.

“Eep!” Dove yelped as the wine soaked her fur, the bird looking nonchalant about it. He sniffed his pizza, shrugging and he continued to eat it.

“I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy said, getting a napkin to help Parcel Dove. “Here, do you want me help you get it out of your coat?” she asked politely.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Parcel Dove said, calming down from the shock. “But if you could help me out a little that would be great. It’s a pain to get these stains out.”

Fluttershy shook her head and took Parcel Dove to the restroom. “Sure, let’s get you cleaned up!” Right before they left Parcel Dove turned and shot the strange creature a look.

“Don’t. Go. Anywhere.” Parcel Dove said, giving him a serious look.

“Mmhkay!” He mumbled through his chewing. As they left he shrugged before continuing his meal.

Time for phase two.

Yveltal began to wobble a little and started to look drunk. He let out some hiccups before giggling. Rainbow Dash and Applejack got up and walked over to the drunken avian. “You okay, dude?” Rainbow Dash asked the bird, who giggled incoherently.

“Yeah *hic* I’m fine *hic*,” He answered, tipping out of the booth before Applejack caught him.

“I don’t know partner,” Applejack said, playing the role of worried civilian. “I think you might need us to take you home.”

The bird let out a snort of laughter. “I live *hic* in a pa*hic*lce!” he smiled. Twilight, Spike, and Rarity walked over as well to help Yveltal out of the booth.

“Waiter!” Twilight called, gaining one of the server’s attention. He trotted over to the six customers. “Could you give both of us our checks, we need to escort Mr. Yveltal home.” The waiter nodded and gave them their checks which they quickly paid.

Just as they were leaving Fluttershy came out of the restroom. “I told her that I was getting some fur cleaner, she should be waiting for awhile.”

The seven Equestrians lead the drunk bird out the pizzeria, taking him towards one of the exits of the city. Since the area was under construction there were a lot of gaps in the area, and with it being lunch time nopony was around to spot them.

And that’s how six ponies and a baby dragon carried a king off in his own city. The sheer amount of luck that went into this little kidnapping would later give the Captain Thorn Brush a headache and put Parcel Dove into a fuss.

But when Philip wakes up from his drunken state……

Then God save them all

Chapter 6 - Rage and Forgiveness

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“What do you mean ‘he’s gone’!?!” Thorn Brush shouted. It had been a couple of hours since Philip was ‘escorted’ out of the restaurant by seven mysterious figures. To say the castle had been in an uproar would be an understatement.

“Lord Yveltal is gone!?!” The small fox, a Zorua if Thorn Brush was not mistaken, shouted. The other Pokemon had gathered along with Thorn Brush and his guards when Parcel Dove had come back setting off the alarms.

“Yes,” Parcel Dove groaned. “I was gone for 10 minutes, 10 minutes and he goes and gets himself snatched!” Parcel Dove had been ranting about the whole endeavor. “It’s like he’s a child. Oh who am I kidding, he is a child!” she continued to berate the missing king and herself for the whole mess.

Thorn Brush let out a sigh and rubbed his temples. He had already lost one king, even if Coal Patch was a bad one, there was no way he would lose another. Now he just needed to get the mare to calm down and give him some information on his kidnappers.

“Parce Dove,” He said, keeping his voice calm. “I need you to tell me everything, and I mean everything, that happened. If we’re going to find him I need to know who took him.”

Parcel Dove started to control her breathing and then began to tell them what had happened. From what she had mentioned, and the description of the mare she was with, Thorn Brush could get a good idea who was behind this.

It was not long ago a certain sun princess had informed Coal Patch of her heroic student and her friends. And it seemed one of those friends was on the island…..

“Okay,” Thorn Brush let out a sigh of relief. If the Equestrians took him then they didn’t have to worry about his life being in mortal danger. And if Thorn Brush could bet his money on anything, then he would bet they had a ship somewhere on the other side of the island.

He turned towards one of the guards stationed at the main gate. Said guard, Venom Tooth, had been called to report any strange visitors that might be involved. “Lieutenant Venom Tooth, could you please inform us of what direction those seven travelers came from?”

The Drakonian gave an awkward salute and responded to his captains question. “Strange Travelers came from west, captain sir!” The Drakonian gurgled.

Thorn Brush had learned to get past the awkward speech patterns of the Drakonians. “That means they most likely have a ship anchored west,” Bulkwater said, walking down the staircase. “And if I could make an educated guess, I would say their at Devil’s Cove.”

Thorn Brush nodded in agreement. “Greetings, Bulkwater,” He smiled, happy to have another ally on the case. The Drakonian gave a curt nod to greet them. Thorn Brush then pulled out a map and laid in on the table in front of him.

“They were last seen going towards the construction area, which means they went east. It’ll take them awhile to get back to Devil’s Cove.” He snickered at the Equestrian’s ignorance of the island.

“Who exactly are we dealing with?” Parcel Dove questioned.

“From your description and the one Princess Celestia sent to Coal Patch not so long ago, you were with a pony named Fluttershy.” Thorn Brush said. Everyone in the room went wide eyed.

“But why would an Equestrian, let alone an Element of Harmony, want with Philip?” Parcel Dove asked in confusion. Bulkwater let out a snort, unamused by these Equestrians antics.

Thorn Brush clicked his tongue, processing some theories. “My guess, they heard about Coal Patch and got the wrong idea,” He huffed. The Equestrians were a bunch of children running around an ideology that all things should be loved.

“But I heard this Coal Patch guy was a piece of dung,” The Zorua asked in confusion. “Why would they care if he liberated you guys?”

“Equestrians are soft hearted,” Thorn Brush snorted. “They lock up all of their enemies and leave it off until it comes to bite them in the ass. The mere thought of Philip killing another pony must make them think he’s some kind of monster.”

Bulkwater let out a snarl while Parcel Dove stomped her hoof an annoyance. Zorua got up from his sitting postion. “Let’s go to this camp and set up a welcoming party for these Equestrians, eh?”

Thorn Brush let out a chuckle at the joking manner of the Zorua. “I have to agree with our fox friend. We know where they’re going more than they do. Why not set up a surprise for them?”

He then shouted orders to his guards while Bulkwater called his troops is, leaving a small garrison behind to guard the city. Zorua hopped onto Thorn Brush’s back. “Giddy up horsey, we’ve got some mayhem to spread!” The little fox laughed.

The group set off, grinning like maniacs. Time to make the guest comfortable.

“I can’t believe that worked.” Rainbow Dash hollered in laughter as they carried the unconscious bird in a makeshift stretcher. The managed to get out of the city, miraculously unseen or stopped by the guards.

“I don’t know, girls,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head with guilt. “I mean, this guy hadn’t really done anything wrong---”

“Darling, you heard that merchant,” Rarity sniffed disdainfully. “He killed another living being!” The others besides Fluttershy, probably due to her profession, shuddered at the mere mention of the word. Even the thought of any creature---

“Yeah,” Spike said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. “But didn’t we do the same to Sombra?”

He had them there. But did they really have a choice in the matter? After all, they had no idea what the Crystal Heart would have done. So was it really the same?

The heard some hiccuping from the strange bird. “Pinkie,” Fluttershy asked with worry, sticking close to the avian’s side to make sure he wouldn’t be harmed. “What exactly did we give him?”

“Oh,” Pinkie Pie said in between bounces. “Some magical enhanced alcohol, Zecora’s herbal tea, some magic essences from Discord, and cookie dough made by Gummy and I!”

The other ponies gave a look of pity towards Yveltal, now realizing what they had exposed the creature to. “Pinke Pie,” Fluttershy scolded. “That’s so unhealthy, he could die!”

Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated at that statement. “I don’t want anypony to die…..”

“And nopony will die, Pinkie,” Twilight reassured, looking back to Fluttershy. “I scanned him after the dose was administered, he’ll be fine.”

Fluttershy looked relieved, but still pressed closely to Philip’s side. “You’re soft *hic*,” The bird giggled. “I’m also *hic* soft, so *hic* fluffyyyyyyyy!” He made some more inaudible noises before snuggling up closer towards Fluttershy. She blushed but didn’t stop him.

“Thank *hic* for taking me home,” He said gleefully. The ponies gave him a guilty look. After a moment of silence, Twilight chose to question the Yveltal.

“Tell me….” Twilight said, realizing they didn’t know the creatures name.

“Philip, Ms. Winged Unicorn,” He giggled, informing her of his name.

“Okay, Philip,” Twilight said gently. “Could you tell us of how you got here and what happened to Coal Patch?” The others waited to hear some horrifying tale. That he came from the depths of Tartarus and his goal was to rule the pony nations.

What they didn’t expect was the truth. It was only then did they realize how much they fucked up.

“*Hic* Oh,” He said, cocking his head in thought, trying to get past his clouded head. “I *Hic* fell from a hole *hic* in the sky!” He said cheerfully.

“A hole in the sky?” Twilight asked dubiously. The others looked at him with the same look but Fluttershy urged him on.

“And *hic* I feel for a re*hic*ally long time,” He said, smiling at the memory.

“But can’t you fly,” Rainbow Dash asked. What kind of bird couldn’t fly? (Many, but she didn’t get her PHD in Zoology.)

“Oh, *hic* yeah,” He said, coming to that realization. “I guess *hic* I could have.” He giggled at his own stupidity.

“What happened next?” Spike asked with excitement. It was sounding like one of those superhero origin stories.

“I crashed down and *hic* knocked over that mean *hic* pony guy on *hic* accident,” He said. “I *hic* thought the crowd would have *hic* gone mad *hic* but they held some parade *hic* in my honor and *hic hic* made me their *hic* king!”

Only after these words did the Equestrians know how much they fucked up. All of them paled under the realization that they may have jumped the gun on this one.

“So...you didn’t mean to kill Coal Patch?” Twilight asked, hesitating.

“No,” He said. “I *hic* actually *hic hic hic* managed to save some ponies from *hic* execution!” The paled at his answer.

“And then *hic*,” He continued. “I *hic* stopped the natives and ponies from *hic* fighting!”

“Shit shit shit shit” These words were probably the ones running through there head.

“Afterwards *hic* I untied them *hic*,” He kept on going, making the seven feel even more guilty. “And *hic* went to sleep *hic. But when I *hic* woke up *hic* I found *hic* out they don’t serve meat!” He lamented.

“So *hic* Parcel Dove *hic*, this really nice *hic* unicorn mare who reminds me of my *hic* big *hic* sister, took me to get *hic* pizza!”

“I told you we might have been wrong,” Spike cried in frustration. “But no one listens to the dragon--” Before he could finish his rant, Philip finished his short tale with the ending sending shivers up all of their spines.

“And then *hic* this princess *hic* Twilight Spar*hic*kle and her *hic* friends drug me *hic* at the pizza *hic* place before I could *hic hic* finish my pizza or *hic* soda!” He wined.

“HOW DID HE KNOW!” Rainbow Dash yelled in complete shock.

“I’m gonna *hic* have strong *hic* words *hic* with them!” He declared. “Who *hic* drugs random *hic* people?”

The others looked on, continuing walking in complete shock. Who the hell was this guy and more importantly, was he always like this without the alcohol?

Celestia was sipping some tea, joined by her sister, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Discord. She was deep in thought. While Luna could visit their subjects’ dreams during the night, Celestia could see certain locations to wherever the sun’s light touched.

Just then, she spat out her tea all over Luna. Cadence and Shining Armor looked shocked, Discord broke into a fit, and Luna wiped her face in annoyance.

“Pray tell, dearest sister,” Luna seethed. “Why did thou shot the continents of thy tea upon our face?” Discord was holding his sides, breaking into tears.

Celestia started to holler in laughter. “She fucked up,” she laughed. “She so fucked up!”

The others gave her dubious looks while she and Discord withered on the ground in pain. “Ohhhhh she is so screwed!” Discord said, hugging onto Celestia for dear life. She didn’t seem to mind, already to far gone in her own laughter.

“Is it Twilight?” Cadence asked with worry. Shining Armor shot up, ready to rush to his sister’s aid.

“Tell us sister,” Luna said, grabbing a hold of Celestia and shaking her. “What threatens dear Princess Twilight?”

“Th--ey d-rug--ed hi--m!” Discord tried to speak coherently, but failed to do so. “The--y kidnappe-d him in his own freaking ci---ty and t--ook him away!”

“I knowowowwow!” Celestia cried in pain. “Oh, Dear God it hurtssssss!”

The other three tried to process what was going on but couldn’t manage it. “Let us sit down and wait for them to calm down,” Luna sighed, rolling her eyes. “I swear, we act more of a princess then our sister, and I was stuck on the moon while she had all of the practice to improve.”

The glowing four legged entity looked over the papers set before him, closely reading them. He looked up to the being sitting in front of him. He was black, red, and gray. He had a bird like appearance and was Y shaped if he displayed his body.

“So,” The divine being sighed. “This it it, huh?” The avian chuckled, his voice tired and horse.

“It seems so, father,” He laughed, relief seemed to fill him. “It was fun, but my time is over and now someone else has to take over.”

“It’s a shame to see you go,” Another four legged being said, she was next to the first being and was just as powerful. She blew some red strand of hair out of her muzzle. “You have been with us for many millennium, but I understand you need to move on.”

“Thank you, mam,” He said, giving a small bow. “But I think the one I have chosen will be more than enough, if not more.”

The glowing being nodded. “He seems eccentric, childish,” He mentioned. “Are you sure he can do this?” The female have him a nudge on the shoulder.

“Come on, Archy,” She laughed. “Have some faith why don’t you?”

‘Archy’ let out an exasperated sigh. “I told you not to call me that while we work, dear,” He mumbled in annoyance. All she did was shoot him a cheeky grin, grappling one of his forelegs with hers.

“I know, I know,” She sighed, rolling her eyes in amusement.

The bird chuckled in amusement. “I’m sure,” he said. “He’s rough around the edges, but I think he’s just what Xerny needs. I doubt she’ll skewer him immediately, plus he’s a good kid.”

“Thank you, Yveltal,” The the mare said. “You services are most welcome,”

“The pleasure was all mine, Lady Faust,” He replied, giving another small bow. He got ready to take off into the unknown, but stopped himself. “Due tell Xerneas I said goodbye.”

“Don’t worry,” Archy reassured. “We will.”

With that said, the Yveltal took off. Where his journey would lead him was unknown. What they did know was that this would usher in a new era, for better or worst.

Arcy let out a sigh. “I will let her know that she will be having a new administrator for her home,” He said.

Faust put a hoof on his chest. “Everything will be fine,” She said, but then hesitated with her next words. “Is it wise to have our new friend go to….him?” She asked with worry.

The divine creature shook his head in uncertainty. “It might, it might not be,” he answered. “But he will get answers, even if they are not what he wants….”

(

The Crew of the Merry Mare were not ready for such an attack. The Drakonians and ponies had overrun them in in a matter of minutes. It was quick and decisive, no casualties were made.

“And now we wait,” Thorn Brush said as his troops got into position to make an ambush.

Ugh, my head is killing me! What did I drink or eat? It feels like someone put a helmet on my head and proceeded to pound it with a hammer. Even now I can’t open my eyes very well, it was like I was intoxicated. Which made no sense since--

My thoughts were cut short as a brown blur slammed onto my head. What the fuck was that! God, my head hurts even more. It was like a rock hit me, which made no sense because I was inside----

“Rainbow,” A voice wined in annoyance, trying to scold this ‘Rainbow’. “Becareful. You almost hit us with those coconuts.”

Coconuts? Okayyyy, where the hell am I that a coconut would him me?

“I think she hit the birdy!” A high pitched voice yelled. This only worsened my headache as the voice sounded like someone shove one of those talking stuffed animals in a blender and turned on the toy before turning on the blender.

“What!?!” The winy voice from before screamed. My poor head. What the hell did I do to deserve this. At least my vision was returning, but my voice refused to leave my throat. “We can’t have him waking up before we reached the ship!”

Ship? Wait one fucking minute….Was I being kidnapped? I think I am! What the fuck!?! Who’s taking me away? I swear to God, if this is a joke--

“Yeah, yeah,” A scratchy voice said. “Jeez Twilight, even if he did wake up he wouldn’t be able to get out of those magic ropes, and even then we could take him!”

Oh no you fucking can’t---hold the phone, Twilight and Rainbow? Where have I heard that---Ahah! Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash from Equestria! You know, with all the stuff going on the island, I never really put much thought on why those names sound so familiar.

Oh, looks like I can see again. Let me get a look at my kidnappers. I saw six ponies and a dragon, the ponies were…….

No…..it can’t be……

Oh my God….there from--but then I’m---that salesman sent me too----

The air grew cold and the seven turned towards me to see me staring right at them, a dumbfounded expression on my face and eyes wide.

“Oh, um hi!” Twilight stuttered, seeing my face. “My name is, um, Twilight Sparkle and you are under arrest for the murder of---”

“No---” I said, my voice calm but sounded dark. A sickly aura glowed around him and the Equestrians felt dread seep into them. My eyes flashed purple until it started to grow stronger.

