> Ash Seeketh Embers...
>  by Timeless Lord Slayer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> First Falling: The Bell Tolls... (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








DING

DONG

DING

DONG

A... A bell? Why do I hear a bell...? I can't see anything in this stony darkness... So cold.. 

DING

DONG

There it is again... I feel like... Like I should try to get out. I don't know why. But... What else should I do? 

With that single thought, I press against the heavy stone of my prison. Slowly, it gives, sliding off. Rays of light begin to peek through the opening. I push harder, until I feel the lid finally fall off with a thud. The soft, dull light of the moon shines upon my face. I place my hands on either side of the cracked stone sarcophagus, slowly raising myself up. I can feel the dust and Ash that was caked on me fall off as I rise. 

I'm standing now. Standing for the first time in so long. So... long... How long has it been? I look around. Nothing is familiar. Sand dunes stretch out for miles. A crumbling ring of stone bricks and piles of rubble surround what was my resting place. I don't recognize any of this. Wasn't there a...wasn't there a... Hmm. Strange. I actually can't remember what things were supposed to look like.  I just feel like something is missing...

I shake my head and climb out of the sarcophagus. As I do, I hear the clang of metal and glass as my foot impacts something on the bottom of the sarcophagus. I glance down. There is a weapon there, along with a shield, and two glass flasks filled with glowing liquid, one a dull green and the other a dull blue, and a bundle of pure white cloth, too. I pick them all up. I remember these. These were mine.

I inspected the weapon, first, taking it out of it's sheath. It was a well crafted and decorated straight sword, with a gilded hilt. The blade was dull, but still sharp enough to cut.

Next, the shield. It was, again, a simple kite shield. It's black face was marred, enough that what was the symbol couldn't be made out well at all. 

The bundle of cloth was just that, a bundle of cloth, but I remembered enough to know that it had other uses.

The two flasks I recognized to be for Unkindled, Estus Flasks, and I frowned as I remembered the curse that afflicted me. 

DING

DONG

I glanced up at the toll of the bell. In the far distance, amongst the dunes, I saw a bell tower. I glanced back down to my equipment, then back to the bell tower. I feel like I should go to the tower. Again, I don't know why. I just... felt like I should. With that in my mind, I picked up the sword and strapped it to my belt, tucking the cloth into a satchel, and taking the shield in my off hand. 

Checking myself over one final time, I then begin my trek towards the bell tower. My armor clinks and clanks lightly with each step, my armored boots sinking into the sands some thanks to their weight. A light wind blew some errant sand across the dunes, as well as making my cape flutter. As I traveled, my thoughts wandered.

What happened? I faintly remember a strangely well furnished cavern, and warm, tender feelings, and the lovely visage of a fair maiden, but after that... nothing. I assumed I must have been a knight, but to what order did I belong? Why was I left here to rot? Who had done this to me? And why? I had no answers.

Time passed slowly as I trudged on through the barren wastes, lost in thought. I glanced to my left hand, where a ring rested on my finger. It was a silvery black band with a large, blue tearstone set into it. I don't know where it came from, or why I even wore it, but every time I glance at it, I get a short tinge of what I assume to be the feeling called sadness. It's been so long since I've truly had emotion that I have trouble remembering what it's like. All I've known for so long is just this empty, deep cold.

Eventually, I draw closer to the bell tower, close enough to see that it is crumbling and falling apart as well. Part of it has collapsed, a few errant bricks lying around from whatever caused it, but it still stands. An iron barred door is situated in the crumbling, gray surface. I make to go open it and go inside, till I hear the sounds of a fire crackling, yet also some sort of odd yet soothing humming. Curious, I glance about, searching for the source of the noise. I quickly find it to be a small fire made up of bones and ashes, a coiled sword in the midst of the flames, situated just a few yards from the door. 

The flames, however, are what truly catch my eye; there is something unnatural, almost otherworldly, about them. Their dance is... hypnotic. Enticing. I feel the urge to rest by the fire, and with little thought about why, I stride over and do so. It fills me with something I have not felt in a long, long time, something I have craved: warmth. My eyes bore into the flames, entranced by the odd yet alluring dance. My thoughts wander once more.

Why am I here? What is my purpose? As of the moment, I'm just following vague urges, but what am I really doing here? Is there some beast I'm supposed to slay? It doesn't seem likely, since I see nothing living anywhere near me, or at all. Is there some holy item I am to procure? I hum in thought. It could be. This bell tower could hold anything, but I don't remember being sent on any such quest. Then again, I don't really remember anything. In fact, I only barely remember my name. I believe it was... Octavius? Yes, that sounds about right. I sighed, pulling myself up and reluctantly away from the warmth of the fire.

I'm not going to get any answers by staring at the fire. No, the only likely place I'll get answers is the bell tower in front of me. With that thought, I make my way over to the iron barred door, grasp the handle, and ease it open. It swings ajar with more ease than I thought it would, considering its rusted state, but I disregard that and quickly step inside the tower. A flight of spiraling stone steps greet me, reaching up towards the top of the tower. With nowhere else to go, I climb the steps. Eventually, I reach the part of the top that is crumbling, and walk up a few more steps to be greeted with the sight of the bell that was tolling earlier. I scan the area. There is no one here... How could the bell have chimed by itself? I then notice a rotting, ancient corpse just under the bell. Walking over to it, I see that it bears flowing black robes, though they are torn and have been eaten away by moths and time. Clutched in the hand of the corpse is a piece of parchment, and I grab it out of curiosity. Unfolding it, I begin to read the weathered note.



The corpse has been prepped and primed, and the sarcophagus is ready to receive it. The construction of the tomb was completed last week, and thus, everything is set to put this traitor to rest. Arduous as it was to venture this far into the deserts of Zebran, and even more so to ferry materials and tools, it is all worth the price to condemn the Heathen here. We have built a bell tower nearby, as well, by the orders of the Zebra High Priest, although the exact reason was never specified. All they would say was that, "Their journey is far from over," whatever that could mean. Our Majesty simply said it would be a fitting punishment, and that was all we needed to know.

I am to remain here, to watch after the tower and the Heathen, lest any unsavory sorts feel the need to waken him. Though I doubt any will feel the need to venture so far for one such as He.



Heathen? Is that my title? What deeds did I perform to garner such an accolade? And how terrible were those deeds if they felt the need to place me so far away? What did I do? Who was I? These questions and more swam in my head, only serving to further confuse and befuddle me. Then, I noticed a mark on the note of an eye surrounded by thorns. The sight sends a quick rush of memories to my mind. 







A knock sounded from my chamber door. 

"Knight-Scholar? Art thou awake?" came a feminine voice. I glanced from my work at my desk to the door briefly.

"Yes, little Luna, I am quite awake. Please, come in," I responded. I heard the creak of hinges and small feet approaching as the young mare stopped next to my chair.

"What art thou working upon?" She asked. I turned to see the midnight blue furred muzzle and cerulean eyes of the young Princess Luna, her pale blue mane looking to have been groomed recently. She was just about tall enough now to be able to see over my desk.

"Well, with your Father's permission to have my own Order, I found it only fitting to make an emblem for it," I explained, gesturing to my work.

"Oh," she said simply as I turned back to my task, her watching all the while. I continued to draw out the symbol I had devised, being careful with each stroke of the paintbrush as I finished part of a thorn around the eye. A few moments passed until the young princess spoke again. "Would it not be easier to use an easel?" she asked. I sighed.

"Yes, but sadly, I have no funds to buy one," I informed her. A silence fell once more as I resumed my painting. I sighed once more and put down my brush after noticing the young mare was still there. "Is there something you need from me, little Luna?" I asked as I swiveled my chair to face the filly. She fidgeted a bit, her hands behind her back from which her wings sprouted from, and she was balancing on the soles of her feet, shaking her glittering dark blue nightgown somewhat. Her horn, while larger than most unicorns, was still small compared to her sister Celestia's as it jutted out from her forehead.

"W-We would like to hear a tale of thine h-h-homeland before We retire..." she stuttered, obviously a little abashed. I sighed and shook my head.

"You know you could have just as good, if not better, tales from your father, don't you?" I queried. Her ears went flat against her head.

"Yea, but... But Father is always so busy, a-and he is not around as much as thee..." Luna replied. I sighed deeply, thinking it over. Eventually, I decided I could spare some time to help her sleep with one of my stories.

"Very well. Come, let us go to your room and I'll regale you with another tale," I conceded, getting up from my chair. The blue alicorn beamed and jumped in joy.

"Hooray!" she cried happily. I smiled and shook my head as we walked out of my room. This little girl is too cute to ignore.







I paused as the memory faded. I looked down at the note in my grasp. This mark... It was one of my own order? How could that be? It didn't seem logical for my own order to seal me away and guard me like this, much less call me a heathen. What could I have done for such drastic measures to be employed? And who was this Princess Luna? Was I indeed a knight, and in service to the king of some kingdom? I deduced it must be so, if this Princess calling me a 'Knight-Scholar', was any indication, but I had never heard of a 'Knight-Scholar', only a knight. I decided I would have to put those thoughts away for another time, lest I become so mired in my thoughts that I would be wide open for attack.

I placed the note in my satchel, before walking over to the edge of the tower, gazing out at the expanse of sands lit only by pale moonlight. It seems I found only more questions, and the only option left for me is to search elsewhere for more concrete answers. Which means likely crossing this desert. With a sigh, I began my descent of the tower, and in short time made it back to the fire outside. I glimpsed at it briefly, not truly wanting to leave a source of warmth, but knowing that I must, I began my journey across the desert.
> Second Falling: Of Hounds and Madponies (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








DING

DONG

DING

DONG

The Bell of Prophecy rings throughout the lands, letting all beings in every kingdom know that the End... has begun. That He who was exiled has returned for his final journey. That the world...is dying, once more. Of course, many had known it was on the brink of it from all the signs; the Fire fading, and the Darksign appearing on the flesh of many. Yes, the End was most certainly here.

A lone, feminine figure stood upon her balcony, carved out of a large mountain in the shape of a jagged throne. A throne her father once occupied. She gazed out into the distance with her amber, draconic eyes, seeming to be searching for something. A scepter was in her clawed grip, a large, ruby red gem at the top of it. Her blue wings were folded behind her, a set of golden barding gilded with platinum covering her blue form. Two curling horns stuck out of either side her head, almost ram-like in appearance. Her eyes were full of sadness, but over what, was unknown. The chiming of the Bell had stopped, but still she gazed out towards the horizon. This continued for an hour or more, her simply watching the lands afar. Finally, with a deep sigh, she walked away and back into her chambers.

The Dragon Lord couldn't afford to worry when her people's lives were in the balance.







My trek across these hot sands has been long. The sun had risen quite some time ago, and already it was nearly halfway across the sky, yet still there was no domicile or even a hint of civilization in sight. I sighed. Well, I suppose it was too much to hope for to find any refuge. I trudged on, the sound of my boots meeting the soft, grainy sands and the wind blowing being the only melody I could hear. The sun... I looked up at it. So brilliant, so glorious... so grossly incandescent... so...warm. I reveled in the warmth it bestowed upon me, but... The cold inside me beckoned as well. This duality was something that truly perplexed me, and it never faded. How could one feel warm and cold at the same time? How could one feel the gentle pull of Dark, yet also the kind embrace of Light? It made little sense. 

Regardless, I continued my journey, one step after another. Right, left, right, left, right, left. My boots sunk into the sand with each step, leaving very blatant foot prints. I do not know how long this continued, just that I was growing increasingly exhausted. But I couldn't stop until I had found shelter, lest I wished to be out in the open for any hostiles to assault me.

A good while later, I finally saw a structure in the distance. Hope flared in my heart, and I rushed towards it. But when I started to make out the shape of what I thought to be a simple yet abnormal tower, confusion flared in my mind. The structure was no tower, but instead a massive, dried, dead tree, with various holes all over it's sun-dried trunk that instilled a feeling of wariness in me. Cautiously, I approached, and once close enough to peer inside one of the larger holes at the base, found that it was big enough for me to walk through, and that inside it was a smooth, spiraling ramp of sandstone supported by roots that led downwards. Wary of what might be within, but curious and needing shelter, I stepped inside the hollowed tree and began my descent down the ramp.

My boots clamored each time I took a step, and I glanced about constantly, checking for threats. This dark staircase with it's many holes and crevices were unsettling, to say the least. At one point I could have sworn I saw a bony maw with jagged teeth and the glow of yellow eyes in a small hole in the wall, but it quickly disappeared into the darkness. My boots clanged against the hard sandstone, until I felt my boot impact something other than sandstone: wood. Bending down, I picked up the object and found it to be the remains of a torch, the oil-drenched rag wrapped about it's top dried, but still very flammable. This could be useful. After all, one could scarcely hope to survive in darkness without some light. So, I searched for a flint and a regular rock, and, thankfully, after much searching, found some. With a bit of trial and error, I managed to light the torch, and after taking in the small warmth it gave me, pressed on.

As the sound of my boots meeting hard sandstone resounded throughout the chamber during my descent, I could not shake the feeling that I was being watched. But each time I glanced about, I could find nothing. This unnerved me to no end. I did not fancy the idea of being watched by some unknown and possibly malicious entity. But, I knew I had little choice now but to brave this husk of a tree's depths. 

Finally, I reached the bottom of the staircase, and was greeted by a dimly lit passage leading to a wooden door ahead, which seemed to be the source of the dim light, if the cracks leaking it were any indication. The passage walls were dotted with holes, and I felt a great sense of unease from them as well as the door. But, I needed shelter, and I couldn't afford to wander the desert for another shelter, especially at night. 

So, I forged onward towards the wooden door, and upon reaching it, opened it a tad to peer inside. To my surprise, the inside was devoid of any life. At least, that I could see. So, comforted by this notion, I opened the door further and stepped inside the room, placing the torch in a sconce on the wall. It appeared to be a study of sorts, with papers, scrolls, and tomes scattered about the sandstone floor as well as a number of tables. They took up most of the room in fact, such was their numbers. I noted that there were also a few apparatuses strewn about some of the tables as well, some looking to be for magical purposes, and others for chemical purposes. A shelf lay at the far side of the room, looking very worn and seeming to be struggling to not buckle under the weight of the tomes it held. There was also an unkempt bed on the side opposite from the shelf, one that looked to have been used somewhat recently. I scanned the chamber for any threats, but found none. So, I chose to look around. Stepping up to one of the tables, I picked up a small, leather bound notebook and began reading.




Entry 517

I have made great progress in the pursuit of materials for the Sacrament of Tears, more so than I thought I would. My creations, which I have taken to calling Chatters, are more effective than I previously thought. They retrieved all of the components for the Sacrament with astounding success. Soon, I will be able to convene with the Goddess, and drown those wretched simpletons at the Academy with sorrows they have never seen the likes of! 

All those years toiling away in the Academy of Sui, filled with harassments and jeers, all those weeks spent in Ponyville, only to be chased out by the local alchemist and her friends for my supposed, "heretical practices", oh yes, I will make all of them feel the pain I have. They called me a madpony, but I know better! 

I will stay here, build my army, and covene with the Goddess of Woe to spread suffering to those who wronged me from afar, and then, then I will end it by taking their homes, their families, and all they hold dear, like they did to me! I will march upon the capitals of the world, and then I, Shady Drinks will rule all!

	

So this is the dwelling of some lunatic named Shady Drinks? And that academy... It sounds familiar, but I can't place where I've heard of it before. Was I once a student there? Or a teacher? Again, it seems, I am left with more questions than answers. I placed the note back on the table and continued searching the study. Most of what I found was unimportant nonsense on this madpony's experiments, but the books were certainly something to look into.

It was only when I approached the strained bookshelf that I noticed something truly odd. An odd yet soothing humming sound, and the crackling of a fire. I recognized it as the same sound from that bonfire I found at the tower earlier. With that realization in my mind, I made to move the shelf. It was, understandably, a little difficult to do so with the weight of all the books and the shelf itself working against me, but I managed to move it enough to reveal a hidden side room bare of any decoration, a bonfire in the center of the floor. There were, however, runes painted on the walls and floor with something crimson and dark. The room was rather spacious, as if it were made for a certain purpose. Walking inside to further inspect the walls, I discovered that the paint was not paint, but blood. That did not bode well.

"And just who in Tartarus are you?!" came a masculine voice from behind me. Swiftly turning around provided me with the view of a black robed pony with dark green fur and a horn, denoting him as a unicorn. He had a dark gray mane which belied his age, and held a typical sorcerer's staff in his off hand, which he was pointing threateningly at me. I deduced that this was the Shady Drinks that the notebook belonged to. I tried to speak, but all that came out was coughing and croaks that amounted to little else than incoherent nonsense. "A Hollow, eh? Well, what a stroke of luck! I've been looking for a new test subject!" the pony grinned before raising his staff and summoning a mass of blue magic from his staff and shooting it at me.

I rolled out of the way as quick as I could, drawing my blade and readying my shield. He raised his staff once more and created five balls of blue light that floated above his head, before swiping his staff at me, creating a sword of magic. I blocked the attack with my shield, grunting as the force pushed me back. Then, the five orbs of light sped towards me, and I tried to sidestep them, but one clipped my leg, making me cry out as it bit into my armor.

"Hahaha! Give up, fool!" the madpony taunted. I growled and charged forward, making to thrust my sword into his heart, but he parried my blade and struck me with his staff hard in the head, making my ears ring, but doing little damage thanks to my armor. I shook it off quickly and rushed forward again. This time, I dodged the strike of his staff and cut him across the chest, drawing a spray of blood. He screamed and stumbled back. "You-!" he tried to say, before I headbutted him, disorienting him further. He fell to the ground, and as I made to end the fight, he cried out a word in some foreign tongue, and I was tackled from behind.

A body pinned me to the ground, and I rolled over to pin it instead, switching our places. When I was face to face with my new opponent, I was surprised to see that it was not a pony that had tackled me, but the skeleton of a six legged dog with glowing yellow eyes. It snapped at me ferociously, struggling to be free of my hold and tear out my neck, but I held fast, and grabbed the sides of it's skull, before ripping it off, causing it to somehow let out a howl of pain as it fell apart, whatever magic that had been holding it together gone. 

Standing back up, I was witness to the madpony Shady Drinks up on his feet again, still heavily wounded and bleeding profusely from his chest, but surrounded by a small group of those skeletal dogs. I realized that these must be the "Chatters", that his journal spoke of. A fitting name, for they did chatter quite a bit, constantly snapping with their bony maws at me.

"Let's see you get past this!" Shady Drinks laughed maniacally. "Attack!" he cried as he pointed at me, and the Chatters charged. I blocked the tackle of one with my shield, it's skull cracking upon impact with the sturdy metal, and cleaved another one's head in twain with my sword. A Chatter lunged at me from the side, but I gave it a swift kick and shattered it's bones. One more made to bite my leg, but couldn't pierce the black metal. I shook it off of me before stomping it's head in, ending it's miserable existence. More came at me from all sides, but somehow I kept in the fight, either by bashing the creature's heads in or slicing them in half. By the end of it, there was naught but a pile of bones in my wake. I looked up at the shocked visage of Shady Drinks. "No! My creations... You bastard!" he roared, making a sloppy charge at me with his staff. I was ready, however, and simply thrust my blade through his gut as he ran straight into it. He coughed up a wad of blood as I lifted him into the air with my blade still inside his chest cavity, before slipping my blade out from under him, letting his body fall to the round. "No... My plan... My dream..." he said weakly, before the light in his turquoise eyes dimmed, and life left his body. 

I felt a rush of vigor as some form of energy sped out of his body and into mine, and I deduced that that must have been his soul. It seems I truly was an Unkindled. Despair seeped into my thoughts then as my gaze bore into the body of the stallion.

I was an Unkindled. I had tried to link the Flames, only to be reduced to Ash. Even more troubling was that of my old life. My family, my friends... What became of them? Do they still live? And if so, do they even remember me? I don't remember them. What was the point of this? To extend the life of a dying world? And to what end? Just so the Gods could live longer? So they could have their Age? What was the point of even living?

I shook my head clear of those thoughts. No, I couldn't afford to let such thoughts control me. I needed to stay strong. I needed to find a purpose. To discover my past. I had a quest, and I could not afford to fail it. With that steely determination set in my mind, I went back to the main room and began my search anew. Anything that could help me gleam something about my past would help to settle my mind, I'm sure. 

In time, I had scoured the entire room, every shelf, every book, but found nothing that was related to me, only tomes and writings on magic and it's teachings, and one account on the Goddess of Woe, Beretha. What I did find, however, was a map of the desert I was in, which gave me some hope. According to it, I was just a short ways from a town, maybe a few days at most. 

So, with my mind made up, and a destination in sight, I made my way back up the steps and into the desert. I had a long journey ahead of me.
> Third Falling: Sun-Kissed Bones and Moon-Chilled Stones (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








High up in the mountains, far from the eyes of most of civilization, to the far, far reaches of the Undiscovered West, lay a settlement of ponies. Night had fallen on the settlement, but instead of it's inhabitants tucking in, they were wide awake. Some were guards, patrolling the sturdy stone walls and streets. Some were merchants, trading their wares for a price. This was a strange normalcy, given the amount of Hollows that seemed to be cropping up everywhere in every land. But one mare was more concerned with the appearance of the moon in the sky. The natural satellite was gleaming an eerie blood red, giving off an aura of unease. It had been like this for many nights now, and yet none knew why it was as such. Word could not be sent to the Princesses of Equestria to check on them, what with the many dangers now roaming the wilds as well as civilization.

Nay, all that could be done was sit back... and watch the world die. But this one mare, with hair of a golden sheen not often seen anymore, orangish-brown fur, a white blaze across her muzzle, and large emerald eyes... She knew something had to be done. 

Her patchwork leather armor was fitted with a simple steel pauldron and dyed a hearty, blood red, which was standard issue for her order, the Order of the True Peace. 

Her weapons, fine, sharpened steel wingblades, were not standard issue, however. They were custom-made by the smith in the downtown area of the town. A smith by the name of Steel Hand. A smith, that had gone Hollow last week. She frowned as she remembered that particular memory. She shook her head.

Regardless, she knew something must be done. The Light was fading from the world, and the Dark was hungry. The Princesses who had kept the balance had to be in dire straits if the sight of the bloody moon was any indication.

