> The Element of Willpower
>  by Redwolf15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One: The King of Crazy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter One


The King of Crazy

*Smack*

Damn this guy's got a strong arm. His left fist just connected with my face, man that hurt. But, nothing I can't take. I see him try for a right swing instantly. 

Perfect.

I bring my left arm up to protect my face. This bozo doesn't know how to throw a proper punch. I bring my right arm back so my fist is beside my waist. You don't swing when you punch, that leaves you wide open. And I release everything I have in this last one. YOU PUNCH STRAIGHT THROUGH! And my fist comes into contact with his face.

*Crack*

And he's down for the count. Sprawled unconscious on the ground like a seastar with a bleeding nose.

"Oh damn, dude, he just knocked out Eddie." One of these street punks pointed out. Thank you Captain Obvious. 

"Now that that's been cleared." I look at the other three with dark intimidation in my "May I pass now?"

They ran and left their 'bud' Eddie where he was. Figures as much, chop off a chickens head and its body will be running all over the place. 

I suppose I should start explaining myself to the people who are confused and asking "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?" My name is Jesse Ruesgen and that poor sod on the ground was the local tough guy who was muscling me for the paper in my wallet. After I oh so politely asked to be left alone (not to mention a couple of remarks I made about his mother) he started to throw a few swings at me. Poor dumbass never stood a chance. And unfortunately for me, that was my fifth fight I've gotten into this week. 

It's not like I enjoy these things, I just can't seem to help myself when someones bugging me. I just tell people off without thinking these things threw. 

Just like last week, Joe Mentemy kept bugging me to let him use my Chemistry notes. After about ten minutes I said that his real parents left him at that orphanage hoping he really would get two dads. Well, it wasn't put that nicely, but everyone knows how sensitive he is about how he never knew his real parents and was adopted by two men when he was seven. He nearly broke down right there at my feet. God I'm a dirtbag.

But I only say that to the assess that get on my nerves, I'm not like that all the time. In fact most the time I'm bored out of my mind. There is no excitement in life for me. I'm an over-achiever who doesn't apply himself; I try something new and instantly get the hang of it at an exceeding rate but I don't show for it. I don't know why, I suppose it's because life seems so mundane to me. 

Every day I wake, spend six hours at school, go to my part-time job, relax and watch what's on the T.V., go to sleep, and wake up again just to do it all over again. I know how I sound and I know that I'm not the only one who goes through this sort of thing, but I just have a mind that is different to everyone else's point of view. My relationship with my family? It's fine. In fact, my life should be better than I perceive it to be. My parents are great people who love me and I them. My little sister, Meghen, is a sweet little thing, only eight years old. Everything should be great for me, except for some reason it's not.

I open the front door and see Meghen, on the couch watching Pokemon, even Pokemon was so boring to me when I was her age. Damn I've got some problem. She hears the door close behind me and faces in my direction. The second she saw me bruised face she knew what happened. 

"Who was it this time?" she asks. 

"Eddie." Was my only response. "You'll keep this from Mom and Dad won't you?"

She pulls her hand across her mouth like there was a zipper on it. With a weak smile of gratitude across my face I say thank you to her and go to my room, the one place I go for some peace and privacy. This is basically my life right here. You'd probably ask how I put up with this. Well, there are two reasons:

The first is my good and only friend Markus Benzis. 

Markus is the greatest guy I have ever met in all my seventeen years of living. He's a short kid standing just under 5-feet with dark blonde hair. What he makes up for in height is muscle, he is one buff guy. In a way he's like me when trying something new, he catches on quickly, the only difference between us is that he apllies himself, unlike me. The reason why he's my best, hell, only friend is a mystery even to me. I don't even know why he want's to hang out with me. But I'm glad he does.

The second thing was introduced to me by Markus that I never would have seen coming. 

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?" I looked at him questioningly. "Dude are you serious?"

Markus finishes the last of his soda then turns to me and says "Why yes, yes I am. Honstely man, you should check it out. I was just like you going 'no way this guy is crazy I'm not going to watch this.' But after a while I finally gave in. Shortly through a few episodes and became a brony."

I thought he was crazy at the time, or replaced by aliens. But I decided to check it out anyway. The first episode was difficult for me to get through, and in all honesty, I didn't like it. But, seeing as though it was a two parter I decided to watch the second episode and was more impressed. I gave the show a second chance and continued on to the third episode. Next thing I know, I'm watching episode nine going "My Little Pony, My Little Pony, ah ah ah ah ah." singing along to the opening song.

After that day Markus and I started talking about the show, who our favourite pony was, which princess was better, and just about everything else you would expect two bronies to talk about. Of course it wasn't the only thing we discussed, but it was the best topic we had.

Two weeks later Markus and I are sitting in the school field when he asks me "You wanna spend the weekend at my place? My parents are leaving today so I have the house to myself for four days. We can hang out and do some stuff."

Most peoples responses would be: 'Sure','Let me think about it',or a simple 'no.' But my response was "This sounds like you're confessing your love to me and want to get in my pants." As usual Markus just laughs. 

"No serious man," he says to me finally calming down, "come one it'll be fun. My parents are fine with it if it's just you." 

I stare at him for a brief second still deciding.

He looks straight at me and says one word. That one word that makes any man feel guilty and ashamed if he does not honour it. "Please." 

Dammit.





I tell my parents as soon as I get home where I'll be going. They're so happy for me for finally doing something like this. I start packing an overnight bag with what I'm going to bring. 

Let's se now: Tooth brush?

Check.

Change of clothes?

Check.

ipod?

Check.

Sleeping bag?

Check.

Well, I guess I'm ready. I decide to bring my knife along just in case. I know I'm not going to need it, but I just admire this thing too much to be left behind. It's a good ten inches long, the blade takes up five-and-a-half and is three centimetres thick. I always keep it sharp. The handle is polished wooden handle with an carved eagle at the guard. The whole thing even comes with a sheathe that I can attach to my belt. I through it in my bag.

I leave for Markus's place at about 9:00 that night. It's nice and dark outside. I kind of like the darkness, to me it's so serene to me. Most people get scared and start thinking irrational thoughts, thats why most people think black repressents evil and white repressents good. I see the two as Yin-Yang, two sides of the same coin living in perfect harmony. 

I am then cut off from my train of thought when I hear something. "psst, hey boy come over here." I hear a voice from an alley way, and there standing in the middle with a single light over him was a man. A person's first thought would be 'ignore him and keep walking. he's probably a drug dealer or something.' But me, I thought of one thing, but not what I usually think, which would have be 'unconcsiously insult him then see what happens after that.' But instead I thought of 'who is this man?'

This could have easily been the worst action I have ever made in my entire life. I walk down the alley to see what he wants to say. As I get closer to I him I'm given a better image on how he looks.

This guy is wearing a raggedy grey top hat with the joker card straped to it on his head. He has a brown plaid bathrobe (yes, I kid you not, a bathrobe) with a yellow vest and grey shirt underneath sporting a goldden pocketwatch next to his heart, and a slac tie around his neck. His pants were cut and stiched together with about another eight different pants, no real pattern. He had black ballroom dancer shoes on, and on his right hand was a red leather glove and a grey fingerless one on his left. They ontop of each other extended and supported by an cain that made me think of Charlie Chaplin. But the weirdest thing about how he dressed was that, all his clothes were scuffed up and looked raggedy, but at the same time he looked so regal, so formal, so... powerful.

I stood three feet away from him ready to fight or run if he made any weird moves. He brought his right hand up and took his top hat of with slightly less-then-gracefull bow. As he straightend himself out I could see his face. He had a four inch grey goatee down the end of his chin, his cheeks were slightly sucked in and had a crazy wide smile on his face. His hair was grey and slicked back. But his eyes were the weidest thing of all, they told me so much yet nothing at the same time, I've seen those eyes somewhere before, but I don't know where.

"Tell me boy how would you like to go to the happest place ever. And, no, it will not be Disneyland. All you have to do is pay a small fee of absolutely nothing at all." He said with that creepy smile on. I just now notice that one tooth on his right is much bigger than the rest. 

Okay so at this point I have two ideas at who he is: one: He's a crazyman that might have to be on medication or two: He is a crappy drug dealer.

"Now I know just what you're thinking lad, 'This guy is nuts!' well how about this. I will personally send you to the one, the only, EQUESTRIA." That settles it, he's crazy. But looks so formal, like a king. The King of Crazy. "But don't worry, there will be no drugs, needles, or alcohol will be required. In fact, there won't even be physical contact of any kind." He looks straight at me with determination that I will go witj it. And you know what, I decide to go along with it.

"Alright geezer" I promptly say "if you say you can do this, then I agree. But what do you get out of this?" I ask cautiously. 

"Oh just a little fun, something to pass the time, something to..." he waves his left hand in the air look for a word "be chaotic" he finishes. "So," he taps the cane on the ground "let's get this shindig going then." 

Suddenly the temperature starts going up, wind started to pick up, and the air started to sparkle. This is creepy. 

The old man just leaned against his can looking at his nails acting lik nothing going on. Suddeny a gigantic green snake slithers threw the ground and coils around me. It stays in a sperical shape surrounding me about six feet in diameter. The snake's body is transparent but is as soild as a tree. I start getting scared.

"Hey," I say in a shaky voice "this isn't funny. Now whatever it is you're doing stop it and let me out of here."

The King doesn't even look up and says "Sorry lad but you agreed to this."

THAT'S IT. I do the one thing I know how to do in this situation. Punch the thing. My fists are just stopping and bouncing off when I come into contact with the snake. 

Things seem to picking up, whatever is going to happen is going to happen pretty soon. I hit hard. 

Oh God, what's happening? Let me out of here. Come on punch harder.

*Thunk*

Harder!

*Thunk*

Harder!!

*Crack*

Ha! That one did it. One more punch.

*Smash*

The green sphere broke like glass but I wasn't hurt. 

"Huh?" The Crazy King finally look up taking notice for the first time. "My, my, my, what do we have here?" He stare at the hole and holds my arm with his cane at the hook. "This is very interesting indeed."

The dome started to glow brightly, so bright I had to shield my eyes. The old man lets go of my arm "Toodloo, son, best of luck to you then.

And then it feels like the universe just stopped.
> Chapter Two: First Step, First Encounter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Two


First Step, First Friend


Oh God, my head is killing me. I've never once drank alcohol before. But I think I just found out what a hangover feels like. My head felt four sizes too small and I felt disorientated.  

I blink my eyes open trying to get used to the sudden bright light. I can hear birds chirping around me. My vision finally returning and I stagger up onto my feet. I take in my surroundings. I can't believe it. 