DARK AURA

Rainbow Dash seemed to find the words to speak. “Hey bub, you better listen to--”

“--Noooo..” I said emotionlessly, getting up from the stretcher but falling due to being hogtied. Rainbow Dash backed up, a cold chill going up her spine.

Fluttershy built up the courage to speak. “Now listen here Mister,” She scolded, giving the wided bird her infamous Stare. “It’s rude to interrupt other poni--”

“--Noooooo…” I said, my voice rising in anger. He got up and the ropes snapped off him like weak rubber bands when they’re being stretched too far.

“Yes,” Fluttershy affirmed, upping up her Stare. “Now stop being so rude--”

“--NOOOOOO…” I groaned eyes glowing pure purple at this point. Fluttershy backed up, trembling in fear.

A single thought went through my head. “That motherfucker sent my to a children’s Tv show….A SHOW ON LITTLE PONIES!”

“NOOOOOOOOOO! I WILL FIND THAT FUCKER AND END HIM.”

I let out a primal roar and the Equestrians began to feel weak. Twilight was quick to act, firing a magic blast at me.

It collided into my chest, sending me flying back. “YOU,” I snarled, pure malice dripping from my voice. “YOU KIDNAPPED ME LIKE THIEVES. YOU THINK YOURSELF ABOVE ME?”

Twilight cowered as I began to flapped my wings hovering off the ground. Fear gripped her, making her unable to answer my question. She brought up a magic force field, but even then they felt themselves being drained.

“I SEE,” I roared. “THEN WALLOW IN THE REALITY THAT IS DEATH!”

A ball of dark energy was gathered at his chest. “DARK PULSE” I screeched. My attack devastated her shield, crushing it upon impact. I saw them crumple to the ground and I let out a shout of triumph, turning to fly away…..

Then they started to glow.

I was shocked at first, strange glowing symbols flew past me, coming from the north. The started to circle the six downed mares, slowly lifting them up. Their wounds healing instantly and a great wave of magic energy bombarded them.

“WHAT?” I bellowed in surprise. They were encased in a magic bubble, only the outlines of their appearance was seen.

Then the bubbles broke revealing them in modified forms that looked as if a five year old was given a box of crayons and was told, “Make our new toy line!”

There was something more though, my life absorption was being negated. I had increased its power to break through the magic blocking it but it failed. Seems like they upped their game...but it mattered little.

“Dark Pulse!” I roared, firing another ball of dark energy. This time, however, it was dissipated upon impact of the glowing energy that surrounded them. This made no sense unless….this was some DBZ super saiyan!

At this point, their hair had grown longer and they had some strange differences to their designs. They did! They did rip off DBZ! Before I could voice my complaints on the matter, small magic strands fired from them.

One shattered my right wing, making me scream in pain. The rest broke several bones in my body upon impact. They seemed unaware of the damage they were inflicting on me.

“Im---Impossible!” I stuttered in pain, my voice still echoing like the Lich King’s.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Yveltal!” Twilight shouted, I looked up to see six smug faces staring down at me. They stare at me like an insect...I will show them the difference between the Lion and the Sheep.

“It is through our friendship that it is possible,” Twilight continued. I could hear the shouts of encouragement coming from the drake below, now basking in the power of their magic.

Friendship…..

“With our friendship, we have conquered villains stronger than you,” She said, smirking at my immobilized form. I got up and launched another shadow ball at them, only to be destroyed by another one of the Mane Six’s magic blasts.

I had now four of them firing their single magic lines at me. Pain racked my body and I let out another cry of agony. How can this be happening? How was I losing to this fairy-tale bull shit!?!

“What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment,” I snarked, trying to keep my fear from being evident in my voice.

She gave another smug look, one I would enjoy wiping off her face, and gave a small laugh. “You know,” She gloated, another magic string crashed onto my body from one of her friends. “The last one to say that got blasted from Canterlot to the Badlands,”

“Chrysalis…..”

“Good,” She said mockingly, as if to pretend to be proud at my knowledge of their history. “Then you know what happens next?” The last magic string connected to my body.

The strings started to morph together, forming a rainbow. It slowly enclosed me, ripping through my body. I could hear the cheers from my advisaries as the rainbow began to do whatever they thought it would do.

“I Refuse---” The gasped as the magic rainbow shook.

“To be Entrapped---” The seven Equestrians’ jaws dropped as the rainbow started to crack.

“YOU,” I roared, bursting through the rainbow, leaving the Mane Six and their dragon completely dumbfounded. My body had changed in color, now switching into the regular color pallet of Yveltal, and was radiating with my dark aura. “CANNOT STOP DEATH!”

“Hit it again!” Twilight screamed, the others following her in for another rainbow bombardment. I scoffed and activated my life absorption. This time their magic could not stop it’s affects.

“OBLIVION WING!” A primal shout came from my mouth. The two beams collided, neither one giving ground.

I didn’t know what power source they were getting their magic, clearly it couldn’t be “Friendship”, but while they were getting untold power from it…..

I was getting mine from their life force, any wounds I had gained in battle were healing as I drained them.

“Oh the irony,” I cackled evilly. I have no idea what was going on with me, but I felt more violent. I wanted to hurt them, yet I didn’t want to….it was like I was being goaded to do so by an unknown voice. “That it is you and your ‘friendship’ that will supply me the means of my triumph!”

They were silent, trying to concentrate on beating me. But I wouldn’t have any of that. It wasn’t so long ago that they mocked me during their supposed victory.

“I delight in irony!” I snarked. Slowly they began to lose steam, their life giving me untold energy as my Oblivion Wing started to gain the upperhand. I glanced around that the area around us was also being affected by my life draining...maybe I should tone it down--

“Do not stop until they lie dead before your feet!”

What the hell was that? Ugh, it doesn’t matter! The voice is right, I cannot stop until I end these pests and their silly friendship and harmony!

I heard their groans of pain and that pitiful whelp trying to cheer them on. Pathetic, if not admirable. I smirked to myself, this would be over soon. They would learn not to fuck with me!

“Stop this while you can!”

Hmmm, what’s this I hear? It seems like the source of these fools’ power had revealed itself. Begging for me to cease in their end, hah! Fat chance.

“This is wrong,” It said, trying to coax me into stopping. “They have wronged you, yes, but that does not give them reason to die!”

“Wrong,” I shot back at the voice’s statement. “They must understand the true power of the Yveltali!” I declared.

“What do you hope to achieve, to prove!?!” I cried, trying reason with me.

“I will prove them the power and glory of death,” I answered, choosing to indulge the disembodied voice. “All will perish under the shadow of my wings!”

“What point is their in death if their is no life to preceded?” The voice asked. My Oblivion Wing had connected with the Mane Six, crashing them into the ground as it continued to suck them dry of any life.

“There is no need for life,” I scoffed. “Nor can you reason with me to think otherwise. The Yveltali delight in suffering, we cherish hatred, we devour fear--”

“YOU ARE HUMAN,” It shouted, cutting me off. “DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THOSE OF THE YVELTALI BEFORE YOU. YOU ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEM!”

“Human?” I asked, slowly the hatred I had for the mares leaving me. My colors slowly changing back and my Oblivion wing, Dark Aura, and life absorption dissipating. I looked around at my surroundings, fear gripping my heart.

What had I done?

I stared at the six motionless bodies lying in the sand. My heart rate increased and I started to panic. I dashed towards them, feebly trying to fix the dire situation we were all in.

No, no, no, no, no!

“It’s not too late,” The voice said, trying to calm me down. “You must transfer your excess life force back into them, and the surrounding area….”

I shook my head and began to do just as I was informed, the purplish-red aura shooting out into the six ponies and the woodlands around us. “Who are you?” I asked.

“I have gone by many names,” It said cryptically. “But in this era, I am know as the Tree of Harmony. These six mares are my wards, so try not to harm them in the future.”

“Tell them to not go and abduct me than,” I snarked telepathically. I felt it roll it’s nonexistent eyes at me.

I saw the six stir, showing that they were alive. I let out a sigh of relief, knowing I didn’t kill them. I looked over to see a scared dragon staring at me.

“Why?” He asked in confusion as soon as he saw what I had done and had not attacked him. “Why help us?”

“I’m not a monster,” I snorted. “Though I do admit, I went a little overboard and lost control of my actions temporarily.” He gave me a surprised look, before waddling over and sitting next to the purple alicorn.

Both of us were silent as we waited for the six to stir. One wondering the purpose of his new life, the other trying to understand what the other was. It was one of those stupid days where a lot of stupid shit happens.

I guess I better get use to it…..

Chapter 7 - New Friends, New Gods, and a New Family

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“That was too close,” Faust said, flopping down onto the couch. She was currently resting in her room after the events that occurred between the Mane Six and Philip.

“How bad was it?” The four legged Pokemon asked, currently at her desk. He had heard one side of the conversation his marefriend had with the you Yveltal.

“Nearly as bad as the second Yveltal,” She moaned. The Pokemon flinched, remembering the actions of that individual. That one was a complete disaster on his part.

At least they founded out how long the world could last from a death bird draining it and all of its inhabitants.

“We need to bring him in,” She huffed, getting more comfortable on the couch. “If we don’t, who knows when it will happen again.”

He stiffened at his lover’s suggestion. They had wanted to play it out before they dropped the information bomb on the wayward human. “Should we really move the timetable up?” He asked with uncertainty.

“Yes, Arceus,” She answered. “The others are clambering for Yveltal’s replacement. Not to mention Xerneas and her boss need all the help they can get.”

“I know, I know,” Arceus sighed. “But what if he isn’t ready to do the job?” The mere thought of them botching it up sent a shiver down his spine. The others in the pantheon, those higher than him, weren’t impressed at his last choice’s failure.

It was one of the reasons that the third, and most recent, Yveltal had been chosen by Faust.

“He’s ready as he’ll ever be,” She said. “He managed to snap out of it, even if he had my help.” She then scowled and let out a sigh. “Though, if we don’t act soon, he might hurt someone he cares about….”

Arceus walked over and sat down next to the tired alicorn. He embraced her as they stared into space, thinking silently. He finally filled the long stretch of silence.

“Okay,” He grumbled. “But we need to do this right. You get Dialga and Palkia, I’ve gotta talk to Xerneas. You know what she might do if he rubs her off in the wrong way….”

“Alrighty then,” She snickered as ideas of the raging deer rushing at a terrified bird. “But you’ve got to deal with her boss!” She stuck her tongue out a her boyfriend before getting up and prancing out of the room.

“Shit…..” He grumbled, getting off the couch. It would be an effort, but if they were going to give this new Yveltal a welcoming party then it was going to be a damn good one!

Spike and I had sat down and waited for his friends to wake up. It had gotten late so I started a fire to keep us warm. The dragon had stayed by Twilight’s side the entire time, constantly checking her and the others’ pulse for any sign of issues.

I had goaded him into conversing with me. We talked mainly about guy stuff: comics, video games (I have no idea how they had them yet still used spears.) , his crush on a mare he did not name, and cool stories that involved epic adventures and battles.

I had grown newfound respect for my six former foes, if not still annoyed at their actions. They had done much to protect that which they valued most, facing impossible tasks and foes. Yet they never asked for recognition for their actions. Hell, Princess Sparkles hated being treated as royalty.

What his stories also told me was that they were young and naive. They had made some questionable choices, and sometimes had petty quarrels that made no sense. When I had brought up their flaws, he got defensive.

That defensiveness was countered by my reminder of a certain kidnapping that took place.

I had some pity for the young drake. He was in a constant war with himself, trying to define what he should do as dragon while still being a pony.

“You’re a dragon living in a pony world,” I stated. “There will always be things about you that will clash with their beliefs.” He looked down towards the ground, growing said at my words.

“But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try to accept those differences as well,” I finished.

“Twilight’s just worried that others might grow aggressive towards me if I act more like a dragon,” Spike sniffed, stroking Twilight’s hoof when he felt her shiver.

I nodded in understanding. “It’s good she’s looking out for you,” I said. “But not all dragons want to hoard or steal. It’s the ponies’ stereotyping that they are that lead you and your friends to believe this.”

“But what about those jerky te---”

“They were teenagers,” I huffed, interjecting that poor example. “Name me one species here that has teenagers that don’t make complete asses of themselves.” He was silent before giving a shrug.

“Ah, you got me there,” he laughed.

Our bromance lasted for a little while longer as I gave my dragon friend talks that his mare friends don’t have with him. He really need more male friends……

“Ugh……” My head snapped towards Twilight, who’s body began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open, seeing her young dragon friend standing over her.

“Twilight!” He shouted in relief, giving the now conscious mare a hug.

“Sp--ike?” She asked in confusion.

“And Philip,” I added, causing her eyes to go wide in shock. “Wakey wakey, Sparkles.” I said playfully, poking her head with my tail.

“Wh--what?” She said, leaping up in surprise. She wobbled for a bit, before trying to act as a shield for Spike. “Ru--n Spike! I’ll hold him off.”

“Yeah, sure you will,” I snarked, getting up from my sitting position.

She backed up, pushing Spike away from me in the process. “Don’t worry Twilight,” Spike said, trying to calm the alicorn down. “He’s cool. He won’t hurt us!”

Twilight looked down at her young companion in confusion. “Isn’t he mad?” She asked, shooting me a look of worry. “I mean, didn’t we just fight with him?”

“Oh no,” I said nonchalantly, brushing the sand out of my fur. I started to perform some stretches, hearing some pops from my tired joints. “I’m furious. But, I’ll take some of the blame for our little scuffle. I don’t usually snap like that…”

“Little scuffle?” Twilight cried at how I described our feud. “You nearly exterminated all life in our general vicinity!”

“Yeah,” I said, forming a fist with my wing and putting it under my chin. “That was something, wasn’t it?” She spluttered in frustration at my calmness.

We heard more groans as the other five began to slip back into consciousness. They were taking too long to rise from their undeserved slumber, so I chose to rouse them quicker.

“Greetings, My Little Ponies!” I shouted. This caused them to jump up in shock. Their eyes laid upon me and quickly took a fighting stance.

“Stand down girls,” Twilight sighed, waving her hoof towards her friends in an effort to calm them down. “He’s not going to cause us anymore harm...I think.”

“Are you kidding me, Twi,” Rainbow Dash shouted. “How can we trust him?”

“I think it’s the other way around, Element of Loyalty,” I retorted, drawing their attention back towards me. “I believe it is I who needs to trust you. Afterall, how do I trust someone who drugs me and then sneaks me out of my home?”

That got some guilty looks and the ponies looked down towards the ground. Twilight chose to try and defend herself and her friends.

“Look, we heard that you killed Coal Pat---” Twilight said, but was stopped by me.

“You mean that wonderful bloke?” I asked with sarcasm. “Yeah, he was pretty good at running his country into the ground. Of course, ponies like you wouldn’t understand that since Celestia has done her job for a thousand years and isn’t a corrupt piece of shit.”

That shut them up.

“Now than,” I said, giving them scowl. “What do I do with you seven, eh?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do you do with us,’?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion. Her friends gave her annoyed looks at her naivety.

“Oh I don’t know,” I snarked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “When someone barges into your kingdom and hauls Celestia off the throne, what do you do?”

“Oh, we usually throw them into the dungeons!” Pinkie Pie giggled, answering my question. “Though afterwards, we host a big party for them and let them out for learning their lesson, but----”

The Equestrians at that point shut her up, giving me big worried smiles. This only left me more confused on how their candyland ever survived from massive crime gangs. Pinkie Pie was still talking through Applejack’s hoof in attempt to continue her rant.

“Right…” I said, giving the pink one a skeptical look. “So, usually I would imprison you--”

“You’ll never take us alive!” Rainbow Dash looked ready to buck me at that point, but Twilight pulled her back from doing anything completely suicidal.

“--But,” I continued. I shot Rainbow Dash a death glare that informed her that I would indeed not take her in alive. “I almost killed you six. Plus, Spike’s cool so I’ll let it slide.”

I heard Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Besides,” I said offhandedly. “It’s not like you would have killed me or anything, your kind is way to soft-hearted for that.”

“We, yes darling,” Rarity replied haughtily at that statement, giving a disdainful look at the dirt on her coat. “Killing is so..so barbaric!”

“Of course it is,” I snorted, rolling my eyes at them. “Because damning them to centuries of imprisonment is so much better.” Some of them flinched my analysis of their mercy.

“Though…” I pondered, now thinking clearly on how they handled their enemies, I realized that they were more brutal with a couple of them. “I guess that pink alicorn, Mia Mora something something, has a pretty high body count; considering that she had to have killed a few changeling during the wedding and that time she imploded Sombra.”

“You really have a dark mind, don’t ya,” Applejack said.