And yet those higher up in the ranks of her order were still debating over what to do. They were too scared to send out a scouting party after months of silence from the previous one, but they knew they couldn't sit around, either. They needed to restore order and balance to the world as they were instructed so long ago, but they were too afraid to take risks.

The mare sighed as she gazed below the Chapel, seeing the quarantined area of which the Hollows frequented. She idly trailed a finger over the mark that had denoted her as an Undead. She didn't even know how long it had been since she had first gotten it. The eclipsed sun and bloody moon had been high in the sky for such an extended period of time that most had forgotten what things were like before. Some orders, like hers, however, couldn't afford to forget.

"Moon Dust! The Grandmaster wishes to see you!" came the voice of a stallion from the steps of the Chapel. Moon Dust sighed, getting up from her spot on the ledge and walking over.

"I'm coming, Seaward Lullaby, I'm coming," Moon Dust called back. She spared a glance to the horizon, where the outline of the great plains of Equestria were just barely visible, before turning back and walking up the steps of the Chapel.







My trek across this arid desert has been long and uneventful. The sun, eclipsed though it was, still bore down on the dunes below, and I imagine if my sweat glands were still working I would be very damp and uncomfortable. 

I passed ruin after ruin, but all were empty, abandoned, and crumbling. I could not even tell what the ruins originally were, so weathered and crumbling were they. And yet, they were all made of the same materials. Sandstone, sun dried mud bricks, and, surprisingly, the occasional spot of Brightstone. How they had managed to procure some, I do not know, but, I suppose it did not matter.

Even more strange was that the ruins were all closely packed together, almost as if it were a city once, but I could not be certain if it was. 

Regardless, I continued my journey through the sand and long-lost ruins, enjoying what little warmth the eclipsed sun brought me. Although this march through the sands was not doing any favors for my sanity. I desperately wished for something to distract me from the monotony of my steps.

To my relief, I found something that did. In the distance was a city, although I did not see any signs of life among it's walls. No mass of people among the streets, no sounds of distant chatter from merchants, nothing. Nonetheless, this spurred me on to quicken my pace.

I arrived at the gates within the hour, but, to my curiosity, no one manned it. That did not bode well. If there was no one here to man the gates, that could mean that the curse had spread to here. I did not like the implications of that. I shook my head.

No, there was no other choice. I had to push onward into the city if I wished to gather more clues of my past. With naught but desert around for more miles than I cared to count, I would likely get lost and Hollow before I ever made it out of these desolate dunes. So, with that in mind, I pressed against the heavy ironwood gates, their hinges creaking and groaning loudly as I eased them open. With a final push, they were open, and I stepped within the bounds of the city.

The city was abandoned, not a soul in sight. Or, at least, I thought so until I heard barking, and a group of malnourished hounds rushed towards me at full pelt. I raised my shield, feeling the brunt of one body impacting it, whilst the other two dogs made to nip at my legs. I bashed my shield into the muzzle of the dog in front, before kicking another and wrestling my other leg free from the third's jaws. They growled and circled me, allowing me a good view of their appearance. 

Their bones were plainly visible, taut, rotting gray skin pulled over them, and empty eye sockets that no longer provided sight. They had no fur to speak of, all of it most likely having rotted away. My eyes moved between each target frantically, wondering which would attack first.

One lunged at me, maw open wide, and I countered by slamming it with the pommel of my sword, then splitting it's skull. The other two jumped me as well, one now on my back and the other on my leg. I growled as the mutt on my back tried pierce my armor with it's teeth, but I picked it off and threw it across the street and into a wall. The last canine I simply stabbed in the cranium, ending it's life and filling me with it's life-force.

I panted lightly as I gazed around, checking for further threats. Finding none, I continued my walk through the streets. It was relatively quiet, and I was growing more nervous with each step I took into the heart of the city. I knew there was little chance now that there were any beings here who were not Hollow, but I hoped there was at least a few.

My mind wandered at the thought. Hollows... The sign of the end times. I glanced up at the sun. Even it's glory was tainted now. How long was I slumbering for? Long enough for the world to reach this point, but... What of my order? My family? My friends? I frowned. 

What family? What friends? I had no recollection of any such things. I did not even recall my place of birth. In truth, I felt cheated. The Darksign. The curse. It had taken everything from me. And now, here I was, on a journey to discover myself. I sighed.

And yet I have no other choice. It's either find a purpose or go Hollow. I shook myself from my thoughts. I had to be brave. I had to have hope if I wished to see this all through. With that notion, I moved onwards with more vigor and drive. Each step, for once since my journey began, felt more like progress. 

I passed abandoned merchant stalls, most of the wooden beams that had held them up rotting away, as well as typical shops and restaurants. There was even a bathhouse, though I didn't bother to look inside. I could smell the stench of decay ten feet from the entrance. I frowned and shook my head as I passed it. Poor sods.

I walked through the town for a good while, encountering no resistance, which only served to worsen my anxiety. Where were the citizens? Or what remained of them? 

My fears were soon realized when I encountered a large group of Hollows, all ambling about the streets and alleyways. They screeched as they ran towards me, and I tensed my self for an arduous battle. They didn't have much in the way of protection, bearing only simple silk robes and wraps over their sun-kissed, taut, furless skin that showed their bones all too well.

Archers readied arrows, frenzied townsfolk let out unholy screams as they charged forth, scimitars and makeshift weapons in hand. This was going to be a long battle.

I blocked the barrage of arrows from the archers with my shield, and then three Hollows impacted it head-on, yet continued flailing at me, unfazed. 

I bashed them with my shield, knocking them to the ground, and then rolled just in time for a number of arrows to impale the ground where I once stood. I needed to take out those archers. So, I ran for them, shield raised to block any incoming arrows. 

A few arrows made it past my defense and into the joints of my armor, most only reaching the chainmail beneath, but one scored a hit to my shoulder, making me cry out in pain. Still, I pressed on, adrenaline coursing through me. 

I reached one archer and decapitated the rotting mare with one fell swoop before she could draw the shortsword at her belt, then smacked an arrow aimed for my head out of the air.

I kicked the next archer down and thrusted my blade through the Hollowed stallion's neck, ending his life swiftly. The moaning and groaning of the remaining ranged forces prompted me to turn swiftly towards the last two archers, who took out their shortswords and rushed me. I roared and barreled towards them as well, my shield meeting the blade of one while my straightsword met the other. 

They pressed against me, aiming to push me back, but I held fast and ignored the pain in my shoulder, letting out a feral growl as I pushed them back instead. They stumbled and fell, and I stomped the head of one mare then stabbed my blade through the other. 

I grunted in disgust as I removed my now bloodied boot and turned to my remaining adversaries, who were just getting back up. I huffed and pulled the arrow in my shoulder out with another grunt as they charged straight for me.

Just as they came within reach, I yelled in defiance and swung my blade horizontally, disemboweling them and making them crumple at my feet, whilst I panted heavily as I felt their souls rush into me. 

Then, all of a sudden, something pierced my abdomen, punching straight through my armor, and I cried out in pain and fell to my knees. Then, just as sudden as it came, it retreated, and I fell to the sand. 

I weakly rolled out of the way of another thrust in time to see the rotting and Hollowed visage of what must have been a Zebra High Warrior if her elaborate bronze barding was any indication, who proceeded to try and impale me once more. I rolled again and shakily got to my feet as the Hollowed Zebra High Warrior tried to pry her spear out of the ground. I took out my Estus Flask and swallowed a few swigs of the healing liquid fire, breathing easier as my wounds were sealed.

The Zebra High Warrior finally managed to free her weapon, and charged for me, aiming to impale me once more. I retaliated by rushing forwards and sliding under and behind her, then turning and knocking her feet out from under her, making her fall muzzle-first to the sand. 

I made to thrust my blade down to pierce her heart and end the fight, but she rolled out of the way and shot back up. The Hollowed Zebra mare seemed to glare at me with her empty eye sockets, her rotting muzzle opening to let out an unholy scream as she thrusted her spear at me wildly. I parried each wild and frantic thrust, moving in closer and closer with each parry, until I was close enough to thrust my blade up through her muzzle and skull, finally ending the fight.

As the mare's body fell to the ground in a heap, her soul flying into me to be absorbed, I panted heavily as the battle finally finished and let out a deep sigh, collapsing to my knees.

I needed a bonfire.
> Fourth Falling: Zderonja The Gluttonous and Aminia Quest (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








After much searching, as well as no small amount of bloodshed and battles, I finally found a bonfire. It was in the midst of a small church, lined with ragged silk tapestries, all depicting the various Gods. As soon as I had finished resting at the bonfire and taken in it's more than welcome warmth, I stood up and began to examine the tapestries. 

I gazed at their design, the stitching, and more, all quite well made. It was as I was admiring the tapestries that I found two in particular that piqued my interest. They were of two alicorns, both female, but one had the moon above her head whilst the other had the sun, and their arms were outstretched in a welcoming gesture. My mind lit ablaze with recognition as a memory invaded.







"Knight-Scholar! Knight-Scholar!" came the voices of two young fillies. I looked up from my book on the sciences of alchemy to see two young alicorns, the princesses of this land. One was the midnight blue Luna, and the other the pearl white Celestia.

"Yes? What is it, little ones?" I queried, putting my book away for the moment.

"Willst thou play with us?" asked Celestia, her long pink mane somewhat tussled as her amethyst eyes gleamed with hope.

"Please say thou will!" Luna pleaded, her large cerulean eyes likewise gleaming. I sighed.

"Well, I'd much rather continue reading..." I began, watching them pout with a playful smile as I let that statement hang in the air for a few more seconds. "...Though I suppose I can spare some time for the two most adorable alicorns I know." I finished, standing up and brushing myself off as the two sisters cheered. "Now, what shall we play?"

"Tag! Tag!" Luna chimed. I chuckled.

"Very well!" I replied. We played in the gardens for a good while, and I couldn't help but smile the whole time as I watched the two adorable Royal Pony Sisters run around, trying to catch the other, squealing and giggling and laughing. 

They really are my lights in the dark.







Celestia and Luna... That was their names. I gazed at the two tapestries in a new light. These tapestries were of the Royal Pony Sisters. My lights in the dark. 

What became of them? Were they even still alive? I frowned at the thought. I suppose that's one more thing I shall have to discover. Though I dread to think of what could have befallen them. I shook my head clear of those thoughts.

I have to forge onwards anyway. I can't afford to pause in my quest for too long.  Empowered by this thought, I made to exit the church and continue on my way through the city. 

Although the sight of a mare in platinum barding decorated with golden scales and a fluted helm with a silver and gold plume standing in the doorway stopped me in my tracks.

"Hail, fair knight! Do you happen to know where I can find a bonfire?" the mare asked, her voice sounding much like that of a Saddle Arabian. I stared dumbly at her for a few seconds, surprised to find another soul still alive in this forsaken land, before shaking off my shock and pointing to the bonfire behind me. "Aha! Thank you, good sir!" she said gratefully as she strode over to it and sat down with a content sigh.

Naturally, I was quite surprised to find another soul here, and a glance at the bloodied and gilded zweihander upon her back told me she had just been through her own share of Hollows and beasts. 

I'll admit, I was quite curious, and to be quite honest I could use an ally, or at least a bit of the normalcy that those untouched by the Curse enjoyed.

So, with that notion in my mind, I decided to sit down beside her. She glanced at me as I rested beside her, and I had the feeling she was smiling.

"Nice of you to join me. Might I ask your name, good sir knight?" she asked. I croaked and coughed as I tried to speak, but she waited patiently.

"Oc..." I coughed and pounded my chest. "Octavius."

"Nice to meet you, Sir Octavius. I'm Aminia Quest. I'm just a wanderer, nothing special," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "What about you?"

"Kn...Kni-" I hacked another cough, trying to get used to speaking again after so long. "Knight... Scholar Of... Royal Pony Sisters."

"Really? That's rare. Thought that order had died out ages ago," She mused, humming in thought to herself. She shook her head. "Well, it's none of my business!" She stood up and placed her hands on her hips proudly. "What is my business is finding that serpent and taking the loot from it's corpse!" I tilted my head in question.

"Serpent?" I queried, my voice finally returning.

"Oh yes! Zderonja is it's name, and it has taken the lives of many an adventurer," Aminia explained. "I heard it had come here to nest, so, here I am."

"You mean to... slay it?" I asked. She nodded. I hummed in thought. If this beast was here, I would likely encounter it soon enough. And I did not fancy my chances in this forsaken city alone... "Would you be willing to have me tag along?"

"A kind knight such as yourself? Certainly! I could always use another friend!" she laughed heartily before pointing towards the doorway. "Now, forwards to treasure! Mughamara!"

And with that, she marched out. I quickly stood up and followed after her, to find her already beheading a Hollow up the street. I smiled. 

Seems I had found a friend in this wasteland.







We had been fighting our way through this city for what felt like hours, from the Zebra High Warriors to the Hollowed Zebra civilians and infantry. By the end of it, we had left quite a trail of bodies. 

And all the while Aminia was still charging forwards with a fire in her heart. I have to admit, she was quite the warrior. Though I suppose she would have to be to survive so long out here.

Regardless, we had made it to a temple, of which Aminia told me was the nesting ground of Zderonja. I found it an odd place for a serpent to nest, but did not question it further. 

The temple had tapestries and statues of some Zebra mare, carrying a spear in one hand and what looked to be a flask in the other, and was covered in hooded robes. It seemed familiar, though I could not place why. I turned back to the wall of fog that stood between us and our quarry.

"Well, shall we?" Aminia said, gesturing for me to go first. I nodded and placed my hand against the fog, a little surprised when I found it to be solid, before pushing through and into the temple's grand chamber. 

Aminia followed in behind me. Our steps echoed across the chamber, and drew the ire of our enemy, whose form I could not help but gawk at. 

It was a serpent, yes, but it was also a mare. A priest, if the headdress was any indication. 

She had scales now instead of fur, though it was still striped like a zebra. Her body was bare save for that headdress, which was almost like a crown, but also a chandelier, only with corks instead of candles. Her scales were black and white striped, like a zebra, but she also had a tail like a rattle snake, which worried me that she could have deadly poison like one as well. In her hand was a spear that seemed to continuously drip a greenish-reddish liquid, and the tip appeared to be a golden fang. 

A number of rotting bodies and skeletons littered the room, all looking like they had had bites taken out of them. Most appeared to be random Hollows, but a fair few also looked to be priests as well, if their ornate robes were any indication. This did not bode well. 

"So the beast is a lamia? What luck!" Aminia said, seeming excited. "Have at thee, wench!" And with that, she charged in, zweihander raised.

I followed her example, charging in as well, shield poised to block any incoming attack.

Zderonja swiped at us with her spear, but we rolled under it, and cut into her scaly hide. 

A scream of pain erupted from the lamia's mouth, before she retaliated by knocking us aside with her tail.

I grunted from the force of the blow, but quickly took to my feet again, and charged forwards once more. 

Zderonja then spat wads of burning saliva at me and Aminia, and I had to dance between the globs, idly noting the way they ate away the floor. 

Aminia charged past me then, bending backwards to avoid one swipe, only to be caught in the side by another and slammed into a wall from the force. 

Zderonja made to impale my friend, but in a mad dash I jumped and knocked the spear away before it could make it's fatal blow to Aminia.

Zderonja hissed, and made to rush us, but I held my ground, shield raised as she impacted against it. As it collided with her chest, I shoved her back with all my strength, and then swung upwards with my shield, dazing her as it hit her in the chin.

Aminia quickly recovered and stood up, and as Zderonja withdrew and circled us, she stood ready. 

Zderonja launched herself at us again, but instead of aiming for me like I thought she would, she aimed for Aminia. 

But Aminia was ready, she took out a shotel I hadn't noticed before on her hip, with a bejeweled hilt and gilded blade, and caught Zderonja in the chest as she came within reach. Then, using the momentum Zderonja had gained, Aminia roared with effort and cut Zderonja's torso clean from her body.

The torso fell to the ground, the spear dropping from her grip, and the rest of the body lying motionless. 

"Ha ha ha!" Aminia cheered, pumping a fist. "Now that was a fight!" 

"Indeed. It certainly was quite the performance," I agreed, smiling beneath my helm. 

I gazed over the now dead form of Zderonja, and watched as Aminia made to start looting the corpse, only for the spot where the torso had been severed on the main body to start to convulge and expand and contract. 

Then, in a burst of light green fluid, a new torso emerged from the main body, scaly skin gleaming with the liquid. Aminia quickly backed up as Zderonja quickly picked up it's headdress and spear once more, placing the headdress on and brandishing the spear.

"Still some fight in you, eh? Well, bring it on!" Aminia challenged, charging forward once more, zweihander raised. 

The headdress on Zderonja glowed as Aminia drew near, and the lamia hugged herself, before a burst of that light green fluid shot outwards, impacting me and Aminia and burning away at our armor. 

Then, as we were just starting to recover, another burst came from the headdress, only instead of more acidic liquid, a number of yellow orbs of crackling lightning came at us.

I managed to bob and weave between most of them, but the screams of Aminia alerted me to her being struck by them. 

"Miss Aminia!" I cried, before growling at the lamia and rushing forwards, then leaping onto her and thrusting my blade down her gullet as she opened it to hiss at me.	

The lamia gagged and coughed up blood, but I wasn't done. I took my shield and slammed it down on her head, repeatedly. Over, and over, and over again, until it was naught but a bloodz pulp, the headress crumpled. With that, the lamia fell, and I jumped off. I watched for any further revivals, and placed my sword back in it's sheath once a good few minutes had passed of nothing happening. 

Then, remembering my friend, I rushed over and checked her. She was on the verge of death, if her pulse was anything to go by, so, desperate, I took out my talisman and uttered a prayer, golden light surrounding us, before she slowly sat up, her wounds gone.

"Ugh... Oh, my head..." she groaned.

"Miss Aminia, are you alright?" I queried. She nodded, much to my relief.

"Yes, I am fine..." she looked at the body of the lamia. "Ah ha! So you felled that wench, well done! You don't mind if I loot the corpse, do you?" I shook my head. "Wonderful!" She rushed over, starting to pick off what she could. Most of what she took was scales, but once she got to the spear, she broke off the tip and offered it to me. "Go on, take it! You deserve it!"

If I could blink, I would have. "Are you certain? I-" she cut me off.

"Just take it, it's fine! We Unkindled have to stick together, so what's the harm in a little sharing, eh?" she said kindly. I smiled, taking the golden fang. "Hmm... It needs a name, though... Ah ha! The Gluttonous tooth!" I looked at her in confusion. "What? Is it not a good name?" 

I shook my head. "No no, it's fine, just... strange to name a weapon, is all."

She laughed. "My friend, this whole world is full of strange things. I say, the more the merrier!" I smiled at this.

It seems my life in this ruined and forsaken world might not be so bad after all.
> Fifth Falling: The Shifting Sands... (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








It had been a few days since I left that city behind me. I had thought about staying with Aminia, but my quest required me to continue on my own, and she wished to stay to search for more treasure. I had stayed for a little while, looking around the library that I found after a bit of searching, but most of the books inside were in a language I did not speak. I found only one book that was in my language, and it was about the fall of the Mets, nothing more. I had to find out what had happened to me, who I was, and what my past entailed. So it was that I trudged across the sands towards the horizon, hoping to find something there. Something that would give me answers, instead of questions.

I glanced down at the new weapons adorning my belt, “The Gluttonous Tooth,” as Aminia had called it fondly. I’m still surprised she gave it to me, considering her yearning for treasure, but she had said that she had already found enough with the scales that the lamia had. I took the small dagger out of the loop on my belt, examining it once more. It still dripped poison like a fountain, but the more remarkable thing was that it was a golden fang. I honestly was curious how it would hold up in a battle.

I placed it back in it’s place and continued my trek. Step after step, until my boot hit something in the sand. Curious, I glanced down and found a strange bottle, almost like that of a newborn babe’s. I reached down and picked it up, and immediately the sound of static entered my mind. I looked down at it and saw a note saying ‘RUB THE LAMP!’ Interesting…

Intrigued, I did as it said, and rubbed it. Soon, a black smoke cloud billowed out of the lamp and hung in the sky for a few moments before someone fell out of it.

It appeared to be a woman with medium length white hair and tanned skin, and she wore a sports bra and some shorts which were a black and white coloured pattern.

“OW! Who put the ground there!?” she yelled. I walked over and offered her my hand to help her up, remembering my manners. She looked at my hand and then at me, staring with golden eyes. “Who the hell are you?”

“Octavius. Knight-Scholar of the Royal Pony Sisters,” I answered. She slowly blinked at me.

“Right… Nice to meet you Oct,” She greeted before taking my hand so I could pull her up. I hoisted her up to her feet, and quickly released her hand so as not to seem overly friendly.

“Might I ask your name, miss…?” I ventured.

“Ita, names Ita,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Ita,” I returned. “Might I ask how you came to be here? I understand it was through this bottle, but not how it works. I am quite curious.”

“Bottle?” She said before looking down at the bottle in my hands. “Oh! My token! Didn’t know it still works!”

“‘Token?’” I queried, confused.

“Yeah… wait, were you sent to a different world by some guy at a con and you dressed up like what you are?” she asked.

“Pardon? What is a ‘con’?” I wondered, growing more confused.

“Uhh, right, so the short version of this is that there are others in different versions of Equestria with different powers and stuff,” she explained.

“You know of Equestria?! Can you tell me more of it? My memory is not… well, it’s not what it used to be, suffice to say,” I queried, hoping for answers.

“Uhh, sure…” she said, sounding confused at this.

“Do you know what happened to it’s king? The Princesses? Or maybe of my Order?” I asked, excited.

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’. My hope deflated.

“Oh… I see,” I hung my head. So not even this person knew of what happened. I raised my head again. “Then… Might I ask why you look like me? I don’t recall seeing another human in a very, very long time. Or at all, really.”

“Did you miss the thing about other versions of Equestria? I came from a different version that’s different from yours,” she said, frowning.

“Oh. My apologies, I sort of jumped more at the idea of you knowing about Equestria, and forgot about there being different realms,” I rubbed my neck nervously.

“Right,” she said before looking around. “Where are we by the way?”

“The deserts of Zebran, I imagine, if this map is anything to go by. Although it does not show anything beyond the desert,” I answered.