I'M IN A FRAKING FOREST!

There are huge trees surrounding me with a couple of birds, the source of the chirping, in a few of them.

Where am I? What happened? Oh yeah that's right, I met some crazy man in an alley and he said something about sending me to Equestria. 

There was no way he could have done that, I mean really, it's impossible. 

He probably just drugged me with something, that would probably explain my headache. And I reflect back to what happened back in the alley and begin to doubt myself. 

But all that stuff was pretty real, and I know I broke that snake cage thing that was trapping me.

I see my bag on the ground a few feet away from me and go grab it. My bag looks fine, no holes, nothing ripped or broken. Glad one of us got here unmarked. I sort through my bag making sure I have everything. Yep, nothing's missing.

I sling the bag over my shoulder and look towards the sun. I judge it to be about late morning so that means that the sun is still eastwards. I set my right shoulder to face it and start walking north, hopefully I'll find a town and figure out where I am. 





It's been two hours of walking and you haven't found anything except trees, man. Face it. You. Are. Lost.

"Hey look, I already don't know where I am so it's no shit that I'm lost. Besides, two hours isn't exactly going to be how long it'll take to find civilization. But hey, if you have a better idea what to do, then please, let me hear it."

Maybe you should try calling out once in a while, who knows, maybe there's a hunter around.

"God I can't believe I'm arguing with myself. This is definately a sad state I'm in." 

How do you think I feel.

I come into a small clearing. It's a farely even leveled circle about two meters in radius with thin trees surrounding it.

"SHUT UP!"

I'm  starting to think that if this keeps up then I'll have to murder my conscious. Fortunately for me, a loud roar brakes the ridiculous argument I'm having with myself. Unfortunately for me, it sounded close; and when I heard it a second time, it sounded even closer.

I wasn't sure if I was too curious to know what it was to leave or too stupid to hide before it got here, but either way I was going to meet whoever, or whatever, was making that roar.

I started to hear a thumping sound, like a big animal running sraight at me, which was probably what it was. 

ROAR! It's getting closer. 

ROAR! Closer.

ROAR! Closer.

And then a huge hair ball jumps through the foliage. 

TOO CLOSE!

I couldn't believe what I was staring at. It was a big wtih a tanned brown coat. Huge sharp teeth and claws and a great big black mane. It was the biggest lion I have ever seen. But it wasn't just any ordinary lion. At the end of it's butt was a huge red scorpion tail and two green reptilian wings on its back. 

This was a bloody manticore! And by the way it was looking at me, it was a hungry manticore. Okay I'm a believer, this is Equestria and not Earth. 

It stared at me, snarling, showing his giant, white teeth, slowly circles around me. He thinks he has me, I think he has me. 

As the maticore stares straight at me I look around at our surrounding. I keeping my mind calm trying find a way out, but I never take my eyes off him for more than a few seconds. And I see it, off to my left. Two trees are side-by-side each other in a V shape with the smaller trees jumbled around them. The V is just wide enough for me to slip through, the manticore is too big to go through it, but those thinner trees won't be able to stop him, just slow him down. If I'm fast enough, then I might be able to escape through the trees before it catches me and I'm manticore chow. But if I do escape, how long will it be until it catches up to me? It can run faster than me, but there just might be a way for me to stay out of reach. I just have to wait for the right moment. 

It keeps circling me, sizing me up, waiting for me to run. Then, a bird too stupid to realize the danger, swoops down to the ground looking for a worm. The manticore is surprised by this and cranes it's head toward the bird and gives out a loud roar. That got the bird's attention, and became my oppertunety. I take my chance and run for the exit.

The manticore sees me make a break for it and pounces. It lands close behind me, but the exit's closer. I jump through with one final attempt for escape. 

Success! I was able to squeeze through the opening, but barely. The manticore's claws were literally one inch away from slicing my leg into three pieces. I tuck into a ball before landing on the ground and do a quick role onto my feet. The manticore has it's left arm through trying to reach me. I don't stay there gawking or insult or try intimidating it, I turn tail and run.

I hear two things next: the first is the manticore leting out a furious roar; the second is the thinner trees snapping like toothpicks. I'm dead.

I can hear it's massive paws thundering behind and me getting louder, he's closing the gap. 

I risk a glance behind me and see it. Here he comes. I get a very stupid idea in my head. 

I stop in my tracks, turn a 180 degrees to face him, and charge. As me get closer I wait for the perfect moment. The manticore jumps at me, I bring my fist back, and punch him in the face. As my fist connects with his snout I can feel a jolt of pain going straight through my arm and up to my shoulder. The manticore, on the other hand, actually goes head over heels, cartwheeling through the air, right over me. Don't I feel like the Incredible Hulk. 

I grasp my arm trying to ride out the pain. I'm not doing that again. The manticore lands on his back, and I swear I think I heard a wing snap. As the manticore is getting back on his feet, our eyes meet for a brief instant. The chace is back on. 

As the manticore tries pouncing on top of me a second time, I quickly role to the left, dodging him. I don't stay down forever and instantly run off in any direction. 

I realize  that this chase won't last forever, sooner or later he will catch me. Then I hear water, rushing water. It just might be my salvation.

I change directions toward the water, the manticore still on my tail. I think that broken wing actually slowed it down, not by much though.

I finally get to the source of the running water and stop instantly in my tracks. I just made a huge mistake. This wasn't a river, it was a watefall. And I'm right at the edge. The manticore bursts through the trees and sees me by the edge. It has me cornered. It licks it's lips and slowly advances. I look over the edge and see a lake at the bottom. I face the manticore one last time. And step back.

I hear the manticore give out another roar in anger because it just lost it's dinner. I feel the wind rushing against my back, or my back rushing against the wind I should say. This is a drop that I don't think I can survive. I close my eyes and wait for the impact.

Then suddenly there's a jerk on my legs and I stop falling. I keep a strong grip on my bag so I don't lose it and looked down. I see the trees rushing past me. I look up to see who had caught me, but could only see the back of my saviour. 

It was a bird. A giant, bird with feathers that were a mixture of blue and grey had saved my life.

So here I am, upside-down, being flown through the air backwards by a gigantic bird. Oh boy! Well at least I got away from that manticore. Man, that guy was a dick.

I notice that trees are starting to thin out as we fly over them. I crane my neck to the side to see where we're going. I could only catch a glimpse, but I could see that we were heading toward a wide mountain range. 

We fly through a lot a mountains until the forest of trees becomes a forest a stone.The bird drops me in the centre of it's nest high on the tallest mountain there is. We were so far in the mountains that it would take hours to just reach the edge of the forest, unless you could fly of course. I fall on my back into the nest. I land with a great thud that knocks the wind out of me. I role over on my stomach and come face-to-face with the bird. But for the second or third time today, I'm wrong as what to expect. It wasn't a bird that saved me from falling to my death; It was a harpy. She was a harpy.

Harpies, a cross-breed between a bird and a human, generally human females. Everything below her waist was from her bird half, and had wings instead of arms. But her torso and head were human (with a patch a feathers covering her chest). She wasn't beautiful, but she did have a pretty face with blue eyes and red hair, tanned skin (no doubt from living outside with little shade all the time), and a pointed nose .

She looked at me with stone cold eyes that I could not read. She hops down and begins to circle me, as I slowly stand up I begin to get a sudden sense of deja-vu. She looks at me from my feet to my face, eyeing me closely. She tugs at my shirt, I just realise now that my clothes have gotten ripped and torn from all the running I have been doing. But the parts about me she looks more curiously at is my arms and legs. 

Okay, yeah, I get it, 'You meet a harpy?' is what you're all thinking. In a world where ponies are the dominant life form and there's a cross-breed that's part human. But hey, there are other mythical creatures in the show that we've seen, hydra, Minotaur, phoenix, and dragons. But I doubt we've been shown them all, so I guess a harpy would be possible in the land of Equestria.

I try breaking the tension. "Umm, thanks for saving me. I would have been a gonner if it wasn't for you." She didn't respond, just kept inspecting me, I wasn't even sure if she heard me or even understood me, but I needed to try something.

"Listen if there's anything I could do to repay you I would be more than grateful to help."

"You have no hooves." She actually spoke. Her voice wasn't harsh, but it sounded as sharp as a knife. "No tail, or fur, or horn, or wings, or mark on your leg." She looked at me suspiciously. "You are the only creature that looks close enough like me, but you're not me. You have weird leg things, small featherless wings, flat chest, and short hair. In fact you have no feathers." She keeps looking at my hands.  Looks like there's someone who has the same interest along with Lyra.

"Hands." I say to her. I hold up my 'small featherless wings' to her, palms open and fingers spread. "They're called hands. And the reason why I look like you but don't have the same physical appearance is because I'm not a harpy, I'm a human."

"Human?" She squints her eyes. "Well, won't matter what you are now, in a bit you'll be dinner." 

Wait a minute, what? Did she say dinner? I finally see the nest, there's sticks, rocks, trinkets, books, old feathers, and... bones. Great, I just jumped off one plate and onto another, this time there doesn't look like to be an escape. 

"But for now, just relax. I'm not hungry yet." She walks to the edge of her nest and takes off.

Okay, don't panic, everything's fine, just a harpy wanting to eat you, no big deal. There has to be a way out of this right? Yeah I mean who just leaves there meal alone while it can escape. I walk up to the edge and look down, it's pretty much a ninety degree drop on all sides except the back where the mountain goes up. Unfortunately there's no place for hand or foot holds. Crap.  

Wait, take it back a few steps, did I see books? I go back and look at them. There's a bunch of different books.

The Mystery of the Golden Hoof, The Last Sea Pony, A Thousand Years of Disharmony, The Alicorn Conspiracy, Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull. I can already tell that that one could be the worst.

I flip through each book and see that each page has been ripped and torn a little in the bottom corners. It's obvious that she reads these, or at least tries to. I look through pile of bones. Most of the bones look like like ponies, damn. But something's wrong, some of the legs look like they've been cut in half, like someone's hacked them off with one clean swing of a sword. Peculiar. 

I hear her returning. She perches on the edge of her nest. "Alright, I'm hungry now. Hold still while I cut you open." He walks up to me expentding her left wing out. 

Crap, thinkthinkthinkthink. What can I do to make her stop. Well she's intelligent, so maybe I can persuade her into eating something else. But what? And it comes to me, I can take care of two birds with one stone. 

I lay down on my back and lock my hands behind my head. "Alright fine, just make it quick. But I mean hey, you're throughing away a chance for a once in a life time meal by killing me." She stops walking. Got ya. "What do you mean a 'once in a life time meal'?"