I gave a shrug, no fuck given. “I see myself as a realist,” I said before squinting at the setting sun. Damn, it had to have been hours since I was abducted. “Say,” I asked, looking back towards my guests. “You have a ship anchored here by chance, or did you fly?”

“Oh,” Twilight said, her memory dawning on her. “The crew of the ‘Merry Mare’ is probably worried sick, we should get going.”

I laid down onto the ground, expanding my wings. “Hop on kids,” I said. This earned me some confused stares.

“Um, what?” Spike asked, scratching his head in confusion.

“What,” I laughed. “You thought that you’re just getting off? Think again! All of you owe me some pizza since you drugged my last one.”

I heard a couple of groans and five Equestrians climbed on my back. Wait...five? I counted only 3 earthbound ponies and Spike. So who----

“Fluttershy?” I called her name calmly. Though, the more attentive would hear strain in my voice.

“Yes?” She asked innocently. She currently was snuggling up in my scarf-like fur. I blushed as her warm body nestled on my upper back.

“Why are you on my back and not, you know, flying with Rainbow and Sparkles?” I asked her with curiosity. After all, she was a pegasus so flying was enjoyable for them.

“Oh,” She replied softly. “I’ve never felt that comfortable flying a lot, that and I’m not very good on stamina.”

“Of course you don’t like flying,” I mumbled dryly. I have no idea why I was even surprised.

These were Equestria’s heroes? The shrimpy dragon, a white marshmallow who feared dirt, the poster girl for Skittles and Gay rights who could drive the Munchians into taking up arms, a Texan farmer who’s primary weapon is a rope, Princess ‘I'ma Kidnap you’ Sparkles, the pink train-wreck who carries random shit in her hair, and now the yellow pegasus who hates flying.

I’m quivering in my boots, Trollestia.

“So,” I said, taking off with the ponies on my back. “What brought you to my humble abode?”

“The Map,” Pinkie Pie answered gleefully.

“The---Map?” I asked hesitantly. I turned to see the other four nod to confirm I was on the right track.

“A magic map created by the Tree of Harmony when my castle was created,” Twilight said, she and Rainbow Dash flying besides me. “It let’s us know where friendship and help is needed.”

“That being here?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Correct,” she said. “A two days ago, the map informed that Ashen Claw needed our help, so here we are.”

“And you assumed that I was the problem?” I asked her. She nodded her head to confirm my suspicions.

“Yes….” She answered, wilting under my harsh gaze.

“So,” I said through gritted teeth. “A magic coffee table says, ‘Go here and stomp out a problem’ but refuses to tell you what the problem is….”

“Well---” She was about to agree with my statement, but I was to far gone in my anger to let her speak.

“And then you chose to up and spirit me away across the fucking island because you assumed that this picnic table was talking about me!?!” I shouted due to not only my anger but the high winds that roared as we flew.

“The map has never let us down before,” Rainbow Dash shot back.

“Oh yeah,” I threw my head up and laughed bitterly. “Cause it did such a good job this time, didn’t it?”

“Now calm down partner,” Applejack said, trying to diffuse the situation.

“I am calm!” I yelled over my shoulder. “Besides your complete and utter faith in this piece of furniture, I only got here a day ago!”

“What!?!” The shouted in unison surprise, obviously shocked that their table went off before I even got to this place.

“But that means you weren’t the problem that the table sent us for!” Twilight howled in frustration. It took a lot of time and energy to come here and pull off all of the shit they pulled off, regardless of it being right or wrong.

“No shit sherlock,” I laughed. “Next time, make sure you know which hen to take from the chicken coop!”

Bird puns, we need more of them.

“Um, Mr. Yveltal,” Fluttershy asked, stopping my banter,

“Yeah,” I said cheerfully. Out of all of these ponies, Fluttershy was my favorite. Probably because she doesn’t talk unless needed, that and she was smart enough to show proper manners towards a flying death machine.

Spike isn’t a pony, so I would nominate him best dragon.

“Could I ask you some questions on your species,” She asked. Ah, an animal enthusiast I see.

“Okay,” I said, smiling at the question. It was good to see that someone from this group besides Spike gave a damn about what I was. Though, I expected Sparkles to ask me first. “Ask away.”

The questions were simple in some aspects. Things like what I ate, what my species name was, and what I enjoyed doing. Some were harder to answer since I wasn’t originally a Yveltal. Questions like environments my species could inhabit, or what tweets we spoke (No idea why she would want to know about the tweets.).

“How do procreate?” She asked, this question catching me off guard.

“Wh--what?” I stuttered in embarrassment.

“She’s asking how you bang,” Rainbow Dash clarified for me in a brash manner.

Fucking smartass.

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity scolded. “There’s no need to be so--so crude!”

“So, how do you?” Pinkie Pie asked, shoving her muzzled into my face. “How do you...uh, what was it you said Fluttershy?” She asked the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy’s face burned as red as my fur. “Um….” she mumbled, trying to diffuse what she had started.

“Oh, look,” I shouted, diverting their attention from the question. “There’s your ship!”

I quickly landed, lowering my tail to the ground. They slide down my tail and landed on the ground softly.

“Thank you for taking Yveltal Airlines,” I said, faking one of those airport announcer’s voice. “I hope you enjoyed your flight and stay safe!”

As we got a good look around the campsite we noticed that it was completely empty. The ship rocked in the water, yet its crew was nowhere to be seen. Something was wrong……

A large crack quickly got our attention and before anyone could react bolas launched out of the trees behind us. The bolas wrapped around me and brought me to the ground.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I screamed as I feverishly tried to escape my new imprisonment. “This is the second time I’ve been tied up!”

The Equestrians fared better. The bolas thrown at them were completely off and they managed to dodge them with ease. Out popped 4 Drakonians and two bat ponies after the surprise attack was over.

Two of the newcomers I recognized easily. “Bulkwater, Thorn Brush,” I shouted in anger. It was clear that this was their daring rescue plan, a trap in which they managed to only catch me in. “You got me, not the ponies. I’m a giant freaking bird and you all aimed at me!”

I could see looks of embarrassment as my two war leaders saw that their troops managed to botch up something so simple. Bulkwater went into a fit and repeatedly beat the Drakonians who threw the bolas with his spear.

Thorn Brush trotted up with his guard and went to untie me. He shot suspicious looks towards the Equestrians, slowly drawing his sword. One of my wings had been free and I wrapped it around his foreleg, gaining his attention.

“Leave them be, Thorn Brush,” I sighed, looking at the Equestrians. They held in their laughter at the spectacle. “We already worked it out, but thanks for the save anyways.” I said, peaking the interest of the chief and my captain.

“How did you work it out?” Thorn Brush asked.

“We fought,” I shrugged. “It didn’t last long

“You got to have all of the fun,” Bulkwater wined, throwing his spear down in frustration.

“Where’s the crew?” I asked Thorn Brush. The Equestrians looked around for their comrades, but couldn’t find them.

“We brought them back to the city,” He answered. “We hoped to catch those seven by cutting off their only escape from this island, turns out you’ve handled that.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking around to see the rest of the guards leave the forest. They collected any supplies they could and carried it to the ship. “Take the ship to port, we’ll discuss what to do next from there.”

“Yes, your majesty,” He saluted and walked off towards the ship.

“Oh, and Thorn Brush,” I called after him. He turned his head towards me to see what else I wanted.

“Yes sir?” Thorn Brush asked, awaiting more orders.

“Thanks,” I said. He looked confused for a minute. “You know, for going out and saving my fluffy ass.”

He smiled at my appreciation, clearly not use to being thanked for anything. “Only doing my duty, sir!” He said before trotting off towards the ship.

“Oh no,” Bulkwater huffed. I turned to see him stamping his foot on the ground. “No need to thank me as well.”

“Thank you, Bulkwater,” I chuckled at the chief’s antics. I turned towards the guards who would not be on the ship. “The rest of you come with me, we’re flying ahead of the ship!”

With that said, we took off towards Ashen Veil. It took a while, but we made it to the city within half an hour. Some of the citizens looked up to see the guards and I descended towards the palace. I looked back to see the ship sailing into the harbor.

Some the the ponies and Darkonians near the port gave looks of interest at the ship and even more interest at the Equestrians leaving them ship. Audible gasps were heard as they

I tapped my foot with impatience as we waited for the ship’s crew to wiggle it’s way through the growing crowd. “Thorn Brush,” I shouted as he, the guards, and the Equestrians walked up the steps to the palace.

“Yes?” He asked, reaching to front of the palace.

“I need you to take the ship’s crew and set them up in the barracks,” I ordered. He gave a nod and trotted to where the crew was currently being held. I them spoke to the Mane Six and Spike. “As for you seven,” I said. “We’re having dinner soon, so I’ll escort all of you to the table. Afterwards, I’ll see if I can get you a place to sleep.”

They thanked me and followed my lead as I entered the palace. I looked around at the hall before me before taking a sharp right into the dining room. As I entered the room I was immediately tackled to ground by Parcel Dove.

“You’re back,” She cheered. Her faced filled with relief. “I’ve been worried sick. I managed to keep your disappearance a secret, but I have no idea if Equestr--”

I clamped her muzzle with my wing, silencing her ranting. “Breath Parcel Dove, breath,” I chuckled, letting go of the worried unicorns mouth. She seemed to calm down a bit before looking up from me to see our guests.

“It’s alright, Dove,” I sighed getting up and placing my friend next to me. “Thanks for managing the for while I was gone.”

“Um, aren’t those the same ponies that kidnapped you?” Parcel Dove asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” I answered. “They’ll be our guests for awhile. We were about to have dinner actually.”

“Oh, okay,” She said, still slightly confused as to what was going on. “Well, dinner is almost done.”

“Alright!” I said with glee. I hadn’t eaten anything besides that slice of pizza, so I was starving.

“I also have some papers I need you to read afterwards,” She added, damping my mood a little.

We sat down at the table and waited silently for our meals to come. Tensions were still high, as would be expected, and no one said a word. I studied the different behaviors of my new guests, seeing how each one was reacting towards the situation. While it might not seem like it, they knew that as of this moment they were my prisoners. Snatching a king is a capital offence afterall.

Twilight looked anxious, probably knowing more about their predicament more than anyone else here. Rarity kept a mask of calmness, but she showed signs of discomfort. Unlike Twilight, Rarity didn’t know what they were in for. This led to her fearing the unknown.

Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Fluttershy looked around with innocence as the eerie silence provided no other means to keep occupied. Applejack and Rainbow Dash on the other hand searched the room, clearly looking for a possible exit plan if things went south.

Parcel Dove shifted uncomfortably next to me, her eyes darting between me and the Equestrians. If things got violent she would be quick to keep her head down.

Our silence was cut short when the waiters brought our food in. Everyone gave happy looks at a chance to eat. I doubt rations aboard a ship was fivestar and Parcel Dove was too busy doing my job during my absence. The ponies seemed content with their food, slowly starting a conversation with each other.

I heard the door to the hall open and saw Bulkwater and Thorn Brush enter the room. They took their place near me and Parcel Dove, eating the food that was already prepared for them.

An hour later and with content bellies, I chose to question Princess Twilight. “Tell me, Princess,” I asked, gaining her attention. “Equestria has had friendly relationship with many of the nations in the world. Would I be correct to assume you would have a library detailing their leaders?”

He eyes brightened at my question. “Yes,” She answered happily, clapping her hooves together in excitement. “Canterlot’s archives have around 500 books written by royal ambassadors who have served as Equestria’s voice in the nation they were stationed in.”

“Really,” I asked. Interesting, very interesting.

“That’s not all,” She continued. “We have countless books on geography, spells, magical artifacts, and some much more.” She was practically flying now. I gave her an amused smile. Her friends rolled their eyes at her attitude.

“Well, I’ve got a time to kill,” I chuckled. “We can go into my study and talk more about it if you want. I even have a couple of books you might like.” She let out a squee at the mention of books unread by her.

Twilight and I separated from the rest of the group. It was adorable on how excited she was to exchange knowledge. I guess she didn’t get to talk much about what she learned, considering her friends reaction at her nerdgasm.

We walked into my room, her carrying a saddle bag full of books that she brought on the voyage and we read. What can I say, the more I know about the world the better. I think I got a lot out of our time together. Hell, I found that Twilight was one of the most bearable ponies to be with besides Parcel Dove and Thorn Brush. I definitely liked her more now that I got to spend some time around her.

It started getting late and Twilight let out a tired yawn. “Well, thanks for chatting with me,” Twilight said, letting out a tired laugh. “Most ponies fall asleep by the time I get to Celestia’s reconstruction of our tax system 100 years ago.”

“What can I say?” I smirked. “I appreciate knowledge and I know what it’s worth.”

She gave me a smile before getting up and collecting her books. Now that I saw her face, I could see a bags under her eyes. I guess I felt tuckered myself.

“You know,” She said getting up from the couch. “You might be an unbearable asshole at times, but you really do care about others.”

“I try my best,” I shrugged my wings, amused by her statement. “One comes naturally while the other takes practice.”

“Which one’s naturally, being a asshole or caring about others?” She snarked.

“That’s for you to decided,” I answered, getting up and opening the door for her. “You need me to show you your room?” I asked.

“Yeah,” She said walking out the door.

I took Twilight to her room and she got settled in. Once I knew all of my guests were resting, I ordered my guards to keep a close eye on them. I could use these seven to my advantage, convince Celestia to pay me a visit.

I walked into my room and laid down on my bed. I looked over and saw two shadows near my balcony. “Sucker Punch, Swift Swipe,” I called out to the shadows. Two ponies emerged, pulling down their hoods. Sucker Punch and Swift Swipe gave a small bow as they entered my room.

“How was your mission?” I asked them. Swift Swipe responded to my question, pulling out a document.

“We set up to sources you asked for,” She said, handing me the piece of paper.

I chose Sucker Punch and Swift Swipe to head my secret intelligence, setting up spy networks for me to gather information from. I read over our new contacts, many being low status workers near royal families from the Griffons to the Equestrians.

As I said before, it’s good to know what was around me. I had plans, big plans, for Ashen Claw. Plans that would make me enemies and would send some individuals to try and manipulate me. Celestia herself would most likely offer to take me under her wing, try and buddy buddy with me so that I would feel loyal to her.

“And what of Scarub?” I asked the two. One of the most pressing matters was Scarub, an alias I use for Chrysalis. She was a threat. A creature driven by ambition and is able to sneak within my ranks to deceive me. One was for sure, her arrogance would led her to pulling something on me.

“We might be onto something,” Sucker Punch said. “But she’s underground, probably nesting somewhere in Wyrm’s Tooth…”

“Good work, both of you,” I smiled. They had done better than I expected. “Get some rest, but remember to keep this secret. Choose who you have join this wisely.”

Sucker Punch and Swift Swipe gave another bow before disappearing Batman style.

I would have to make a note to give them a raise for that.

I turned off the lights and snuggled up into my bed. Ready for sleep, I closed my eyes.

Which immediately stopped once a giant hole appeared under me.

“Fuck,” I groaned as I fell through the pit, blacking out.

(House of Legends)

“Ugh,” I groaned, coming to my senses. I looked around to see what seemed to be a comfortable house. My eyes drifted towards giggling.

Please don’t be creepy demon child, please don’t be creepy demon child.

I turned to see a floating pink cat, or whatever animal it was related to. What I did know was that it was a Mew. One of the great legendaries.

“Hello,” The Mew said, the voice giving me the feeling that Mew was female. “How are you feeling?” She asked.

“Um, fine.” I answered hesitantly. I looked around to see if there was any sign of hostility. “Could you mind telling me where I am, and who you are?”

“I’m Mew, silly,” she giggled, floating above my head. “And you’re in the House of Legends!” She declared dramatically. Doing a cute little barrel roll and floating back in front of me.

“Why am I here?” I asked. This seemed strange, but my whole situation has been strange so fuck it.

“That’s a surprise,” She answered, booping my nose. I scrunched my muzzle as she touched my sensitive nose, she let out a giggle. “Follow me!”

She then floated off down the hallway. I hesitantly followed her, making sure there wasn’t any traps along the way. I looked at the rooms as we went through the hallway. All of them had the owner’s name stapled into the door. Each one was owned by a Legendary Pokemon. Rayquaza, Mewtwo, Darkrai, ect.

“Seems like a full house…” I said offhandedly. Mew nodded, giving a small laugh.

“Yeah...it can get a little hectic,” She giggled. “Especially when Groudon loses SSB4!”

I paled at the thought of one of the forces of nature throwing a fit in the house. We continued our trek until Mew stopped in front of one of the doors. I peered over her small body and saw a sign saying “Legendary Living Room (P.S. Don’t spill shit all over the floor - Arceus and Faust :3)”

“What the fuck…” I muttered under my breath. She turned and gave me a smile before throwing open the door with her Psychic. I saw a dark room and my first thought was to not going in there.