“Okay, so… you’re just walking around?” she asked.

“Sort of. I do not have any real direction, truth be told. Though my course is set for Equestria, I have no idea where it is,” I replied. “Hmmm, maybe I should have asked Aminia for a bigger map…” I mused to myself.

“Maybe you should've,” she said with a snort. She looked around us. “Did you find a town or village to ask for directions?”

“There is a city just a few miles behind us, though I would not advise returning there. And there is little chance of any town being… well, anything more than completely unforgiving and lifeless,” I explained, gesturing with a thumb to the city in the distance.

“Right, so now what?” she asked.

“Well, would you be averse to being a companion along this road of mine?” I queried. She let out a sigh.

“Guess I can do that,” she said as she shook her legs. “Was out for a run anyway.”

“Thank you. Now, shall we be off?” I said, gesturing to the vast desert laid out before us.

“Lead on, I guess,” she said. I nodded and she fell into step behind me as I walked. My armor made quite a clamor as I trekked, though it was somewhat drowned out by the wind. “Oi, what’s up with the sun?”

“Hm?” I looked up at the eclipsed yet still burning sun. “Ah, that. To be honest, I do not know for certain, only that it is part of the Curse this world bears on it’s shoulders.”

“Curse?” she asked, looking over at me. I nodded.

“The Darksign. I would show you, but… Well, tis not a pretty sight in the least,” I told her as we continued to walk through the dunes.

“Right…” she said before staying quiet as we walked. We walked and walked and walked, and all the while I simply enjoyed the quiet and the little warmth the sun gave off. Ita simply looked around, staying silent as she looked around at the desert.

Then, after what felt like an hour, another object impacted my boot, and I glanced down. Half buried in the sand was what looked like a golden disk. Intrigued, I picked it up. Ita looked over at me and saw the golden disk with, now that I can look at it closely, a dragon's head on it.

“That’s may be a token, or some random junk someone dropped,” she explained. I hummed in thought, and after a moment a draconic roar echoed in my mind. Then, a bright light heralded the arrival of another female.

She appeared to be in her teens, with red, wild hair, a red tail that was on fire at the tip, red jeans that were torn in some places, a black belt with two silver rings on it, a red crop-top with two small straps instead of sleeves, a black choker, and a necklace with an amber on it. “Where the hell am I?” The stranger asked as she got to her feet.

“Miss Ita?” I urged, gesturing for her to explain. She rolled her eyes and explained to the newcomer what’s going on and who she is.

“I know that crap, meant where is here,” The girl replied, huffing. Ita frowned at her, looking over at me.

“You’re up,” she said before walking off.

“The deserts of Zebran, or rather, what’s left of Zebran, anyway,” I explained.

“The hells up with the sun?” The teen asked, looking up.

“That would the Curse that has been on this world for… well, since the dawn of time,” I answered uneasily.

“That’s splendid,” The teen said dryly.

“Might I ask your name, young miss?” I asked politely.

“Mia,” The now named Mia said, crossing her arms and looking around.

“Well, Miss Mia, I would offer to bring you back home, but I’m afraid I do not know how. So maybe you could travel with me and we can see what we find?” I offered.

“Sure, whatever…” Mia mumbled. “Any of you thirsty?”

“I do not thirst… Ever. I’m… Well, Undead. Unkindled, to be precise,” I answered uneasily.

“Need some fire then?” Mia asked with a snicker.

“Unless you’d be willing to give your soul to make a Bonfire, no,” I answered, now a little wary.

“That sounds unpleasant,” Mia said with a frown, shaking her head.

“You two done chatting?” Ita asked the two of us. I nodded, a little glad to not be on the subject of stealing souls.

“Yes, for now. Let us be on our way,” I told her as I began walking again, the two following in step behind me.

“Where are we going?” Mia asked.

“Anywhere with answers,” I told her.

“So wandering aimlessly?” Mia asked.

“...Yes,” I admitted after a short bit of walking.

“Sounds boring,” Ita said.

“Well, unless you two want to go back to Zebril and fight unending hordes of Undead, then this is the only option available,” I told them.

“Sounds fun,” Mia said with a smirk, flame on her tail burning a little brighter.

“Did I mention Undead have the natural ability to absorb the souls of all they kill?” I told her.

“Still sounds like fun,” Ita commented. Mia held her fist up to fist bump her. To which she did. I sighed deeply. These women were just as spirited as Aminia. I could not hold them back if they wanted to do something such as kill for fun, even if I did not like it. No. I would have to live with being alone on this journey once more.

“...Then go. I will not keep you. My quest must continue with or without you,” I answered, tone somber and hollow.

“Nah, not gonna just abandon ya… that’d be a dick move,” Mia said with a shrug. Ita didn’t say anything.

“You can go if you so wish, Miss Ita. The same goes for you, Miss Mia. I won’t hold you back from your own ventures,” I continued. Ita hummed for a minute before looking up.

“Going to see if there’s anything around us,” she said, rolling her shoulders and muttering something to herself. I nodded, simply grateful they had not left me for good. The next thing I saw was black shadowy wings appearing on her back as she shot herself into the sky at top speeds.

“Neat,” Mia commented, looking up at the display.

“Such speed… That’s unheard of!” I cried, amazed.

“Seemed kinda slow to me,” Mia remarked, shrugging.

“Slow?! That kind of speed is nothing to scoff at in the least!” I responded, surprised that anyone could call that slow. Looking back up I saw black flashes as Ita was flying around.

Right until I saw her come down and slam into a dune of sand some ways away from us, making it go up into the air in a plume of dust and sand particles. A strong gust of wind went through the air, dispersing the dust and sand.

“Simply amazing…” I said in awe.

“More like annoying,” Mia said, irritated. I walked over to where Miss Ita had landed to speak to her about what she found and how she could move so fast. When I got there she was now standing, brushing the sand off of herself.

“Need to work on that,” she muttered to herself.

“Miss Ita, that was simply amazing! How did you do that?” I asked, curious.

“Reasons,” she answered.

“That doesn’t answer her question,” Mia commented.

“Her? Who’s her?” Ita asked.

“Meant to say the, slip of the tongue,” Mia said with a shrug. Ita looked at Mia, blinked, then looked at me.

“I have my ways, still working on them but still, my ways,” Ita said.

“What did you find, anyway?” I asked. Ita thought for a moment.

“There’s some sort of nest up ahead, weird worms things going around in the sand. I saw about five of them when I went past,” she explained.

“Worms? That can’t bode well…” I said.

“I don’t know, their worms,” Ita said, looking away. I shook my head as I turned around. What I saw was surprising.

Instead of a teenager there was an older woman wearing tight pants and a top that was also tight on her breasts, straining to keep them in. Her red hair was medium length, like Ita’s. I shook my head of such base thoughts. I’m a knight and a gentlemen, I must not stare.

“Miss Mia? Is that you?” I asked.

“Yeah,” She said with a smirk. “Like it?”

“If I were a lesser man, I would be staring. But I am not. But I will admit tis… appealing,” I admitted.

“Feel free to stare, I don’t care,” She said with a shrug, breasts bouncing.

“I am a Knight, Miss Mia. It would be unbecoming of me,” I said firmly, resisting the urge. I coughed into my fist. “Anyway, we should tread carefully, these are no normal worms. They are Sandworms, and from what little I could gain from some books in the library at Zebril, I can recall that they once felled the old empire of Mets.”

“They’re worms,” Ita said. “I don’t see the big deal.” I sighed.

“Just… Be careful. I may come back from death, but I imagine you won’t,” I said before marching off. I heard Ita sighed before following me.

“We’ll be fine,” Mia said confidently.

“I hope so, Miss Mia. I hope so…” I mused as we drew nearer to the nest. I could hear the rumbling of the ground as the worms tunneled through the earth and sand.

“Worms?” Ita asked. Mia got spears of ice above her head, ready to impale anything that came out. I nodded.

“Be wary, their skin is lined with nigh impenetrable bone, and they are very fast for their size,” I warned them as I drew my straight sword and readied my shield.

“Five worms, what could go-” before she finished, a sandworm shot up right where Ita was, swallowing her whole. Lightning spurted from it’s mouth as she was ejected high up into the sky.

“Miss Ita!” I cried. Mia reacted, spinning the ice with incredible speed, the tips seeming to glow and shooting the ice at the exposed worm. The worm screeched as the ice hit the exposed parts of it’s skin, drawing some blood, but doing very very little otherwise. In response, it tunneled back into the sands. As this happened, four more worms surfaced and looked towards me and Mia.

Mia tore large boulders from the ground, throwing them at the worms. The worms batted them aside with their even larger tails, before the fifth worm resurfaced, and they all opened their maws and lightning began to brew inside them.

“Miss Mia, to me, quickly!” I cried, taking out my bundle of white silk.

Mia obliged, coming over to me. I clenched the bundle of silk, before kneeling down and muttering a prayer. A small golden glow enveloped the earth beneath us, before quickly rushing up my body and hers and covering us in a white aura. Just as I finished casting the miracle, the wave of lightning crashed into us, and I braced my shield against the literal storm. I grit my teeth as the lightning went through my body, but it was not as bad as it could have been, and we survived. We were smoking, but we survived.

Mia brushed the smoke off of her, frowning. “Cure” She mumbled, a green glow overtaking us and healing the two of us. Turning to the worms, she frowned. “Recommended attack?” She questioned. I marveled at the magic she possessed, but quickly returned to the fight at hand.

“Magic, or darkness. Lightning, fire, and frost have very little effect,” I told her. As I said that the fifth sandworm started thrashing around. It let out a roar before a large hole burst out of it’s body. I saw Ita walking out of it covered in blood, as if this were a normal thing to do.

“Hello~!” she yelled, waving.

“Darkness?” Mia questioned, smirking. She made two claw shapes with her hands, shadowy claws growing out of them as she shot towards the worms. The claws tore through one of the worms, making it bleed heavily before Ita looked around. I noticed her weapon, a long curved sword that seemed to give off a dark power.

I was amazed at the power these two possessed, but had little time to consider it as a worm barreled straight for me, leaving me no time to dodge. It opened it’s maw and made to close it, but I pushed against it.

I grunted as it’s mouth pushed harder in opposition, before I gained an idea and let go, slipping inside it’s maw. As I slid down it’s throat, I raised my blade and cut into it’s skin, making it thrash around erratically, tossing me about, but I held firm and kept my blade in it’s flesh. After making it further down, I found what I deduced to be it’s heart, and jumped to it, stabbing my blade into it and ending this worm’s life.

It finally went still, and I took my blade out of it’s heart and began marching out of it, coming out of it’s maw covered in blood and gore as well as no small amount of slime. What I saw was one of the worms getting blown up by something and another fighting Ita, and losing since she was moving at high speeds before she cut it’s head off.

With the worms now dead, I approached my companions. Ita was cleaning her sword, covered in blood as well, before looking at me. “Dude, you need a bath.”

As if called, a torrent of water dropped on me and her. Ita blinked at this before looking at Mia.

“Thanks,” she said, shaking her head.

“Well… Thank you,” I said lamely, before turning to the nest that now lay before us. “I believe it would be in our interests to go down there. There is likely to be something worthwhile below.”

“Well then, lead on,” Ita said, shouldering her sword.

“On it,” Mia said, doing a little hop, before going face first towards the ground, a hole appearing in front of her as she dug down. Ita laughed before following her by jumping into the hole. I shook my head at their antics and jumped in as well. When we made it down there, I gazed in awe the sheer amount of items now before us.

Glittering gemstones, gold, silver, copper, and even platinum coins and bars as well as many other baubles were separated in five piles. There was even a hefty amount of armaments too. But what really drew my attention were the five grubs mewling in the earth just in the center pile.

“Ah hell… there’s little babies,” Ita said, frowning. Mia frowned, looking away. I frowned as well. We had taken their parents from them. How cruel could we be?

“Ugh… what are we gonna do?” Mia groaned.

I looked down at the poor, orphaned children that we had before us now. We could take them, but it’d be much too dangerous, and I don’t have the slightest clue how to care for them. I imagine my companions don’t either. It was as I was thinking of this that one crawled over to me, looking up at me. The sight brought to mind a memory I had long forgotten.





I watched on with sad eyes as the ponies carried the casket of the Queen to it’s resting place. I was standing with little Luna and Celestia, who were standing by their father, looking confused in place of sad. The King, however, looked more heartbroken than I had ever seen him.

The casket was gently and lovingly placed in the hole that had been dug, a large grave, fit to be a monument, sitting behind it. It was a large, marble stone with engravings of gold and a platinum plaque, with her name on it. I could scarcely bear to watch as they began to bury the casket.

“Father, why art they burying mother?” Luna asked.

“Father, what art they doing?” Celestia queried.

“She’s…” The King faltered in his speech, the words dying in his throat as he choked back a sob, trying to look strong. “She’s…”

“Prithee, stop! That is our mother, what art thou doing to her!” Celestia cried, moving to stop the ponies burying the casket. The King held her back.

“Father, stop them! Don’t let them take mother! Please!” Luna urged, pulling on her father’s robe. The king couldn’t help the tears that fell from his usually stoic face.

I simply watched on, trying to fight back my own tears. Eventually, they finished burying the casket, but the king had to take his children away, lest they interrupt the funeral. When all was finished, I was the only one left standing at her grave, the rain pouring down reminding me of my sorrow even more.

“You silly old mare…” I said bitterly, gazing at the plaque.





I shook my head as my mind returned. I saw Ita and Mia looking at the little worms, not knowing what to do.

“Hmmm, well are you three in a pickle,” a voice said out of nowhere. Mia looked around, tail flame ablaze. I turned to the sound of the voice, but found nothing. I began to look around the room and saw someone laying on one of the piles of riches, holding a golden chalice in his hand. “Quite a pickle.”

“Who are you?” I asked calmly. The being turned his head before standing up and walking towards us. I saw that he was taller than all of us, about nine feet tall.



“I have many names, but you can call me Chron,” the man said, leaning on the cane that he was carrying.

“Sup, tron,” Mia said, saying it wrong on purpose if the way she grinned was any indication. The man looked at her for a moment before looking back at me, seeing what I would say.

“What need have you of us?” I asked next, wary of this new person.

“Oh, nothing really, just sensed three displacements near me and wanted to see what you three are doing,” he said simply. “Got to say, slaying five worms is… kinda boring really.”

Mia nodded. Most likely since she only got one.

“Well, I’m sorry my adventures aren’t enough for you all,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Anyway, is there anything you want besides to watch us?”

“Don’t know really, you don’t have a token do you?” he asked.

“No. I see no need to. My quest is here. But I am curious about the importance of these tokens, as it was never fully explained to me. Care to indulge an old man’s curiosity?” I asked. This made the man laugh.

“Old? Old! Ha! You think you’re old, boy, you’re still in your diapers compared to me!” he said, roaring with laughter.

Mia simply snickered. I sighed.

“Yes, well, could you still indulge me anyway?” I asked, growing a little irritated. Chron stopped laughing and tilted his head.

“Let's say you do have a token, it will allow others to call upon you for aid, and in return they can come and help you with your quest,” he gestured to Mia and Ita. “Like these two when you summoned them.”

“I see…” I hummed in thought. “Is there a way to keep myself from being summoned? Much as I may wish to help others, I hold my quest in high regard. Can I make my token so that I am only summoned if I so wish?”

“Sure, I don't see the issue in that,” the man said, shrugging.

“That might help,” Mia commented. Ita nodded.

“Good, good. In that case, does anyone have a scrap of parchment, some ink and paints as well as a brush?” I asked. Everyone simply stared at me.

“Why do you need all that?” Ita asked.

“To make the symbol of my Order, of course,” I said, as it seemed obvious. I heard a sigh from Chron.

“What does this symbol look like?” he asked.

“A symbol,” Mia commented sarcastically. Chron looked at her for a moment.

“Shouldn't you be in bed kid?” he asked.

“Fuck no,” She said simply.

“You sure about that?” he said, snapping his fingers. I looked back and saw Mia shrink down until she looked like a six year old with some pajamas and a fuzzy teddy bear under her arm. Her hair was more a light orange now, the same with her tail.

“Awww, you look so cute!” Ita cooed. I simply looked at her with a tinge of sorrow, remembering my old charges, before turning back to Chron.

The smaller Mia blinked, before shrugging. “Oh well,” She said in a adorable little girl voice, hugging the teddy and laying down. Chron shook his head and looked at me.

“Now, symbol, what is it?” he asked.

“An eye surrounded by green thorns,” I answered. Chron nodded before flicking his wrist. Some pieces floated over to him from the treasure piles and floated in front of him. He waved his hand and I watched as the items melted and formed into a golden ball. It soon turned into a gray colour as it flattened out to a disk. He then took the disk and started to carve into it.

While this was happening, the baby worms had crawled over and were now snuggling with Mia. I smiled under my helmet as I watched.

Soon Chron was finished and tossed me the disk. I caught it and looked at it, seeing the symbol of my order. “There, no paper needed for it.” He said. I nodded.

“Thank you, Chron. Now, is there anything else I must do?” I questioned.

“Say a message, give it back and I'll do the rest,” he answered. I nodded.

”I am the Knight-Scholar Octavius, Head of the Order of The Thornclad Eyes, and Unkindled Seeker. Speak my name but once, and I shall come to reap and devour the souls of your enemies,” I spoke, my voice echoing strangely. I gazed at the disc for a few seconds, still a little unused to all this, before I then gave the disc back to Chron.

He looked at it for a moment and I saw the disk glow for a spell. He then tossed it behind him and it disappeared. “Done.”

“Well, with that done, what shall we do with these little ones…?” I wondered, humming in thought. At this point the worms were all over Mia, laying on her as she hugged her new teddy. Then, all of a sudden, I felt this searing pain in my head, and the sound of some archaic scream echoed around me. I grasped my head in pain, gasping for air.

“You okay there, pal?” Chron asked. I nearly collapsed from the pain, but  managed to shakily regain my composure, and I drew my blade in an instant.

“Miss Ita, wake Miss Mia and get her to safety, Chron, take care of them. I have a foe to engage,” I said, glancing around for my enemy.

Chron tilted his head for a moment before disappearing. I turned and saw Ita and Mia, and the worms on her, were gone as well. I thanked him under my breath, before continuing my search for my enemy. A bomb flying at me told me where they were well enough, and I swatted it aside, the instrument of destruction exploding a smaller pile of valuables.

Upon the largest pile was a red phantom, an invader of this world. They bore armor made of what looked to be bone as well as thorns, and a massive greatsword rested on their shoulder, shaped like a piece of freshly made slate and ablaze with unholy black flame. On their hip rested a crossbow, simple and sturdy. The helm had a plume of feathers, and a single slit served as their way of viewing the world.

“Come, let us not tarry this battle any longer!” I cried, motioning for him to come at me. He did so, sliding down the pile and jumping off at the end, making to slam his larger blade upon me and split me in half in one go. I rolled out of the way just in time, and came out of my roll with an upwards slash, but it simply got caught in his armor. It drew blood, but he made no reaction to it.

I glared at him, and he simply retaliated by raising his free hand, a black flame blazing in it’s palm, and gripped my sword arm, lighting it with the flame. I screamed as it burned me, and pulled out my blade with all my strength, backing away. I heard him laugh, and he gestured for me to come at him instead.

I growled, taking a swig of my Estus and charging in, shield in front of me. He stepped to the side, but I had expected him to, and I bashed him with my shield, stunning him. I then thrusted my blade towards his heart, but he quickly recovered and parried the blow. I backed away once more, needing some distance.

We circled each other, watching one another for any openings or weaknesses. This was going to be a long, arduous battle.





Explosions of black flame and cries of battle echoed from the cavern of which Octavius fought in, worrying Ita and Mia.

“What’s going on?” Mia asked, yawning. She had just woken up.

“Octa is fighting,” Ita said.

“Oh, okay,” Mia said with a yawn, petting one of the worms. Ita looked over at Mia before looking at Chron, who was standing in front of the caverns entrance.

“Why won't you let me help?” she asked him.

“It's not your fight,” he said simply. Ita frowned as she crossed her arms, rubbing her cheek from the fact she had tried to get into the cavern, only to have Chron smack her back, telling her not to enter. Mia was snoring again, laying back down. Another burst of black flame spouted from the cavern, and another pained scream of torment responded in kind.

Mia seemed to be getting a little cranky at this point. She got up, moving towards the hole. As she got close a large blade embedded itself into the ground in front of her.

“Not your fight,” Chron said.

“Imma watch,” She said simply, going around. Chron watched her walk around his blade before she headed to the cavern.

“You're going to allow her to walk in there?!?” Ita yelled at him.

“What? She wanted to watch,” Chron said simply. Ita stared at him before running after Mia to bring her back out. He was standing there alone now. “Hmmm, should have brought a book to read.”





This was not going well. My shield arm was dislocated, the shield itself across the room  behind my foe. My flask was nearly empty, and while he was no less worse for wear than I, I still did not like my chances. Furthermore, my leg was badly burnt, the armor singed and my cape ashes upon the floor.

Then, I heard multiple footsteps from the entrance and turned to see Miss Mia and Miss Ita approaching, my eyes widening at the sight.

“You fools! Leave before he comes for you instead!” at this, he turned as I feared, and readied a fireball of the unholy flames of Humanity. In desperation, I raced over to my companions, and when he lobbed the ball of black flame, I closed my eyes in acceptance as I took the hit instead of them. It impacted me at full force, and I screamed in pain, but kept standing.

“Go!” I cried. “Leave now!” They ignored me and moved to help.

“Cure,” Miss Mia’s voice came, a green light surrounding me. Miraculously, my wounds healed, but I had little time to think about that, as instead of flames, his great sword impaled my stomach. I gasped and spat up blood, looking down in surprise, before he slowly lifted me up, and I felt myself splitting in two. I spared a glance at the now horrified Ita and Mia, and, with no small amount of willpower, closed my eyes, awaiting my first death. Then, searing pain filled my body, and then nothing but blackness greeted me.





Ita and Mia watched on in horror as Octavius was brutally cut in half, and then dissolved into ashes. Snarling, Mia held her hand out, fury on her face. “Thundaga!” She snarled, a large bolt of lightning shooting out of her palm towards the invader. But it simply passed through, and he waved at them as if all was well, before dissipating.