"Oh well, while you were away I looked around your nest and saw that there are a lot of bones. Mostly pony bones by the looks of it. But you know, I bet that you never once had something big, like, really big." I look straight into her eye's. I can tell that she looks intrigued. "What kind of meal?"
> Chapter Three: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Three
The Lion Sleeps Tonight





"There he is." I point towards a manticore taking a snooze. "Are you sure that he's the one?" She asks me a bit worried. "Oh yeah, I can never forget a face lik his, not to mention that one of his wings looks broken. It's definately the same one." The harpy licks her lips. She's excited.

I promissed her that if she let me live, I'll help her get a manticore for her next dinner. Or dinners judging how big it is. It took a while and lots of persuasion, but she finally agreed.

"Alright, you know the plan." She nods and flys away. Alright, all I have to do is wait for the signal. I hold my makeshift spear a little closer to my body. I made it back at the nest. It is made of a real good stick, about four, five feet long, vine, and a bone that I sharpened to a fine point with my knife. I've given it a few thrusts and judged that it would make a great weapon. 

I climb down from my perch and get to ground level. I stay close to the ground and keep behind boulders. We're in a rocky region, a between point of the mountain range and forest. It tuck a lot less time han I expected for us to find him.

I sneek a peak to see if he's still there. Yep, still there. Now all I have to do is wait for the signal and we can get started. 

There's a high screech and a startled growl. It started. I rush out of my hiding place spear at the ready. The harpy is to distract and startle the manticore while I jump in behind him and kill him. I rush up, spear held high, ready to strike. But that damn scorpion tail of his sends me flying back. The harpy's job is supposed to get in distract the manticore and et out, and now that he's not being distracted, I am his focus. 

He stares at me and our eyes meet, I can see the rage and joy in his eyes as he recognizes me. He slowly advances towards me, savioring the moment. But that moment doesn't last long because he quickly breaks into a run. I fumble myself to stand up and ready my spear to strike. The manticore is smart enough to stop when he sees danger. He looks at me, trying to deal with this problem. What he sees is an old meal that escaped and returned with the intention kill him. What he forgets is that  this meal didn't come alone.

Another screech comes from up high, the manticore looks in the sounds direction and sees another attack by the harpy. I told you before, her job is to distract the target while I finish it off. A spray of screeches, roars, claws,and feathers go everywhere. When the harpy leaves the manticore is still trying to kill her. In that short time span of three second fight, the manticore forgets about me. When he catches a figure in the corner of his eye, he turns to see what it is and instantly realizes that he is and idiot. You'd be surprised how fast you can move in just three seconds. 

I bring the spear back and thrust. Unfortunately, the big guy is faster than he looks. As my spear comes into contact with him, my spear grazes past his left eye leaving a nasty scar across it and digs deep into his shoulder. He lets out a blood sickening roar, I can just about feel his rage. He jerks back to the side breaking my makeshift spear head. He lashes out blinded. Paws, tail, and wings are trashing everywhere, and I'm suck in the hurricane. I'm doing everything I can to dodge him, dodging left, right, jumping, ducking, and backing away. 

Still, he's too fast to keep up with. A stray back swing with his paw catches me across the face. The force was so great that I went flying and doing a corkscrew through the air. He nearly took my head off with that one swipe, glad it was the back paw, if it was with his claws I'd be dead right now. 

I feel disorientated and groggy. My vision is blurred. Damn, I can't feel the right side of my face. As far as I can tell though, the manticore is still in a blind rage, after all I wouldn't be alive now if he wasn't.

As I slowly regain feeling I can see the manticore -- oh for the love of -, do I have to say manticore every time? It's getting kinda old. You know what, I'm gonna call him Scar for now on. You know, Lion King, scar on his left eye, something of an ass for the time that I've known him.-- I can see Scar calming down. Well actually he looks even more pissed off and looking even more ferocious than ever, but he stopped trashing. He looks at me with pure rage. This time he doesn't savour the moment and jumps straight at me. I lost my broken spear when he hit me so I had nothing to defend myself with. I'm cornered, defenceless, and about to die in just under five seconds flat.

I close my eyes out of fear, fear that I'm about to die in a gruesome way, fear that I'll never see my family ever again, fear that it's a freaking manticore.They say you can see your life flash before your eyes when you're about to die. Thank God for that premature warning because I never saw the past few years of my life. 

There is another loud screech and roar. When I open my eyes I can see that the harpy is fighting off Scar. She's using talons and wing to do everything she can, but Scar is too pissed to deal with this. He swats her out of the air with one powerful swing. She sores straight into a huge tree and crashes with a great thud. Scar seems to be too furious to pay attention to more than one thing. He walks up to the harpy, drool drips through his huge teeth, a great and deep growl fills the air. Looks like she's just become dinner.

In that moment I think This is my chance, I can escape. He's too pre-occupied with the harpy that he won't even notice me leave. I look over my shoulder, a clear path with a for sure escape. I turn my head back, But she risked her life for me. She doesn't even know me. I think. I begin to feel a burning sensation in my heart. She's about to become harpy stew, and what am I gonna do? Run away? Let her die her? I pull my knife out of it's sheathe attached to my belt. I don't think so. She risked herself for me. The least I could do is the same for her. 

The burning sensation in my heart becomes a blaze of fire. All my fear washes away, no, my fear stays, I just overcome it. I jump on Scar's back and tear into his flesh, anywhere that I can stab. 

His blood and roars of pain fills the air. He bucks me off his back. I do a tuck-and-role and land on both feet and left hand on the ground, keeping my centre of gravity low. He turns around and jumps at me. He was so fast that I didn't notice him jump until he was on top of me. Both my arms are pinned to the ground, his massive body on top of mine, his breath literally smells like death. 

So this is how it ends, I die in hopes of saving a creature that wanted to eat me for dinner just a while back, in an alien country, and the smell of death filling my nose. Damn fine way to die if you ask me. I close my eyes again, not because I'm afraid, but because I accept this fate. Damn fine way to die.

But not today.

I feel a warm of liquid across my face. As I open my eyes I can see Scar's eyes, their not the usual anger and rage kind that I always saw. Now they say only one thing:"What just happened?" His head slowly slide down, then completely fall off. A four hundred pound manticore's body tips over without it's head. 

I stare into the void and keep thinking, Holycrapholycrapholycrapholycrap. I move my head slowly to the right and can see her standing there. The harpy, with one wing stretched out right where Scar's neck was, covered blood. I slowly stand up and look at Scar's body, then his head, and finally the harpy. I fish my tongue out of my stomach and say to her, "What did you do, and how did you do it?" She folds her blood stained wing back and plainly says "I cut his head off of course."

"But-but-but how did you do that? Those are just normal feathers." I stammer. "Aren't they?"

"No. Their steel feathers now."

"Well," I say still not sure how to react. "This certainly has been anti-climatic."





After a long dip in a nearby lake, a very long dip, I washed all the blood of my body and noticed that my tee-shirt is a wreck. Glad I have extras. As I get back to the spot where we killed Scar, I see that the harpy has already started to dig in. How does she stomach it raw? I wonder. 

"So? How is it?" I ask. She turns to face me, blood smeared all over her mouth. With an big grin on her face she says, "Delicious." and digs in some more. "I never would have tasted fresh manticore if you hadn't stepped into the picture." She says in between bites. 

"You don't mind if I cut some off for myself do you?" I have to be wary about her. I fulfilled my part of the bargain, now there's no telling if she'll keep her's. "Oh course." She wouldn't look up, just kept eating. I pull my knife out and start cutting off the fur. 

After an hour of collecting fire wood, lighting it with two rocks (which, by the way, was a pain), and cooking why meat, I started in on my dinner. The harpy had her fill of Scar and look satisfied. "Why don't you just eat it plain instead of cooking it like that?" she asks. "Because," I say before taking a bite "I can't eat it raw without getting sick." 

As my mouth comes around the cooked piece I bite down. The meat feels tough to rip apart like jerky, but not too difficult, and once a piece is taken off the rest is easy. The meat tastes like a mixture of roast beef and a tinge of ginger. I never had anything like it. As I keep chowing down the harpy asks, "What is your name?" 

It just occurred to me that I haven't introduced myself to her. I swallow what's in my mouth and turn to her, "Jesse. My name is Jesse Ruesgen. It's nice to meet you." I extend my hand. She looks at it, It suddenly occurred to me that she doesn't know what I'm doing. "It's called a handshake. My species does it as a form of greeting. Here I'll show you what I mean, give me your claw." She does so and I take it in my hand and shake it up and down. a small fleeting smile slowly comes across her face, this must be the first time anyone was ever positive towards her. 

As I eat my dinner some more we sit by the fire in silence. After a while she speaks up, "Flora." I turn and look at her questioningly, "Pardon?" I ask.

"It's my name, Flora, or at least that's what I've always called myself." A name, she actually has a name. I guess if just live nameless it wouldn't be much of living would it? 

"Thank you for sharing that with me." I honestly meant that. "So uh, Flora, how is that you cut off the manticore's head? You said something about them being steel wings." 

"Years ago while out searching for food I encountered a pony, one of those magic ones with the horn." A unicorn huh? "I thought that he would be a good meal. As I chase him through the woods his horn starts to glow. and then shot a spell at me. The spell was originally meant to make my wings feel as heavy as steel, that way he would be able to escape. Guess he was still in training because the spell backfired and made my wings like steel, still as light as ever but a hundred time sharper. After that hunting has been easy." 

"So how come you never mentioned this before, we could have killed the manticore a lot quicker if I knew this." I tell her.

She simple puts, "Well you never asked."

Women. They never make sense. 



	

Flora offers me to stay at her nest for the night. I'm no longer wary of her, after all, you don't give your next meal your name. I find a new shirt in my bag and the two of us sit in the nest and watch the sun go down. While we do that I work on making something new. I still have my stick that was used as a spear, I'd make another one, but quiet frankly, I'd prefer something else. There are a lot of old feathers around her nest, I take any decently good ones and test them out. Even when they've fallen of her they're still incredibly sharp. I begin sticking the quills in so the feathers are facing along one side.

"So, how come your all alone here, aren't there other harpies around?" It has been a question that's been bugging me for a while. She looks down, I see a sort of loneliness in her eyes. "No. I'm the only one of my kind as far as I know. I've searched al along the forest region and beyond it at times, but with no luck." She was alone. All her life and she has been alone. That must be hard for her, no wonder she seems so hostile. For all I know I could be the only person, or pony, that she has had a connection with. That must be hard for her. 