“Oh, you’re going in there,” Mew laughed. I turned to her in shock. How could she have known what I was thinking? It was like---

“You’re reading my mind!” I shouted in anger. I felt like someone had just broken into my room, pilfering my stuff. Before I could say anymore, she lifted me with Psychic and tossed me into the room.

What horror awaited me was unknown. But I was ready for a----

“SURPRISE!” Multiple voices shouted, the lights switching on. I stared completely dumbfounded as I was surrounded by Legendary Pokemon, and one alicorn with a red mane, all wearing party hats. My eyes scanned the room. It was set up for a party and their was a banner that was written, ‘Happy Birthday Yveltal’

“What,” I said in surprise, looking around at the cheery faces.

Arceus, God of all Pokemon, and the alicorn walked up towards me. “Why don’t the rest of you start the party,” Arceus said to the other Pokemon, getting a couple of cheers as the party went underway. He then turned back towards me.

“Why don’t you come with Faust and I to my office,” Arceus said kindly. “We have a lot of things to tell you. Afterwards, you can join the party.”

“O--okay,” I stammered. I felt overwhelmed. These two….they made me feel weak, small. Like in a second I could become nothing by them willing me away.

And for the first time since I came to this strange world, I was terrified. No, not terrified; I was in awe at the two beings.

He and Faust led me out of the room towards one of the other doors. This door had Arceus and Faust’s name on it. “Um, who are you?” I asked the alicorn.

“My name is Faust,” She said. For some reason she had a familiar voice. “But many call me the Tree of Harmony nowadays.”

My eyes shot towards her’s. “You’re the voice!” I muttered in realization.

“Yes, young Yveltal,” She replied. “But all will be answered shortly.”

Just as she said that, Arceus opened his door and we walked in. Instead of a regular office, their lay 3 beanbag chairs. The two slouched down on their respective chairs, leaving one more facing both of them.

“Take a seat,” Arceus said warmly. I took his advice and slouched down into the beanbag. They waited for me to get comfortable before Faust spoke.

“We know you must be...confused,” She said. I would have made a sarcastic retort on how obvious that was if it were someone else. “But we want to help you understand. So ask away!”

My eyes darted to her and Arceus, unsure of what to ask first. Finally, I found myself taking up on their offer and began with the most sensible question first.

“Who are you, what are you?” I asked both of the deities. Arceus chose to answer that question.

“As we said before,” He replied. “I am Arceus, and she is Faust.” He jerked his head towards the alicorn, she gave a small wave with her hoof. “Faust and I are what you might call ‘Gods’ of this universe. Faust was the architect for the primary existence with Equestria.”

“But there are many Equestrias,” She said, taking over for the Pokemon. “It is something know as the---”

“The Multiverse Theory,” I said, interrupting Faust. “The idea that there is a set of infinite or finite possible universes, parallel to our own.”

“Correct,” She nodded, giving me a small smile. “Good to know I don’t need to explain what the Multiverse is.” She then gave a small snort of annoyance. “But some beings have the idea that these universes should not have boundaries, you meet one of them.”

“That creepy salesman,” I snarled in anger. I knew he had something to do with this!

“Many call him ‘The Merchant’,” Arceus drawls, clearly having the same opinion as Faust and I about the two bit con-artist. “He takes enjoyment in sending beings from other realities and dropping them off on an unknown Equus.”

“Like me,” I said. The a lightbulb appeared above my head. “Wait, you mean I’m not the only one? Like other humans just like me?” I asked eagerly, hope filling in my heart that I wasn’t alone.

“Yes,” Faust answered, seemingly happier to talk about the other humans. “Other human beings, good and bad, sent to their own Equus to live in.”

“They label themselves as the ‘Displaced’,” Arceus continued on my fellow Displaced. “Beings given powers they never had.”

My eyes shined with joy. Other humans who I could relate to, humans I could befriend. “Where can I find them?” I asked excitedly.

Faust chuckled at my enthusiasm. “Yes, through tokens you can call upon them and with your token they can call upon you.”

“Interesting,” I mused. The ability to communicate and travel in between universes was fascinating.

Arceus brought me back to the topic at hand. “With that said,” He coughed, pulling out a folder and handing it to me. I read over it, raising an eyebrow. “As you can see, you weren’t simple chosen out of sheer randomness, and the job you are being offered is important.”

“Gatekeeper?” I said aloud, reading the title of the job. I gave them a confused look.

“Yes,” Faust replied. “Many Legendaries have important roles in the multiverse. They serve as administrators for higher beings.”

“But when we fought, you mentioned something about more than one Yveltal,” I pondered. “Surely if there are more, what would make me more special?”

“Yes,” Arceus jumped in to cure my confusion. “But like the multiverse suggests, there must have been a Primary Yveltal. The one before you chose you to replace him.”

“What does this ‘job’ imply I do?” I asked hesitantly. I didn’t want more work to interfere with my managing Ashen Claw. They were my people after all.

“With many universes come many different deities,” Faust explained. “And with many universes comes a lot of traffic in the realm beyond the mortal plain. These souls must be managed and must be watched over.”

“So,” I clarified, flooding with excitement. “What you’re saying is that I am in charge of the realm of the dead?”

“No exactly,” Arceus laughed. “You would be an administrator of sorts, serving under one of the Gods of Death.”

“Ah,” I said. It was not as big as I originally thought, but was still freaking cool. “So, what are the hours like?” I asked.

“When you go to sleep,” Faust answered. “The realm beyond doesn’t really have a time expectancy, all you have to do is work when you can. There are many like you with these jobs, but they are usually in different levels in the Underworld.”

“What cool powers do I get,” I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

“Besides your normal powers?” Arceus asked. I gave a nod of confirmation. “Well…” He said, listing off what I could do in his head before telling me. “You can warp reality around the concepts of Life and Death, you being able to warp others out of existence, and Dimensional travel between the living world and the netherworld. You can drain life in a wide area and convert it to replenish yourself and heal your wounds. Back to the reality warping; like Discord, you can bend the laws of the universe to a certain extent.”

By the end of him listing off what I could do, I was practically bouncing in excitement. Faust became serious though, giving me a small scowl. “While you have these powers and having an important job, you can be replaced.”

I paled at her words. Saying that I can be replaced wasn’t really comforting. Arceus gave a small sigh of annoyance at Faust’s comment.

“What she means it that if you abuse your powers, and their will be a list of rules given to you on what you can and can’t do, we will not have a second thought of stopping you.” Arceus reassured. I let out a small sigh of relief but I still had a look of worry.

“Okay, so this won’t interfere with my job as king?” I asked, they both nodded their heads to let me know that I wouldn’t have to worry about it. “Okay, I’m game!”

“Good,” Arceus said, looking slightly relieved that I was taking the deal. “As for anymore information on Displaced, I’ll give you a file of an individual who probably know more than any other of your kind.”

He handed me another file. I read over it, and read over it again, and again. This guy was unreal! While I didn’t approve of some of his methods, I still had respect for him and what he accomplished.

“But for now,” Faust said, bringing me back into reality. “We would like you to meet your co-worker.”

The door opened behind me and I saw the most beautiful creature in existence. Xerneas, apparently a female, walked into the door. She saw me and gave a huff of annoyance, but sat down next to me.

I feel in love at that very moment. Her fur was gorgeous, her antlers sparkled with life, and her presence made me feel warm inside. She also looked slightly annoyed, and was also glaring at me.

“I’m not working with him,” She stated harshly. I felt hurt by those words, but it didn’t quell my love for her.

“Xerneas, please--” Arceus tried to convince the deer to be more cooperative but to no avail.

“No,” She declared. “I am a being of life, he is one of death. I could barely stand the other one!”

“Xerneas,” Arceus boomed, his voice filling with anger. “Stop acting like a child. If you would listen for a single moment, then maybe you wouldn’t be so reserved to hate him.”

She shut up at his outburst.

“Unlike most before Philip,” Arceus said. “Philip use to be a human. So, whatever petty feud you had with the past Yveltal is worthless.”

“If it makes any difference,” I butted in. “I look forward to working with you. Not everyday you get to work with a beautiful Pokemon such as yourself?”

She blushed at that comment and pouted in frustration. “Fine,” she huffed. “But don’t try to be buddy buddy with me, I’m keeping my eye on you!” With that said, she walked out of the room.

“What was that about?” I asked in curiosity. The two gave me a sad look.

“I won’t go into detail,” Arceus said. “But, when she was younger she had a bad experience with one of the Yveltal who was before you. He was taken care of, permanently…..”

The answer didn’t satisfy me, but it was clear they didn’t want to go into detail. Well shit...socializing with Xerneas would be difficult. I hope we could get past it, I really did.

“I think we have a party to go to!” Faust said enthusiastically. She put her wing on my and Arceus’s back, leading us out of the room.

As we walked back into the party room, I was greeted by a couple of Legendary Pokemon. I struck so conversations and I had to admit, they weren’t a bad bunch. So, this was my new family. I guess I could get use to this.

My eyes drifted to Xerneas, she was currently in the corner. Talking with Palkia about something. I felt strong feelings for her, and I wanted to make something work between us….I wish Helen was here to give my some advice on this stuff.

The party continued on and for the first time since I got here, I felt relief. Other humans existed, and they could relate to me. I just had to make sure none of them interfered with my plans.

Plans that just got more real, more possible. With my newfound powers, I could do many things. Great things.

Author's Notes:

Hey Everyone,

I had to get this chapter out! It's pretty big and it's the longest I've ever written, so enjoy that. Basically, I bringing in the other legendary pokemon into the mix. I've had the Gatekeeper idea for awhile.

Now, my idea is to use the power scale Jsyrin made to rank the legendary Pokemon. My idea for my character is to give him manipulation of Life and Death, as well as Xerneas, and warp the reality behind it. My goal is to make him not a godly figure, by a gatekeeper underworld. I say "A Gatekeeper" because my idea is that since there are so many aspects of death in the multiverse that somehow the plains of the dead has to co-mingle.

Besides warping reality to an extent, I also want to give him and Xerneas administration roles over the plains of the afterlife. Again, not as god but more of administrators. So a figure like, let's say Hades, would have more command over them and they are like managers. He makes sure the some of the more rowdy of souls don't make a mess of things, and my idea is that he can communicate with those who have passed.

Also, Yveltal would not be the strongest of the Pokemon group; but my the ideas I have for him I would put him as a "Titan" based off the power scale Jsyrin made since he can only operate under certain aspects and he could be cancelled out by a figure like Hades. So my idea for his powers are: Warping certain concepts of reality (Mainly on Life and Death), interdimensional access to the plains of the after-life, his own pocket dimension to access, and his Pokemon moves.

I want to make no mistake, my Yveltal can die. Would he be hard to off? Yes. But he does not have limitless power and is vulnerable like any other Pokemon, he is not some Mary Sue who can eat bullets for breakfast while fighting off Cthulhu. There will be those among Equus that will be a force to be reckon with, so don't worry about him overpowering the world. I think Celestia and Luna don't get enough justice when it comes to power, so I will make them a force to be reckon with..

He can be replaced, as others before him in the past have. The reason he has these powers is because they were given to him and if the higher beings deem it necessary they can be taken away.

With that said, I will most likely make a power scale on what rank the Legendaries by using Jsyrin's Power Scale.

Anyways, have a great week!

Chaos out!

Chapter 8 - The Sun Shines Brightly And A New Ally Is Made

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“So---Xerneas,” I laughed nervously, trying to strike a conversation with the Life Pokemon.

After the party was finished, Arceus asked Xerneas to take me somewhere and give me some more information on my new job. She did her part on taking me somewhere, not so much the talking. Being in her presence had been awkward due to her strange aggression towards me.

Something I had tried to understand ever since I met her. The other Legendaries avoided answering the question, and Arceus said it was complicated. How can I work with someone who clearly dislikes me?

“You want to give me some info on the job?” I asked. As we continued walking, we entered a forest of some kind. The flowers glowed bright colors and the plants around us bloomed. Xerneas was truly a being of life and beauty. “Maybe tell me who we’re working for, what I’m going to do….”

“You’ll get to know the boss tomorrow,” She replied, giving a small smile at the thought of me meeting her boss. That didn’t bode well for me. “As for what our job is, it’s slightly complicated.”

I looked around as the forest seemed to part around her, allowing her to take me to my unknown destination. However, I noticed the life in the forest decay as I walked along the path. Each time something died, Xerneas flinched.

This might be why she hates me, I make her glorious work perish. Is this the curse that we must bear? That we must be two entities who work together and yet be on the complete opposite side of the scale of life?

“Give me the basic jist of it,” I told her. We had reached a large river, our only way across would be hopping from the stones. Or me carrying her into the air.

“Wh--what are you doing?!” She growled as my talons wrapped around her antlers. I flapped my wings and carried her up into the air. She wiggled in my grasp, but I held her as I glided over to the other side of the river bank.

I dropped the distressed deer and she turned around and glared daggers at me. “Don’t do that again,” she snarled. I backed away from her, surprised at her aggressive reaction.

Wait...fuck that! I totally expected this kind of reaction from her.

She snorted and turned away, continuing on the path. I was starting to get nettled at her attitude. Being a complete bitch to a stranger wasn’t really appropriate behavior for a Life God. I begrudgingly followed her down the path.

“What the hell is your deal with me?” I asked her. She kept on walking, ignoring my question. Okay, now this was getting ridiculous. She had to be at least 2879 years old if what the other Legendary Pokemon said to me was correct.

All I could see was a stubborn child. Her unexplained hatred towards me was ridiculous and her refusal to inform me of her reasons is childish.

I’ll have to think this one through and try to get on her good side. Which will be hard with my sarcastic attitude, but I think I can manage not being a jackass…

“We’re here,” She huffed, stopping ahead of me. I stopped my mental rambling and looked over her, seeing an endless pit before us. This made no sense, why would there be just and empty space in this dimension and why did we come here?

“And where is this ‘here’ exactly?” I questioned, walking next to her to get a better view. I glanced down to see and endless void, only small lights filled the pure blackness of the space.

“This is where our dimension drops to the other Multiverses,” She answered, scooting away from me. I thought her movement as another on of her antics, so I ignored it. “We can enter into the void and appear in another multiverse, with certain paths set to get us there safely of course.”

“Safely?” I asked hesitantly. Passing through the void sounded dangerous, but how dangerous it was is a mystery to me. “What can go wrong if we don’t stick to the path?” It was a stupid question, but I wanted to know what to expect.

“World devourer's and eldritch beings, those kinds of things,” She answered nonchalantly. I gave her my best ‘O’rly look’ and shook my head.

“Sounds like a real shit show to me,” I laughed. I can already imagine what fucked up abominations roamed my little universe, I just can’t wait for them to rear their ugly heads. “So, on a scale from one to ‘Dear God, someone gouge my eyes out’ how bad is the trip down?”

Xerneas laughed at the question. That’s good, it’s a sign that she isn’t completely hopeless and I might be able to not get killed by her...how would that work anyway? If she’s the Pokemon of Life and I’m the Pokemon of Death, then would she using her life powers to kill me?

Forget it, I can ask Arceus later. He might be willing to add his advice on how I can avoid dying.

“Was that a laugh I just heard,” I sang, looking over my colleague. “And here I thought you couldn't break a smile!”

She gave me a devious grin before responding. “While you do have a way with words,” She replied, still having a plotting smirk plastered on her face. “I think the best way to answer your question is to experience it first hand…”

I gave her a skeptical look before looking back into the void. I heard her shuffle behind me. Usually I would ignore it and think she was just fidgeting, but the way she said I should experience the trip first hand made me skeptical.

Then I realized the probably outcome. One that I would not enjoy...

“You’re going to kick me down there, aren't you?” I asked, not bothering to turn around. This was going to hurt...

“Eeyup!” She sang, giving another devious gigil. I let out a gulp as I imagined her bucking me into this pit of darkness…

THWACK

“God damnit, not againnnnnnn---” I screamed as I was knocked off the cliff, plummeting to my my apparent doom.

“Don’t stray off the predetermined course sweetie, and we might just meet up again tomorrow!” Xerneas shouted after me.

And thus began my short journey through the void…

My path of descent was straight. No change in direction, no blockades to force me to pull any free fall bullshit. Just straight. It wasn’t bad, and the view was...nice, fantastic even. What I once thought was pure darkness turned out to be filled with light, thousands of what seemed to be universes.

I tilted my head in curiousity, considering moving off my set path just for a second so I could get a better look. The lights were alluring and I wanted to see more...but if what Xerneas said was true about the Void, then steering off the path might not be the wisest move.

My train of thought was interrupted when I caught a glimpse at one of the many abominations that roamed through the void. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was so...horrifying that if one were to explain it, they would go mad. It slowly turned its head towards me as I cantered down past it, leaving me with an image that would scar the mind of even the most darkest of monsters. It’s like the illegitimate love child of Cthulhu and Medusa with the dropping of Yogg Saron sprinkled all over it.

“JESUS CHRIST ON A BICYCLE, KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!” I screamed at the terrifying sight. The monster merely waved at me before vanishing.