Mia was still standing there, hand out, too surprised and shocked to move. Ita was in shock as this happened, not moving at what she saw either. They watched as the ashes of Octavius simply drifted away, like he had never existed in the first place.

They stood still for a solid minute, unable to comprehend such a sudden and brutal kill. Right in front of their eyes, no less.

“I… I have to… I have to go…” Ita said, turning and leaving the cavern. Mia followed swiftly, clutching the teddy tightly. Mia soon made it outside and saw Ita sitting on the ground outside of the cavern, Chron nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, Ita?” Mia called. Ita made a sound of acknowledgement to her that sounded like a grunt. “I… remember a bit of… the game this universe is based on… if we go back to where he said he was, I think he’ll still be alive.”

Ita didn't say anything as she stood up, walked over to Mia, grabbed her, and rocketed up into the sky towards the city in the distance, no other thought than to confirm Mia’s theory in her mind. “W-wait, the worms!” Mia shouted.

“Chron,” Ita said simply, still flying. Mia seemed a little uncertain, but nodded anyway, curling into Ita, simply waiting out the ride now, making sure her tail wouldn’t go out.

They quickly spotted the deserted town of Zebril, and Ita circled around it, trying to find the man they had so quickly lost.

She noted a small black dot just a ways from the front gates, sitting at a Bonfire. Ita saw this before angling herself so she sped down towards the bonfire.

Mia was snoring, having fallen asleep during the flight. Ita landed just a few feet from the familiar black armored figure, who seemed surprised to see the two of them.

“Hey,” Ita greeted.

“I’m… rather surprised you’re not lashing out at me or tackling me,” Octavius said. Ita raised an eyebrow.

“You want me to hit you like I hit those worms?” she asked, holding Mia.

“No, just... Well, I assumed from how horrified you were at my death that you would be, well, surprised or something,” Octavius said uneasily. Ita didn’t say anything, simply looking away. Octavius sighed. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you had to see that. I should have mentioned that my kind are reborn each time we die.”

“You think?” Ita said with a frown.

“I remembered,” Kid-Mia said smugly, having woken up.

“You remembered when I had not even told you?” he asked, confused.

“There… was a game I used to play that was a lot like what your universe is going through,” Mia said, blushing a little. Ita looked at her and simply stayed quiet.

“I… See. Well, regardless, I managed to remember a bit of my past before my… demise,” Octavius began.

“What’d you remember?” Mia asked with a tilted head.

“I remembered… The Queen’s funeral,” Octavius replied.

“Oh…” Mia said, looking away. Ita shifted a bit, looking away from the two of them talking.

“Yes, it wasn’t pretty. But at least I’ve learned something,” Octavius noted.

“That’s… good?” Mia said, sounding unsure.

“Any memory is more welcome than none,” Octavius affirmed. “Now, we should return to that nest. I must retrieve my souls, lest you two wish for me to be a raving Hollow in the near future.”

“Right… Hang on!” Ita said, grabbing Octavius and Mia. The three of them then rocketed into the sky and headed towards the nest. Octavius was, understandably, surprised at this turn of events. He made his displeasure known by squirming a fair bit, but quickly calmed when he noted he wasn’t falling to his death.

“Amazing…” He breathed gazing at the land below as it passed them by.

They arrived at the entrance in good time, and after a Octavius finished getting used to be being on solid ground again, jumped down the hole, where they found a rather sizeable bloodstain on the ground near one of the piles of gems and coins.

Octavius walked over to it and touched it, sighing in content and relief as the souls flowed back into him.

“Ahh… Much better,” he breathed as he stood back up.

He then noted two objects on the pile in front of him, and gained an idea. Grabbing them, he stashed them behind his back and into his satchel and approached the two.

“Alright, now what?” Ita asked.

“Well, that’s about it, really. But I imagine if we look through these piles, we could find a larger and more detailed map. After that, you two are free to leave, if you so wish,” I said.

Mia shrugged, getting down and scurrying to look for a map. Ita watched her do that and looked back at Octavius.

“As much as I want to look for a map, I have to be going,” she said. He nodded.

“Very well, in that case, I have something for you to remember me by,” he pulled out a small, well crafted dagger fitted with aquamarine crystals, and handed it to Ita. She took it and gave it a once over.

“Thanks,” she said, putting it in her pocket.

“Try flipping it in your hand and channeling your magic through it,” he instructed her. “You’ll want to see the result, trust me.”

Ita stared at him before shrugging, taking the dagger and doing just that. Immediately, the blade extended by use of magic crystals, the new blade aglow with blue aura. “Neat,” Ita said, giving the blade a few test swings.

“That is one of the rare Crystal Daggers. The one who created them has been lost to time, but they have remained. I’m honestly surprised it was even out here,” Octavius told her. “But I’m glad you like the blade.”

“Yeah, anyway later,” Ita said before turning and heading out. Mia came back when she was gone, holding a map up to Octavius.

“Ah, splendid work, Miss Mia!” Octavius cried. “Now I finally have some bearing on where to go next! I am in debt to you.”

Mia simply giggled, smiling.

“Well, I assume you must be heading off now as well, yes?” he asked.

“Not really, I have time,” Mia said with a shrug.

“I see. Then would you care to continue accompanying me, or is there something else you wish for?” Octavius questioned.

“I’ll just come with you for now!” Mia said happily. Octavius chuckled.

“Well, I hope you are ready for a long journey, then!”

With that, the two exited the cavern and resumed Octavius’ travels of self-discovery.
> Sixth Falling: World On Fire... (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








It had been many weeks since we left the town of Zebril. The moon was rising, and we still hadn’t found a place to lay our heads. No shelter could be seen for miles, and I did not fancy becoming the evening snack of a pack of coyotes. Meanwhile, Miss Mia was staring at the moon like it had grown a face.

“Why is it red?” She asked. I looked up at the blood red moon, glowing an eerie crimson.

“I’d imagine tis part of the curse as well. Much like the sun,” I told her as we continued walking through the now chilled sands. “Anyway, do you see any form of shelter we could use yet?”

“Not really,” Mia said. I hummed in thought. This did not bode well. I may not know much about this desert, but I know that staying in the open at night is never a good thing.

We walked for about ten minutes, until something impacted the top of my helmet and dropped to the sand below. Curious, I bent over and picked it up.

It appeared to be a medallion with bronze plating, the emblem of a twisted upside down “M” encircled in an oval, and as soon as I touched it, I heard a voice in my head.

“I am the shadow the darkness fears, the malice that quails evil. Call my name if you fight for justice, but beware the wrath of darkness if you chose wrong, for it is you who will face the dark clone. I am Psycho Ranger.”

The shadow the darkness fears… I’m not certain how I feel about that. Then again, another ally would still be welcome in this dead world. So, with a deep breath, I called out, “Come, Psycho Ranger, and let us speak. I may have an offer for you.”

A swirling portal opened up nearby, a figure stepping out soon after. He had a well-muscled build, messy reddish brown hair falling into his hazel eyes. He was dressed in what one might imagine a mage would wear; loose black pants with numerous pockets and pouches, simple black shoes, a white, sleeveless shirt, and blue vest with white lines, matching bracers on his wrists. A black oval device sat on his right bracer, the emblem from the medallion sitting on top. “Someone ring for a psycho?” he asked as the portal closed behind him, a cocky little grin splitting his features. I nodded.

“That would be correct, yes,” I affirmed.

The young man looked me up and down, his grin giving a little twitch. “...You’re not one of the bad ones, are you?” He questioned, his body language becoming a little more tense. I tilted my head in question.

“Bad ones? No, I would not consider myself bad. I am a Knight-Scholar of Equestria, after all,” I answered. Mia tilted her head, simply watching this from the side.

The young man’s body let go of its tension and his grin ceased to waiver. “Right, sorry,” he said, taking a few steps forward. “You can never be too careful about these things. So, what kind of offer did you have in mind?”

“Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I have been reduced to a wanderer. Thus, I might come across fantastical ruins with treasure of all sorts. My companion can attest that it has happened before. So, my offer is this, travel with us, and you may have as much of the treasure you wish for,” I offered.

The young man gave a little chuckle. “I’d love to,” he answered before he dropped his gaze and shook his head. “But unfortunately, I’ve got a war going on back home with a lot of ponies looking to me for hope. I can stay for a little while, sure, but I will have to go back eventually.”

“A war, you say?” I crossed my arms and hummed in thought. This man was far too young to be fighting a war, much less leading it like his choice of words implied. True, if he was leading it, he would most certainly be a capable fighter, but…

I hummed again in thought, before looking up at the moon. I sighed. “Well, to be quite honest, while I may make it seem like my quest is on a time limit, it truly isn’t. So, mayhaps I and my companion can come and help you? I know a great many miracles as well as spells that I could teach your soldiers, and Miss Mia here knows a very unique form of magic as well that I’m sure she’d love to teach.”

The youth blinked a bit in surprise. “You guys would really just drop what you’re doing…,” he started, trying to form a bigger picture. “To help in a war you have no part in after summoning me to your home world?” He gave a little huff of laughter and a look of disbelief as he looked at the two of us. “...I don’t even know your names,” he muttered as if mystified.

“Mia,” Miss Mia greeted, tail waving slowly behind her as she held a hand out. I bowed, one arm crossed under my chest.

“Octavius,” I informed the youth, standing back up. “And yes. Tis a knight’s duty to help those in need, even if it be those from another world.”

The young man bowed towards me before straightening back up and stepping forward to shake Mia’s hand. “Samson Jaeger,” he answered, his grin seeming to grow. “Thank you for your offer… it is really appreciated.” I smiled beneath my helm.

“Tis no trouble, my friend. Now, let us make haste, yes? There is a war for us to win, after all!” I urged, smile growing.

“Probably be more amusing than here’s been lately,” Miss Mia commented, hands in her pockets.

Sam gave a nod of his head… before his smile once again faded a bit. “...How do we get back?” He asked. “I know, you guys can send me back, and maybe you could follow me through, but how would you guys get back here?”

“I will find a way, do not worry. After all, I am a Knight-Scholar. I know plenty about magic, so I’m certain I will figure it out,” I assured. “Speaking of which, I believe I know a spell that could send us there quickly. Though tis experimental and I shall need a catalyst.”

Sam stared for a moment before melting the doubt from his features with a nod. “Okay, so what kind of catalyst are we talking about?” He questioned, the gears turning visibly behind his eyes.

“A staff would be preferable. Although a crystal laced chime or talisman would work as well,” I informed.

“I can handle that,” Sam said, taking a few steps back. He put his right hand over his left wrist, black electricity dancing over the appendage and device on his wrist. Black grid lines formed under his hand and shaped themselves before he grabbed them and yanked. A black staff, topped with devilish silver horns formed, crackling with energy for a moment. “Will this do?” More than a little bewildered by all this, I simply stared. After a few seconds, I shook my head to clear my surprise.

“Uh, yes, yes, that should do nicely,” I said, taking the staff. I then started channeling my energy, my soul, into it, feeling the soul magic do it’s work. “Grab onto me, and imagine your home. Miss Mia, grab onto me as well, but keep your mind clear.”

Samson did as he was bid and took a hold of my shoulder, closing his eyes tightly as his features formed into concentration. Miss Mia grabbed my other shoulder, closing her eyes. An image appeared in my head at this. Seeing it, I then raised my staff and swept it in an arc above my head. And then, the crackling of fire sounded around us.

“Do not move, and keep focusing on your home. Miss Mia, continue to keep your mind clear,” I ordered. The flames continued to roar, and I felt them lick at my form, but it was not unpleasant or painful in the least. And then, they rose up and swallowed us, and the next I knew, we were blazing through a deep, black void. The next thing to form was a darkened forest, the sounds of twilight echoing through the darkening landscape as a large castle illuminated the area in the background. We arrived with a blaze of blue, magical fire that quickly disappeared.

The young man opened his eyes and took in a breath... before shaking the blonde mess from his face. “Well that was something,” the new man said, his tone less dense than the one before.

“Are we there yet?” Mia asked, eyes still shut. I chuckled.

“Yes, we are,” I told her. I turned back to Samson. “Your voice seems to have changed, my friend.”

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” a voice suddenly spoke, though it was more mental than verbal. A small, black sphere with dark yellow and orange energy flowing through and off it formed next to the blonde’s head. “Though, I suppose I should have warned you about the body switch.”

The blonde tsk’d. “How so very inconsiderate of you, Sam,” he said in a teasing manner, drawing a huff from the sphere.

Mia opened her eyes, tilting her head in confusion.

“I… I’m sorry, but what is going on?” I queried, staring at the two in befuddlement.

“I would like to know that as well, Chris,” an off white unicorn mare said, stepping out from behind him as two timberwolf pups sat nearby, staring at the scene in confusion.

The blonde, Chris, gave a nervous chuckle before leaning towards the sphere, Sam. “You take Octavius and Mia and I take Sweetie Belle?” He questioned, the sphere bobbing much like a nod before Chris gently took Sweetie by the shoulders and led her a little ways away.

“Chris and I had split personality disorder before we got displaced,” Sam began to explain once they were gone. “When we got here, our condition advanced itself. Now, whenever we get called to new worlds, our body turns into my form and I get control of the wheel.”

“I see… That sounds intriguing. Do you by chance know why or how?” I queried, curious now.

Sam moved up and down as if to shrug. “We don’t really know. Harmony might know something, but if she does she didn’t tell me- er, us.” Shouting could be heard from behind Sam as Sweetie appeared to begin getting more than a little heated at Chris who held his hands up defensively. I glanced over.

“I assume that mare is young Chris’ lover?” I guessed.

A chuckle emanated from the sphere. “They’re kinda cute together,” he said, though his tone betrayed a sense of… sadness. I frowned at this.

“Are you alright, Samson?” I queried.

Sam’s sphere was still. “...Let’s just say that this isn’t the only war we got dragged into,” he said tensely. My frown deepened, but I nodded, respecting his wish to not speak of it. I glanced back at the young mare and Christopher.

“-o big deal my foot, Chris!” Sweetie yelled. “Who knows who could have seen that light show! You know that our mages aren’t holding up the mirage right now, it’s too straining right now with all the injured monsters we’re still treating!”

“I know, Sweetie, I know,” Chris answered nervously. “I’m sorry. I don’t think Sam knew what would happen, and I couldn’t stop him from here.”

The mare eyed him for a long moment, her eyes shifting for just a moment towards Sam before shooting back to the blonde. She let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of her snout. “We’ll talk about this more later,” she said before bending down and picking up one of the pups, the one with a metallic front leg. “Veral needs his medicine soon.” With that, she turned and left the scene, leaving Chris and a confused timberwolf pup in her wake as it followed. I approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I apologize for not thinking more on how my actions would affect you, young Chris,” I said sincerely.

Chris gave a small shrug. “If what you told Sam was true,” he began, turning to face me. “It’ll be worth it this time.” I simply nodded, letting go of his shoulder.

“Well, if you would kindly show us the way to your home, than I can begin teaching your soldiers what I know,” I said, scanning the environment before turning my gaze back to him. Chris nodded his head before a yawn echoed from Sam’s form.

“Chris, I need to crash,” he said. “You know how these forms affect us.”

“Sure thing, bro,” Chris answered before the sphere faded away. Chris looked back towards me and nodded towards the castle. “Right this way.” With that he turned and started on his way.

As we walked, Miss Mia simply following in silence, I took in our surroundings. The forest was certainly a good place to hide a base, but improvements could still be made. After all, a forest is full of opportunities for ambush or traps. And, being a Knight-Scholar, I knew a few concoctions commonly used in my home. It was one of the few things I still remembered of my past. Regardless, I continued to follow my guide.

“The Everfree keeps us covered for the most part,” Chris started. “Especially now that the monsters are on our side. The castle’s been renovated with all the high tech gear we can reverse engineer from the cogs and machine captains that attack. Everyone here is a refugee, seeing as the rest of Equis basically belongs to the Machine Empire except select territories in Zebrica and the Dragon Lands.”

“Do you mean Zebran and Divala?” I queried, unfamiliar with the names.

Chris shot me a confused look. “I guess, maybe?” He answered. “Different worlds have different names. But anyway, I’ll have to get Artemus’ permission for a proper training session with our fighters, but my team is in the training room if you’re looking for immediate results and more… durable trainees.” I smirked.

“Durability is not necessarily needed for miracles or the magic I know of, but it is still a welcome trait,” I commented.

Chris let out a relieved breath. “Thank goodness because this request will probably take a few hours to process, thanks to the council. That and we don’t train at night to avoid flashing lights that are more easily seen.”

“A smart move. Though I may not remember any wars in my world, I do know plenty about tactics. I had to, as it was yet another job of a Knight-Scholar,” I noted.

Chris gave a little chuckle. “Well that’s a relief,” he said. “We need all the help we can get for the time being. Who knows what Midnight is planning next.”

“I’m glad to help,” I said with a smile. Chris gave a little smile and entered the castle, traveling down the intricately decorated walls.

As we walked, I admired the decor, not having seen anything with this kind of splendour in many long years. Sadly, this came at the cost of me not paying more attention to where I was going, and I bumped into someone, which knocked my helmet off of my head and the person who impacted me to the ground. I looked down at the light gold mare in expected secretary garb, now fearing I might be thrown out.

“Ms. Leaflet,” Chris said in surprise, drawing her attention away from my face and flashing her a grin as he helped her up. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah, I guess,” she murmured, her eyes starting to go back towards me before a flash of green drew her attention back to Chris as green electricity danced over his arms. The winds on the floor picked up and blew the stack of paper into his hands that she had dropped.

“There you go,” Chris said, keeping up his smile. “You should probably get going. Don’t want to be late now.”

“O-oh, right,” she muttered before turning and rushing away, giving me a last sideways glance as she went.

Chris let out a breath. “That could’ve been a problem,” he admitted as he used the wind to pick the helmet off the floor and hand it to me. I looked to him, surprise managing to make it to my features.

“You… Aren’t afraid?” I queried. “Or disgusted?”

Chris shrugged. “Why bother?” He said. “The horrors of war are bad enough. Some images I still can’t get out of my head….”

“Told you you were too hard on yourself,” Mia commented. I smiled lightly and placed my helmet back on my head.

“Tis good to know there are some people who do not shun or scorn my kind,” I said. “Thank you both. You’ve given this old Hollow hope. You do not know what that means to me.” I adjusted my helm for a second before looking back at Chris. “Well, let us not dally further, yes?”

“Agreed,” Chris answered, turning briskly and starting along again. Mia started humming some kinda tune. It didn’t take them much longer to reach a pair of heavy steel doors. He waved the device on his wrist in front of a pad next to the door and the sound of some form of mechanism could be heard as the doors drew back. Chris gave a bit of a proud smile as he stepped through the threshold. “Welcome to Ranger Operations,” he said as two ponies, a thestral and a pegasus, went around a fenced-in arena, sparring more fiercely than what most would consider reasonable.

“Hmm, they look promising,” I noted as I followed young Chris inside.

“Eh,” Mia said. She seemed unimpressed.

Chris gave Mia a little look, his confident smile not leaving before he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted towards the arena. “Co, Fly, we got company!” The thestral immediately stopped mid punch, his eyes going to the man… right before the Pegasi’s thunderpunch connected with his jaw. The thestral rocketed across the arena, his body aiming to slam into the fencing only for it to melt into shadows and pass through before solidifying on the other side to have him crash to the ground with a thud and a roll.

A loud gasp echoed from the mare before she took to the air, quickly moving to Cobalt’s side as he groaned and started getting to his feet. Chris just winced and shot a slightly embarrassed look at us before walking over to the two.

I watched on, observing the event before me. “Flashy,” Mia commented beside me.

Chris and the pegasus helped the thestral to his feet, the stallion shaking his head to clear the stars. The thestral raised his amber eyes towards me and gave a quiet huff, straightening up to take his own weight. “Who’re these guys?” He asked, his tone a bit suspicious.

Chris looked between the pair and us before clearing his throat. “Cobalt, Firefly, this is Octavius and Mia, Displaced that called me not too long ago. They’ve generously offered to help us in our fight.”

Cobalt and Firefly looked towards us, the thestral still not convinced. The pink pegasus noticed this and, hesitantly, walked towards us, extending a hand. “Hi, I’m Firefly,” she greeted a bit shyly.

“Mia,” the flame tailed human said, holding a hand out. I bowed, arm tucked under my chest.

“Sir Octavius, Knight-Scholar of Equestria,” I greeted politely.

Firefly gave a gentle smile before nodding towards Cobalt. “Don’t mind him,” she said, a mischievous light in her eyes. “He’s always prickly.”

“Oi, I am not prickly!” Cobalt exclaimed, folding his arms and giving a small huff.

Chris just chuckled a bit before looking towards me. “I’m going to make the call to Nightmare real quick,” he said before heading towards a door on the back wall. He stopped mid stride and turned on his heel. “This might take some time. You should probably get started instead of waiting.”

“We fighting soon?” Mia asked.

“I suppose we are,” I turned to the two in front of us. “Tell me, how familiar are you two with souls?”

Chris gave a little nod before turning and going back towards the door while the ponies exchanged confused looks. “I’m sorry,” Cobalt said, turning back to look at me. “Did you just say souls?” I nodded.

“Indeed I did. Is there something wrong?” I queried.

“Just a little… confused, I guess,” the thestral answered truthfully with a shrug.

“Well, it shall make sense soon. But first, we require some catalysts. Do any of you by chance have any staves, chimes, or talismans?” I queried.

Cobalt and Firefly once again exchanged looks. “Not really,” Firefly answered, looking back. “Chris and Sweetie usually handle the magic stuff. We just use shadows and weather.”

“I see…” I hummed in thought. An idea formed in my head then. “Well, maybe we can make our own.” I glanced around, trying to find something suitable for these two, before laying my eyes on a good sized metal rod. I smiled and walked over to it, picking it up and examining it. “Hmm, this should do nicely, just need to…” I took hold of it and, with a swift snap, broke it in two. I then walked over to Cobalt and Firefly, handing them both a piece of the rod.

The ponies stared in shock between the rods in their hands and me. Cobalt looked up with a newfound respect. “I, uh… what’s next?” He asked. I smiled.

“Simple. Try to imagine your center, your very essence, and channel it into the staff. We’ll go from there,” I explained, standing back and watching with interest.