"By the way, what are you doing?" She changes the subject towards my activity. I don't blame her really. 

"There's a reason why I'm here, Flora. I don't know what it is but it's out there. That's why I have to go out and find it for myself, and if I'm going to do that, I'll need to protect myself. I'm trying to make a sword out of your feathers. But truth to tell, a preschooler would have a better time painting the Mona Lisa." It's true, this was crap.

"Who's Mona Lisa?" she asks.

"Oh right. Uh, never mind. Hang on there could be something in my bag that could help keep this together." I rummage through it trying to find something. Then my eyes come across something different, something that I didn't put there. I pull out a small sheet of paper. The moment I made contact I started to feel weird. A tingly sensation went through my body. It felt kind of painful, but at the same time it was nice, not relaxing, just nice. And the nice part I was a scared of. It didn't feel nice like sitting in a warm bathtub, it felt powerful, scary, and carzy; and I liked it. Flora notices my confused expression at the paper, "What is it?" she asks walking over.

"A note." I say still trying to figure out how it got here. "But I didn't put it there."

"Well," she says, "if it was in your bag and you didn't put it there then it was left for you to read."

That certainly made sense. I read it out loud.
"Congratulations! You have successfully succeeded in surviving the first day of your adventure. I must say you are a slippery one. I can't wait to see what sort of mischief will arise after this event. Anywho, I thought that you should know I'll be waiting for your arrival, just don't get yourself killed like what happened today." And with a little embarrassment I finish off, "Smooches." 

"Uh, smooches?" Flora asks with curiosity she knows not to get into. 

"Well that's what it say!" I blurt out flustered. 

"Right, well who's it signed by?" 

I scan the page. "I don't know, there's just a D on the bottom right. A backwards D." This is getting down right ridiculous. I meet a crazy man in the alley, I magical come to Equestria, I nearly die several times on the first day, and know I'm being monitored and expected to be somewhere. This is down right crazy. 

And to top it all off, I have a shit sword. I need something better, I really do. I began to get annoyed. Then the feeling I got from the note began to intensify. I was getting scarred but didn't show it, because for some reason I wanted it to continue. The letters began to glow a bright dark colour, however that's supposed to work. Flora didn't seem to notice this, which was crazy because the letters on the note began to get brighter. The letters were glowing so bright that the paper began to burn. Something was happening and I didn't like it but I didn't try stopping it. Even though the paper began to glow so bright that I had to cover my eyes with my arm that held the makeshift sword, and the paper was so hot that it could melt through my hand, I didn't let go. There was a sudden loud popping sound that was so great it made Flora jump out and screech out of fear. I swear, I'm sure that the entire forest heard that one. 

The paper cooled off in that instant, in fact, it wasn't even warm, not even my hand felt hot. It was like it never happened. Flora looks back at me, "WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THE STARS WAS THAT?" I think she almost had a heart attack, I know I sure did. "You noticed that but not the bright glowing coming form the-"  I show her the note, except it wasn't a note, it was a blank sheet of paper. I checked the backside, nothing. The letters had disappeared. Does nothing make sense any more?

"Jesse, " Flora says, "your sword." I look down to see what has her speechless. When my gaze meets where she indicated, I was stunned. I no longer held a stick with a bunch of razor sharp feathers sticking out. I now held in my hand a smooth, sharp katana. The handle was as long as my forearm, wrapped in a fine black cloth. The cloth felt soft and gentle, but rough and firm enough to keep a grip. The guard was a hard black material carved to look like a snake coiling around itself and holding its tail in its mouth. Just seeing that made me think about what happened in the alley. I pull it out of the sheathe, the blade sings as it is released. The blade itself had a silvery polished look to it, but you could tell that it was truly the finest steel. 

I gave it a few practice swings. It felt extremely light and accurate, you could hear the air sing as the blade passes though it. "Where did it come from?" Flora asks finally finding her tongue. I shake my head not taking my eyes off it, "I don't know, but it had something to do with the note." Looks like I have something to use a defence.





Morning. Flora flew me down to the ground where it was safe. I stand facing her before we part ways. "Are you sure you don't want to come along?" I ask her. "I would love to have you by my side." She nods her head, "Yes. This is my home, and I have no interest in seeing Equestria. Beside, I'm sure ponies wouldn't think kindly of me if they knew I ate them." The two of us laugh knowing that it's probably true.  

"Listen, I've noticed ponies going one way or another on a path just north of here. The closest settlement should be east, about a two day flight from here. But here, before you go I have something to give you." She uses her wings like a pair of hands, it doesn't look easy but she manages. She hands me feather tied to a thread. "Uh, thanks Flora, but you don't have to give me one of your feathers for a reminder, I'd never forget you." She laughs some more as if it was the funniest joke in the world.

"It's not a feather." she says finally calming down, "It's a whistle." I look at it more closely. The quill has a hole in it and another midway through. "I've had that all my life. No matter where I am or how far away it is, I have always found my way back to it whenever it has been blown. If you ever need a harpy's assistance then all you have to do is blow."

"Thank you Flora, I'll be sure to remember that if the time ever comes." I put the whistle around my neck. 

As I turn around I get the sudden feeling that somewhere, someone is laughing at me with glee. My bag over my shoulder with all my stuff, my new sword that I have named Silver Fang and knife strapped to my side, and an ambition growing in my heart. With questions that need answering and things to explore I set off northwards towards the path that Flora mentioned. Who knows what I'll encounter. If I meet a pony will he or she be as friendly as everyone on Earth would expect, or would they be just as wary as me as humans would be to them? Only one way to find out. Lets see where this road takes me.
> Chapter Four: Saving a Chicken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Four
Saving a Chicken





Its been two days since I left Flora's, she said it was a two day flight, so I predict that I would reach a settlement in another day or so. She said that ponies walk along this path frequently, but so far I've met nopony. The last two nights have seemed a little lonely. But that doesn't mean I've been alone. If you think Equestria is a safe place where beasts now their place inthe animal kingdom, you are surely wrong. I'm constantly being attacked every few hours by night, most of these attacks have just been from hungry creatures looking for a snack. Most of them are farely cowardly though, I just have to grit my 'teeth' and make a menacing growl. I never want to kill them, just chase them away. They run off scared and know not to tangle with me ever again. 

Of course there are the few who are brave enough to call my bluff, or too stupid to run away. So seeing as though they don't back down, I finish things quickly. I doubt that they ever realize that they've been killed.

My sword, Silver Fang, is extremely sharp and my arm is fast. I've tested it out on several things, starting with twigs and working my up to bundles of sticks, branches, and entire trees. No matter how much it slices in half, it doesn't lose its edge, it stays incredibly sharp no matter what I've cut through, even stone.

It was probably just me losing track of time, but night seemed to have come earlier today. Maybe Luna jumped the gun this time. I head off the path to look for firewood and something to kill. Okay, I may have said I didn't want to kill anything unless it attacked me first, but come on, I need meat. 

I don't stray too far from the path incase I get lost. Think about, 'Boy goes into dangerous woods alone. Never seen again.'

*snap*

I turn my head in the direction of the noise, my hand resting on my blade. I stare into a pile of bushes for a good ten seconds, I couldn't see anything, but I knew that while I was staring into the bushes, the bushes stared back. Finally there was movement. I see a brown paw step out first, followed by nose, rows of teeth, and two yellow eyes. Slowly the rest of it appear, another three paws, a body and lastly a tail. 

Now, from my short time here I have learnt that Equestria's native creatures are a wide variety ranging anywhere from the normal earth dog to the mythical dragon and everything in between. But this was one of the strangest oddities. On first glance you would expect it to seem like a normal wolf. But take a second glance and you could see that it didn't have fur. No, instead it had tree bark, and it didn't have meat under that bark, because there was wood. I've seen these once before in an episode before. A timberwolf.

The timberwolf glared at me, teeth showing, and giving a low growl. I doubted that intimidating it would work. I get ready for it to attack me; waiting for the right moment to strike. 

Suddenly there is a howl in the distance, sounded like another timberwolf. The one in front of me stands straight up, cocks its head back, and lets out a similar howl in response. Multiple more howls sing through the woods from the direction of the first, could be its pack. The timberwolf turns around towards the howls and runs towards their direction.

At this point I would have been grateful for whatever it was that got the first timberwolf's attention away from me. I started picking more sticks and logs for my fire, but something was nagging at me that something was wrong. My curiosity finally got the better of me. I dropped the sticks and ran in the same direction as the first timberwolf, towards where there was probably an entire pack of them. 

As I get close enough to my estimated destination I begin to hear snarls an growling. I get on my hands and knees and start crawling over a hill. I peek my head over to see what's on the other side. I count there to be about twenty or so timberwolves surrounding a tree. Each one looks tougher and uglier than the next with hunger in their solid yellow eyes, all of which didn't help the fact that I was still hanging around at this point. 

As they slowly crept closer to the tree keeping a tight circle, I look more closely and saw something at the base of the tree. There's something small and pink at the bottom against the trunk cowering. It looked like the ugliest chicken I've ever seen in my entire life. 

So an entire pack of timberwolves cornered a butt ugly chicken and will soon eat it, so what? That's the order of nature, eat or be eaten, it's not my place to decide who lives and who dies. I began to crawl back, it seemed harsh but it was law of the jungle, survive. Don't do anything that could break that single law. As I slowly crept away something kept nagging me to stop this. I don't know what it was, but something told me to help that chicken.

The wolves were closing in slowly, it was just one chicken but they never rushed it, like they were nervous, hesitant even, to kill it. Finally one found its bearings and attacked. In that exact moment, I reached for my knife and threw it at the attacking wolf without blink an eye. Before the wolf could bring its jaws around its prey, my knife struck it under its shoulder blade. It let out a quick howl of pain and missed its meal. The rest of the pack turned to hill where I threw my knife, except I wasn't on the hill, I was in front of them. I drew Silver Fang with lightning quick reflexes and cut through the closest wolf's jaw, severing brain connection from the rest of its body. I didn't stop there, instantly after cutting the first, I kicked the next one in the face and rushed past them. None of the wolves realized what happened until I was in the center scooping the chicken in my arms and bolting away.

I don't know what it was that came over me, but from the time I threw my knife I wasn't me. Instead, I was a robot, acting without hesitation or fear or emotion or regret, I just acted on impulse, without thinking. Mechanically and lifeless. It's only until I brake out of their circle with the ugly chicken do I realize what I'm doing. 