By the time it had gone, I had fainted. My body continued its unknown path through the cosmos as I slipped into an unconscious state, changing the direction to one of the many universes that filled the void.

“Oh dear God,” I shouted, tumbling out of my bed. My body was wrapped in my bed sheets and I attempted to untangle myself. I looked around to see myself the bedroom I’ve been sleeping in since I came here.

I contemplated what had transpired during my dreams, wondering if what I had experienced was real or not. The searing pain in my back told me that I had indeed been to that strange dimension, but my body still felt rested. Maybe I was warped on a spiritual level while my body stayed on these plain of existence.

“Ohhhh,” I groaned, finally picking myself up and unwrapping myself from the covers. My eyes darted to a coffee machine and I chose to make a cup for myself. This world’s technology was strange. They carried spears and used ships one would see in colonial times, but they had coffee machines and other machinery that we use in the 21st century.

The device was quick with its work and I have an authentic cup of Ashen Claw coffee. As I took a sip, I realized that I was the first of my kind to live in such a society. I was the first human to enter this reality, this world! It truly was an amazing position that I was in.

Well, besides being kidnapped and almost offing one of the royals from another kingdom. But those were little things.

My thoughts trailed to our foreign guests. While I had little to worry about them causing any more trouble, I was still concerned about Princess Luna and Celestia. They were big players on the world stage, and had enough influence to possible wipe out our little city. Of course, this was not even taking the nobles of Ashen Claw into account. They were an issue that would have to be dealt with. For now, my spies will keep a careful eye on them, should they choose to make any moves against me.

My stomach gave off a gurgled noise, signifying that I was hungry. I took the bandanna that Coral Tuft had made, tying it around my neck. This world never ceased to surprise me with its kindness. Even those who I had considered enemies were now in my home with a care in the world. These ponies were something else...I’m just happy some cold hearted bastard didn’t get shipped to this world of friendship and smiles. Who knows what kind of psychopathic things one of those stains on humanity would do to this world.

As I made my way down the stairs, carefully since I still had my coffee in one of my wings, I heard noise coming from the dining room. It sounded like there were more voices than before, but that might be due to the number of Equestrians that were here---

“Would you quit it, Discord!” I heard a familiar squeaky voice shout. Discord...where had I heard that name before?

Finally walking of the last step, I heard what seemed to be...a train making a commotion from within the dining room. The audible ‘choo choo’ deterred me from entering. But as I heard the cries of annoyance continue, it was clear that something either really asinine or hilarious was going on behind those doors.

“Here we go again,” I mumbled to myself, kicking open the doors. I was confident that whatever was beyond the doors, I had faced weirder things and that I was prepared.

I realized that Illidan was most likely right. I was truly not prepared.

CHOO CHOO

My eyes widen in pure shock as a train made out of pancakes went right by me. Conducting the pancake vehicle was some kind of chimera. Said chimera was having the time of his life, using an assortment of food items from strawberries to chocolate to have his made machine travel across the dining room.

Those at the table were in equal shock, save for a white alicorn sitting in amusement and the chimera enjoying his ride on the breakfast express, at my entry. Parcel Dove looked embarrassed at the fact that she had allowed such events to transpire in a place where royalty ate. Though I couldn’t blame her, the one causing it looked to be uncontrollable.

Bulkwater and Thorn Brush attempted to speak, to inform me of the events that were occurring, but they couldn’t manage the words out of their mouths.

“Okay,” I said in hesitation, looking to see that I had four new guest in our midst. Three alicorn mares, white, blue, and pink were accompanied by the insane chimera and a unicorn that both seemed to be male.

“I’ll bite,” I said to no one in particular. “Who are these people,” I said, waving my free wing over to my new guests. “And what the hell is this guy doing?” I questioned. The white alicorn gave me a big smile, seemingly please on my arrival.

“Ah, King Philip,” The majestic alicorn said, waving her hoof for me to approach her. Her mane was a rainbow color and seemed to be constantly floating, the blue ones mane also seemed to levitate, and her height was impressively tall compared to others of her species. “I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, and I wish to speak with you on matters of gre---”

“Nope,” I said, cutting her off. Everyone, even the chimera that I now knew was Discord, stared at me in surprise. My mind went back to what I heard about Princess Celestia, and the fact that she was the one who trained Twilight. She also probably taught the purple mare on the proper ways of kidnapping foreign powers.

I was said that there use to to be a minotaur kingdom that dwelled in Equestria’s lands. It was also said that the kingdom was turned into a smoking crater once the minotaur's ruler executed ponies from a local town.

And I had nearly drained the life from here prized student, one that she might see as a daughter of some kind.

That and she was a walking nuclear reactor that could melt everything in this room if she wanted to.

So her appearing out of the blue and wanting to talk to me was the last thing I wanted. Probably planned to melt me faster that I could scream ‘Ice Cream’. And that’s pretty damn fast...

It was then that I performed one of my most amazing feats, one that would be recorded down in the passages of history. I proceeded to hop backwards.

“Nope nope nope nope nope nope….” I continued to say that one word, my voice fading away as I got further from the room. I flawlessly executed hops backwards, not even looking behind me as I made my way up the staircase. They all looked up in awe as I made my way to the top of the staircase, not moving my head an inch as I hopped to an unknown place.

Discord took pictures of my actions, snickering in amusement. Princess Luna shook, trying to stop her laughter from pouring out. Celestia fared no better, taking deep breathes as she tried to calm herself from the same desires as her sister. The nine Equestrians looked at me, jaws unhinged as I performed such a rude act towards their ruler.

Parcel Dove looked like she was about to die from embarrassment due to her king’s antics. Thorn Brush and Bulkwater on the other hand gave signs of curiosity on how one of my size could be so well balanced.

Unfortunately, this was all in vain when Princess Celestia teleported me back into the dining room. I was willing to enact the performance again, anything to distance myself for the Sun Goddess, but Celestia grabbed me in her magical aura and sat me down.

While I highly doubted she could kill me, I felt like whatever she could do would hurt like hell.

“King Philip,” Celestia said calmly, in hopes to clear any worry from my mind. “I assure that my coming here was for peaceful terms, no violent acts will be committed from any of my ponies or myself.”

She used her magic aura to hand me a cup of juice. I gave her a skeptical look, sniffing the beverage for any...unsavory contents. I hesitantly took a sip, hoping that there would be no foul play at work.

“Excuse me for my immediate distrust, Princess Celestia,” I retorted. It seemed that she would not give me the mercy of poison, truly she had far crueler plans for me. “But one such as yourself gains much if I were to meet an unfortunate end.”

Some of the ponies gasped in shock at my accusation. It was not normal for one to partake in the acts of murder, at least not in this time. Luna continued to look at me with great curiosity, scanning my body language in hopes of understanding me.

“As I said before, King Philip,” Celestia smiled, taking a sip of her own drink. “I came here for matters of peace, not usurpation.”

I clicked my tongue as I heard her words, trying to nitpick any lies that I might hear or see. While I saw none present, I was still suspicions, if not curious, on her reasons for being here.

“Matters of peace?” I asked, she nodded in agreement. “Am I to assume that you see me as a...fellow ruler?” She nodded once again to show that I was correct.

“If I am not mistaken,” She said, using her magic to conjure a piece of parchment. “Not only have you liberated this island from a tyrannical ruler, but have managed to settle the war between those of the city and the natives of this land.”

She looked over to Bulkwater for confirmation. “That is true, your majesty!” Bulkwater said, Celestia giving him a warm smile as he reinforced the information given to her.

“As such, I can not in good will remove you from a position that you have clearly earned,” Celestia mused. I blinked in surprise, taken back by the Princess’s kind words. Then again, what else was I to expect from the leader of the most peaceful nation on this world.

“Well, thanks,” I replied, tilting my head as a thought came to mind. “But you surely have come here for something to do with the leadership of Ashen Claw, it was one of your colonies afterall?”

“That is true,” Celestia said, giving me a slight look of concern. “I feel that you are somewhat lacking in the knowledge of the political landscape. Even with Miss. Parcel Dove’s help, I cannot in good conscious allow you to run around blindly through the ocean that is our worlds bureaucracy.”

“There are also threats that will be directed towards this kingdom,” The blue alicorn, the one that I realized must be Princess Luna, added. “Your sudden takeover presents opportunities to not only the pirate lords who rove these seas, but your fellow City States as well.”

I glanced over to see that most of the ponies around me were lost at what I and the two princesses were discussing. Even Twilight looked perplexed, the idea of violent pirates and power hungry warlords seemed foreign to her.

“You’re worried that others might try to take advantage of me, that I can’t handle things myself?” I asked, giving them a hurt look. I was a prideful person, so two pony princesses informing me that I was too incompetent to handle the situations at hand was a real ego killer.

“We only want to provided the services you need in order to help Ashen Claw grow,” The pink alicorn responded quickly.

“I’m sorry, I only know your colleagues names,” I chuckled in embarrassment, rubbing the back of my head. “What do I call the both of you, if you don’t mind?” I asked, hoping that I didn’t offend him.

“Oh, sorry,” The pink alicorn giggled as she apologized. “My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can just call me Cadence!”

“And my name is Shining Armor,” The stallion added in as well. “Both Cadence and I rule the Crystal Empire.”

“He also happens to be my brother,” Twilight butted in. I raised an eyebrow at her comment. I was compiling a list of all those who had any influence on Twilight’s life. That way I can properly plan revenge on all of them due to Twilight’s little snatching session with me.

Clearly they’re to blame for my injured pride. That and it would be amusing to see how they would react to a true prank master at work.

“So, which one of you taught her how to drug someone with the proper dose and sneak her victim out of a guarded city?” I asked my equine guests. Twilight went further back in her chair, her face flushed red due to my question.

“Oh, well I guess my lessons in villanry sorta paid off,” Discord commented offhandedly, now wearing a general’s uniform. He had stopped his pancake train shenanigans and instead used his powers to create a mini breakfast war. Different types breakfast foods battled it out to become the supreme meal choice.

And there goes the waffle federation...I will mourn this world’s great loss later.

I let out a sigh of annoyance, pinching the bridge of my nose. I wasn’t a politician, nor was I some great leader. What I am is a humanitarian. This island was bogged down by a tyrannical asshole, one the Celestia did nothing to stop. Right now, she was making circles around me.

Discord was a clear show of power, whether he knows it or not, and this ‘We want to help you!’ crap was a clear indication that they didn’t mean giving me a life supply of girl scout cookies. No, they wanted something from me. Celestia has ruled for a thousand years, so she clearly thought her way was the best way.

“What do you want?” I challenged, looking straight into Celestia’s magenta eyes. She simply tilted her head in feigned innocence.

“Whatever do you mean, Lord Philip?” She asked, keeping a neutral tone as she responded to my question. “Equestria has only one goal, the spread of friendship and peace throughout the world.”

“And why the hell would you go out of your way to do that?” I retorted, hackles raised and my chest puffed out. Damn natural bird instincts at its work. “Are you telling me that you will go out of your way, no matter the cost, to help someone else outside of your kingdom? No cost for those who gain your grace, just you working hard to make the world a better place?”

“Yes,” Celestia responded. I gave a quick scan around the room, looking at the others in the room and seeing how they react. The Equestrians looked miffed at my questions other than Discord and Luna. Bulkwater fidgeted in his seat, clearly unnerved that I was playing with fire.

My mind raced for any possible answers. What could she gain from helping me? Control over Ashen Claw, control over me? She had everything, so what more could she want. As much as I tried to comprehend her with all the knowledge I had gained on her, I couldn’t read her motives.

“Why?” I questioned, my voice somewhat quivering. These kinds of acts were rare on earth, at least from those in power. Was such a world that achieved stability through universal friendship even possible?

“In my youth, all creatures sought control through brute force,” Celestia sighed, thinking back on certain moments in her life. “This would come at the cost of the innocents that lived in the world. When one loses everything, they will lose themselves over time…”

Celestia got out of her chair and walked over towards me. I slumped back, trying to not show concern at her approach. She was an intimidating force, stories told to me by Groudon praised her power. Said power matching his own in many regards.

“I got tired of the unnecessary pain and lose,” She said, now standing right next to me. I chose to look at the food before me, contemplating her words. “So, I chose a new route. This route would lead to the world we have today, one where all creatures live side by side.”

“How did you manage that?” I asked thoughtfully. Humanity itself had only achieved mutual peace when we created weapons that would end our world. “Surely you had to fight those who opposed such a philosophy?”

“Yes,” She mused, sitting down next to my chair. The others at the dining table watched our conversation with both interest and confusion, even Discord stopped his shenanigans. “But not through the sword, but with words. Many others were tired of the fighting, for not many of us even remembered what we were fight about…”

“And what happens when friendship and words don’t stop a catastrophe?” I demanded, looking at the alicorn’s face. “Who will stop the dangers that lurk in the shadows!? Dangers you have chosen to ignore!”

“Then the friendship of others shall stand up to such dangers,” She answered calmly, shooting a glance towards Twilight. “Such evils that refuse to listen to reason must be stopped, but not at the cost of our own morals.”

“Then you’re better than me,” I laughed bitterly, looking down at her. “Compared to your ponies, to anyone else here, I am much more vicious than any ‘villain’ you’ve encountered.”

“But are you a villain?” She questioned, giving me a smile. “You have yet to proven that you deserve such a title.” I went silent at that statement. If humans were truly evil, then why would good even exist. One is not born evil, nor are they born good.

“Because I choose to not go down that path…” I grumbled, annoyed by her words. “But I would make one badass baddie!” I said quickly, giving her a toothy grin.

“Yes,” She chuckled, still keeping her warm and jovial tone as she spoke. “But you are also right about one thing, sometimes my ideals do not work---”

“And now we get to where I fit in,” I interrupted, raising an eyebrow at the suggestion she was about to make.

“Okay, am I the only one who’s confused here?” Rainbow Dash asked loudly. “No offense dude--”

“--That usually indicates that one is about to offend the person they’re apologizing to…” I deadpanned. She gave a small snort of annoyance at my interruption before continuing,.

“But what could the Princess need from you?” She said, getting nods of agreement from the others.

“Thes islands are troubled, Lady Dash,” Luna answered. “The tyrant Coal Patch was just one of the many problems that scourged these kingdoms, there is much work that still needs to be done---”

“Work that could be achieve the best way through King Philip,” Celestia finished, the two sisters seemingly knowing what the other was thinking. “My hope that through him, these islands could achieve unity and peace that has not been seen since Ashen Wing’s rule.”

“What kind of troubles are we talking about,” Thorn Brush asked out of the blue. I swear, he and everyone else have been quiet for the entire conversation.

“Pirates, other leaders of Ashen Veil that will want my head, cultist, griffon’s and dragons, superpowered artifacts that could level a mountain, and all of the other awful trails that await us,” I listed offhandedly. Thorn Brush glared at me with skepticism before looking at Celestia for confirmation.

“While Philip speaks the facts as though the task is impossible--” Celestia said, trying to ease everyone in the room.

“Oh no, we’re screwed!” I laughed wholeheartedly. “A quantum computer calculating for a million years couldn’t calculate a high enough number to give us an estimate on how screwed we are---”

“I think that what Lord Yve---” Luna tried to interject my disheartening words.

“Only a complete bumbling buffoon with good advice, God like capabilities, and sheer luck could hope to achieve such a task,” I ranted, playing with my fork. Luna groaned in annoyance and Celestia shot daggers at me.

“But don’t you you meet each one of those criterias?” Twilight questioned, a smirk on her face. Shining Armor looked ready to rebut her for that comment, but I interfered.

“Fortunately, that is correct!” I chuckled, glancing at everyone in the room. “So, I guess I’m your ma---bird! Where do I sign up?” Celestia looked at me, gobsmacked at my little speech.

“You’re willing to do this?” The sun goddess question. She was clearly worried that I wasn’t up for the task, I knew I sure wasn’t. “Even after all you said? Great danger lurks within these islands, danger that has had a thousand years to grow…”

I looked at her dead in the eyes, my eyes glowing purple and the room becoming colder. Her gaze never wavered from mine, and I gave her my answer.

“I’ve lived my whole life sitting in the bleachers,” I affirmed, pushing my chair back and getting up to face her. “All I ever wanted to do was live a normal life, to not give a care in the world. I was a nobody. Someone who was so sure that they could do nothing, that they didn’t even try.”

I towered over the leader of the alicorns, still looking down at her. “I’m no glorious leader that will lead my people into a new age,” I ranted, my body giving off a faint light. My subjects...no, my friends looked at me in surprise.

“Nor am I some pure saint that seeks to fill this world with joy and happiness,” My head swiveled over to the Mane Six, looking deeply into each one of their big bambi eyes. My determined gaze them went back to Celestia’s, her eyes filled with doubt...and yet there was also hope.