Firefly closed her eyes almost immediately, seeming to concentrate hard. Cobalt, though, gave a questioning look to his partner, then to me, then the staff, then me again. He finally let out a breath and closed his eyes, starting to concentrate as well. After a short few moments of pure concentration, their staves glowed a soft blue. I grinned, clapping my hands in applause.

“Wonderful! You two are naturals at this!” I said, quite pleased.

“Say what now?” Cobalt questioned, opening his eyes suddenly. He blinked when he noticed the glowing object in his hand. “...How…?”

“It’s actually quite simple. You just used soul magic,” I explained, before turning to Miss Firefly. “You can open your eyes now too, Miss Firefly.”

Firefly opened her eyes slowly, locking on to her catalyst instantly. A small look of wonder grew on her face. “Wow…,” she murmured. “I know they say all ponies have magic but… I didn’t think it was true…”

“Well, it is not just ponies, but every living thing. Soul magic is simply one bit of evidence for that. Now, keep focusing on your staves,” I instructed, pointing to the now lifeless rods in their hands.

Both nodded and returned to concentrating, Cobalt attempting to keep his eyes open this time around. I smiled as the glow returned.

“Good, now, picture your essence flowing through the staff, and then out of it. Just make sure to point it away from us,” I told them. Cobalt and Firefly complied, each pointing their staves in different directions as they did what was instructed of them. At the command of their souls, a blue, ethereal bolt shot from each of their staves, impacting the wall to the right of us.

“Wonderful job! This is going swimmingly!” I praised.

Cobalt just stared in shock for a long while. “...What was that?” He asked in surprise, suddenly much more weary of where he pointed his catalyst.

“A magic thing,” Mia said sarcastically. I chuckled and shook my head at Mia.

“She is right, but there is more to it than that. You see, that was a Soul Dart, one of the most basic spells there is in the school of soul magic,” I explained. “But there is much, much more soul magic can do. It can use light to rewind time, block magical attacks, and even muffle your footsteps entirely.”

Cobalt’s ear flicked as he gave a questioning look. “You mean that everyone in the Resistance could have the potential to be a full blown mage?” He asked, slight disbelief in his voice.

“Yes, although the more advanced spells normally require great study, I happen to know enough to teach you all efficiently,” I confirmed.

Mia, while I was explaining things, seemed to just be messing around with her own magic, flames and ice both wrapping around her arm at the same time, doing a kind of dance.

While Firefly seemed mesmerized by Mia’s display, Cobalt kept his eyes on me. “This could give us just the edge we needed,” he said, glancing at his staff for a moment. “The machines will never see it coming.”

“Yeah, whatever. When can we fight some stuff?” Mia asked.

“In time, Miss Mia, in time. Right now, it is time I taught you all about Miracles,” I said, taking out my bundle of white silk.

Firefly was shocked from her stupor at the statement. “Miracles? As in acts of deities?”

“Technically, yes. Miracles, at least, from my world, are tales told by the Gods since the time of the First Flame. Reciting them allows the user to tap into the divine power hidden within the phrases. Sadly, Miracles are limited only to the faithful. Although it does not truly matter if it is faith in the gods or something else,” I told them.

Cobalt raised an eyebrow at this, though Firefly shot a quick, unnoticed glance at the stallion beside her before averting it again. “...Our faith in anything will let us perform these… miracles?” She asked, seemingly nervous. I nodded.

“Indeed. Miracles can do a great many things as well. Heal even the greatest wounds, create a nigh impervious magical barrier around yourself, summon lightning, emit a blast of holy force, and much more,” I continued. I idly noted Mia adding electricity to her display, humming as she did.

Firefly looked towards the floor for a moment before looking back up, far more resolute than before. “How do we perform them?” She asked, drawing a look of surprise from Cobalt in her sudden change in tone.

“Well, thankfully, I have a few scrolls in my pouches detailing a number of the Miracles  know, but there are some not in there that I’ve known by heart for many years. I can teach you all of them, if you so wish, but whether they work or not depends on the strength of your faith,” I answered truthfully, patting one of the pouches on my belt. “Just keep in mind that these are tales told by the gods themselves, and thus some are quite lengthy.”

Firefly nodded determinedly. “Whatever it takes,” she said softly. I smiled, glad to see she had such strong determination.

“Good. And you, sir?” I said, turning to the thestral named Cobalt.

“I’ve always been up for anything,” he said with a shrug. “And if I can shoot little magic bolts, I don’t see why I couldn’t do this, too.” My smile grew.

“Excellent! Now, let me just…” I scrounged around in my pouch for a moment, before pulling out two scrolls. “Ah, there we are!” I turned back to the two ponies. “Now, would you two prefer to learn the Heal Miracle first, or Lightning Spear?”

“Lightning Spear,” Cobalt answered, cutting off Firefly as she opened her mouth. She closed her lips and went back to her more passive behavior, giving a little nod.

“Very well,” I handed the scroll to them. “Now, you shall need to share, since that is the only copy I have, but I’m sure you can figure it out. All you need do is recite the Miracle and memorize it until you know it by heart, so you can more easily recite the words in battle.”

Cobalt took the scroll and opened it, leaning towards Firefly as they began to read the text. After a few moments, they seemed to get more and more confused, but in time they seemed to understand it and finished reading, looking back up to me.

“Finished?” I queried. “Are you certain you both have it down?”

“I do,” Firefly answered with confidence, looking up at me while Cobalt still squinted at the scroll, seemingly confused. I nodded and looked towards Cobalt.

“Having trouble?” I queried.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Cobalt mumbled back, bringing the page closer and straightening up now that Firefly was done. After a few more moments he looked up. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Good, now, we need either a talisman or a chime…” I hummed in thought and started to scrounge through my pouches. After a short while, I succeeded in my search and found two canvas talismans, looted from the Hollow Zebra’s of Zebril. They had the mark of the Zebra High Priest, namely a crown dripping with green liquid. “Yes, this should do well enough.” I handed them to the two. “Now, take your talismans and recite the Miracle, pouring as much of your faith as you can into your words.”

Firefly took the offered talisman and looked at it as if she were trying to burn a hole through it. Cobalt meanwhile… didn’t look quite so optimistic. After a moment both ponies looked up and began reciting the Miracle towards the same spot they’d shot their last magical bolts. When they came to the end of the Miracle, a crackling bolt of lightning appeared in the hand Firefly held the talisman, whilst Cobalt still held only the talisman.

“Good job, Miss Firefly! Very good!” I applauded. “You successfully performed a Miracle!” I turned to Cobalt. “As for you, Sir Cobalt, I’m afraid your faith just isn’t that strong. My apologies.”

Cobalt stared between his empty hand and Firefly’s. “...Lightning probably is easier for pegasi,” he muttered before handing back the talisman. “That, and I don’t put much faith in anything besides my abilities and the person that directs them.” I nodded.

“Tis fine. I can respect a warrior no matter where their faith lies,” I said truthfully, before turning back to Firefly, the lightning in her hand now gone. “Either way, it is good that at least one of you has the ability to perform Miracles.”

Mia wasn’t even paying attention to us anymore, seeming lost in her own amusement, directing the elements around her arms. I turned to her, deciding it was time she do some teaching of her own.

“Miss Mia? Do you think you could teach these two what you know as well?” I queried. “I must create more copies of the scrolls I have if I am to continue teaching, so I shall be over there if anyone shall have need of me.” I said, pointing to a bench on the other side of the room.

“What?” Mia asked, breaking concentration, the streams vanishing as she looked up.

“Can you teach these two what you know while I work on making more copies of these Miracles?” I repeated.

“Oh, sure, whatever,” She said. I smiled.

“Wonderful. I shall be on that bench, in the meantime,” I said, before walking over to said bench and pulling out some writing utensils and blank scrolls procured from the library of Zebril.

This is going to be a while.





Chris rounded his desk and sat down before picking up the receiver on his desk phone, turning it over and setting it back down before dialing for Artemus’ private communicator and setting the device to speaker. The phone rang for several moments before it stopped.

“Artemus here,” the alicorn’s voice answered through the phone.

“Artemus, it’s Chris,” the human replied. “Listen, I got called off earlier by another Displaced. He’s offered to teach our fighters some magic and a few other things.”

There was silence for several moments before she answered. “Chris, you understand that only unicorns can use magic,” she said, her voice tired. “How would that benefit us?”

“Not the way he describes it,” the ranger answered. “From what he’s said, everyone in the Resistance will be able to use magic. We just need a chance to get them to learn.”

There was silence for a little while before there was an answer. “I’ll get a message out to the other captains and we’ll get started tomorrow.”

“That’s great-”

“But something else has come up,” The sudden statement cut him off and his expression turned to confusion. “Early this evening we ran into strange readings coming from the atmosphere. We tracked it for as long as we could until it landed just outside the boundaries of the Everfree. We don’t know what it is, but whatever it is it sparked activity in Ponyville. Midnight is gathering up a force and they began to march towards the last place the signal had been received from.”

Chris was quiet for a moment, putting the puzzle pieces together in his head. “So.. you want me and the rangers to investigate?” He questioned, shifting his feet a little.

“That is correct,” she answered.

“We’ll get right on it,” he said, straightening up. “I’ll call Sweetie Belle and we’ll be on our way. I’ll report the moment we get back.”

“I pray you do,” Artemus answered. “Good luck out there, and come back to us safely.”

“Will do,” Chris promised before he heard the sound of the mare cutting the line. He replaced the phone and rubbed his face a bit before lifting his communicator. “Scoots, get the galaxy gliders ready for lift off. We’re going out.” With that, he marched around his desk and back out the door.

Once he made it back to the training room, he saw random bits of ice and charred bits of land, some fires still burning around the arena. The ranger’s eyes widened at the sight, his jaw dropping. He stared at the scene for so long, one might have thought that he had stopped breathing. Eventually, he just gave an exasperated sigh and slammed his balled up hand into the red button next to his door. Hidden doors slid up and miniscule machines flew out, beginning to repair the training room. Chris took a deep breath and straightened up, starting to walk towards where he had left the group. “....What. Happened. To my. Training room!?” He half shouted as he came to a stop.

“Miss Mia was making an endeavor to teach these two how to use her moves. It did not work out well,” Octavius explained, not having looked up from his piece of paper of which he was still writing on. A stack of scrolls lay next to him.

Chris’ eye twitched for a moment before he sighed again. “Okay, where’s Cobalt and Firefly?” He asked, rubbing his eyes. Octavius pointed to the wall beside him, where the two lay in a heap on top of one another, groaning with minor cuts, bruises, and burns as well frost all over their bodies.

Chris’ hand promptly met his face before he walked over to them and knelt down. “Cobalt…,” he said softly, poking the thestral stallion a bit… before shouting directly into his ear. “GET UP!”

The dark pony jumped up, Firefly tumbling off of him with a shout of surprise. “WHAT!?” The taller stallion shouted back once he was properly oriented.

“We have a mission.”

“...Oh.”

Chris turned back and made his way to Octavius where he stood and waited for Firefly and Cobalt to follow him over as well. “Okay,” he said clapping his hands together. “We’re going to have to talk on the way because we’ve got a group of machines headed straight for our objective. Besides that, Sweetie isn’t-”

“Sweetie isn’t what?” The mare asked as she appeared in a flash behind him.

“...Here,” the young man finished before coughing. “Anyway, we need to go.” He turned towards Octavius. “You coming with?” Octavius looked up at him, then down to his paper, and slowly rolled it up and placed it in the pile. He stood up.

“I would not miss it for the world,” he said with a grin hidden behind his helmet. He glanced towards Mia. “What about you, Miss Mia? You have been wanting a fight, after all, yes?”

“Yes, finally!” Mia said, smirking.

Chris nodded and turned so that he could face his team and the two Displaced. “We’ll be leaving and heading south on the galaxy gliders. We’re on a clock, so let’s get moving while the moving’s still good.” Octavius seemed confused at the terminology, but nodded nonetheless.

“Yes, well, let us be on our way!” he urged, picking up his sword and shield from the side of the bench.

Mia was bouncing from one foot to the other, excited.

“Then let’s get moving,” Chris stated, moving towards the double doors once more, his team following closely behind. Octavius was right behind them, Mia following him as well.

“What we’re tracking is a signal that was picked up by our sensors earlier,” he began to explain as the group made their way down the halls. “It landed on the outskirts of the Everfree where the signal went dead. Reports came in that Midnight picked up the signal as well and immediately mobilized her own forces. With the galaxy gliders we should be able to beat them there without a problem, but they’ll show up sooner or later. ...They always do….”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but it sounds bad. I just hope these, ‘galaxy gliders’ are as fast a mode of transportation as you make them out to be,” Octavius hoped.

“Better be,” Mia commented. She had no patience apparently.

Chris let out a little chuckle. “Are they fast?” He questioned rhetorically before they came to a set of double doors that opened up as he swiped his morpher over the reader panel. The doors opened up to reveal the hanger. The Delta megaship took up the center of the large building in all of its black, star shaped glory. Scootaloo stood off to the side, doing a few last minute adjustments to a set of six ramps, each with a different colored, high tech rocket board on it. “We ready to go?” He asked as he closed the gap between himself and the pegasus.

“Ready as can be with these jury-rigged things,” the orange mare answered. “Seriously, you really need a proper launching point for these things.” Octavius seemed very confused, but also amazed at the size of the, what was to him, a giant metal beast.

“Extraordinary…” he breathed, gazing in wonder at the machines before him.

“Let’s go!” Mia said.

Chris nodded his head as his team went past him and stepped up onto the boards; Sweetie on silver, Cobalt an black, and Firefly on the pink. “Let’s,” the young man answered as he stepped up onto the red board, leaving the yellow and blue galaxy gliders open. “Crash course, the boards mostly guide themselves. Leaning forward slightly makes it go faster while heavy leaning descends. Lean back to ascend and lean from one side or the other to go left and right.” Octavius snapped out of it quick enough to hear what Chris said, though he was still quite confused.

“I see…” he said, slowly approaching the blue glider and stepping on it. He tried to balance on it, and managed to do so well enough. “So… Now what?”

Mia closed her eyes for a second, concentrating. She mumbled something under her breath, and two glowing wings appeared from her back, seemingly made of energy. She flapped a bit, sending a wind that buffeted everyone a little, floating with a thumbs up.

“Well… I’m at a loss for words,” Octavius said, gazing at Mia in bewilderment.

Chris blinked for a second before shaking his head and chuckling, looking towards Scootaloo. “Scoots, launch door please.”

Scoots threw him a remote connected to a heavy cord and the base for the gliders before walking over to a panel on the wall. She grabbed and yanked a lever, the hangar roof starting to slide back.

A bit of a wild grin lit up on the ranger’s face. “Hang onto your butts!” He shouted before pressing the button on the remote. The galaxy gliders shot forward and up the ramps, rushing like bullets into the twilight sky.

Mia yawned, before flying after them. Octavius was, for lack of a better word, hanging on for dear life, and he most certainly was not screaming. Mia was definitely not laughing at his not screaming. Chris was definitely laughing at his screaming. They rushed through the air, becoming little more than streaks of multicolored lights in the darkening sky as they headed south. Within minutes they reached the site… and Chris’ expression wasn’t something that could be easily explained at the sight of the disk-shaped ship ahead of them, the front cabin extending out opposite the silver fins that extend from the rest of the black ship. Chris and the others brought their galaxy gliders to a stop in front of the ship, Chris stumbling off of his vehicle, and Octavius falling off of his own.

Mia snickered, hovering next to him. “Great job there.”

“Yes, yes, let’s laugh at the doddery old warrior,” Octavius groused, pulling himself up off the ground.

“Okay,” Mia said, laughing teasingly. Chris, meanwhile, paid no mind as he stared up at the ship. Cobalt watched him as the young man stepped towards the machine, Sweetie just walking after Chris while Firefly checked on Octavius.

“I am fine, nothing I can’t handle,” he assured her, waving off her concerns. He looked towards the ship in front of them. “So, that is the vessel you spoke of… It certainly looks powerful.”

Firefly followed his gaze towards the ship. “It sure does,” she said nervously.

“So now what?” Mia asked, wings flapping.

Firefly gulped nervously as she stared at the ship the others were approaching without hesitation. “I guess… now we follow,” she answered before forcing herself to walk forward after the other three. Octavius followed after, still gazing at the massive ship in wonder, Mia shrugging and went in with him.

They caught up with the others just in time to hear Sweetie Belle’s question. “What is this thing, Chris?”

The young man just shook his head dumbly. “It’s another zord…,” he muttered in response, lifting a hand to put it on the metal plating of one of the landing skits, hesitating a bit before he can touch it.

“I do not know what that means,” Octavius said, before adding, “But I’m assuming it is another mode of transport?”

“In a way,” Cobalt spoke up, his eyes going over the black and silver exterior. “The Delta, that ship you saw in the hangar is also a zord. They’re basically giant fighting machines… I just didn’t think another one existed.” The sudden sound of hydraulics firing up had the rangers’ gazes shoot towards Chris as he jumped back and a door in the skit opened.

For a few moments, he was completely still… up until he turned to face them with the look of a kid who just found the candy store. Mia snickered at this, shaking her head, whilst Octavius simply smiled. Sweetie swatted him with a bit of a cross expression. “You couldn’t give us a warning?” She questioned, sending him back into the panicked verbal flustering he’d been in earlier that evening. Sweetie just sighed and put a hand to her eyes. “Just… lead us inside, Chris.”

Chris froze where he was before nodding his head stiffly. “Right,” he answered before turning on his heel and walking into the gigantic ship, his team following behind him, Cobalt drawing out his laser blade in anticipation. Octavius tightened his grip on his weapons as he walked in with the others.

The interior was nothing but gray hallways with supports every ten feet or so, doors occasionally found between two of the supports. The rangers kept quiet as they walked, tensing up as lights suddenly lit up the hallway. Octavius tried to keep his eyes on the surroundings for enemies and not the marvel of science he had not seen before, and for the most part, he was managing.

Mia started humming a tune to herself, looking around.

Chris took a deep. “Come on, guys,” he muttered before moving forward once more, his team following behind him. It didn’t take long before the group entered a room with computers and other technology lining the walls, five consoles taking up the center of the room, three in front of the other two. A large window at the opposite end of the room from the entrance showed off the scenery outside.

“This is far more advanced than anything I’ve seen before…” Octavius breathed, completely in awe.

“Eh,” Mia said boredly.

“Not sure you’d be thinking that if you saw this thing in-”

“Greetings, ranger.” The sudden feminine voice startled Chris quiet, as his and the ponies’ gazes locked onto a small orb with a red dot sitting on a black stalk, hanging from the corner of the room. “I am Deka. It is nice to meet you after so many years. Would you like me to initiate orientation protocols?”

“Um…?” Chris responded, taking a look at the others, receiving shrugs from the majority of his team.

“Neat,” Mia commented.

“I shall take that as a yes,” Deka said, drawing attention back to the camera. “If you would follow the black line on the floor, it will take you to the vault.”

“I am very confused, as well as curious,” Octavius commented.

“I’m sure it’ll be clear once we see the vault,” Chris answered, turning towards the doorway. “And who knows, maybe it’ll have something that will help us with what’s coming.” He started on his way, the rest of the team following along behind as he went.

“I hope so,” Octavius said, walking after them. The black line on the floor led them further into the ship, past even more closed doors except for one space that led into a sort of mess hall.

Cobalt’s eyes swept over the walls and occasional doors. “This is nothing like the Delta,” he muttered after a while.

“That’s because the Delta is just a zord,” Chris answered. “The Astro Megaship is anything but. This puppy can travel at light speed, house and provide for a crew of at least six for a prolonged amount of time, and transform into fighter mode to do even more damage than Delta.”

“I am still thoroughly confused,” Octavius informed the group as he followed, looking around in bewilderment.

“Think of it like a giant golem you can live in,” Mia told him.

“Mostly,” Firefly added softly. “Zords are like golems that are mostly piloted by somepony of our stature but still be autonomous. But when it comes to golems, they don’t get sick, or decay. They just add to themselves over time. Zords can get viruses, suffer from wear and tear and require a heck of a lot of maintenance.” She explained this all expertly… before suddenly shrinking back a bit. “Sorry, I, uh….”

“Tis fine, I appreciate the explanation,” Octavius assured. Mia giggled a little in bemusement.

Firefly smiled a bit at the two before promptly walking into Cobalt’s back. The pink pegasus stumbled as if to fall only to end up in front of the thestral with his wings wrapped around her. “...You really need to be more careful,” he chided softly, drawing out a nervous chuckle from the mare before she looked in front of her.

They’d arrived at a large door that filled the hallway, a wheel taking up its center while a keypad sat on its right edge. “Welcome to the vault,” Deka’s voice spoke up once more, emanating from yet another small camera in the corner of the hall. “The pin pad can be reset once the door has been opened with your morpher.”

Chris hesitated a moment before lifting his morpher, a panel on the wall opening up to reveal a pad similar to the ones found within the castle. There was a buzzing sound followed by clinking as the vaults wheel half-rotated counter clockwise. “Proceed to turn the wheel clockwise for three rotations.” The young man lowered his morpher before doing just that. The door let out a hydraulic hiss before sliding back and into the left wall. The room revealed within… was mostly blocked by Chris.

“...Sweetie. Could you take Cobalt and Firefly to find the engine room?” He asked. “I’d like to get her up and running as soon as possible.”

The off-white mare looked a bit confused for a moment before nodding. “Alright,” she said, half turning before looking to the others. “C’mon guys.” She turned and walked off, Firefly following without hesitation. Cobalt turned but threw one last look at his leader before following after the mares.

Octavius seemed curious, but proceeded with the others out of the room. Mia shrugged, following him.

The group moved along in silence for a long while before someone finally spoke up. “...What’s he trying to hide?” Cobalt questioned. Not out of suspicion or mistrust, but simple curiosity.

“I know not,” Octavius said truthfully.

“Stuff,” Mia said sarcastically.

Cobalt huffed at Mia’s answer before his attention was drawn away by Sweetie Belle. “Keep it cool, Co,” she said before continuing. “As for Chris, he’s never led us astray, so we’re just going to have-” An explosion suddenly rocked the ship and cut off the unicorn, knocking the ponies off their balance, Sweetie and Cobalt grabbing for the wall supports while the thestral put an arm around Firefly’s shoulders.