I look over my shoulder still running. "Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!" The entire pack is far behind me but catching up quick. I look down to see how my passanger is doing. Whatever this is, I was pretty sure it wasn't a chicken... I think. But one thing was certain about it, it was ugly, but stangely familiar; and it was warm, very warm. The ugly chicken thing has pinkish feathers that look too small for it to be able to fly, a long neck, a huge beak, and some pretty derped out eyes. It lets out a dry cough, the poor thing's feathers are so frail that some of them fell off from something so small as that one cough. This poor thing wasn't just helpless or sick, it was dying. 

One timber wolf finally caught up to our right side and jumps towards us, mouth gapping wide. Unlike earlier I have regained my senses, so I don't kill the wolf even though it attacksed me. I wack it with the end of my hilt disorientating it and don't stop running. But it's just in the worst of times that you realize something important, and I realized that I have no idea where I am or where I'm running to. I don't know where the path is. 

Dammit!

As I continue to run for our lives I hear something ahead of us, something rushing and fimiliar. My train of thought is cut short as another timberwolf tries tackling me to the ground. I dodge left before the wolf is able to pin me to the ground. I kick the S.O.B hard in its jaw. It lets out a small whine as it falls to the ground stunned. 

The rest of the wolves are still behind me but catching up quick. As I run from my pursuers the sound of rushing gets louder and louder. The trees begin to thin out as I continue on. I break through the boundary of trees and come into a clearing, as the sun hits my face I skid to an immediate stop. 

"Again?" I yell out loud. "How the hell does this happen twice?" I end up on another cliff, this is deja-vu. Beside me is a flowing river, explaining the rushing sound. The water goes over the cliff into a small canyon. "Someone, somewhere, is playing a cruel joke on me, aren't they?" The only reply is from the chicken giving out another feeble cough. 

I judge the distance between here to the water. It's about a 100 foot drop to the bottom, the lake looks deep enough so I won't crack my head on impact. I weigh my options, jump to possible safety and figure out how to get out of the forest later, or run in a different direction while a pack of timberwolfves chase me. I turned around to see how far the wolves are from me. My eyes go wide as I see rows of teeth come straight at me. The sudden surprise forces me to back away as fast as I can. Turns out the decision was made for me, I stumble over the cliff and plunge into the water. The sudden impact on my back forces me to exhale, losing all of my air. I swim upwards as fast as I can, when I brake through the surface I gasp for as much oxygen that I can take in.

The chicken looked like it was having as much trouble as me, it was flailing around frantically trying to stay afloat. I swim over and keep it above the water. I swim us to the shore, it's made up of mainly a bunch of rocks, two trees, one of which has fallen over, and more rocks. I hear a howl back up the cliff, all the timberwolves are snarling at me, they look pissed. I flip them the bird and stick out my tongue in a mocking gesture. "HA! Suck it wolves!" Humans: 1, Timberwolves: 0. I was pretty sure that they didn't know what I said or what my rude gestures were, but I didn't care.

They look off into the distance and ran along the cliff. They just won't give up will they? I watch the last of them run off. I turn around and try to plan my next step. Then I feel something, something powerful and ominous. I slowly turn around, I didn't want to know what was behind me, but I had to know what it was. One timberwolf stayed, but it was different from the rest. It was bigger then the other wolves, the bark was well trimmed and a darker colour. But that wasn't what made me nervous about it, there was something scary about it, it seemed bold, brutal, strong, fast, smart, and deadly all at the same time; a born killer. It just stared at me with calm yellow eyes, and I stared at it, speechless. It turned away and followed the rest of its pack. Even when it was long gone, I kept staring at the spot where it was, like it was still there.

I finally came out of my trance, and I got this sudden feeling of doom. I knew that those wolves weren't going to give up. They were coming after us. I made use of what little daylight was left. I studied our surroundings so I could use the terrain to our advantage. Turns out that luck was in our favour, there was the small but deep lake to one side of us and a huge wall going all around us into a circle with two parts disconnectingt leaving an exit, or in this case an entrance. I go through the open door, it is half as long as my body if I stretch out my arms and three meters long. 

Perfect, there seems to be only one way for them to get in here, and its only wide enough for one of them at a time. They wouldn't be able to surround or gang up on me, their only hope is to tire me out before I hack threw them all one at a time

I walk back to the see how the chicken is doing. It feels hotter than before, whatever this fever is, it's getting worse. I begin to strip down and wring out my clothes, rather not face my possibly-imminent demise in soaking wet clothing. 

"So let's see here. I was just out minding my own buisness, when suddenly a timberwolf appears and then just leaves in the same instant. Instead of just leaving things alone, I had to follow it. Next thing I know, I'm rescuing their dinner that will probably not see tommorrow either way you look at things, only now to make their Shit-list. And now I'm in a gultch waiting for those wolves to come. And for what? That?" I look at the chicken, it just hurts to look at it. "And lets not forget that I left my bag on the road and lost my knife, so now all I have is some damp clothes and my sword." I mutter. 

The chicken looks down, like it's blaming itself for this. I just grunt and hack at the one of the two trees to make a camp fire. It would be a bad idea to make a fire just before night with some P.O.ed wolves after you, but I won't be able to fight if I can't see, plus they already know where we are, so I guess there's no sense in trying to hide.
> Chapter Five: From the Ashes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Five
From the Ashes





It's dark out, night's finally here and the wolves are coming. The chicken and I are sitting around the camp fire I made, the chicken really isn't looking to good. I checked his temperature earlier, (yeah the little guy didn't like being called an 'it', and I know a chicken is female, but truthfully, I honestly don't know what gender he is, so I just called it a he. He's not arguing with it so I guess I got it right first time around.) He's not looking too good. He keeps coughing, he's getting hotter, and loosing all his feathers. It would be a miracle for him to see the morning light. I guess fate was at hand here, I have to give him a little comfort in his last moments. 

As the two of us are siting, enjoying the fire in silence, hearing a small pop from the fire every now and then, a larger snap goes outside of the entrance with a howl following. They're here. I set up a few traps to warn us of their approach. I quickly spring into action and run for the entrance, I set up torches along the narrow path and infront of the entrance to see. 

I get through the entrance, and come face-to-face with dozens of yellow eyes and low growls in the dark. I slowly back up into the pasage unsheathing Silver Fang. My one advantage to facing them is that they have to come at me one at a time. Their advantage is that I can only slice in a vertical motion or stab, the width of this passage restricts my full ability.

The wolves slowly creep into the light. They look nervous around the fire. Having an entire body made of wood would probably do that to you.

One brash wolf decides to try his luck with me. He jumps forwards and is greeted with a sword through his brain. I pull my blade back dislodging it from the wolf's head. I notice now that their blood isn't red like regular wolves or any other creature, it's tree sap. Makes sense.

Another wolf steps forward, more cautious then the first. He steps over the other's body and  tries bitting my foot, testing me. I shift back ready to strike but he's already out of reach. He advances slowly, I can't move this time. I reverse my hold on the sword so the blade faces down and stick my left foot in front, hoping he'll take the bait. The wolf snaps at my foot again and I bring the sword down on his head piercing his skull. 

The third wolf comes straight at me without hesitation and pins me down. I didn't have enough time to counter the wolf but I was able to get the back of my sword between his jaws, stopping him from ripping my face off. I blindly reach over to grab anything to get him off me. My hand grabs one of the torches used to light the passage and I wack the wolf with it, forcing him off of me in pain. I got a few cuts on my arms but nothing too deep. The wolf on the other hand had a scorch mark over his right eye and looked very pissed. 

This is gonna be a looong night. 





After what seemed like hours of fighting wolf after wolf, I began to get tired. Looks like my stamina was no match for their numbers. I've been cut, pinned, bitten, my clothes are torn, and two wolves were actually able to gang up on me. I'm bleeding from head to two along my arms, torso legs, and a shallow scratch or two across my face. 

Luckily I've been able to kill about seven or eight of them, unfortunately they have another ten-plus. I could take another five, seven if I'm smart. I've been forced to move farther back, closer into the passage, the bodies have been pilling up.

There was a loud commanding howl from the back. The remaining wolves cleared away from the passage leaving an open path. One large wolf casually stolled up to me, passing the rest. The other wolves lowered their heads in a sort of bowing motion. But it didn't look like they were doing it out of respect, but because they looked afraid. He walked past the torches not recoiling when he brushed past the flames. 

Most of the wolves were a little taller than my waist. This guy came up to my chest. I get ready to deffend myself when he attacks. The wolf looked toward the moon high above us. I turned my attention to it too, it was like looking at a silver coin floating in a sea of darkness. The wolf looked back at me and grins. He reels his head back and lets out a bone chilling howl. The moonlight gets stonger, not brighter, just stonger. A single ray of moonlight comes down and touches the wolf.

He grits his teeth and growls in pain. I'm too shocked to do anything. And too curious to find out what is happening to let myslf stop this. 

The wolf thrashes around in pain, the bark on his body starts shifting, moving, and extending. His legs and arms grow longer and more muscular, his paws become great big hands and fingers start to extend. I stared in disbalief as I watched his shape reform itself. 

By the time he stopped howling in pain, his transformation had finished. He laid on the ground in a ball, huffing furiously. He stretches his right arm and places his new hand on the ground and does the same with his other arm. He pushes himself up and stands on his two hind legs and begins to advance towards me.

He stops infront of me as I looked into his eyes with mixed emotions: fear, joy, doubt, horror. I was no longer taller than him, he was now a giant compared to me. 

He was no longer a giant timberwolf, he was now a beast of legends. A were-timberwolf. 

I was too shocked to do anything, the best I could do was keep my hands from shaking. He looks down at me with that same grin across his face. 

I find my tongue, "You can't be serious." All he does is let out a scoff of amusement and backhands me across my face. I fly out of the passage. 

There's a wake up call for you.

I slowly stand up. "I would say 'Oh buck that hurt!' But I'm obviously not a pony. But what I will say is this:" I widen my stance, sword held over my head and ready to strike. "Come on!" 

I'm not stupid for not running away. I'm actully terrified of him. But I can stand up to him because I'm afraid. I've learnt how to overcome fear. You don't fight it, you accept it, you craddle, you let it run through you. When facing someone that could easily kill you without fearing them is stupid. When not backing down from a tougher opponent that you are afraid of is bravery. But right now I'm neither brave nor stupid. I'm facing this guy not beacuse I have to, not beacuse I want to, and not because he wants to. But beacuse I have to someone to protect. Someone that has to have a bit of comfort in their life before they die.

The wolves swarm inside behind the were-timberwolf. He walks up to me while the others surround us, he's challenging me. "Well? come one then I haven't got all night."