“But if I can do something, anything, to help these people,” I spread my wing to Parcel Dove, Thorn Brush, Bulkwater, and Coral Tuft. “Then goddammit, I’m in!”

“..............”

The entire room was filled with silence. Each one who was present pondered over my words. It was a sappy speech, and it didn’t provide and confidence that I was capable for the job. But then the room was filled with clapping. I looked over to see a smiling Draconequus, clearly pleased with my answer.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Discord chuckled, disappearing in a flash of light only to be next to Celestia and I. He put his arm around our necks and pulled us into a hug. “Sign this little ball of chaos up!” He laughed, snapping his claws to make a pencil and what seemed to be a contract appear in Celestia’s hooves.

“Y--you support this, Discord?” Luna asked in surprise. From his attitude it seemed it was not often that the Draconequus would fool around when such serious circumstances were being discussed. And yet here was the Spirit of Chaos, supporting something that was ensure order.

Go figure...

“Oh don’t you worry, Luna,” He said, giving the mare of the night a toothy grin as if he read both of our thoughts. “There will be plenty of chaos about once our friend here takes over.” I saw a couple of faces pale, even my own subjects had known of what the Draconequus considered chaos.

“Oh calm down will you,” He snorted in annoyance as they looked as if they would be sick. “Not all chaos involves anarchy or reality breaking shenanigans. He then looked at Celestia, still in his iron grip. “So, are you two lovers gonna look deep into each other’s eyes, or are you going to get down to this boring political process?”

Both Celestia’s and my face became red as he spoke. I mumbled incoherently and Celestia whack the jester upside the head.

“Well,” Cadence coughed, gaining everyone’s attention. “If it’s agreed, then I think it would be best if King Philip would sign the official documents for his crown?”

I let out a groan. With my luck, here bureaucracy would weigh me down all day!

“Yes!” Luna said in excitement, practically jumping out of her seat. “While we’re at it, we should discuss with thee on the events of this island’s Nightmare Night!”

“Nightmare what?” I asked in confusion, a certain pink pony let out an audible gasp.

“You’ve never heard of Nightmare Night!?” She screamed, suddenly appearing in front of me. “But that means you’ve missed the candy and the pranks and the--”

“You mean Halloween?” I asked, my inner child bursting with excitement. “When, I demand you give me an answer!” I cried with joy, grabbing Pinkie Pie and shaking the poor mare like a child shakes his piggy bag for spare money.

“T---h--re---e--d--ays!” She said with excitement, her answer being somewhat cut off since I was shaking her.

Wait...three days!?

That means that if my math was right, and that Equus followed the same dating system as Earth, that today was my birthday! Which means that I’m now an adult! And since I’m in a different dimension, that means I don’t have to pay any insurance or tax burdens that come with my age!

But I also can’t celebrate my eighteenth birthday with my family, my friends.

Feeling dejected at the realization, I dropped the party pony. She gave me a curious look, trying to understand my sudden change in mood. Before I could mope, a small portal opened above us.

“Well, that’s new…” Discord said at the spectacle. The portal was a dark purple, slowly spiraling as it grew bigger and bigger.

“Should we...should we be worried?” Luna asked the draconequus while still keeping full attention on the swirling mass.

“Well, I’m no---GET DOWN!” The Spirit of Chaos shouted, teleporting use out of the way as a giant scythe came flying out of the portal. The strange weapon obliterated a portion of the dining table, sending splinters flying everywhere.

We all got stiffened and prepared for more stuff to fly out from the portal, even the carefree draconequus seemed on edge as he wrapped himself around Fluttershy.

“Oh, sorry!” A metallic voice echoed from the portal. “Dang portal isn’t the best form of delivery, I can barely see anything in this universe through it, let alone wherever you are, Philly!”

“Philly?” I muttered in confusion. I haven’t been called by anyone besides my bro--no….. “Adam, did you almost drop the hunk of metal on me!” I shouted at the disembodied voice. Slightly frustrated that my brother almost squashed me, and yet relieved that I was now talking to him.

Which meant that he was also in Equestria...da fuq?

“Yeah, seems like I’m in the same predicament as you,” He said, somehow knowing what I was thinking. “What are we called, Displaced?”

“That creepy salesman got you as well?” I asked, leaving the others around me in a state of confusion.

“Well, turns out that this ‘Merchant’ that we encountered is really a God-like Draconequus that wanted to mess around with her powers. That and bring some kind of change into her universe…” The metallic voice of Adam answered. So, the whole Merchant thing was a hoax for some Draconequus?

“Yup!” Adam said somewhat cheerfully. Hold the phone, how did he know what I was thinking? “I’m reading you mind and everyone else's. But enough with that, I made you a gift! Happy birthday kiddo.”

I hesitantly walked over to the scythe and picked it up. The metal was nothing I had ever seen before, and it clearly wasn’t anything one would find at a normal smithy.

“I’ve gotta go before Arceus or Faust finds out that I’m here, they would not be happy that someone’s messing with reality here without their permission,”

The portal slowly closed, along with what presence I had of my brother. He seemed somewhat off, but he was an odd guy. A spear shot out of the portal, this time the object was aimed with care to not hit me. On the spear was black cloth with a red crest emblazed in the center, signifying it as a banner.

“There’s my token,” Adam said, his voice fading as the portal closed. “I can’t come right now, but if you ever need help just call on me!”

The portal dissipated, leaving me and everyone else in complete shock.

“Crazy?” Bulkwater added helpfully. His comment brought a smile to my face, and the Equestrians seemed to have settled down. They had probably experience weirder things.

I touched the totem, and Adam’s metallic voice rang out into the room. Static could be heard as the message was played

“̸I̷̧͘ ͜͏à̕m̶͠ h̢͜e͜ ̶́w̷̕ḩ́͝o̕͠ ͜͞d͏͜w͠el̸̛͜l̸̷̢s í͘͘n̸̴̢ ́t̛h̵͠e҉͢ ̴̧́d͞ar̴̕k̵͘n͟e̢͜s̶̛s͏.͜͞ ̀Ev̨il̴ ͢an̛͘d͟ ̡͏͏G͜͞o̴͘o̶d͏͢ ̴͠a̸̧r͘͠ȩ̨́ ̶̧m̡̛͘er̵̕͜ȩ͞l̀͡y͡ ti҉t̷͟l͡ès̢͘͟ ̧͡t̡͟͜ha҉͘t̢͜ ͢͢à̴̶ŕ̶͜e ̧͜͠ù͡s̴̕e̴̢͡d͢͡ ̸̀t҉͘͡o͡ l͢͞ab̷͡e̢͞l̵͡҉ ò̕n̴͜ę’́͜s̶̵ ̵̛e̴ne̷͞m҉̕i̸e҉ś͠ ̵a̴͝n̸̵d ̶m̕e̛͜a̸̵n͢ ͜͟͢li̛͜t̶͜tl̕é͘ ͡t͟o ̛m͠e͠.̀͜ ҉ ̛I̕͢f ̢҉yo҉͘u̴̴͢ śee̛k̕͡ ͜͝a͡i̸͜d,̴̧ ̵s̨͠ec͏̸u҉̵r̡ìt͢y͡͠͠, ̸͠th͡͡e͢ c͏a̧͟l͟l̨ ̸̧u̷҉p͞òn ͡m̴͡e̸ ̷͜͢a̵n̸d̨͠ ̷҉I͠ ̶̧͟s̡h̛a̕l͘l̶ ̧s͘͢ḩ̨r̷͡͝o̢̧u͞d̕͢͝ y̶o͜͞u ͝͝fr̷̵om͟ ̷y̧͝o̷ur͡͏ ͏f̧͝o̴͘e̸҉s̛.̵ ̡̀ ̷I҉̢҉ a͜͟m̴̴ ̷҉n̨o̧t̸͞h͘i͞n̸̡g̷̶͜.͟͡.̧͘.͞I͏ ̨a̢͠m͢ M͢a̵k̨͏u̢͠t̨̡a ͘T͏e̵͝r͡id̷͟à̛҉x!͟”͠

Well...that’s a mindfuck if I’ve ever heard one before. I looked up to see the ponies in somewhat of a panic, clearly confused on what had transpired. It also seemed as though they didn't hear the message Adam's token had given, which meant that it must have been a mental message. Pinkie Pie seemed unnaturally quiet as both my friends and the Equestrians frantically talked about the event that had just occurred.

“Wait...it’s your birthday?” Pinkie Pie asked quietly. I could hear the Mane Six express great worry at the pink ponies words. Before I could even act, she grabbed my head and brought it down to her face. “WENEEDTOHAVEAPARTY!”

She shook me so much that my body was levitating off the ground as is wobbled. “Oh god, make it stop!!!!” I cried, causing the eccentric pony to drop me.

“I need to go, there are somethings I need to get!” She declared, getting up and bolting out of the room to an unknown destination.

“Would you like us to discuss the terms of our agreement now, or later?” Celestia asked, bring us back to the subject at hand. “Luna and I would be happy to take this to a place of privacy so that we can plan for the future…”

“Yeah,” I groaned, getting up from the ground. “Parcel Dove, you come with us as well…” I said to my advisor. Parcel Dove nodded her head and went to collect some papers and pens.

I then turned to the others. “Bulkwater, Thorn Brush, take the rest of our guests on a tour of the city, maybe the Red Spear tribe.” Both of my military leaders have a quick nodded and began to escort the other ponies besides Luna and Celestia outside the palace.

“Oh, and Thorn Brush!” I called out to the departing captain.

“Yes your majesty,” He asked as Bulkwater lead the Equestrians outside.

“Try to see if you can find Miss. Pie while you’re out,” I added, slight concern in my voice. “Arceus knows what she’ doing out there...just make sure there’s no property damage created by her or Discord.” His mouth formed a small smile at my request.

“I’ll try my best, but no promises.” He replied, taking off to regroup with the tour. I gave a small wave at their departure and then turned around to the Celestial Sisters.

“Alright,” I said, taking a serious tone. “Let’s get one thing straight. I am not your errand boy, nor am I some puppet king that acts on your orders. I am king of Ashen Claw, a fellow ruler, that seeks to work with you, not for you.” Celestia and Luna raised an eyebrow at my demands, but nevertheless seemed to have no ill intention for me.

“That is something that both my sister and I,” Luna replied, using her hoof to point at herself and Celestia. “Are hoping for. Whether you succeed is your choice and your choice alone, we are merely here to assist you.”

With that said, the three of us casually walked out of the room and up the staircase. Parcel Dove appeared behind us with ink and parchment in her magical aura. While I now trusted the two sisters, I did not let the delusion of our new friendship cloud my paranoia.

If I was a threat to their subjects and loved ones, then they would not hesitate for a moment to end my existence. My attitude is the same way, and if they prove to be a threat against me or the people of Ashen Claw...I will do everything in my power to stop them.

That is the price of leadership. One must throw away all friendships if it endangers the lives of their subjects. It is never an easy choice and I will most likely face this issue down the road, but I am determined to ensure the survival of my kingdom.

Because it’s all I have left...

Chapter 9 - Guess Who's Back, Back Again!?!

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“Remind me again why I agreed to this?” Parcel Dove huffed, irritated as the royal tailor took measurements of the mare.

“Because you’re the only one who’s actually qualified to run a kingdom,” The red and white avian chuckled, lying down on a couch like the lazy chicken he was. “And as the new ruler of Ashen Claw, you need to look nice when making a speech for your subjects.”

It had been a few months since the Diarchs of Equestria had chosen to grace the small colony with their presence, in the process signing a trade treaty and funding a reconstruction project for the damaged kingdom. Even with the slight disruption with the Mane Six running off with their king, Philip was ready to forgive and forget since his only real problem with the whole endeavour was his hunger.

“But why am I running it, Philip...isn’t that technically your job?” The unicorn challenged, unhappy by the new responsibility hoisted upon her by her former boss. “One may think that this is your way of bumming off the royal wallet without being a productive member of society.”

“Parcel Dove!” The pokemon gasped, feigning a look of hurt and shock. “To think such a scandalous thing of me, you know me better than that!”

“Which is why I’m accusing you of being lazy,” She retorted, raising an eyebrow at the Yveltal. “unless there’s another reason you chose to resign as sovereign ruler of this little island?”

The tailor gave nervous glances as he did his work, trying to ignore the bickering between the former and current ruler of Ashen Claw. Being in the middle of these two after the former king’s sudden decision had left somewhat of a question to the mood of his former assistant, since she had been the loudest voice to protest such an action.

Philip simply went quiet at her question, turning his head towards the window where he witnessed the last bit of light that he would bask in for that day.

He would admit that his laziness when it came to writing and rewriting laws and tax codes may have been one of the major factors in his abdication to the throne, but it was really due to his insecurity on actually being in charge of a government. This was something new to him, and no matter the support he felt like he would only weigh down the growth of the kingdom.

“We both know that the idea of me leading anything, let alone a kingdom is a terrible idea…” Philip replied, giving the red mare a shrug. “Besides...you’ll do fine!”

“But you were doing fine!” She protested, nearly ripping through some of the fabric that the tailor was working with as she fidgeted. “I mean yeah, you have little to no experience when it comes to actually leading a kingdom...but surely I was enough to help fill in the gaps.”

“Is that what this is about?” Yveltal asked, raising an eyebrow at the hurt tone his former advisor was giving him. “You think that I didn’t have faith in your abilities to advise me?”

The mare gave a shrug in response, feeling somewhat dejected at the question that Philip asked her. While she had respect for the avian creature, she knew full well that his confidence deep down was lacking. And she tried to build it up, to tear down that facade ego and replace is with a sense of confidence...and in the end she failed to do so.

How could she lead a kingdom and give them hope if she couldn’t do it for one creature?

“Man...you really can’t see it, can you?” The pokemon asked, giving her a look of disbelief as he examined her depressed expression.

“See what?” She asked, confused at her friend’s question. In response, the pokemon got up and walked towards the oaken door.

“You’ll see...in due time that is,” He chuckled, opening the door and getting ready to leave the newest queen of the island to her peace. “I’m going to be gone for awhile though, the princesses need me to do a favor for them.”

“Will you be back before the World Council kicks into gear?” She asked hopefully, nervous about meeting the most important and powerful figures on the planet. “We could use the...muscle.”

“If anyone gives you trouble, I’ll be there to put them in their place!” Philip responded, giving the mare a cheeky smirk as he flexed one of his wings. “After all, I’m the ‘Tyrant Toppler’...”

“I swear, Bulk Water is never in charge of naming anything...ever,” The unicorn groaned, realizing that she would also be sharing her new power with a chieftain whose energy rivaled the avian’s. “Speaking of which, how is Bulk Water doing? I haven’t seen him around for a couple of weeks now since he went back to the Red Spear...what exactly are you two cooking up in that jungle?”

“That’s a surpriseeee!” The Yveltal sang, finally choosing to make his exit on that vague answer.

“I’ll send you a postcard,” He called back as he dashed towards the exit of the palace. “and don’t worry, I’ll be fine!”

The loud sound of doors slamming could be heard upon the departure of the energetic pokemon, causing Parcel Dove to let out a tired sigh. Thinking back to the first time they had ever met. Which then lead her to immediately frown because his appearance not only brought about the end of a long standing monarchy, not to mention the large amount of paperwork and overtime she had due to his lack of knowledge of practically everything on this planet.

At the same time...he had a certain childish charm that really brought a much need smile to her and many other faces. So maybe in the end he wasn’t the best person to be in charge of a community, but his presence was something that this place needed. They felt safe, wanted...Parcel Dove could only hope that she could at least provide that feeling in Philip’s absence.

“Stay safe...you stupid furball…”

The day was anything but peaceful, a massive storm had been brewing for hours now as I made his way to Equestria. While I was not one to make such a trip under such sudden requests, Princess Celestia expressed the urgency of the matter and required my immediate presence. This of course did not build up the desire for me to make such a trip, especially through such horrid weather, but her distressed messaged seemed to compel me to make haste.

So brave the storm I did, although I would need to make it clear to Celestia that my attention was not something that would be so easily commanded. She was not my master, nor was I some janitor that would come at her beck and call. That and it was just rude to call on a pal to come out to some unmarked location with no information on what they were being summoned for.

“I must commend the equines on their dwellings,” I mused as I flapped my powerful wings and flew over the town of Manehattan, eyeing the large city with a sense of familiarity. While it had its differences, especially the ponies who inhabited it, I was reminded of Manhattan. “While their technology may seem primitive, their use of what they have combined with magic would suit any regular human well.”

While I had been informed that a city such as this was a rarity on this world, the seemingly innocent busyness of the place called to me. But I was not here to sightsee, so I needed to make my way now and go to this ‘secret location’.

As I made my way through rain and sleet, a cool wind blowing my wet fur and chilling me to the bone. I shivered somewhat, but my body heat remained decent due to the sheer amount of fluff I had on me and being...not fat but poofy! Which was one thing that many had confused about my body, especially since I started to consume a diet of fish and berries...others had congratulated me on working to lose weight.