“What the hell?!” Mia cried, looking around.

“Hurry, outside!” Octavius ordered, rushing past them all.

“Warning! Warning!” Deka’s voice rang out through the halls, red alarm lights flashing. “Attempted breach on the starboard side! Forty enemy signatures detected and a single large signa-” Another explosion rocked the ship as Deka’s voice decayed into wordless static. “D-D-D-Day-ay-ay-anger! Ener-ner-ner-nergy drai-ai-ai-aining! Imm-me-me-mediate action requi-i-i-ired!”

“Well, that’s not good.” Mia commented. Octavius popped his head back in the hall.

“Make haste! We have enemies on the horizon!” he called, before turning back down the hall and rushing off. Mia rolled her eyes, following him. The three ponies rushed after them, Sweetie summoning her mage staff while Cobalt drew his laser pistol and tossed it to Firefly who caught it and held it in her left as she assembled her advanced laser pistol in her right. The group found themselves exiting the same door they had entered from only to be met by the flashing lights of laser fire.

Sweetie’s eyes widened and she slammed her staff into the ground, a green field of energy forming a partial dome shield in front of them. The bolts slammed into the barrier, throwing up explosions and smoke. Sweetie clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth to keep the barrier up, though it was certainly taking its toll as sweat started to form on her brow and cracks started to form in her shield.

“Allow me,” Mia said, standing next to Sweetie. Putting her arms up, she smirked. “Protect.” She said, a barrier of energy forming over Sweetie’s.

Then, all of a sudden, Octavius yelled, “Hold on to anything you can, and hold on tight!” he said, before taking out his white silk talisman  walking out of the barrier for a moment and seemingly hugging himself, doing so tighter and tighter, until, with a blast of concussive force, all the lasers that shot his way were blown away, a few landing on the shield behind him but most harmlessly flying into the rest of the environment or into the enemy lines.

Then, with a another motion of his talisman, he slammed a large bolt of lighting into the ground, and the sound of roaring thunder could be heard for miles around, until a wave, nay, a storm of lightning bolts decimated the enemy ranks.

Many of the cogs fell to pieces while others just managed to get out of the way. However, in the midst of the crowd, a large white robot was not only hit by the bolts, but seemed to be drawing in some of the others. When the bolts died down, the robot still stood, completely unharmed. Sweetie let her barrier fall and got a good look at the machine captain.

It seemed rather ramshackle, its metallic frame visible underneath its white exoskeleton, red wires running to and fro around the silver frame. A dome like head with two red eyes topped its skeletal appearance, staring at them as if it was completely unfazed.

“Damn…” Octavius cursed, gripping his blade tighter in his other hand.

Sweetie huffed for breath as Cobalt and Firefly stepped in front of her. “This… is not something that we’ve come across,” she breathed as she leaned on her staff.

“Blizzaga!” Mia shouted, sending a blizzard at the robot. The robot didn’t move at all until a cog came flying out of nowhere and took the hit for the machine captain, drawing a little cackle from the white automaton.

Octavius growled, taking his talisman and reeling it back, a white, glowing disc of holy magic appearing in his palm, before he launched it at the captain. When a cog tried to take the hit for the captain, it was split in half and it continued on, slicing through one of the captain’s hands, then coming back to Octavius a dissipating after sitting behind the white captain for a few seconds.

The white machine let out a roar of pain and stumbled back a few steps before stopping. It lifted its arms to stare at its sparking wrists. Wires leapt from the wounds and began to reform into hands that flexed a few times. Once it was satisfied, it clenched its fists and stared directly at Octavius as electricity started to pour from its body. “...You die first,” its deep voice declared before black armor began to form over the gaps in its frame. Suddenly, the cogs that had somehow survived the first blast surrounded them, the ranger team tensing up and staring them down.

“We’ll take these clowns,” Cobalt declared, putting away his laser blade as he waved his hand over the charm on his hip, his greatsword forming before he drew it. “Think you guys can handle that thing?”

“Sure,” Mia said, making her hands go in a claw shape, a dark purple energy forming.

“A fight to the death… What more could an old Hollow ask for?” Octavius joked, before getting into a battle ready stance, taking his shield from his back.

“Kill them all!” The machine captain commanded, the cogs rushing to follow the order. Cobalt and Firefly ran towards the left while Sweetie ran right, all of them raising their weapons. Firefly let loose with her twin pistols as Cobalt followed behind her, downing quite a few of her foes as shadows from Cobalt’s eyes and wings flooded to his blade. Sweetie flashed out of sight before reappearing in the midst of her opponents, whirling through the crowd like a green whirlwind.

The captain didn’t wait for the other two to move, slamming its reformed hands and a cable from its back into the ground, launching three waves of electricity at the pair. Octavius grit his teeth from the pain, but forced himself to charge through it and towards the machine captain, sword poised to slash and shield raised to block.

Mia blocked it with another Protect, before charging with her claws, coming at him from his side. The captain straightened up and turned to face the oncoming threat. It rushed to meet Mia, raising a fist and swinging, its bulk throwing off its accuracy, letting her dodge and cut into its side with her claws.

Octavius took this opportunity to get closer as well and thrust his shield into the abdomen of the captain, then slice into its the arm, nearly but it did not do anything to the dark metal covering it. He followed up with a number of swift slashes to the white-plated chest area, leaving sparks in his blade’s wake.

Mia, deciding to take advantage of the open wounds, breathed a jet of hot flames into them, flames warm enough to cut through stone like butter.

The machine captain gave out another cry of pain as the flames licked at its side, stumbling back as the static buzzed, rushing to patch the area as quickly as it could. Mia didn’t let up, sending another, stronger, jet of flame into the wounds. The automaton let out another roar of pain, but this time, rather than retreat, it rushed forward, aiming a punch at Mia’s head.

She moved to dodge the punch, charging another flame burst. Except the blow never came, the captain dropping the punch and instead wrapping its cable around her throat tightly and lifting her up from the ground before zapping her for all it was worth.

Mia snarled, annoyance building as she kept building flame. The captain reared its appendage back and threw Mia away, launching a few bolts of electricity after her just for good measure.

Mia, angered, fired a beam of fire so hot it had more business being a plasma than a fire beam. Octavius, at the same time, took advantage of Mia’s distraction and pulled out the staff that Samson had given him, and raised it, and then thrust it forwards, summoning a barrage of blue, nearly crystalline looking, bolts of soul magic, which tore into the captain’s back, ignoring it’s armor and penetrating it.

Two more barrages followed, leaving the captain with strange scars that wouldn’t heal, thanks to a number of blue, glowing crystals left in the wounds, seeming to be residue from the bolts.

The machine yelled in pain as it was ping-ponged around the battlefield. When it finally came to a stop, it laid where it had landed, smoke rising from its sparking body. Octavius approached the body, stomping a boot on a twitching arm and keeping his sword at the ready for any surprise attacks.

“And stay down, monster,” he growled, crushing the arm further. The machine lie still, not making a single peep as its body was mangled further… but then again, it didn’t have to. A scream and shout sounded out across the battlefield.

“Cobalt! Fly!” Sweetie’s yell pierced the sounds of battle, the commotion caused by her magically enhanced attacks growing tenfold. Octavius’ head snapped towards the sound, seeing Cobalt hold his own against a growing crowd of cogs, Firefly lying on her back as she clutched at her side, her armor beginning to stain red in the same region. Sweetie was doing all she could to join them, but the weak opponents just kept coming.

Octavius, angered at his companion and new student’s being driven back and harmed so much, let loose a feral growl and raised his staff one, final time. An eerie purple glow emanated from it for but a moment, before a terrifying, large, ethereal orb of dark magic shot towards the cogs, two wide, glowing white eyes in the center of the orb granting an eerie sense of humanity to it, before it barreled into the cogs around Cobalt and Firefly, smashing them with it’s darkness and leaving naught but piles of bodies, all crumpled and sparking.

Octavius panted as he fell to his knees, eyes wide in shock as he stared at his staff like it had just betrayed him. He was trembling, almost as if he were cold.

That’s when the machine below him struck. The sound of rending metal split the air as it drove the spike of its cable into the Unkindled’s back before unleashing just as much electricity as had been dealt to it by the knight. Octavius could not help the blackish blood that spew from his mouth and splattered the inside of his helm, nor could he help the cold in his chest growing more cold. He fell limp quickly, his blackish blood dripping down the cable as he did, while his body was smoking from the electricity. The only remnants of him being remotely alive were the twitches of his limbs.

The machine stood to its feet, electricity sparking as the wounds that could be healed sealed themselves off. It yanked the cable from Octavius’ back and gave a wicked chuckle as it aimed the next thrust at the metallic helm. The strike never came.

A rushing sound filled the air, followed by the sound of shredding metal and a thud. Not long after, an explosion shook the ground. Footsteps rushed towards Octavius before Chris knelt beside him in his Psycho Chrome armor. “Oh, gott, what did Main Drain do to you?” He muttered before putting his hands on the Unkindled, Pink Static charging Octavius as he tried to get the wounds healed.

But it did not work. The wounds continued weeping blood, and Octavius was still badly burnt and occasionally sparking.

“Verdammt…,” the ranger muttered, trying to push more healing magic into the fallen warrior.

Mia seemed to come out of a trance, looking at Octavius. “Curaga,” She said. But that didn’t work either.

A growl emanated from the helmet on Chris’ head. “Why isn’t this working?” He questioned angrily, undertones of fear weeding through his voice.

“He’s probably dead, if healing doesn’t work,” Mia said, huffing.

Chris completely stopped at that, even his Static dying away. “...Dead?” He questioned, his voice hollow.

“Don’t worry. He’s a Hollow, they come back. He just needs to catch up to us,” Mia told him.

The brakes slamming could almost be heard from Chris’ head. “Wait, what?” He asked, looking up at Mia.

“I said, he’s a Hollow, he’ll come back.” Mia said.

Chris let this sink in as the black lenses stared at Mia. Eventually he stood to his feet, stature resolute in its entirety. “How does he come back?” He questioned, the forming plan clear in his voice.

“Bonfires,” Mia said.

“...A Bonfire, huh?” The ranger muttered before he looked off slightly to their left. Pink Static arced through him and into the ground, roots suddenly bursting from the ground and forming the usual form of a bonfire. With a quick flick of his wrist, Chris threw a fireball into the wood, bursting into flames. Chris lowered his hand and waited… and waited… and waited….

But nothing emerged from the flames.

“Oh, come on!”

“They usually need a soul,” Mia commented.

“How do we get one of those?” Chris asked before pausing. “...We’re not actually going to have to kill something are we?”

“Well, that was a big fight. See if anything’s dying around here,” Mia said with a shrug.

The ranger stayed where he was for several moments before a sigh emanated from him. “Sorry, Flutters…,” he muttered before Pink Static burst through the ground in a wave. A few moments passed before the wave came back and entered Chris, telling him all he needed to know. “....There’s a dying squirrel about thirty feet behind us…,” he reported morosely.

“That should work.” Mia said.

The squares in his gauntlets turned gray, Gray Static lighting up around him before shadows formed on the ground and shot away from them. Chris turned his eyes away as the shadows returned with the body of the squirrel, simply tossing it into the flames. The ranger let out a long breath and lowered his head as the Gray Static died away and the squares returned to the shifting colors they had been before.

Then, Octavius’ body dissolved into ashes, flew over to the Bonfire, and then he reformed in the flames, stepping out as if he weren’t even bothered by them. His armor was back to it’s pristine condition, and he looked the same as ever.

“Aaaand he’s back,” Mia said, smirking.

Chris looked up the moment Octavius came through. “Thank goodness,” he said in a low tone… before a ball of electricity slammed into his back. The resulting explosion rocked him forward, but did little more as the lightning was absorbed into his armor, the young man letting out a sigh. “...Ready to finish this guy?” Octavius simply nodded, getting into a battle ready stance.

Mia was ahead of them, breathing purple energy at the thing. Main Drain seemed to be learning though as it dodged to the side, jumping out of the way and launching lightning at the one assaulting it. However, the bolts never reached her as Chris appeared at her side, arms crossed over his chest as he absorbed the electricity. Octavius simply cracked his neck, before whipping out his staff again.

“My first mistake was aiming for your back. This time, I shall aim for your heart,” he growled, before raising his staff, rearing it back as blue magic collected in it, and as soon as Main Drain turned around, a solid beam of pure soul magic, larger than any bolt, slammed into him, blowing a humongous hole in his chest that would not heal thanks to the crystals starting to eat away at his form.

“No, wait-” Chris started dropping his arms and reaching forward, but it was too late as Main Drain fell back and laid still. Octavius approached Chris.

“The beast lies dead, so why do you look concerned, young Chris?” Octavius queried, stomping on Main Drain’s head for emphasis.

“Run,” was the rangers only response as all the cogs in the area started to retreat. “Get to the Astro now.” Octavius blinked, before looking to the machine captain’s corpse.

“I’m not sure I understand-,” Octavius began to say only to be cut off as the corpse began to glow a dark green and black. The energy flared as the robot began to grow in size. “Oh.” He said, before following the group inside the Astro as quick as he could.

The ponies limped into the ship first, Cobalt and Sweetie supporting Firefly even as healing magic pulsed into her from the unicorn mage. Chris followed after them followed by Octavius and Mia, the door slamming as Main Drain’s growth reached the halfway point. “Get to the main deck!” Chris shouted worriedly as they rounded the several bends of the ship’s interior.

“So, what the hell’s going on? I keep zoning out,” Mia commented.

“The machine we were fighting is getting big now,” Chris answered as they ran. “The only chance we have of surviving is to get Astro on its feet.”

“Pft, maybe for you, I got summons,” Mia said.

“I believe we should be focusing on the matter at hand, Miss Mia!” Octavius admonished as they ran.

“Nevah!” Mia exclaimed.

They reached the main control room just as a flash of light filled the windows. A low, loud chuckle shook the ship slightly as Main Drain could be seen outside. “Everybody take a console!”

“What in the world is a ‘console’?” Octavius wondered to himself as he walked to what he assumed was one. “So, now what do we do, young Chris?”

“We do stuff,” Mia said, going to one as well.

Chris and the others took up the rest of the consoles, Chris taking the foremost as Cobalt and Sweetie took the seats nearest, Firefly falling into the last nearest Mia and Octavius. “We hold on,” Chris answered as he took the controls. “Deka, get this bird in the air!”

“If your intent is to fight, there is a problem,” the AI replied. “The Astro requires the combined efforts of two or more rangers to operate correctly.”

“What does that mean, spirit?” Octavius queried the A.I.

“It means one of you would need to take up the form of a ranger,” Deka answered. “Perhaps if one of you took up the power in the-”

“Deka!” Chris interrupted sharply. “Give me manual flight control.”

“Manual flight controls activated.” Chris jerked the controls and the Astro shuddered into the air, the main windows giving them a perfect view of the giant machine in front of them.

“Well…” Octavius began, staring ahead at the monstrous machine captain. “That’s certainly not good.”

“I’m tempted to summon something but I wanna see the fight,” Mia said.

Chris jerked the controls again, forcing everyone in the cabin to jerk to one side as a blur went passed the windows. A loud boom sounded out as the machine captain’s fist barely missed them and slammed into the ground. “Hang on!” The ranger shouted, moving the joysticks more fluidly before pushing them forward. The Astro shot forward and around Main Drain until the crew could look up through the viewing window and see Main Drain far below, straightening up to glare at them after its attack.

“We can’t take that thing as we are,” Cobalt pointed out as they circled their opponent.

Chris nodded his helmeted head. “Deka, we need fighter mode,” he said, not letting his eyes come off the machine captain.

“Sir, fighter mode will not function properly without two ranger pilots,” the computer answered, once again iterating its point.

Chris was silent for a moment before he answered. “Deka, Astro has an AI, correct?”

“Correct,” Deka answered. “It was her decision to follow Delta’s signal to this planet after he exited the wormhole.”

“Put her in control alongside me,” Chris said, looking towards his console as different read outs lit up. “Now, initiate fighter mode.” The reaction was immediate. The cabin doors sealed themselves as the orientation of the cockpit changed. Lights surrounded the cabin’s occupants before they disappeared and reappeared in a new cockpit, much smaller than before.

“What in the-?!” Octavius cried in surprise.

“Well this is a thing,” Mia comments.

“Hold on folks!” Chris warned as he pushed the controllers forward, bringing Astro into her dive position as she began to descend. “We’re going in rough!” The Astro fell towards the machine captain as he stared them, her shield held in front of her and sword raised, body leaned forward with one knee hiked forward.

Main Drain launched his cable towards the Astro, only to have the machine’s only weapon ricochet off the shield with a bang and a spark. Astro slammed into the captain with her shield, showers of sparks exploding from the collision. Main Drain staggered back as the Astro finally got her feet under her with a shudder.

“I AM BOTH THOUROUGHLY CONFUSED AND EXCITED AT THE SAME TIME!” Octavius yelled, holding onto the console for dear life whilst also watching the fight. Mia was just laughing.

Chris’ head tilted forward. “Now, the real fight begins,” he muttered as Main Drain righted itself, staring at them with its one bright red eye.

“...You’re all going to die,” the machine captain declared before rushing towards them, its cable poised over its shoulder for an attack. Chris thrust the controls forward and Astro responded accordingly, rushing towards Main Drain with her shield held out front and sword raised high. The titans clashed in a shower of sparks and loud booms as the machine captain launched its main weapon forward, the spike barely bouncing off the edge of the shield as Astro swung her sword, the blade meeting the black armor on the automaton’s forearm as it raised the limb to defend itself. The captain raised its other fist and slammed it into Astro’s shield, once again shooting up an array of sparks as the megazord staggered back. Within the cabin, Firefly gripped the console before her and grit her teeth while Cobalt and Sweetie both held on tightly, eyes locked on Main Drain.

Octacvius, starting to calm down from the miraculous things going on around him, finally started to analyze the fight. As he did, he noted Chris was not using his shield to it’s full potential.

“Young Chris! That shield is more than protection, tis a weapon as good as any blade!” Octavius instructed the ranger.

Chris cocked his head back towards Octavius before nodding. “Astro,” he said, turning back to his controls. “Magnetize the left forearm, get the shield in side grip rather than frontal.” There was no response as Astro’s feet ground into the earth below them, stopping them before raising its yellow eyes towards Main Drain. With a buzz and a hollow, metal boom, the shield shifted its position and stuck to the side of the zord’s arm rather than sitting in her hand. Chris jerked the joysticks forward once more.

They ran forward once more, Main Drain ready for their assault… or so it thought. The machine raised its arm, electricity bounding off of the knuckles before it swung down, aiming towards Astro’s head. The shield shot up, deflecting the blow with little effort. The black zord swung upward diagonally with its sword, slashing the captain across the chest and sending up a shower of sparks. Even as Main Drain staggered back, Astro spun with her momentum, extending her left arm and slamming the edge of her shield into the side of the robot’s head. Main Drain lost it’s balance as the blow lifted it off its feet and tossed it away from them.

“Well done, young Chris! Now finish it off!” Octavius encouraged.

“With pleasure,” two voices responded, the first being Chris’ and the other feminine, but different from Deka. Main Drain started to rise, Astro running to meet it. The robot took notice and launched its spike cable forward, only for the zord to sidestep and slash down, severing the captain’s one weapon in an explosion of sparks.

“AGGGHHH!” Main Drain cried out in pain, attempting to stand to its feet only to cry out once more as the astro saber buried itself in its leg and the ground beneath, pinning the automaton. Chris spun the controls in a quick wide circle, Astro responding by spinning counterclockwise and backhanding Main Drain’s head once more with the shield as the zord stepped passed it, bringing an arm back and over her shoulder. The machine captain’s head slammed into the ground, dazing it before it started to raise itself back up, its head raising… only to find itself staring into a black hole.

“Night night, arschhut,” Chris muttered before he pulled the trigger of his joystick. Light filled the captain’s vision as the astro blaster whirred to life. With a loud boom, a hole bored itself through Main Drain’s head, its red eye flickering before going dark. The machine slumped to the ground and lie still.

“Ha ha ha ha! Marvelous, the cretin lies dead!” Octavius cheered.

“Well, that was a good show,” Mia commented.

Chris slumped back in his chair. Sweetie looked at him with concern before putting a hand to his armored shoulder, drawing his attention. “We should get home,” the mare said quietly, receiving only a nod from the young man. He lifted himself back up in his seat and took the controls once more.

“Astro, return to megaship mode,” he said tiredly. They were returned to the main cockpit as Astro rose into the air and transformed into its ship mode. Chris demorphed and leaned back once more, sweat drenched air sticking to his head. “...Take us home,” he muttered before resting his morpher on the console, the ship rushing forward and back towards the Everfree castle.

“Are you alright, young Chris?” Octavius asked as he approached.

“Y-yeah,” the young man answered, rubbing a hand over his face to clear the sweat from his eyes. “But I see why the Astro needs more than one pilot….”

“A bit too hard on ya?” Mia asked.

Chris nodded. “Controlling the megazord is just as much mental as it is physical,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “And… there are a lot of moving parts….” Octavius rested a hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“Will you be alright once we return? I do not wish to see a friend push themselves too far, after all,” Octavius asked worriedly.

Chris nodded his head. “I’ll be fine,” he muttered before starting to push himself off his chair. “But there’s something I want to discuss with you and Mia if you don’t mind.” Octavius simply nodded.

“What’s up?” Mia asked.

“Um, something… very important,” he said before nodding his head towards the door in a signal to follow him. Octavius did so, following him through the door.

Mia nodded, following. The young man walked through the halls of the megaship, leading them down a path they had already walked that day. “...After what you’ve seen today, you guys understand what we face… right?” He asked as they walked. Octavius nodded.

“Automatons of a sort, and a very unique kind of which I have not seen the likes of before. A tough enemy to be sure,” Octavius surmised.

“Robots,” Mia said simply.

Chris nodded. “These machines are incredibly powerful, but I’ve been able to take them down one at a time… until recently.” He came to a stop in front of the vault doors. “They’re getting stronger, and I can’t keep beating them.” He lifted his arm and scanned his morpher on the security pad. “The inhabitants of Equis are what I’m afraid for. They keep standing up and getting knocked down and each time is worse… they’re not like us. So, I have to make a decision….” He reached for the wheel and turned it, the door opening up to reveal what was inside the vault. “Do I stand alone and keep protecting them… or do I put them in harm’s way?”