"Why so eager to fight right away? Can't we have a friendly chat before that?" The were-timberwolf asks.

I look at him dumbfounded. "You can talk!"

"Suprised? You should be. As much as I am strange to you, you are strange to me. I'd like to know a little about you before one of us dies."

"Well in that case, how about we have a temporary truce until we're both satisfied in answering each other's questions?" I ask. Besides, I need time to recover, even if it's a little while.

"A truce? I am unfimiliar with that term. Would you care to explain."

"Alright. A truce is when two or more opposing parties stop all hotilities towards each other for a set time until they can reach an agreement. In short, I lay down my sword and you and your wolves stop trying to kill me and that chicken until the two of us wish to continue our fight. Deal?"

The were-timberwolf thinks for a few seconds. "Alright, a truce it is." He barks a commanding order to the other wolves, they don't look too happy about it but they obey. "So I suppose we will begin by introducing ourselves. My name is Balto. It was given to me by Mother. Tell me, what are you? You seem to resemble Mother, but you are also different from her."

I resemble his mother? That is both flattering and creepy at the same time... I think. But who is this Mother he speaks of? 

"My name is Jesse Ruesgen, I am a human. An alien to this world merely trying to find my way home. Back were I come from there are stories of creatures like you. They were once man like me, but once a month when the moon was brightest they turned into something a lot like you. Except they have fur around their body, not wood. There are many things I'm not used to here, but I can see that you're different, even to this world. Tell me, are you the only one of your kind?"

"Yes and no. I had many brothers and sisters, but none of them were the same as me, we vary in size, shape, form, and species."

"What do you mean? And who was this Mother you speak of? Was she human too?" I need to figure this out. Did other humans come to Equestria before me?

"Her true name and species was never mentioned infront of us, but that was fine because we already knew who she was, our Mother. She was wonderful. When she did not work onher studies she would teach us all how to speak, write, and read, how to act around ponies, how to use our powers, and many other things. How I wish those days never ended." He looked at the moon with the look of affection in his eyes. "But one day a creature came for her." His features darkened. "He wanted to take here away from us. And succeeded. We fought the beast with everything we had, but it was useless, he took Mother, leaving nothing but dead members of my family behind. What was left of us buried our brothers and sisters and we each went our separate ways. 

"We were kept secret from the world with only a few ponies knowing of our existence in the castle, so regular ponies did not know how to react to us or knew what we were. Many of us were hunted down and exicuted, the few of us that escaped live our lives' in solitude or have found new families and homes like myself. I do not know how many of my brothers and sisters are left, but we are few." 

I stand there thinking how sad his story is. "I'm sorry to hear that." And it hits me. "Wait you said castle. What castle?"

"The royal castle in Canterlot, we lived there with Mother. Her friend Princess Celestia looked after us from time to time while Mother was out."

What? Celestia knew about this? I guess sometimes even the fairest of rulers have a few dark secrets.

"Now enough about me." He says, "How about you tell me why you interfered with our dinner?"

"Well truth to tell, I don't honestly know why. I just sort of had this feeling that something told me to do it. And without thinking I'm running through the forest with you lot on my tail." 

He looks at me surprised. "You don't know what that is?"

"As far as I can tell, it is some ugly chicken that's about to die. I figured seeing as though you're already after us I might as well protect him from you so it can die peacefully."

He stares at me. "Hm. Well, I have all I want to know from you. What say we get on to fighting?"

I grip my sword, ready to fight. "Alright. But promise me one thing, you or your pack won't touch that chicken while I'm alive." 

"You really are ready to protect a dying creature who you never met before, huh?"

I give him no answer. I just stare at him.

"Very well, Mother taught me to respect the wishes of ones like you."

I rush toward him, trying to spill his guts. Alright, we're out in the open. My advantage: I can swing my sword freely. Their advantage: Him.

He doesn't try blocking me, or dodging. In fact, he stays in his spot, not moving. My blade comes right across to his side. And abruptly stops as it comes in contact with him. My sword was able to cut through stone itself, yet now it stops? 

Balto chuckles like my attempt was meant to tickle him. I bring my sword over my head and slice down across his chest. There was barely a scratch. What am I facing?

He just scratches his chest and yawns. Intimidation is it? I bring my sword back once more and stab him in his heart. Once again there is no effect. My sword stops on contact with his chest. 

He brings his left hand up and gently moves the sword away from him. "My turn!" He has a wicked grin on his face as his right fist reels back.

I feel the full effect of his might strike me across my face. He nearly took my head off with that punch. 

I can't win can I? I pull myself up only to be kicked in the stomach and sent flying again. It's hopeless. I can't beat him. Another punch. Am I gonna die here? Protecting what will soon die anyway you look at it? Struck down again. Is this how I get paid for helping the weak and defenceless? Another hit.

"I have to tell you, you seemed like a much worthier challenge earlier. Guess I was wrong." He brings his hand up, claws extended. "Been nice knowing you Jesse. Here's a last bit of advise, not like it will make a difference now though. The strong always devours the weak." 

This is it, huh? I'm going out like this. It's sad really.

His claws come down. "It's too sad really." I say.

I catch his arm before it can come down. A fire burns inside me, a warm and powerful one, like when I fought Scar with Flora. His strength far exceeded my own, yet I was able to stop his arm with one hand. I slowly stand up not loosening my grip. He was taller and physically stronger than me, but when I stood up to him and looked into his eyes, it felt like I dwarfed him. 

"I'm not dying here you bastard." With my free hand I flip my sword so the blade faces down and I slice across his tricep, cutting through his bark this time. I flip the blade again and cut his bicep, same wonderful result. He howls in pain trying to free himself, but I keep a strong grip on him and I bring my right arm back to my waist. 

"If the strong devour the weak, then the mighty shall protect them." I uppercut him over the mouth. I don't know where this power came from, but if I can use it to protect others, than I not complain. 

Balto hits the ground hard. He groans as he picks himself up. "Looks like I was right. You are a worth challenge." He stares at his arm that I cut up. "You actually cut me! Nopony has cut me before." 

"Well there's a first time for everything." I give a smirk, tempting him.

He returns my smile with his own. "Yeah, like dying."

He jumps forward, claws extended. I dodge out of the way, those claws came close to ripping my face off. I slice him across the chest, leaving a shallow but good mark. He doesn't seem to be phazed by it and punches me. It was with the same stength as his first punch, but it had such a tiny impact on m.

We continue like this for a while, trading blow for blow. A cut here, a bruise there, and a lot a blood everywhere. After what seemed like hours of endless brawling, the two of us stood toe to toe, exhausted. He cut me real good on my right arm with four gashes going across it, I have my own blood over my face, there are bruises all over my body, and I think one of my kidneys has stopped working. Balto here has taken a lot a cuts and scaring, he's covered in them, I pried off a stick from his body, and nearly gouged out is right eye. The fire inside of me feels like it's dying out, but it struggles to stay alive.

I sneak a glance to see how the chicken is doing, if it weren't for those sickly coughs I would have expected it to already be dead.

"Listen," Balto says in between breathes. "You're clearly a formidable opponent, it truly would be a shame if you die here. What say we stop this, you leave, and we get our meal you stole from us? I would rather not see an opponent as tough as you die early in life."

"Heh, scared to contine? Afraid you're gonna be beaten?"

"Alright, but remember, you asked for it." 

He gets on all fours and jumps towards me like a bullet. He hits me like a freight train. The two of us role on the ground struggling. He lands on top of my and grabs me by my neck and starts running, dragging my body across the ground. My back feels like it was being torn apart as it grinded againft the rocks. The pain was finally relieved as he picked me up... and then slammed me into a wall. 

New pain shot threw me as I spat out wads of blood. I could barely stay conscious from the pain. 

The wolves are howling in triumph. "Well, it was nice knowing you, it truly was. I'll make sure to remember you when you're dead."

I look into his eyes. "Remember this." I stab my sword through his guts and comes out the othr end. Balto howsl in pain while I begin laughing hysterically. He pulls the sword out of him and brings his arm back in rage, ready to turn me into a shish kabob with my own weapon.

Then there's a loud coughing. I stop laughing, the wolves stop howling, and Balto freezess. None of us were making that coughing. Balto and I look to the direction of the chicken. It was him who was coughing, coughing a lot. I realized now that his time was up. I fought to the bitter end to protect him until he dies, looks like I succeeded.

Balto drops me and faces the chicken. "No! I won't let this happen!" He steps fowards but stops from a small jerk. I've latched onto his ancle.

"I told you Balto, as long as I'm alive you're not touching him." 

"You fool, you really don't know what you're getting into!" 

"I. DON'T. CARE!" I pull my arm back tripping him.

"Alright," he pulled himself up. "I'm done with you. I've given you fair warning several time. But now I see that their's no talking to you." He climbs on top of me, sitting on my chest and forgetting about the chicken. He holds my sword  high over his head, ready to impale me. The other wolves started howling in impatient glee.

And a great fire breaks out. It wasn't from the campfire I made earlier, or one of the wolves catching fire, and it wasn't the fire that burns inside me. It was the chicken. The chicken caught on fire. But he wasn't near a flame, he just spontaneouly combusted. 

I stare in horror as I watch him burn alive. And I could feel a tear role down my face.

"We were to late." Balto says horrified. "We're too late."

The fire finally burns out and a pile of ash is left behind. The timberwolves start whimpering and begin to back away from the ash pile, like they were afraid of it. 

Balto looks back down at me. "Damn you, we could have prevented this if you didn't interefe." 

"Whatever." I think I'm suffering a little fromcrazy and hysteria.

He brings the sword up ready to strike. Then a cry breaks out. A beautiful and noble cry that fills the air. Balto stops, his arms begin shaking, he looks afraid. He turns his head back to the pile of ash in horror. He gets off of me backs away.

I wearily look to the ash pile barely staying conscious. The ashes began to move about and lift off the ground all on their own. They begin to circle around each other creating a dust devil. Finally there was a bight and warm flash of light. No longer was there an ash pile moving on its own. Now in its place was a giant bird with feathers so red and orange that they glittered with beauty. That's when my memory kicked in, this wasn't a chicken thing that was dying. This was a phoenix being reborn. 

"Mirorr!" The phoenix cries. He looks down at each one of us, finally coming acros me. The pheonix flies down next to me. He gives a worried cry.

"Heh, you're a phoenix? I kept calling you a 'chicken' you know?" I laugh at the humor only to begin coughing blood. "Oh damn, I think I'm dying." I only half joked about that. I could already feel my heart rate slow down, every breath was a struggle, and I started to lose feeling in my body.