Cheeky buggers, the lot of them!

As I got near the site in which I was asked to be, however, my jaw dropped at the sheer destruction that had taken place in the area. Trees were alite like troches, craters riddled the ground, and a dark and strange structure was fractured and its pieces scattered across the shrouded forest. Small camps were set up outside and black-chinten equines were around tents and campfires as they nursed their wounds.

I scanned the area and found a nice place to land...well as nice as I could find due to the rubble that littered the ground and the muddy ground that had made the ground difficult to walk on due to the rain and snow that started to come down due to the colder atmosphere of the area. As I made my way over into the camp, I saw countless injured and frightened changelings huddle in their tents or next to the warm flames, eating some kind of soup. They seemed to brighten up at my approach, giving looks of relief and recognition as they saw me.

“Lord Yveltal!” One of the changelings cried out as he hobbled over to me, but as soon as he got a closer look his face dropped. “Ah, so you’re...new here, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I chuckled, giving the downtrodden insectoid pony a pat on the head with my tail. From what information I was given, there was a Yveltal here before me. So he was probably an regular visitor considering the mood on the changelings. “What exactly is here, Celestia only informed me that there was trouble?”

“This is the outside of Tartarus,” The changeling answered, motioning for me to follow him as he continued informing me. “Prison of those deemed too dangerous on the land of the living...although its main purpose is to act as a gateway to the land of the dead, the Underworld.”

“Why have a gateway to the Underworld?” I questioned, considering that drawbacks to having a door to the afterlife. “Wouldn’t it make it easier for others to break in...or out, what’s your name by the way?”

“Anub'arak,” The changeling said, his light bluish chinten being revealed as his wings brushed off the snow on his back. “As for the risks, well the main issue is the nature of Equus’s magical energy. Due to the magic’s sporadic and volatile tendencies, a gateway to the land of the dead is needed in order to drag some of the more...stubborn creatures to the afterlife.”

“Like Necromancy,” I mused, my smile dropping as we walked closer to the dark building as I realized the implications that come from this now . “But wait...if this place is a wreck then that means someone broke out!”

“Indeed,” Anub’arak sighed as his face dropped with sadness. “We changelings were charged by your predecessor and his deer ally to ensure that this place was protected...but we were betrayed by Queen Chrysalis and she released many prisoners that are both alive...and were dead.”

I gave the him a look of sympathy as he seemed to blame himself for such an outcome. It had been through the faults of another, one that they had clearly trusted, that such a catastrophe and occured and he and his people had paid the price for seeing good in such an individual. The mere identity of Chrysalis angered me, as she was part of a plot that killed Ivory Tuft, the kind ruler of Ashen Claw.

“Don’t kick yourself down mate,” I said warmly, trying to somewhat cheer up the little guy. “Chrysalis is a slithering snake bent of progressing her own power, on ambition that will surely lead to her downfall…”

Before the changeling leader could reply, the shouting of Celestia and a familiar Pokemon of Life could be heard. Making a sharp turn I found myself besides Luna as she watched with worry as her sister and Xerneas, the blue and black pelt of the deer of life seemed to bristle with anger, argued. She seemed to jump a little when my fur brushed up against hers due to the smallness of the room.

“Sir Philip,” the blue alicorn sighed, her usually well maintained starry mane seemed frazzled and her eyes were heavy due to a lack of good sleep. “It is good to see you here, maybe you can aid me in knocking some sense into my sister and Lady Xerneas!”

“This doesn’t involve you birdbrain!” Xerneas snarled, causing me to scoot back a few feet. Luna scowled at her words while Celestia shot the Pokemon a deathglare.

“Since he’s your new partner, it concerns him in every manner,” Luna retorted, the ground around them had been growing rapidly and some of the ground parted as roots sprung up from the earth. “Tartarus has been breached and its inhabitants now free to run amok upon our lands!”

“Only because you refused to reinforce the gates,” Xerneas shot back, growling at the alicorn of the night’s butt in. “Your arrogance that a mere dog and some changelings can stop those who seek to rouse the dead!”

“And had you informed us of Grogar’s presence,” Celestia roared, flames burst upon the ground and her mane roared with fire. “had we even known that he still had a hold onto this world, one that you knew of, then we could have prepared for such darkness! Instead you chose to keep such knowledge hidden, thus leading to us not being able to counter such dark influences!”

The two of them looked ready to fight it out when Luna and I rushed in and held back our respective partners. Her cool aura cooled the flames of her infuriated sister while my deathly aura withered the violent plants away. Xerneas attempted to wrestle from my grasp, but I held her in a tight bare hug.

“Both of you stop it,” I shouted, causing Xerneas to fold her ears at the volume of my voice right next to her ear. “Who the hell is Grogar and what does he have to do with what happened here, what happened here!?!”

Xerneas halted her struggling and I let her go, she snorted in frustration and shook her pelt. Celestia also seemed to calm down, although the scorch marks on the ground was a painful reminder of her dangerous temper. Luna let out a sigh sat down on the cool grass beneath us.

“Grogar was a powerful sorcerer, a species known as a goat, that ruled over the city of Tambelon with an iron hoof,” Luna said mournfully, the history of such a tyrannical rule had shadowed Sombra’s by a long shot. “He was an expert in necromancy and dreamwalking magic. Truly was his evil known to be the greatest in all the land, dwarfing any other foe we have faced.”

“And yet he lost,” I mused, for he clearly had to be defeated by now if I had never heard of him before. “I assume that was you and your sisters doing?”

“Nay,” Luna said, shaking her head with a small smile on her face. “We were mere foals at the time, we’re not that old.”

“So this Grogar guy did what, convince Chrysalis and her group to break him loose?” I questioned, earning a mournful nod from Celestia and Luna. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled and thought over the problem at hand. “So, what do we do about it? If he’s with Chrysalis...well then my best bet is that they’re hiding somewhere until they can make their next move.”

“Luna and I will be informing our allies of the matter and buffing up the defenses around Equestria,” Celestia replied, having already sent letters to the other nations. “Grogar is many things, but stupid is not one of them. My best bet is that he’ll target the national meeting, try to take us all out in one place...which makes us perfect bait for you and Xerneas!”

“Meanwhile, we’ll be clearing out any of Grogar’s goons that broke out with him,” Xerneas said, her anger diminishing as the mood to fight this new threat soon rose her spirits. “Sombra, Tirek, and a bunch of other thugs who are probably terrorizing the world as we speak.”

At those words, the two alicorns and the deer made their way to exit the ruins and go perform their required tasks. However, I was somewhat taken aback by this sudden predicament. My guess was that they were use to something going horribly wrong and for them to get up and clean up the mess.

“Wait…” I said, causing them to stop and give me curious looks. I looked over at Xerneas, my eyes alight with awe and glee at what I was starting to process. “You and I--” I said, pointing at her and then at myself, “Are going around the world to battle Underworld jailbirds. A quest to save the world?”

I then witnessed something that I had not expected to ever occur from the Life Pokemon. Her face broke into a grin and gave a small snort as she saw my bubbling excitement. An oddity since I assumed that her liking of me was none-existent.

“Yup, we’re going to traverse the world and hunt down some ghosts and old school villains!” She grinned, giving me a wave with her foreleg and walking past the stunned celestial sisters.

“Roadtrip to save the world!” I squeed, my childish dreams of being a heroic adventure once again blossoming and I flapped my wings a took off after her.

“Do you even know where you’re going!” Celestia shouted as she and Luna ran out to see Xerneas going and a fast pace and me flying right behind her.

“I’m going on an adventure!” I yelled back with a cheeky expression, grabbing the surprised deer’s antlers and flying off into the storm. “We’ll send you a postcard!”

Author's Notes:

Yveltal's back, tell a friend!

That's write guys, he's back in action! I just want to thank everyone who waited so patiently to see this come out...man it's been a long time. I ran through several issues, one of them being writers block. But I have overcome such things and hopefully get this story back into gear!

Now one of the biggest choices that I've made is one regarding Philip's kingship...or lack therefore of. While I wanted to keep him in the position he was in (Trust me, I really did!) I felt like his character would be the person who would turn down such responsibilities due to his lack of experience. Yeah, he made the people happy, but making them happy is just one part in the overall job of a ruler. Maybe he'll take power once his adventure is over, maybe he wont!

The story will go back and forth between Philip and those on Ashen Claw because they are still important, and having them separate from Philip will let me build their characters more without him casting a shadow over them.

Plus, I wanted to use that adventure tag a little. Explore the world I've built and show you guys what I can dish out!
Plus this:

Anyway, thanks for both your patience and time and I can't wait to continue this journey that has really helped continue my time here on Fimfic. Without your support I would never have felt confident enough to write other stories or even help groups out...like this guide I wrote! Feel free to ask any questions about the guide through PMs or on the thread, and leave a comment on this story about what you would like to see!

Your friend,

Northern Desert

Chapter 10 - Joyful Woods and Gloomy Halls

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While the idea of diving head first into the unknown world was a fascinating, it may have been wise if the Yveltal had not taken a map, maybe wait for the storm to end. Oh...and maybe not grab the now furious Xerneas who looked ready to Moonblast the ever living crap out of him. It was a rash move, and it may have been best to let the alicorn sisters exposition more so they could learn who they might have to deal with and where they might be heading, but at the same time it would truly rob away the sense of unexpected danger that had currently filled the avian of death with so much adrenaline.

“Philip, let me go you featherbrained twat!” The ever clean mouthed and pure Xerneas yelled against the gales that nearly deafened her words. She struggled a bit, her legs kicking in frustration as her ‘partner’ carried her across the ocean of trees.

“Oh come now, my dear deer,” Philip replied with smugness dripping from his voice. He may have been enjoying the certain state of affairs too much, certainly too much for his own health anyways. “This is, by far, the fastest form of travel. There is no way we could cover this ground without me!” He bragged, set on displaying his usefulness already.

Xerneas was not impressed, not one bit. “But now we are way off course!” She groaned, facehoofing and her tail twitched a bit. “Okay...we need to be looking out for small towns, that is where most will go to hide” She said, scanning the forest below. “Give Celestia as much credit as you want, she can’t afford to station troops all over this place, that was what the changelings were for.”

He seemed to join in the search, looking for small pockets of populated towns. While it was hard to believe that there were any Celestia had no knowledge of, it was understandable why she couldn’t afford to keep guards so spread out. Various key aspects such as constantly supplying the guards, keeping track of their progress, and especially paying them to be somewhere away from their homes and family were...difficult.

This didn’t stop the Yveltal from sighing in frustration and impatience, not sure whether he should admit he was wrong and give the deer Pokemon the satisfaction or keep up the rather calm act he had going on. “Okay...so I may have been a bit too hot-headed--” he had started to admit his flaws before Xerneas let out a small bark of anger.

“A bit?” She asked with an incredulous look, glaring at in. “Take us to the ground, now.” Her voice was stern, cold, commanding. As much as the Yveltal wanted to act unphased by her rather commanding demeanor, natural instinct kicked in...and let’s face it, she was thousand of years old and was far more skilled in her abilities and body the Philip was.

“Al--right!” squawked in surprise, slowly lowering her to the ground and touching down himself, giving her a slightly nervous look. Shuffling a bit as his wings rested against his side firmly.

Xerneas extended a hoof, her expression was hard to read as she simply stood there in front of him. “Map, now.” She demanded, her voice a mixture of emotions. This only worried the avian even more as he handed her the map. She grabbed it with her Psychic and looked over it, humming thoughtfully for a moment. “It seems that while we were heading in the wrong direction--” Gives Philip a rather disappointed glare, causing him to in turn to back away a bit, “--You did manage to lead us on a path that will let us be able to reach the towns much quicker than expected.” With a motion of her foreleg, she told him to look at the map.

Stretching his neck, he leaned over to eye the map. He could see her pointing to a mountain range that was in between their current location and that of an outskirt town in Equestria. Letting out a sigh of relief, he gave her a big smirk and straightened himself, posing a bit.

“I think someone owes me an apology,” The avain of death chirped smugly, his tail wagging a bit in triumph. This, of course, earned a snort from Xerneas who instead turned around and walked off to their current destination “...You know, this lack of love and encouragement is damaging to my growth..” He grumbled, following her with a slightly down expression.

Xerneas rolled her eyes to that statement, obviously not moved by her hinderment to the avian’s usually good mood. With a sigh, they trek onwards and walked down a dirt road that winded down the forest path. Every time Yveltal’s foot touched the ground and caused even the smallest of decay, her own aura restored it. A look of worry came across her face, though with her back to the other legendary he himself could not see it. It was a troubling fact and slight guilt stabbed at her heart.

Philip had no desire of retiring from his peaceful island and he had many plans for the place he came to love the most. The Yveltal sadly had to in order to go through training and now help her with this most recent screw up. Xerneas had no idea why she felt bad for him, maybe it was because he was growing less and less cheerful as they treaded down the road. With a sudden glint in her eyes, she turned around and smiled at him.

“...Yeah?” The avian seemed awfully confused by the look she gave him. It was a rare oddity for him thus far, his wings flapping in agitation. She continued to beam at him, making him shuffle with a puzzled look. It didn’t creep him out, obviously, nor did it worry him. While he wouldn’t say that he never imagined her smiling...he didn’t ever expect it to really occur around him.

“Oh, well…” Xerneas’ eyes trail to see him try and gather a bouquet of flowers. Unfortunately for him, they would wilt before he could really get to feel and smell the flowers. “...You like flowers?” She asked out of the blue, catching the avian off guard.

“Y--eah,” Philip nodded his head in slight embarrassment. His powers had become more...sporadic once he encountered the Elements. It constantly made him fearful of what would happen to ponies given time. “I do actually...but everything I touch just...wilts away…” The Deer of Life shook her head to that and smiled warmly, now realizing they had something in common.

“Well then,” Xerneas hummed, stopping and looking over at a river bank. At it was a bountiful and beautiful grove of flowers and animals dwelled. “Here...let me get you a welcoming gift.” She said, remembering that out of everyone she was the only one who wasn’t very active at his welcoming party.

The Yveltal seemed awfully puzzled now, unsure on what to say. Of course he had experienced kindness, brought him back to his time with all his friend back at his kingdom. However, he never expected this level of care from Xerneas. She had made it pretty clear that she was not his greatest fan.

“Um...gift, for me?” The avian seemed startled by this, not sure what to say. His wings flapped anxiously and Philip gave her a thoughtful look. “What do you have in mind?” It had grasped his curiosity, that was for sure.

The deer smirked, cockily if one might add, and walked over to the grove. She seemed to glow a faint light, the rainbowish color leaving her antlers and circling the grove and infusing the wildlife with a powerful and stunning aura. It overpowered any chill or bleakness Yveltal could muster and in doing so, he became awed by the ability. Walking over, she picked one of the flowers. It was a white rose, snowy white, pure and innocent. Taking the flower over to Yveltal, smirking still, she presented it to him.

“Try this, Yveltal,” She said with confidence, smiling at him. This caused the avian to hesitate, unsure on what to do. With great confusion, he leaned his head down for her to reach.

“You do know this will just...die, right?” Philip asked her with worry. The flowers was beautiful, alluring. It was something he so desperately didn’t want to kill. To rob Xerneas of her hard work. His wings flapped nervously and he seemed hesitant.

Xerneas shook her head disapprovingly, “Really, Yveltal--” she said with a raised eyebrow, “--I would hope you didn’t see me as inept.” Puts the rose in his feathery ruff. Instead of dying, it seemed to glow and illuminate with life.

Staring at it, Philip had no words. Which was probably Xerneas’ intention, as she walked off as soon as he looked down with a dumbfounded look. Soon smiling, however, he chirps cheerfully and follows the deer and looking around to see the usual decay no longer present. The flower seemed to counter his deathly aura, causing immense delight for the avian.

“...Thanks Xerneas,” The Yveltal catches up alongside her with a thankful look. For the first time in a bit, he didn’t feel afraid of himself or for others. Everything just...boiled down to the moment he was currently in. The future and the past blown away into the wind.

With a shake of her head, Xerneas chuckled softly and looked at Philip for the first time as one would a friend. Maybe it wouldn’t last, it was unsure...but all that mattered was the current moment. For the time being, the two could happily walk alongside each other as allies and friends. “Don’t thank me, Bird Brain…” She snickered softly, picking up her pace. Leaving behind two rows of glowing flowers and plant life.

The torches blazed with fire, lighting the room faintly. Within the dim halls was a line of chairs made of stone. Shadowy figures sat down, silent and brooding as the hissing from the torches made up for their own silence. As the unsettling atmosphere continued, a slow howl seemed to come from outside the great hall and a trail of smoke seemed to snake into the room.

“Reeeeeeeport,” One of the seated beings ordered. His voice was deep, gargled, animalistic. Three white eyes glowed in the dark, staring down at the dark cloud before them. In return, the blob of black seemed to twist and turn for a moment.