In the back of the vault hung two suits, one primarily silver and the other primarily black, each with a stand in front of it holding some sort of device. The silver was simple and streamlined with gold accents wrapping around it here and there, the band across the chest containing five green squares, the helmet following the same design pattern with a black dome that decorated the top.

The black suit was much bigger and looked to be more like a suit of armor, complete with shoulder pads, a cape, and a horned helmet. A green hexagon occupied the middle of the chest and matched a jewel that sat in the crown of the helmet above the black visor, and gold bands with zig-zag designs running through them adorned its middle and shoulders.

Octavius examined them for a moment, taking in the designs of each one, before turning to Chris. He placed both hands on each of Chris’ shoulders and stared straight into his eyes, and into his soul.

“Ask yourself this instead. Do you wish for them to be obliterated for not having the means to protect themselves, or be a true hero of the ages and give them what they require for retaliation instead of being a lone wolf?” Octavius asked, his tone even.

Chris stared back at him, fear clear as day in his eyes. “What if they get hurt?” He asked. “Putting on these suits, taking this power… it could be a death sentence….”

“Not if you teach them well. Death is not a certainty. Harm is, but that is life at it’s simplest. We are all beaten down, time and time again, by Life. What really matters is standing back up, and how you do so,” Octavius informed him. Chris was about to retaliate, but Octavius stopped him short. “Keep your worries with you, but do not let them rule you.’ That is a lesson I have taken from my lord, and one you should take to heart as well.”

Chris looked at the knight for a moment before glancing back at the suits on the wall. After a moment, he let out a breath, his body relaxing. “I’ll get them up to snuff then,” he said. “Thank you.” Octavius simply smiled, clapping the young man on the back.

“Anytime, young Chris. Anytime. An old man has to pass on wisdom every now and then, after all, or he’s useless,” Octavius joked.

“Well, who’s gonna help ya?” Mia questioned.

“Sweetie will volunteer,” Chris answered without hesitance. “The only question is up to Cobalt and Firefly, but I’m pretty sure which one of them is going to step up.”

“Good, seems you know your team well. That is always a good thing,” Octavius praised.

“Well, do you need us for anything else?” Mia asked.

“I believe we still need to teach the soldiers our techniques, Miss Mia,” Octavius reminded.

“Oh, right,” Mia said.

Chris gave a little smile. “Thank you both for all the help you’ve been giving us,” he said, looking to each of them.

“Of course! Though I believe I should thank you as well. You’ve given not just hope, but a solid purpose. That is more than most Hollows can say,” Octavius said gratefully.

Chris nodded his head. “I’m glad I could repay you somehow,” he said, reaching a hand out. Octavius took the hand and shook it firmly, but not too firmly.

“Well, my turn to teach, right?” Mia asked with a smirk.

“Ehhh, maybe wait until after-”

“Captain, we have reached our destination,” Deka spoked up, cutting off the ranger. “Where would you like us to put down?”

“Set us down outside the hangar,” Chris answered the AI, looking up at the ceiling mounted camera. “I’ll make a spot for the Astro as soon as I can.” He looked down at the others. “Guess that invalidates what I was going to say next.” Octavius chuckled.

“Indeed,” he turned to the door, making his way to it before stopping short. “...Might I inquire as to where the exit is?” he asked, turning around and rubbing the back of his helm sheepishly.

“The way we came silly,” Mia said.

Chris chuckled. “She’s right,” he said, nodding towards Mia for a moment. “But it’s the blue line on the floor that leads to the exit.”

“Ah, thank you,” he said as followed the blue line out of the room. Giggling, Mia followed.

Chris closed the vault doors and followed them. After a bit of walking, they met the rest of his team and a very shocked looking Scootaloo at the doors. “...Where the heck did you guys find this thing!?” The pegasus shouted, holding her arms out with a greaserag in one hand towards the enormous ship.

“A place,” Mia said with a small grin.

Scootaloo looked towards her with an annoyed look. “Thanks, I gathered that much,” the mare said, rolling her eyes to look at Chris, who chuckled.

“Turns out that the Astro was the mysterious signal you guys picked up,” Chris answered before Firefly tugged on his sleeve to draw his attention. “Hm? What is it, Fly?”

“Um, I think we left the galaxy gliders back at the landing site,” she answered. A soft tapping followed by a feeling of dread had Chris shrugging his shoulders and turning to face a very irritated looking Scootaloo.

“You lost… the galaxy gliders?” She questioned, her eyes narrowed.

“Is that bad?” Octavius asked in a whisper to Mia.

“Matter of perspective, really,” Mia whispered back.

“And my perspective is that some numbskull left five very advanced, very difficult to manufacture pieces of equipment out in the field!” Scootaloo shouted, having stomped right up to Chris’ understandably frightened face.

“S-Scoots just calm down,” Chris said, holding up his hands defensively. “I-I’m sure we can just y’know, j-just jump back over there and grab them real quick-”

“If I may,” Deka’s AI suddenly spoke up. “The galaxy gliders have been stored in the launch bay.”

The ponies and Chris blinked at that, Scootaloo bringing a hand up to point at the ship as they all stared at the Astro. “...Did… the ship just talk?” She questioned.

“Yeah, it does that,” Chris answered before shaking his head. “Deka, when did you manage that?”

“Right before our take off to escape Main Drain,” the AI answered. “Astra feared they would be crushed underfoot or worse.” Octavius leaned towards Scootaloo.

“Trust me, I do not understand it anymore than you do, Miss,” he whispered in her ear.

Scootaloo’s eye twitched for a second before just face-palming and shaking her head. “I”m just going to prep the hangar and get the Astro ready for a systems diagnostic,” With that, she turned and walked away.

Chris was quiet for a second before Cobalt stepped up behind him. “Not going to thank her?” The taller stallion asked.

“I thinks it’s best we just let her go,” Chris said, a slight twinge in his voice. “Seems safer that way…. Also, remind me to thank her later….”

“Well…that was…something,” Octavius noted lamely.

“Meh,” Mia said, shrugging.

Chris and the others watched as Scootaloo disappeared around a corner and winced as loud banging and cursing ensued. “I, uh…,” Chris started, slowly lifting a finger before letting it fall. “...I think it’s time to show you guys to your bunks….”

“Okay,” Mia said.

“Very well,” Octavius agreed.

“Right!” Chris said, jumping a bit as a much louder crash sounded out from Scootaloo’s direction. “This way.” He turned quickly on his heel and started to walk back towards the castle, the others outpacing him as they walked. Mia followed, humming.

Octavius looked around for a good long while, observing the cobblestone walls before they entered through a wooden door. The walls were intricately decorated with different paintings that had been rescued from the empire and other furnishings like small stands and tables with pottery or vases on them to give what was basically a refugee camp a more homey feeling.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Chris said after a while when he noticed Octavius taking in the castle. Octavius, however, wasn’t paying attention to him. In fact, he had actually stopped walking as a memory flooded his mind.





“So, what is thine stand on the castle’s new decorum, Knight-Scholar?” the King, my longtime friend and confidant, asked me. I gazed about the tapestries hanging from the pillars and the ceiling, the sight of them filling me with pride. My Order’s new headquarters was complete and finished, and I couldn’t be more happy.

“Tis amazing, my liege! I cannot thank you enough for your help in making this a reality,” I said gratefully. The King chuckled and patted me on the back heartily, a grin gracing his pristine white muzzle that was surrounded by an auburn beard.

“Wonderful to hear, old friend. I was worried that thou wouldst go on a tirade once we placed the tiles down, but it appears my worries were ill placed!” his grin grew into a smile, my own growing on my face, as we gazed out at the meeting hall of my Order. The Order of the Thornclad Eyes. A haven for those who appreciated strength of mind and body.

And yet another purpose to be thankful for.





“-ey, Octavius?” Chris said, his hand on the knight's shoulder as he looked at him worriedly. “You okay?”

“Oct?” Mia asked, looking worried. Octavius shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“Wh-What? Huh?” he looked around in bewilderment for a moment before noticing the group looking at him worriedly. “Oh, apologies, I must have not been paying attention.”

The young man’s gaze drifted over his helmet as if he could see past it and to the knight's face. After a moment, he simply nodded his head. “Your rooms aren't much farther,” he said as he turned around and started walking again.

“Cool,” Mia said, hands in her pockets. Octavius seemed to be deep in thought as he walked with the group through the castle, staying silent the whole way.

Chris eventually led the group to a pair of doors that sat beside each other in the wall. “Alright, this is your stop,” the ranger announced as he turned back to the pair. “A room for the each of you, complete with full sized beds, closets, bathrooms, and a desk.” He turned and pointed to the next door further down. “I'm right down there. If you guys need anything, just come knock on the door.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Octavius thanked as he approached the door to his room. “I shall be in here, should you have further need of me. Have a good evening, my friends.” And with that, he walked in and closed the door behind him.

Chris looked at the door for a while before turning towards Sweetie Belle and the others. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up,” he said, the ponies exchanging glances before turning and walking away, Sweetie hesitating only a moment. The ranger turned back to Mia once they were out of earshot. “Is Octavius okay?” He asked, true worry coming to his voice and face.

“Yeah, why?” Mia asked.

“Just making sure,” he answered with a shrug. “He seemed kinda… distant back there….”

“He does that sometimes.” Mia said simply.

Chris nodded slowly before turning around. “Alright, you have a good night!” He said over his shoulder, giving a little wave before looking forward.





The sun rose on the court yard used as the training grounds, every able-bodied resistance fighter lined up in rows as they waited for someone to appear on the hastily built wooden stand at the head of the arena. They’d all been briefed early this morning by their captains, telling them that a “special” training course would be held today and that it was mandatory for all field operatives to attend.

And then, two figures stepped up to the stand, one a man wearing intricate black armor with a somewhat worn red cape, and the other being a woman in a sports bra and sports shorts. The man cleared his throat.

“Good morning, everyone. I am Octavius, Knight-Scholar of Equestria and head of the Order of The Thornclad Truth. I am here to instruct you all on two forms of magic from my homeland. Miracles,” he raised his right hand which held his talisman, a bolt of crackling lightning appearing in it before fading as he let it fall. “And Soul Magic.” He raised his staff and it glowed an ethereal blue before dissipating as he let his arm fall into a more relaxed pose.

“I’m Mia,” Mia said simply. “I’ll be teaching ya some more elemental crap.”

“Quite. Now, before we get started, are there any questions?” Octavius queried.

At least a fourth of the hands in the audience went up immediately, mostly from griffons and minotaurs.

“I figured as much. You’re all probably wondering why I am teaching magic when some of you are not unicorns, correct?” Octavius queried.

The hands in the crowd went back down as murmurs of agreement ran through the crowd. Octavius smiled.

“The reason you are here, and why I am teaching magic, is because this magic is not for unicorns alone. Soul magic is known for being personal, and only requires that you study each spell intensively. Miracles simply require memorization of a tale of the Gods, and, should you have a strong faith, you can perform them. Tis as simple as that,” Octavius explained.

Most of the crowd silenced itself, but some of them were still obviously hesitant.

“Good. Now, a few staff members shall begin passing out scrolls detailing spells and staves for Soul Magic as well as tales and talismans for Miracles. When you receive them, try to recite them as quickly and thoroughly as you can. Study them, and you will most certainly be able to perform them,” Octavius explained as a number of faculty members did just that. “I will give you all some time to look them over. When you are done, come meet me in the field just over there to practice.” He pointed to a small field that had been arranged for the practice before he left the stand.

As the beings in the crowd began to take the offered materials from the service members, it seemed as though a majority of them were still hesitant on the idea of learning the new magic. Some gathered in groups to try and help each other decipher the incantations, some sat alone and read earnestly, and still others made blatant jokes about the whole ordeal. But the most reclusive of the crowd were those that straight up refused the materials, not wanting anything to do with the “witchcraft”. Most of these gathered in the back of the crowd, looking at the others with scorn.

Before long, a lone griffon made her way out of the mass and towards the practice ground. She looked a bit younger than most of the training field’s occupants, and as she nervously approached the field with her staff clutched in her talons those at the front of the crowd fell silent to watch, some reaching over to tap their buddies and point in her direction. Within moments, the front portion of the crowd had fallen silent to watch the stone gray griffoness.

Octavius quickly noted the change in the volume of the chatter, and turned his gaze from the front of the crowd towards her.

“You there! Young griffoness!” he called to her.

The young griffon flinched at looked up at the armored figure. “Y-yes?” She said shakily, her nerves growing as he and, unknown to her, the crowd behind her watched.

“Come here! You shall be my assistant!” He informed her, beckoning her with a gauntleted hand. The griffoness didn’t answer, only stepped over to him, keeping her eyes on him.

“Good! Now, first, what is your name?” he asked her.

The griffoness gulped and opened her mouth, choking out her name. “G-G-Gabby…,” the young griffon answered, her voice betraying her. Octavius smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm, young one. Be calm. There is nothing to fear here,” he assured her, before turning to the crowd. “Now! We shall start with the first spell, Soul Arrow. Raise your staves and focus on drawing your will, your very essence, into the staff and outwards from it. If you cannot do this, look over your scrolls again or come to me for further guidance!” He turned away from the crowd, raising his staff as it glowed a light blue before a medium sized bolt of blue magic rocketed out of it, hitting a tree and leaving it covered in blue crystals. He turned back to the now surprised crowd. He turned to Gabby. “Miss Gabby, would you care to repeat what I just did for the class?”

“U-um, okay,” Gabby answered nervously before stepping forward, taking a deep breath. “J-just raise your staff,” she started, raising her staff to aim at a target. “Draw on your will.” Her staff lights up. “And throw it out.” A bolt of magic, slightly larger than what should’ve been possible for the griffoness, shot from her staff and slammed into the target she had been aiming for, crystals spread over it. Octavius clapped at this.

“Splendid, Miss Gabby, splendid!” he congratulated before turning to the rest of the crowd. “Now, I want you all to line up side to side and do the same!”

A lot of the crowd stared at the griffon in surprise or awe, each of them taking a moment to process what they had seen. Soon, confident individuals began to line up and take their turns firing off their spells. As more and more individuals walked away successful, more followed suit. Octavius couldn’t help but smile at this, and as he watched, a new memory rushed to his mind.





“That’s it! Just like that! Astounding work Nil Silence!” Octavius cheered as he watched his prize student blaze through another practice regimen.

“Thine praise is wasted on me, my lord. I am no better than thou art,” Nil said modestly, his pure black mane covering half of his face while his dark purple coat of fur was covered by the signature armor of The Order of The Thornclad Truth. A suit of armor wrapped in metal thorns weaved from a special type of foliage that Octavius had created during one of his botanical experiments. The rest of the armor was a pure silver, and matched Octavius’ in design, aside from the cape.

“Humble as always,” Octavius said with a smile.

“I learned from the best,” Nil replied with a grin as his amber eyes twinkled with amusement. Octavius laughed and ruffled the young colt’s hair.

“You truly are a prodigy,” he praised. A prodigy of the ages.





Octavius came back to reality when a student from the crowd had poked him in the head. He turned to them and stopped their next poke with a hand.

“Apologies, class. This old Hollow tends to daydream. Let us continue!” he said as he brought out his talisman instead.

“Now, this may not work for all of you, but those with a strong faith, whether it be in religion or otherwise, will find this to be most rewarding. Now,” he clapped his hands. “Miss Gabby, why don’t you recite the tale of the Dragon Slayer for us? Oh, and apologies to those of you who are dragons, this tale is from my world, where we had a number of different dragons, so please withhold your comments until the end.”

“O-okay,” Gabby answered, stepping forward with a little more confidence. She readied her materials and took a quick peek back at her scroll before taking a deep breath and recited the tale. After a somewhat lengthy retelling, she finished with,  “-And lo and behold, the monstrous drake lay dead at the Knight’s feet!” 

All at once, a bolt of lightning crackled in her hand, slightly startling the griffoness as she flinched a bit from the yellow electricity dancing in her palm. At her surpsied flinch, it disappeared, but the effect remained. She had done it.

“Astounding, Miss Gabby! Very well done!” Octavius praised. He turned to the rest of the now amazed crowd.

“Now, all that is required for Miracles is channeling your faith into your talisman as you recite the tale! Whether tis done in your mind or verbally, it matters not as long as you recite it at the same time you are channeling your faith! Now, line up once more and try it for yourselves!” Octavius instructed.

The members of the crowd gave each other a few looks before stepping forward and attempting the Miracle themselves. As before, not all of them could perform the task, but what was different was that those that couldn't started to outweigh those that could. Octavius hummed in thought as he watched this, and as the few bolts of lightning struck tree after tree, he resolved to speak with Chris about arranging something to give the people of the resistance faith.

“Alright, that’s enough for now! Practice each Miracle and spell among yourselves until I return with Miss Mia!” Octavius announced as he walked away from the field and towards where Mia was waiting.

She was napping, leaning against a wall. Octavius sighed at this, walking over and shaking her awake. He got a face full of fire for his troubles.

“Gah!” He cried, immediately trying to pat out the flames.

“Where’s the fire?” Mia asked jokingly, sending a smirk at him. He finally stopped the fire, and shot a glare to Mia.

“That was not funny, Miss Mia,” he said sternly. She simply rolled her eyes at him, before water dumped on him from above.

“Cool off,” She said through snickering. He simply stared at her.

“Just… Go teach everyone how to use your abilities,” he said in exasperation. She stuck a tongue out playfully, before walking over to the group. As she approached, the chattering halted and the gathered rebel fighters watched her walk towards them.

She strutted a bit towards them, her tail slowly waving behind her as she did so. Someone, one of those that had been sitting far in the back and refusing the lessons, suddenly let out a whistle, letting everyone on the field know his thoughts.

“Oh good, a volunteer!” Mia said with a evil smirk, motioning that one forwards. The unfortunate pony, the green and blonde pegasus known as Straight Arrow, blanched at her signal while some of his cohorts smirked and pushed him forward.

The stallion stumbled for a second before looking back with a frown. He straightened up and fixed his green and black leather jacket and the strap holding his bow and quiver, looking towards Mia with an unwavering gaze as he approached her.

“Alright there, whistler, tell me this. Would you rather attack or defend?” Mia asked.

Arrow gave a little snort. “Attack,” he said simply before he pointed at his stored arrows with his thumb. “Kinda don’t have a choice there.”

“Of course you did,” Mia said with an eyeroll. “But, if you're sure… ”

“Get ready for a world of pain, little colt,” Octavius finished for her.

“Could everyone stand back a bit? I like to teach by doing, and just for you all, I’m going to go into a form I don’t need too often to give you the best… experience,” Mia said with a menacing smirk.

The entire crowd took several collective steps back, shattering Arrow’s confident facade. He looked to either side at the crowd nervously, eyes wide as he turned them back to Mia. She also took a couple steps back, more like a couple yards, before jumping high into the air. She glowed and curled into a ball, a blinding light going over the area.

“By the gods…” Octavius breathed.

Arrows eyes shrank to pinpricks as his ears, and wings drooped down, knees starting to knock together. What was in front of them was, to those who’d know, what looked like a Charizard the size of a castle, with arms that actually fit it’s longer body, and essentially made them all look like ants, a inferno at the tip of it’s tail, because that could not be called a mere ‘fire’.

The crowd took several more steps back, some letting out gasps and shouts of surprise or fear. For his part, Arrow didn’t move, but whether that was from fear or from the awe in his eyes was yet to be determined.

“Alright, now since you seemed so keen on attack, I’ll be teaching you some ‘area of effect’ skills. Luckily for you, there’s a whole section of the abilities I’ll be teaching just for archers.” The giant dragon that Mia now was rumbled, looking down at the pegasus. “I want you to take a arrow, notch it, and point so it would normally land somewhere on my back. Before firing, I want you to focus whatever magic your most used to into the arrow, and imagine it splitting into many more, however many you feel you can manage, at the apex of it’s climb. If you do it right, a storm of arrows will fall on me, instead of one.” The dragon instructed.

Arrow gulped before he scrambled to take out his bow and string it, whipping one of his signature green pointed arrows out and putting it to the string. He raised it up to aim at the sky before grabbing on the magic he had used for years to channel the wind and direct his arrows. In his head he pictured a scene from years ago. A single arrow going into the sky alone… only to be followed by hundreds more. With that picture in mind and his innate pegasus magic focused to his arrow, he let it fly.

At first, he thought it wouldn’t work… before a couple dozen arrows fell down with the one, impacting Mias hide… and bouncing off. “Congratulations.” The dragon rumbled as she chuckled.

Arrow took in several breaths before a wide grin split his features. “Wow…,” he muttered, putting a leg back to steady himself.

Mia glowed, before returning back to her normal size and form, clothes miraculously still on her. “Not bad. Though, really, it shoulda looked like this,” Mia said. She mimed notching an arrow, and an ethereal bow and arrow formed in her hands. She shot it up, and when it come down, there were thousands of arrows falling with it, which bounced harmlessly off a Protect barrier Mia threw up.

Arrow flinched and threw his arms up as the projectiles rained down, but his ear twitched as he heard the arrows pinging away. He slowly straightened back up again and looked in wonder at the arrows around them. “Uh…,” he muttered, giving a nervous chuckle. “Yeah… I don’t think I can do that….”

“Just gotta build your magic up,” Mia assured with a smirk. She turned to the crowd then. “Now, who wants some Elemental attacks?”

Some of the more efficient mages nodded and a murmur slowly ran through the gathered participants as they agreed. “All right, everyone who wants elemental attacks, come forwards,” Mia said, sending the pegasus back. Many a volunteer stepped forward, eager to learn, Gabby joining them once more as Arrow walked back towards his group.

They waved him over whilst throwing whispered negatives towards the lesson as a whole, but before he could reach them, Arrow stopped and looked over his shoulder at the gathering mass. He looked towards the gang he had been so quick to join and back to the lineup, several moments passing before he gave a determined smirk and turned to join the lesson once more.

“Back for more, eh?” Mia asked with a smirk. “Alright. Now, all of you, I need you to, using whatever magic you're most familiar with, gather it in your hands, pointed at me. Imagine fire, burning and bright, forming in your hands feeding off the magic. Once you have that image in your mind, shout ‘Fire!’, and a fireball should shoot at me.” The flaming tailed teacher instructed.