The phoenix could already see that. He gives a quiet cry and closes his eyes. A light starts to come from him, a blinding light, a warm light, a friendly light. I began feeling my blood pump through my vains, wounds begin closing themselves and bruises start disappearing. I was being healed. 

When the light finally dimmed I opened my eyes and slowly sit up. I looked at the pheonix. "You... did you save me?" 

The pheonix lets out a jowful cry and swoops into the air. 

"NO! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Balto cries out in anger. He faces towards me. "You! This is all your fault! If you didn't step in the way then he we could have killed the phoenix hours ago."

He begins stepping towards me, he's very pissed. 

The phoenix flies down and places himself in between us. Balto stopped walking and stepped back. 

The phoenix was just as furious as Balto. The phoenix burst into flames once more, but he wasn't burning, he was just coated in a cloak of flame. No, that's not the right description. 

It was more like fire took the form of him.

"Braugh!" He screeches. The flaming phoenix flies high into the sky, straight towards the sun. He comes down, shooting like a bullet, hot, firery, bullet. Straight towards Balto.

"No! Stay away from me!" He turns tail and runs to the exit trying to escape. But it was useless.

The phoenix strikes Balto square in his back. He is propelled forwards from the force of the phoenix's impact. They fly across the chasm, both on fire.

Balto screams in pain as he burns. He crawls to the small lake and dunks in. The water begins to boil and steam. Balto resurfaces still on fire. Magic fire, they'll keep burning until there's nothing left but ash. He crawled out of the lake. I saw through the fire how desperate he was. He reaches for me, not to harm me, but to plead to me. Plead for me to save him, plead that I help him, plead that I be merciful. His arm burns off and lays in a clump of burning charcoal.

I pick up my sword and walk over to him. He tried killing me multiple times, even after I refused his offer to walk away. He want's me to help him. He want's me to save him. He want's me to be merciful. 

I look into his melting eyes and see what he wants. "Okay." I understand. 

I slice his head off with one quick motion. I was merciful, a painless and quick death. I saved him, he doesn't have to feel pain. I helped him, I looked into his eyes and he wanted just that.

The phoenix flies beside me and look at the remaining timberwolves. They ran in fear, fear that their champion is dead, fear that the phoeix is healthy, fear of me. Each one turns tail and runs out the passage with their tails between their legs. 

The phoenix begins to chase after them. "Stop." I call after it. 

"Mirorr?"

"Leave them alone. They're just a pack of mangy mutts now." 

The phoenix looks at me and back at the fleeing wolves. He gives in and does so. 

The sun finally comes up. It feels like day and night are getting shorter. 

"Well, guess I should start moving, I need to find my stuff. And the road." I think out loud. The phoenix looks at me like this is a surprise, and take off leavig me behind. "Um... You're welcome! And thanks for fixing me up!" I shout after him. Well, I saved his life and he saved mine, guess that means we're even.

After a few hours of walking I begin to feel lonely. I was only with the phoenix for a few hours, and he never said anything except for a cough every now and then. 

Suddenly I got the urge to move to the left very quickly. As I listened to my instinct something drops right were I was standing. I bend down and pick it up. 

"My knife? But how-" Then there was a second thing from the sky that landed beside me. "My bag?" 

I heard a familiar cry high above my head. There he was, the phoenix. He flies down and lands on a branch so we some eye-to-eye. 

"Did you find my stuff for me?" I ask.

"Mirorr." He nods.

"Thanks." I say. "But how did I know that my knife was going to drop on my-" I turn around quickly with my hand to my sword. "Who's there?" Expecting something. But there was nothing, no animal, no pony, no anything. 

The phoenix cries out in humour and flaps his wings gleefuly. I face him. "Wait, did you do that?"

The phoenix nods his head. 

"Oh I see. You have a little bit of psychic powers, don't you? Not enough to read minds or make someone lose bodily control, just enough to give them a little push. To persuade them am I right? That's why I saved you, you pushed me into doing it." I ask. "Wait how did I know that?"

The phoenix gives another cry for attention. He did it again, gave me a push to know the answer. "So what are you doing here? You know other returning my stuff."

The phoenix plucked a feather off his wing holding it in his beak. I pull out my sword without meaning to. Apparently he wants to give me something. 

He places his feather on my sword. He closes his eyes and concentrates. He lets out a cry and another light comes from him. I shielded my eyes from the intense brightness. When the light dimmed down I looked back at my sword. There wasn't a lot of change, except now it had a small reddish tint. Something felt different about it, not like it was heavier or anything, but now it was like a there was power coming from it. 

I try focusing on this new power until it starts swell up and it feels like my chest is about to explode. I release this new power like water being released from out of a dam. I can feel the power flowing through my body and down into my arms. My sword catches on fire. 

"Whoa!" I let go of my sword from the shock of its spontaneous combustion. The moment it was released from my grasp the fire disappears. My sword looks fine, no scorch marks, the metal isn't hot, no indications of fire ever being there. Come to think of it, I couldn't feel any heat when I was holding it. 

I pick up my sword and try again, bracing myself this time. The sword comes alive with fire again, but no heat. I swing it around, getting to know the feel again. I slice through a huge tree with one swing. The fire from my sword dies. I look back at where I severed the tree, there were scorches along the slice. 

I think I just aquired magic.

"Well, that's something." I look at my sword idly and turn back to the phoenix, "How can I repay you. I already saved your life and you returned the favour by saving mine. Now I guess I should repay you for this." 

The phoenix jumps off his branch and onto my shoulder. "Do you want to come with me?"

The phoenix nods again. 

"Well okay. I'd love to have you along, but listen, there are many questions that I need answering and now even more after what I've learnt today. And some time in the near future I'm going to vanish from the world. So if you're determined to come with me that's fine, but you have to know now that I won't always be here, so try not to get too attached. Okay?"

The phoenix nods understanding what I said. I hope I can take my own advise.

"But before we go, how about we give you a name? I'd like to call you something rather than 'hey you' or 'phoenix'. How about Blaze?"

He shakes his head in disagreement.

"Chip?"

No.

"Pinn?"

Nuh-uh

"Tweety?" 

"Brauh!" That was a big no.

"Hmm. How about Flex?"

He thinks about it carefully and gives a cry of glee. 

"Heh-heh, alright, Flex it is."

So, off I go with a new friend. It's funny, back home I wasn't interested in making friends, never really got along with others. But here I'm happy meeting others. Maybe this place has some sort of affect on positive emotions. 

So like I said, off we go. I want answers, and I know one pony who could provide me. I want her to tell me how I got here and how I get back. But now I have a bigger question for here. I want to know one more thing.

Who. Is. Mother?

Only one pony can tell m that.

Princess Celestia.
> Chapter Six: Armor 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Six
Armor





"There," I point to our target. "You see it?" 

Flex gives a cry loud enough that only I could hear it.

"Okay, you know the plan." He nods at me as I remove my knife ever so slowly. We both know what happens if this fails.

So let's make sure it doesn't.

Flex flies up through the trees. He needs to get around our target, hopefully he'll be able to capture him. If not then he'll be herded over to me where I can get him. 

I sit idly by, observing the target. There's a break on the other side of the trees as Flex flies at the target. I get ready if he misses his chance. 

The instant Flex is seen the target bounds in the opposite direction, towards me. His claws come in front of him, aiming to nab the target. As fast as the target may be, Flex is faster; but not as agile. Just as Flex's claws close around the target, he dives left, escaping the burning grasp of the phoenix. 

My turn. 

I jump out from my hiding spot and bring my knife down upon the target. I could see the fear as the target realizes his mistake. But like I said, he's agile. 

Much like Flex's attempt, the target dodges left as soon as he possibly could. My blade just nearly grazes his fur brown. He runs full force into some nearby bushes.

Because of his small size I had to jump low to the ground. So by the time he was already dodging my attack, I was too far on the ground to stop myself from falling. But I was determined not to let him escape. I threw my knife after him through the bushes. 

Flex flies behind the bushes to inspect. "Did I get him?" I ask with little hope. I push myself off the ground to inspect. 

A mix of emotions come over me as I approach the bush. I slow down my pace, stalling for disappointment, but savouring my excitement. 

As I round the bushes I see my knife sticking vertically out; Of the tree that was behind it, and underneath that tree was a small hole.

"Dammit!" I shout as I grip the back of my head and crane it back so all corners of Equestria could hear. Flex looks at me in unsurprised disappointment, like ge wasn't expecting this to work. 

"Hey, don't look at me like that. It was a good plan and you know it. We just never anticipated his reflexes to be that quick." I pull out my knife in disagreement. "But hey, who knows, maybe if a certain phoenix was a little faster, than maybe we could have had him by now."

Flex doesn't take too kindly to my insult and retaliates, flapping his feathers everywhere pecking me lightly me. 

"Ow! Ow! Hey stop that!" I yell. "Okay look, we're both a little cranky because he got away. But that doesn't mean we have to start killing each other."

Flex stopped pecking and flies on my shoulder, giving me a small, apologetic whine. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry too buddy." I begin stroking him under his neck, he always likes that.

We've been searching for dinner for the past few hours. The two of us have been trying to hunt whatever we could get, unfortunately there has been little game. We came across that rabbit and planned a way to get it, we couldn't be too hasty seeing as though it has been the only game we've seen in three days. Now it looks like we're going to be eating nuts and fruit again.

The two of us have been together for about five days now. Where ever that pony settlement that Flora was taking about is, we've either passed it or I was given wrong directions. I guess not a lot of ponies travel these dirt paths, I can see why, a lot of times we've been attacked. But still, nothings been able to beat the two of us.

A not too delightful dinner later, Flex and I get ready for a night's sleep. 

Flex perches on a branch high in a tree. He is a very fast sleeper. 

I stay awake for a while watching our camp fire dance and crackle as I think about what has happened in the last week. 

On the night I met Flex I noticed that night had come a little sooner, and the sun rose sooner than usual following that night. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but after these past few days, I've noticed that the moon and sun seem to rise sooner and sooner each time. I'm certain that Equestria goes on a 24-hour clock just as we do, but days seem to get shorter each time the sun rises. Same thing with the night. It was hard to tell at first, but It looks like there's about a half-hour less of day and night each time. At first I thought winter was approaching because of the short mornings, but back home it was mid-spring. So unless Celestia is teaching Luna how to be a massive troll, then something has happened to them. 