“Tartarus has been breached and the selected candidates have been released,” The smoke hissed, its voice cut into the air like glass shards did a person. There was little care or compassion as it spoke. “The Guardians of the World Below have made their trek to the first candidate...the test will begin shortly…”

Another long pause of silence followed. The cloud felt unsettled by this and twisted and churned violently. However, another being soon hissed with anger that was directed at the cloud. A chill took the room and all kept silent at the noise.

“Do not allow the candidates to survive,” Her voice was cold, unfeeling at the command. “They either die in battle, or die along and in the dark.” Others seemed to growl in agreement. The cloud saw no reason in arguing against this, it felt slight fear to even begin to question any order from her or the others.

“It shall be done…” the trail of smoke looked ready to leave, but paused in a sudden epiphany. With a mixture of hesitation and worry, it speaks up once more. “What about the Guardians of the World Below?” The cloud asked the golden question, everyone staying silent.

“If they prove to be more trouble than they are worth...eliminate them,” The icy voice answered firmly. It was a clear, undisputable command. Something that caused a rather dark chuckle to come from the bodiless cloud. It was something that valued a challenge, it thrived on excitement. And now...well, now it was being given something it fed off of.

And damn did it feel exhilarating!

Author's Notes:

What The heck is going on!?!

I am sorry. I cannot begin to express how sorry I am...there are no excuses to explain my disappearance. Sure, I've been struggling a bit...but you guys are what have kept me going and I unfortunately let all of you down. The lack of updates...it's something that has caused me a great shame, something that I have not been proud of.

So, I ask for your forgiveness. All of you who made my hopes of writing a story I love possible. You have stuck with me, even with the large amount of silence from me. And I am disappointed in myself for doing so.

Recently, I talked with some of my fellow authors. After awhile of talking with them...well, they reminded me of what I loved. All of you keep me going and I want you to remember that.

This chapter is not edited, it is not proofread. Unfortunately, one of my closest editors has been gone for a good time now due to IRL activities. My other editor...well, he is probably asleep right now

It was my birthday about two days ago when I started to finish this chapter. It is not a long chapter, it will probably be edited later...nah, it indeed will be. So I apologize if it isn't 100% perfect. I just...had to post it tonight.

20 weeks ago, I get a PM from a user by the name of Galaxy Midnight. Midnight asked me when this chapter would come out, I told him I hoped it would be soon...

Well, it took me 20 weeks...but hey, it's here! Heh...

Okay, enough rambling. I'll let you move on with your day. You all probably have a long week ahead of you, so I won't keep you. Just remember that it's because of all of you that this is possible. As always, I accept constructive criticism and I look forward to your comments. So get your feathers bundled up and keep warm!

Your friend and author,

Northern Desert!

Chapter 11 - A Dark Turn

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The town of Orion was small in size, the population not daring to go above thirty equines. They would often find themselves having more visitors than actually residents. The streets were filled with caravans and travelers. Stores were constantly stocked with new and exciting goods, displaying the sense of connectivity that Equestria seemed to always preach it had. Times of peace had proven far more fruitful than times of high tension, for the requirement to advance one’s technology was no longer driven on how to best defeat thy enemy, but how to equally meet the needs of other kingdoms.

Its location was vital to a long, winding trade route that connected Equestria to the Minotaurs. Equestria lacked the industrial progress to create things as big as airships to things as small as refrigerators. Minotaurian Kingdom’s, on the other hand, lacked the terrain or skill to create a strong, agricultural system that would continue their nation’s growth. So, both sides soon saw the beneficial impact that an alliance and later trade deals would have on their countries. Keeping their people happy and there markets filled with money.

Orion was a valuable safe haven for merchants and government caravan. While bandits were prevalent, they dare not invade the town in fear of earning the wrath of the crown. There were rumors that once, a gang of thieves once destroyed an escort of food and burned the precious cargo along with the guard detail. This did not end well for these bandits, as Princess Celestia was said to be ruling in a difficult time that demanded her to be much...sterner towards such grievous crimes. The hideout of this notorious gang could still be seen, as it forever remained a scorched ground. So, to imagine the ire one would gain if they harmed the town that was vital to this longstanding peace? It is understandably not worth the risk.

Of course, there will always be those that throw such caution out the window and do it anyways. In this case, it happened to be a rather shadowy tyrant king. The day was overall normal, or as normal as it could be, before the dark unicorn Sombra decided to pay a visit to the cemetery. Now, many would probably gather what would happen next…dark unicorn, evil, cemetery?

Yes? No? Maybe?

Oh come on! It’s so obvious that he’s going to raise them from the dead. Really, how many times have you seen the same stunt pulled before. Countless others have written him as a necromance of sorts. Just...look, there he is now!

Said evil unicorn was strutting amongst the graves with both flare and arrogance. Not minding where his metal boots went, breaking gravestones and crushing flowers. With an evil and wicked laugh, one that everyone within earshot could hear, his horn glowed with unholy energy. Unleashing a wave of cruel, maleficent magic, the ground rumbled and churned. The sounds of voiceless screams were obviously coming from the graves as the ground seemed to tear open.

“Now rise my non-living, dark, twisted minions of darkness!” Sombra cackles madly, triumphantly throwing his forelegs in the air like he just didn’t care. One could possible feel smug with how obvious this play was. Of course...legions of undead equines was effective in terrifying your enemies. And unleashing it on an unsuspecting--wait...no…

Instead of the remains of ponies rising from the ground, caskets cracked and twisted. Gravestones tore from the earth, and any materials used to bury those dead floated in the air. Swirling about, makeshift monsters of stone, marble, and wood came to life. Gutless growls emanated from them and Sombra chuckled darkly….

Well, seems like Living Tombstone is making an appearance in this story….

Philip visibly shuddered as he felt a cold, chill in the air. This only occurred when someone attempted to be humorous, but ended up only being cringe worthy. Feathers fluffed out, walking through this dark spooky forest didn’t help. Now many might be thinking, ‘Philip, you are the fantastical Yveltal! Avian of Death!’ and they would be right to think this. Of course, that didn’t mean spooky dark forests couldn’t make him a bit of a chicken!

“Ugh, what is with this cold draft?” Philip asked his comrade, the elegant and calm deer of life. She did not seem to be too cold, somehow resistant to that icy chill. Which baffled the Yveltal considering he was, by far, superior in fluff.

“Probably the Northern Winds making their way down south,” Xerneas mused, looking about them with caution. She was high on alert, expecting a foe to come by at any moment. “We must be careful...there are far darker things in this forest then anything Pokemon or Equus have to offer…” She warned her feathery companion, feeling slight worry for him now.

Philip seemed skeptical immediately, giving her a raised eyebrow. “What the heck do you mean?” He asked, rather confused by her proclamation. “Only thing living on this planet is Pokemon and the original inhabitants of this world…” The avian went silent for a moment before realizing that Arceus was a rather secretive guy when it came time to tell someone everything. “...Right?”

Xerneas shook her head and continued to stay on high alert, eyes scanning their surroundings with intense concentration. “No...we are not the only ones Displaced to this world, nor will we be the last,” The Deer of Life stated simply and as it got darker, her pelt seemed to hum more and more with a soft, white aura. “Do not mistake all Displaced for either helpful heroes or asinine villains, we ourselves represent that their is a middle ground…”

The ground ranged every step from soft to hard. Cobwebs were evident along the trees and the markings of the straight path became less and less with every few steps. Philip felt unhinged by her words, even more so since this was technically someone with far more experience warning him of the certain dangers. With a shudder, he too seemed to look about them...as though waiting for something to strike. However, only the eery silence walk alongside them. Soon, they reached a small wooden bridge.

It was nothing special. Not too big, not too small. Somewhere in the middle, though it was clear it could support the two. As they moved to walk on it, however, a sudden shriek became evident and they spun around to see something dart along the bushes. The earthy ground was dug into and clay and dirt were thrown up as a consequence. The two watched in horror for a moment before outright bolting across the bridge.

“Shit!” Xerneas shouted and stampeded away, Philip kawing out in surprise and close behind her. While the two were most definitely powerful beings, it did not mean they couldn’t be startled by this sudden occurrence. From the atmosphere to the noises, anyone sensible being would immediately get away from this extremely off creature.

“What the heck is that!?!” Philip squawks in shock, flapping his wings like crazy. His feathers stuck out on all ends and he let out a series of startled chirps. “Why does it exist!?! That is such a stupid thing to exist!”

The sound of gut wrenching growls were evident as whatever ‘it’ was chased after them. The sound of cracking bark as it shot from tree to tree, the shaking and breaking of branches as it soared in the treetops, and the sound of sharp objects sinking into the ground could be heard as it followed them.

“I don’t want to know, Philip!” Xerneas growled under her breath, weaving and dodging branches. Jumping over rocks that could cause her to trip, she moved about the rather muddy and cold path with perfect elegance. This caused the Yveltal to look at her with wide eyes, body heating up slightly before suddenly seeing an oddity up ahead. “Hurry up birdbrain!” The Deer of Life yelled at him.

“Xerneas, wa--” The avian attempted to warn her, be as soon as she came upon the oddity, it soon became clear it was a pitfall trap. With a cry of surprise, she fell down the abyss. “--No!” with a kaw of surprise, Philip shot down after her. The hole itself seemed endless, big. This worked to the Bird of Death’s advantage as it allowed him to quickly reach his companion and wrap his talons around her barrel.

“Why didn’t you shout, ‘Hole!’ you silly dodo!?!” The deer screamed as Philip desperately flapped his wings to halt their fall. With struggled chirps and growls, the both soon saw a net-like object right below them. Falling down into this sudden cushion, they felt sticky and desperate wiggled to get out. “Webs...Arceus Dammit!” Xerneas seemed even more worried.

“hE CAnnOt heAR YoU dOwN HeRe, LitTle dOE,” A voice seemed to laugh, though it was mixed with an ethereal hiss. The sound from before, the same that was chasing them just now, could be heard walking about the rocky surface. Soon, eight red eyes bored down on its captured prey.

Philip just stared up at the approaching horror with mixed feelings. He would most definitely have to save ‘little doe’ as a comeback later for when Xerneas was verbally schooling him. On the other hand, he was currently stuck in webs with what he would assume was a spider monster coming to eat him. Said creature was laughing in amusement, small bits of rocks broke off further down the hole and hopping onto the webs.

“As vile and disgustingly repetitive as ever, Undgluk” Xerneas spat back with anger, eyes narrowing at the approaching creature. It was large and black, white hairs acting as a trim for the overall dark appearance. The spider-like monster had a scarred along its dark, emotionless face. Shaking her head, the avian took notice that the webs under him were slowly being torn apart by psychic. “Could you please do something new?” A rather smug look came over the deer’s face, which earned a bitter hiss from Undgluk.

“Can’t we all just get al--Gah!” Whatever the Yveltal was about to saw was cut off in a shout of pain, one eye closing and hissing. Undgluk had used one of her blade-like leg to stab into his thigh. Xerneas struggled a bit, eyes widening as the smell of blood was evident. Trickling down his leg and reddening his white fur.

Undgluk let out a gleeful laugh and looked down at Philip, “i’M sOOoo sOrRy, DId i hUrT ThE pOor, aDoRable DoVe?” Another leg caressed the avian’s cheek, causing him to shiver as he felt the pain well up in his leg, blood sticking to his feathers.

Xerneas Struggled even more, tearing the webs under her as well. But doing it slowly so that she could silently peel off the sticky substance. Immediate fear overtook her gaze and she looked at the other Pokemon with worry, trying to give him a reassuring look. “Undgluk, you have no quarrel with Philip--” Another cry of pain came from the Yveltal, causing the deer’s pupils to shrink as the spider-like monstrosity twisted her leg in Philip’s thigh.

“G--ah stop that!” Philip hissed in pain, wiggling in distress. Xerneas frantically worked to break the last few threads of web as her allies pain intensified. The spider let out a broke, twisted laugh.

“I WiLL nEvER sTOP!” Undgluk let out a horrid snarl as she looked at Xerneas. “AN eYE FOr aN EYe mY LiTTle dOE---” Whatever the spider creature was about to say was cut off with a loud snap coming from the webs holding down Philip. With quick speed and driven with fear, the Yveltal’s tail grabbed Undgluk’s body and with a spin he chucked her down into the dark depths below. Letting out an upsetting screech, the dark twisted creature seemed to crash into the rocky surface as she feel down. Bones snapping and flesh tearing as the spider plummeted down the deep abyss. Xerneas winced with each and every sound, not feeling bad for their foe...but she couldn’t help be be sickened by the current proceedings.

“She is most certainly not your little doe!” Philip shouted after her, wincing as his wings flapped and a pain shot up his body. “Urk! Fricken demented spider freak…” The avian hissed in pain before flying over to Xerneas who looked at him with a surprised look before smirking.

“I will admit...you did well...for a rather new Displaced,” Xerneas took not of his wound before the bird grabbed her by her barrel and began to lift them up.

“Thanks...I guess…” Philip shrugged, not sure if it was a genuine compliment or not. Eventually, he lifted the both of them out of the hole where he set her down. Soon collapsing on the ground himself with a tired look about him, his side aching with more pain due to the wound.

Xerneas looked down at the avian, a conflicted look about her before she shook her head and smirked at him. “Let’s get you patched up and we will take a rest here...there is no need to rush ahead while tired and injured.” The Deer of Life suggested, sitting down for a moment and sniffing his wound to see if he had been poisoned. The Yveltal couldn’t help but agree, not arguing back and staying silent as she examined his wound.

Meanwhile, that town that Sombra was about to terrorize...yeah, that one...well, turns out that it was somewhat more difficult than the dark unicorn anticipated. The guards were on constant high alert, so when they saw the stone monsters and evil cackles from the graveyard, they rushed to get their arms and create a proper defense. With a shield in place around the perimeters of the graveyard, the battle begun more as a small struggle for the twisted forces of Sombra to escape. Whittled down by lightning bolts, arrows, spears, and magical blasts, the stoney and wooden creatures fell down in heaps. These heaps, unfortunately, reformed into bigger monsters that continued to smash at the weakening shield.

As the conjured bubble broke, the equines were quick to stab and batter the now larger, yet fewer, monstrosities with projectiles and long pikes. These efforts would prove fruitless, however, as these machinations of dark magic and abundant material simply reformed when damaged. With heavy hearts, the inhabitants quickly began to evacuate as Sombra’s army continued to push them and their armed forces back and out of the town. This continued for a long time until reaching a certain limit. A place outside of the town, a good couple of feet, and the creations of the mad unicorn ceased their attack. They seemed bound, unable to move further.

With this sudden realization, the inhabitants continued to flee without the fear of being hunted down. They, unfortunately, were forced to retreat north...not south where their capital resided. This lead them to be stuck in the home of the minotaurs….which was not exactly thrilling for either side. Of course, was this not what Sombra wanted? To shove his foes in uncomfortable and uncontrollable circumstances?

This latest attack now over and done with, the unicorn couldn’t help but feel victorious. Moving like a shadowy plague, he continued these acts upon several other villages with similar results. Causing a mixture of strife, unease, and tension to arise in the north. Each one of these quick, forceful evacuations seemed to lead directly towards the Crystal Empire, possibly and probably his end goal. Whether or not the Guardians of The World Below could stop him in time was unsure to any and can only truly be determined when they finally confront this rampaging sorcerer.

Author's Notes:

Hello Everyone!

Once again with another chapter out. Yes, it is quite short I know. Reason why was mainly due to me still getting back into writing, hopefully I can start writing longer chapters soon. In the mean time, I decided that since I was writing a short chapter that I would continue to use it as a way to create small ideas of possible conflict while also give you, the reader, a better ability to see what the characters are like.

To be honest, I almost forgot how much I enjoyed writing these characters

That being said, I will probably make a blog later asking you, the readers, about a few things regarding the story. I will, of course, need to get these new chapters edited. My editor and I have kept in touch this whole time, so he is aware that I am writing again (He was one of the people who really motivated me to start picking back up now) and when he has time, I'll ask him to edit these. Of course, the poor guy has his own stories and stuff so he needs to focus on those.

Other than that, I hope for criticism and I am always open to it, hope to hear from you guys soon. Have a wonderful week and I hope to see you all again!

A New Wheel

by Northern Desert

Chapter 1 - Introductions

Chapter 2 - Falling and Striking down Tyranny

Chapter 3 - Learning some history and becoming the best lawyer

Chapter 4 - Meeting the Natives and Trouble Makers Arrive

Chapter 5 - Dark Discoveries and The Kidnapping of A Life Time

Chapter 6 - Rage and Forgiveness

Chapter 7 - New Friends, New Gods, and a New Family

Chapter 8 - The Sun Shines Brightly And A New Ally Is Made

Chapter 9 - Guess Who's Back, Back Again!?!

Chapter 10 - Joyful Woods and Gloomy Halls

Chapter 11 - A Dark Turn