Some of the crowd shared looks with one another before they each lifted their hands and began to focus, Gabby and Arrow included. For a few moments, not much happened before all at once, the crowd shouted “Fire!” Only about two thirds of the crowd managed to pull off the attack, Gabby not among them whilst Arrow’s sped on fast and true.

Mia closed her eyes, letting the fire wash over her. “Great job!” She said with a smirk, clapping. She didn’t notice her clothes were now ash.

“Miss Mia!” Octavius cried, rushing over with a blanket and throwing it on her. “Be more aware!”

Most of the crowd looked away to give her the privacy she deserved, Arrow included, having learned his lesson from before. Though, there were still the few off-center remarks and dirty jokes rolling around the training field, most of them coming from the group in the back.

“Welp, while I go get more clothes, you all do the same thing on that gracious group in the back that just volunteered, except now focus on wetness for water, shouting that, and then electric tingling before shouting ‘thunder’. I’m sure you all know what happens then,” Mia said, a bit of a blush on her face as she wrapped the blanket over herself.

Arrow was one of the first to turn towards the group and glare, hand already starting to rise up and flare with magic. The group took notice as lights started to shine on them and their eyes widened at just how many of the crowd were aiming different versions of the elemental strike at them. A shout of “SCATTER!” had the group disbanded and scrambling away at record speeds, a singular ball of lightning following after them just for good measure. Arrow smirked as he lowered his smoking hand.

Back with Mia and Octavius, Octavius was leading her to Chris so he could help them find clothes for her. She couldn't help but notice that he was grumbling to himself about her indecency. Mia looked away a bit, feeling ashamed.

Finally Octavius found Chris, and walked up to him.

“Young Chris, do you happen to have any spare clothes? Miss Mia went and let her old ones get burned off,” Octavius asked.

Chris turned and looked up at Octavius, glancing for half a moment at Mia before giving a kind smile. “Don’t think I have anything that’d be comfortable for you,” he answered. “But Rarity’s always happy to make up a quick get up.”

“Thank you,” he said, nodding his head in appreciation before heading off to find Rarity. Mia stayed close at his heels, using him partially as cover in addition to the blanket.

“D-do you… not l-like me?” She suddenly and timidly asked him. Octavius looked back at her for a brief moment.

“Tis not that. I find you likeable enough, a friend for certain, but I just wish you were more conscious of your appearance so you do not get set upon by males like some kind of delicacy,” Octavius explained as he turned his head back to see where he was going. There was a long pause.

“I-i’m s-sorry…” She mumbled, looking away and down a bit. Octavius sighed.

“Do not fret about it,” he said simply. They got to a secluded hallway, and Mia stood in front of him… opening the blanket.

“D-d-do you… not like this?” She asked with a furious blush on her face. Octavius quickly closed the blanket again.

“It's not that!” He cried. “Look, Miss Mia, you're beautiful, but now is not the time for this. We can speak more of this later, I promise.”

Mia could only sniffle a little, nodding. She really looked like she needed a hug right now. Octavius sighed, giving her a hug. She leaned into it, and soon composed herself.

“L-let’s get me some clothes now,” She said, mostly back to herself. He nodded.

“Come on, let’s find this Rarity,” he said, releasing her and starting to walk again.

Meanwhile, Chris went back to looking through the data sheets he had gotten from the overnight he had pulled studying the differences in Delta and Astra’s AIs. And honestly, he was more than a little surprised. Both showed signs of much higher intelligence than most of the people, or beings as the case may be, that he’d ever met. But not only that, but there was an obvious difference in their thought patterns when they were further or closer together. He just had to figure out what that was all about….

In time, Octavius and Mia returned, Mia wearing clothes instead of a blanket this time. Octavius approached Chris.

“Young Chris, do you think it would be possible to have a celebration, of sorts? To lift the spirits of the Rebellion?” Octavius queried.

“Hm?” Chris questioned, looking up from his notes. “Oh, um, yeah, I think that would be okay. We’d have to take it up with Artemus, but it should be more than doable… but if you don’t mind my asking, why?”

“If soldiers have no faith in their cause, they are no longer soldiers,” Octavius began. “They are the civilians.”

“Armed civilians, but still civilians,” Mia commented.

Chris nodded his head at that. “I see your point,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll go talk to Nightmare and see what we can do.”

“Wonderful! We shall remain here to await your return,” Octavius said. Chris smiled and gave a nod before heading off to go see Nightmare.






A few hours later, in the auditorium usually reserved for speeches and gatherings, music played and different colored lights flashed while the people of Equis enjoyed themselves for the first time in a very long time.

Octavius was in a corner by a large keg, a tankard of a glowing, golden liquid in his hand while he watched the people of the Rebellion with a genuine smile. He had kept his armor on, and would occasionally lift the faceplate to take a swig of his drink.

“Having fun there?” A familiar voice asked him. Octavius turned his head to see Mia in a beautiful red dress that hugged her curves, with just the right amount of makeup on her face to make her seem even more beautiful. If Octavius could blush, he would have.

“O-Oh, hello there, Miss Mia!” He greeted. “Yes, I’m just fine.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You’re kinda chugging that stuff,” She said, gesturing to the drink he had.

“What, this? This is just Estus. Undead, Unkindled, and Hollows alike treasure it. It heals our wounds, and is normally in a Flask, but every now and again we make soup from it. It doesn't really do anything for us, just gives us a slice of normalcy,” Octavius explained.

Mia nodded a little. “Okay,” She said, taking his explanation.

The party continued for a few more minutes before Chris walked up to them. “Y’know,” he said as he came to a stop. “This was actually a great idea.” Octavius grinned beneath his helm, raising his tankard.

“To a brighter tomorrow,” he toasted.

Chris smiled and raised the plastic cup he was holding. “To hope,” he answered.

Mia just toasted, not having anything to say.

Chris took a drink from his cup before speaking up again. “I should really thank you guys for all the help you’ve given us,” he said, looking to each of them. “God knows we needed it.” Octavius took a drink from his own, lifting the faceplate before lowering it again after he was done.

“Like I’ve said, a knight’s duty is to help others. I am simply glad to be able to do so,” Octavius answered.

“It’s no problem,” Mia said with a casual shrug.

Chris gave a little chuckle. “If there’s ever anything you need, call me,” he said. “We’ll be there faster than you can say ‘Displaced’.” Octavius chuckled.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Just be aware you’ll be dealing with horrors no machine could ever concoct,” Octavius said.

“I wonder how my dragon form would do there…” Mia hummed.

“I think I’ll be able to handle myself,” Chris answered with a small, confused glance at Mia before looking back at Octavius. “Besides, thanks to the Astro Megaship, I’ve started on something that gives us the extra firepower we need.”

“True,” Octavius agreed, taking another swig before standing up. “Well, unless there is a speech for us to make, I believe it is time I returned. My quest must continue, after all.”

“It’s been fun though,” Mia said with a stretch.

Chris nodded. “It really has,” he answered, extending a hand to Mia. She extended hers back with a tilt of her head. They shook for a moment before Chris turned to Octavius and did the same. Octavius smiled and shook firmly.

“Well, I suppose it’s time to go back,” he said, taking his staff from the side of his chair. “It was wonderful to meet you, Chris. Feel free to have your scholars, or what have you, study the Estus in that keg. You might find the contents useful.” With that, he grabbed Mia and slammed the bottom of the staff on the ground, and they erupted in blue, magical flames, before disappearing, the flames dispersing soon after.

Chris blinked as the flames died down, wondering what the knight-scholar had been talking about before a small bit of pressure on his arm got his attention. “Everything alright, Chris?” Sweetie asked, looking at him in mild concern.

The ranger just gave a smile in response. “Yeah, Sweetie, everything’s just fine,” he answered before turning and starting to walk her back towards the rest of the party. “Our friends just went home is all.”

“Oh,” Sweetie said before an awkward silence fell over them.

Chris let his gaze meet the floor for a few moments before he looked back up. “Sweetie?”

“Hm?” The unicorn hummed, looking up at him and getting caught off guard by the sincerity in his eyes.

“You know I love you, right?” He asked softly, the mare’s gaze looking over his features.

After a moment, she gave a little breath and smiled sweetly at him. “Of course I do,” she answered, before sharing a kiss with him. The two held the moment for several seconds before they parted. Wordlessly, they smiled at one another before turning and rejoining the party.
> Seventh Falling: Fond Farewells (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








A roar of crackling blue fire signaled the return of Octavius and Mia to Octavius’ world, the same, desolate desert sands still stretching out around them for miles, and the blood red moon still high in the sky. Octavius sighed as he let his magic release, a light shock wave of blue fire erupting from the two before all of it dispersed.

“Well… That was more fulfilling than I thought it would be,” Octavius said with a smile.

“Yeah. I liked scaring the shit outta that one dude with my dragon form,” Mia said with a smirk. Octavius chuckled.

“It was a little amusing,” he admitted as he looked around. “Hmm… Let’s see if we can finally find some shelter, shall we?” he said, starting to walk in a random direction. She nodded, following after him.

“I could fly us,” Mia offered. Octavius smiled.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he replied. Mia simply shrugged.

“Where’s the fun in walking in a barren desert for hours?” She said right back.

“Mainly the sound of the wind whistling through your ears and the feeling of sand crunching beneath your feet,” Octavius said with a joking grin hidden behind his helm.

“Literally the first of that but better is achieved with flight. And the second is just annoying,” Mia jokingly replied back. The two gave one another a look as they stopped on a dune before erupting in laughter. “Seriously though, fly?” Mia asked with a chuckle. Octavius nodded.

“At your leisure, my lady,” he said. Walking behind him, she picked him up, wings of energy appearing on her back as she flapped, the two shooting into the air and going off in the direction they already were. Octavius smiled as he watched the world pass by below, and a few minutes passed before they found a group of rocks in the distance, creating an overhang.

Octavius pointed to it. “There! That should work nicely for a place of refuge!” he yelled over the winds. She silently nodded, flying down there and landing softly, setting him down. He smiled as she landed as well, and laughed when she lost her balance for a moment and fell on him, making him fall to the sand himself.

“I hate landings where I can’t just slam into the ground,” She said, a bit irritated at herself, face a bright red. He chuckled, getting up and helping her stand.

“Always the brute,” he joked with a shake of his head. “Come on, we have a camp to set up. Under this overhang seems perfect.”

“Right,” She said, pouting at him. She used some magic to form some wood, before letting a small puff of fire shoot from her tail, lighting it ablaze as she made rocks appear around the wood. Impromptu fire pit complete. He smiled and sat down on one of the rocks.

“Good work. This would have taken me hours to do by myself,” he praised. She blushed a bit, taking a seat on another rock. He smiled again, and, after some time of sitting by the fire in silence, he began to ponder things.

He couldn’t bring himself to endanger others for his quest, but at the same time, having companions helped him cope and keep his Hollowing at bay. He wanted to be normal, but he knew he could never be that. He frowned, before sighing deeply, bringing Mia’s attention to him.

“What is it?” She asked with a tilted head, still in the dress from the party. He said nothing for a few moments as he watched the fire dance and listened to the sounds of the night.

“...I’m afraid we must part ways, here,” he said after a bit more of a pause.

“W-w-what?” Mia asked, eyes widened.

“This isn’t because I dislike you, Miss Mia, quite the opposite,” he began.

“T-then why?! I can defend myself!” Mia said. He, for once, shook his head.

“Worms are far from the deadliest this world has to offer. And it isn’t just about them, either,” he looked up at her, then sighed deeply as he, for once, willingly took off his helmet, his empty eye sockets still somehow conveying sadness. “I am a danger to everyone I meet, Miss Mia. All I truly need to survive is hope and faith. You, young Chris, and Miss Ita have given me all the hope I need to continue my journey through to the end.”

Mia couldn’t come up with anything to say, tears welling up in her eyes. He frowned, walking over and wiping her tears with a gauntleted thumb.

“You, and young Chris, and Miss Ita… I am proud beyond words to call you my friends, short as time as has been since we met,” he smiled lightly, taking his token out of his pocket and placing it in her palm. “This isn’t goodbye. Not forever. This is… Farewell.”

She sniffled, before closing her eyes and leaping forwards, planting a kiss on his lips. If his eyes could widen, they would have. She kissed for a bit more, before pulling away. “C-call m-me when y-you need me…” Mia mumbled. If he could blink, he would have.

Slowly, he retracted his hand as she gripped his token, before he nodded dumbly.

“R-Right… Miss Mia, our contract is complete,” he said, and watched as a portal opened behind her. She walked back, flame on her tail a bit down. Before she left, she left a pokeball down on the ground. Then, without another word, she left, and the portal closed.
> Eighth Falling: A Scream (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








These weeks have been long indeed. Ever since Miss Mia left me with a tingle on my lips, a rare thing for a Hollow to feel, I have marched through these desolate sands of Zebran. 

The map I had procured back in Zebril helped me on my way, and although it did not show where Equestria was as I had hoped, I assumed it was further north.

Thus, my travels lead me to the ancient jungles of the Ara. I had fought many desert beasts, dogs, worms, snakes, and defeated all, reaching and passing through a number of ruined buildings so far gone it was hard to tell what they originally were. Bonfires were placed in each ruin, as if they were checkpoints egging me forward.

Eventually, I had reached the outskirts of the Aran Jungles, and as I trudged through the mud in the humid jungle climate, my mind wandered to Miss Mia and the others.

Young Chris... Someone so young should never have to see the horrors I know he has. Much less live them. I could only hope my efforts and teachings to his Rebellion had helped him to achieve greater victories against those machines.

Miss Ita seemed to have lived a good while, only to be placed in yet another world. She seemed to have much on her mind at all times. Maybe someday, I can find a way to give her the respite I knew she needed.

And Miss Mia...

Miss Mia, that beautiful dragoness I had grown so close to in so short a time...

I pulled out the red and white orb she had given me, staring at it wistfully. I had to return to her, some time, I knew.

But my quest was not just about myself. It was about finding my old charges and keeping them safe. I couldn't abandon them. I gripped the orb more tightly.

"I will return, Miss Mia. And pay you back," I promised with a soft but no less meaningful whisper. I returned my gaze to the jungle environment around me.

Tall trees covered in vines and moss loomed far above me. Bushes, shrubs, and unruly vegetation were all over the muddy ground. 

My boots were sinking a little into the mud, but thankfully, not as quickly as they would in quicksand. 

I trudged onward, boots squelching in the mud with every step and my sword held at the ready. The jungle canopies hid most of the dim light the sun provided, and the amount of brush and foliage all further added to my disadvantage in terms of an ambush.

This was not ideal.

Still, I had to continue, no matter how many foes waited for me, or how many gruesome deaths lay ahead.

Pressing forward and cutting down any vegetation that lay in my path, I eventually came across a ravine. But not a normal one. This one held an entire city on either cliff face, bridges and the like spanning it's length and depths that I could not see the bottom of. 

This was the city of the Ara, known as Arath. I looked around the ravine, trying to find a way inside without recklessly jumping down towards the nearest bridge, and likely my death. In time, I found a staircase leading downwards, and followed it. 

As I walked down the steps, I looked at the walls, seeing ornate carvings, all done by talons, if the shape of each carving was any indication. The Ara, whilst not as adept at stone cutting as some, still prided themselves on their unique stone work and reliefs.

I idly admired the carvings, all of them decorative, and all telling of their gods and how they descended to the earth to give them their life. It was an interesting thought, to be certain. 

In time, I came upon the vast and breathtaking view of the truly massive and sprawling underground cityscapes of the Ara. Underground lakes, temples, houses, cathedrals, all of them sprawled out in front of me, just a several hundred foot drop away from me. I had to force a step back so as to not fall off the edge of the bridge leading down into one of the massive cities.

Still, I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty and majesty. At least, until I heard an ominous clicking sound, and looked up to find the twelve legged, chitinous, Hollowed form of an Ara above me, the once majestic Aran woman's previously fetching face now rotting, her mandibles popping out of their sockets and clicking together hungrily. 

She slammed down onto me, clawing at my armor with her stone-cutting talons and rending it to metal scraps, then reaching my skin beneath and quickly disemboweling me. 

I screamed in absolute agony, and screamed louder as she tore into my organs with her mandibles and teeth. The pain became too much, eventually, and I passed out, dead from the shocking pain.
> Ninth Falling: Mori, The Honorable (Edited... Again)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Walk onwards.

Let not thine heart grow heavy.

Walk onwards.

Let not thine fears grow darker.

Walk onwards.

Let only thine will set thou apart.

Walk.

Onwards.








I awoke with a start, scrambling to my feet and gazing around for enemies. I found naught but sand and the ruined stone of an old temple. In the center of the temple, a bonfire. And in the distance, the Jungles of the Ara. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

So... I had died my second death, then. And it was every bit as horrifying as the last, if not more so. I tried to shake myself, to brush off the memory of that Hollowed Aran rending me in two so easily, eating my innards... I will admit it was hard. Hard enough that I found myself shaking somewhat. I shook my head and tightened my grip on my blade.

I could not let this break me. It was but one death among likely hundreds more in the future, for an Undead's fate is to die, again and again, until they go Hollow. This was nothing. If I let this shatter me here, all I had done up until now was for naught.

I would not let that come to pass.

Thus, I marched forward into the jungle again. Once I reached the stairway, I began to tread more carefully, listening for any signs of the Hollowed Aran. I heard nothing but the sound of the wind's cries as it howled through the chasm. My body tensed up as I stepped out onto the bridge. Then, I finally heard the sound of claws scuttling on stone, and rolled out of the way of a body slam, coming back to my feet to be met with the sight of the Aran woman once more.

I raised my shield just in time for her claw to rake against it, along with her other arms, the Hollow trying to wrench it from my grip. I grunted and gave her a swift kick to her gut, knocking her back. She screeched at me, but I held my ground.

She then whirled around, her scorpion-like tail poised to swipe me off the edge of the bridge. In response, I blocked the blow, then, with a cry of effort, cut off the appendage. Blackish-yellow blood spewed forth as the tail collapsed and flailed about, the Aran screaming in pain at the loss of her tail.

She was writhing in pain on the stone of the bridge, and, taking my chance, I charged her, shield raised and boots clamoring upon the ancient hewn stone. I slammed my shield into her, pushing her to her back. She flailed, a stray set of talons cutting into my armor and drawing blood.

I let out a brief cry of pain, then continued my assault through her maddened swipes with renewed fervor, thrusting my steel blade through her heart. She screeched in pain once more, the unholy sound ringing in my ears, before she finally collapsed and went limp. I pulled my blade out as her accumulated souls flew into me. 

I ignored the feeling of adrenaline and bloodlust from it, taking out my Estus Flask and sipping it, my wounds healing near instantly. The same, however, could not be said for my armor. I checked it over, noting that while she had made a few gashes, it wasn't terribly compromising.

I looked to her body, specifically her rotting face. "...I'll end this curse, ma'am. I promise." With that, I began my trek across the bridge to the gate tower that lead to the city proper.

It took me some time, as there were more Aran hiding and scuttling around, thus earning my armor a few more gashes, but the wounds were healed quick enough with my Estus. Regardless, I reached the intricate gate tower, statues of Aran knights and warriors and priests lining it's outer, marred yet still glorious walls of what I could tell was quartzite. 

As I pushed the gates open and walked inside, I quickly noted a bonfire in the center of what used to be a checkpoint, likely for visitors to the country before the Curse. 

The bonfire, however, had someone sitting by it. They were relatively smaller than me from what I could tell, and wore splintmail armor of what must have been black iron, but dagger sheathes littered it, lined up on straps across their torso. They were stout, as well, and a set of yatagans were sheathed on their back. They also had black fur and dog ears.

They seemed to hear my approach, and turned to look. I could tell once they did that they were a Diamond Dog, and female at that, with a black mask covering their muzzle. She stood up.

"Who are you?" she asked, voice rough yet still like silk, an undertone of an accent to it as well.

I bowed. "Sir Octavius, Knight-Scholar and Head of the Order of Thornclad Eyes." I resumed my earlier position. "And you, miss?"

"...Mori, of the Kingdom of Dogs," she responded, slowly removing her hand from one of the many knives she held on her person. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mori," I replied with a smile under my helm.

"Same to you," she responded. She sat back down by the bonfire. "You can sit if you want," she offered. "Just don't try anything, and we'll get along fine."

I nodded, walking over and sitting across from her. I placed my blade and my shield next to me, then stared into the flames. We sat in silence, the only noise resounding throughout the chamber being the humming of the bonfire, along with the crackling of the eternal flames that made it up.

In time, the gashes in my armor healed with the strange magicks of the bonfire, the golden vapor dissipating from it and retreating back to the flames that birthed them. More quiet contemplation followed, until Miss Mori spoke up, looking to me with her sky-blue eyes.

"So, what's your story? You must have come here for a reason, right?" she asked.

I nodded. "I came here because it was the next stop on my way to Equestria." She hummed in response. "And what of you? What brings you out here, to the city of Arath?" I gestured to the walls around us. 

She paused for a moment, her gaze lowering from mine to look at the dancing flames. "...Just looking for something I've lost."

My brow raised in curiosity. "What is it that you've lost, then?"

"A symbol of my rank. It's precious to me, to say the least," she replied. I hummed, musing on what she'd told me.

"Well, mayhaps I can help you find it," I offered. Her head immediately shot towards me.

"Really? You'd do that? Even for an Unkindled Dog like me?" she asked, eyes wide. I smiled under my helm and nodded.

"Of course. It's a knight's duty to help those in need," I answered easily. I could see her eyes widen more, before the outline of a smile was seen through her mask.

"Thank you, truly. I've not been witness to such kindness for a long time, much less offered it," she said, before holding out a paw towards me. I smiled and shook it.

"Always glad to help, Miss Mori," I responded.

"Well, now with you by my side, we're sure to make it through this city with ease," Miss Mori entertained.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" I asked, standing up. She smiled and stood up as well.

"Indeed. Let us be on our way, then," she replied.

With that, we began our journey together through the city of Arath. With any luck, I might find clues to my past here, as well. I certainly hoped so. And in the process we might just find Miss Mori's lost symbol. I smiled under my helm as we walked down the stairwell of the tower to the city below.

I had a good feeling about this.