I'm also practising how to control my new powers that were given to me by Flex. So far I've been able to coat the steel in flame and extend the fire for a longer reach. But close combat was not the only thing it is able to do, if I point it at something then it will blast a streak of fire like dragon's breath, or if I swing it it will send a long sliver of fire and cut through anything in its path.

But neither of those thing is what had my mind occupied. And it wasn't what bronies would probably be thinking like: How will a pony react when seeing me? How am I going to get back? What will I do if I can't go back home? Will I meet the mane 6? And if I do, what will I do when I meet them? 

No, the real question on my mind was Balto. Not a lot is surprising that he was a were-timberwolf, seeing as though this place has mythical creatures and all. But what was surprising was that he was part human (obviously, see as though that's what a were-wolf is: half human, half wolf.) And he said he had brothers and sisters like him but not the same. That means there could be more half human creatures in Equestria. 

Flora! Took me long enough to realize this one. She's half human, why didn't I realize that earlier. And if she was related to Balto then why didn't she mention about Mother? 

Damn, hate being left in the dark. I go back to my original thoughts. If there are half human creatures, then that means there had to be a human involved in this. Mother. But who is she? And what other children are there?

I turn over on my back, tired that I keep asking the same questions with no answer. I've gained more questions that need answering than when I first started asking questions. I close my eyes and try getting some sleep. Something strange is happening, and I need to find out what it is before I go home.






By the time I woke up it looked like it was about late morning. The sun and moon were definitely rising at a faster pace. I look up at the tree and see Flex sleeping soundly. He looked so peaceful and elegant when he sits there high up in that tree and I see the sun reflecting off his feathers giving him a shining appearance. 

I grab a small rock and throw it at the leaves above him. He wakes with a startled face too priceless to describe as he flaps his wings and hangs upside-down shrieking loudly. 

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" I fall on the ground clenching my stomach and pointing at him. "Your face... When I.. You just... BWAHAHAHAHA!" It was too funny for me to say anything else.

"MIRORR!" I don't know what it was, but I think Flex didn't look so amused. Maybe it was the fact that he was trying to catch his breath, or perhaps because he was hanging upside-down on the tree with his feet and wings, or even because he looked like he wanted to pluck out my eyes and use them as his stress balls.

I finally calmed down and pick myself off the ground, wiping a tear from my face. 

"Heh-heh-heh, come on, we've still got a bit to go before we find a settlement." I gesture to him to come down, he just looks ridiculous like that.

He lets out a rejecting screech and flies above the trees, but stays in sight. He probably won't talk to me for a while, but he knows that it was harmless fun.

Flex stays away from me for the past few hours, gives me the silent treatment whenever I try talking to him. 

I sit down on a rock and take my bag off. "Come on, you've been fly for a while now Flex. You need to rest." I was starting to feel a little guilty. He looked down at me from where he was circling and gave in. He flew down and perched beside me, not looking ar me.

"Here." I hand him a palm full of raspberries trying to apologize. He loves raspberries. He faces away trying to ignore the raspberries. I push a little further. He glimpses at the raspberries but quickly looks away in case I saw him, of course I did. 

I try once more. He gives in to his pleasures and begins eating. 

I think we're cool.

I watch Flex merrily eat his berries. Then he stops and looks down the path. His feathers started to get a little puffy. He knows something is coming, something bad. Over the past few days I've learnt to never take any of Flex's warnings for granted.

"Alright. Come on, let's not get into any trouble this time." I grab him and we hide around the big rock and croutch down.

We wait for whatever it is that's coming up the path. I'm nervous, I don't know what it is, how big it could be, how good its senses are, or how deadly it could be if we're spotted.

Then I hear it. Its sounds like his feet are hard, they echo off the ground everytime he takes a step. 

*clok-clok, clok-clok.*

A steady beet of four. But they're off, he's breathing heavily, he's badly wounded. 

The beet stops at the rock we're hiding behind. "Huff, huff. Just-just need a short break. Before I-I keep moving."

That's definitely a him. But he can talk, so that means he intelligible, unlike just about everything else I've met on this adventure. 

"Huh? Hey, is there anypony around?" He calls. His voice is a little husky, but it also sounds kind and caring. But he said 'anypony.' That means he is one too. Right? But how would he know if there was anypony around?

"You left your bag here." 

Oh.

Flex jumps out of our hiding spot and on top of the rock. Startling the pony on the other side.

"Oh! Hello there. You wouldn't happen to know where the closest town is? Or whoever it is that owns this bag do you?" He asks.

Introducing myself to a pony at this point would be pretty risky. I mean think about it. You hear a voice behind a large rock, and then an alien appears. That's real smart.

... Screw it.

"Well I can't tell you where the closest pony settlement is, seeing as though I'm having trouble looking for one as well." I say staying behind the rock taking things slow. "But that bag belongs to me."

"Oh, hello there. I wasn't sure if there was anypony around, do you think that you could lend a hoof? I'm a little banged up at the moment." He asks.

"Uhh sure, but look, I'm a little odd to whatever you're accustomed to seeing when meeting ponies. I'll come out and greet you properly, but please, don't freak out or anything." 

"Um, alright. But listen I've meet other species before, griffins, diamond dogs, zebras, my little sister even has a baby dragon as a friend. So I'm sure you can't be that odd to what I've met." I can hear him trying to hide his nervousness. 

"I doubt that." I say under my breath.I slowly stand up. I'm about to meet the first pony since I've come to Equestria, I don't know how we'll react when we see each other. Flex flies back around and perches on my shouldr, making me look a little friendlier. 

I come around the corner and come face to face with a big unicorn, ready for a greeting. Until I freeze in realization as to whom this was. He had three shades of blue color in his mane, and around his body was a suit of purple armour with gold trimmings. In the center of his chest was a symbol, a purple shield with a pink six-pointed star, identical to that of his cutie mark. This was no random pony, this was Princess Celestia's Captan of the Canterlot Royal Guard and older brother to Twilight Sparkle. 

This was Shining Armor.

We just stare at each other in complete and utter silence. I wasn't sure if he wasn't freaking out because he was too stunned as to what I was or because he was keeping his word. 

Flex looks at me and then at Shining Armor and breaks the awkward silence with a loud squak.

"Ow! Dammit! Flex, that was right in my ear!" I yell at him as I grab my ringing ear.

"What in the Celestia's mane are you?" Shining Armor yells taking a few steps back.

"Well," I say calming down. "First off, I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're wondering. Secondly, I'm a human, kind of like a bipedal, intellectual, hairless and tailess monkey. No, I do not want a banana. Yes, I am strange and would appreciate it if you would help me in answering a few questions." There's a brief explanation for you.

"Well," Shining Armor takes a step forward, a little less nervous around me.vBut still wary. "What are the questions?"

"Well for starters, how close am I to Canterlot?"

"What buisness do you have in Canterlot?" He asks tensing up. 

I sigh knowing that this might take a while. "Listen, all I want to do is go back home. But unfortunately, I don't know where that is from where we are now. So I'm heading off to Canterlot to ask Princess Celestia for help. If there is one pony who can help me, it's her."

Shining Armor stares at me, still in a defensive stance.  "I don't see any deception in you're eyes. You're telling the truth." He relaxes. "Sorry to tell you this but that's a no-go. Canterlot has been taken over by an ancient enemy who has lived just as long as the Princesses, if not longer." He reels back and grunts in pain.

"What's wrong?" I asked concern.

"Erg- My soldiers and I had a run-in with a dragon not too long ago. I was the only one to make it out alive." I notice that his armor is banged up and he's bleeding. "It's not a fatal wound, I was able to stop the blood flow, but I've lost quite a bit of it." He looks up at me exhausted.

"Flex," I look at my feathered friend. "Work your magic." It was more of an order rather than a request. Something was wrong in Canterlot and I needed to know what.

As Flex baths Shining Armor in his healing light, I watch his blood move against gravity and back into his body while bruises disappear and cuts close. 

Flex's light disappears and Shining Armor stands before us fully healed. "Thank you. I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Captain Shining Armor, Captain of the Cantrlot Royal Guard." He says in a salute.

"Nice to meet you." I pretend I don't know how he is. "I am Jesse Ruesgen, vagabond looking for a way home. So why were you attacked? And what happened at Canterlot?" I ask. 

"It's kind of a long story, but I guess I should tell you. Tell me, what do you know about draconqui?" he asks.

Draconqui? Wait, does he mean Discord? Does this mean I'm in the beginning of season two?

I play things safe. "Well, I know of one named Discord, but he was defeated by the Princesses by using the Elements of Harmony." 

"Yes. How do you know about the Elements?" 

"Er, back where I come from there are stories about some of Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's great achievments. Like when Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon." That's not a whole lie, more like a half truth. "Didn't Nightmare Moon return only to be defeated again and restored to her natural state by six ponies? I heard that they became the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony."

"You might want to sit down for this. Like I said, this is going to be a long story."

> Chapter Seven: Fall of the Elements
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Chapter Seven 
Fall of the Elements





Captain Shining Armor was doing his daily routine. Giving orders to guards, watching the recruits train, keeping the stallions in line. An average day.

"Shining Armor!" He hears a familiar voice and turns around. Running towards was his little sister, Twilight Sparkle. A purple unicorn who was very adept in the use magic. With her were her five closest friends and his wife, Cadence. 

Twilight runs up and hugs her beloved brother. "Hey everypony," He hugs her back. "What are you doing here?"

His wife walks up to him. "Have you forgotten what today was?" She already knew he did, but sometimes it was fun to make him feel a little embarrass at times.

He thinks back quickly and tries to remember why they were here. "Um, thursday? He asks sheepishly.

Cadence lets out a playful sigh. "No silly, today you promised us all to lunch."

"Oh that's right." It finally clicks in to him. "Sorry, Princess Celestia has asked me to increase guard prodoctivity, she's been a little edgy lately for some reason. Not even she knows why she's like this." 

"Princess Clestia has been worried about something?" Twilight Sparkle asks just as worried. "She hasn't mentioned anything to me about this." Twilight Sparkle was not only the little sister to Canterlot's own Captain of the Royal Guard, but she was also Princess Celestia's faithful student. The two were very close. Twilight felt discouraged that she was left out of this.

"Aw cheer up Twilight." A pink earth pony slides up beside here and puts a foreleg around her friend's neck. "I'm sure that it can't be all that bad. I mean really, what's the worst that can happen." Just as the pink pony finished her sentence she began to shake violently up and down off the ground. But there was no indication of an earthquake or anything to cause her to do this.

Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were startled by this activity. The white unicorn rushed forward to try and calm the mare down. "Dear Celestia, she must be having some sort of attack!" 

"No, wait!" His sister stops him knowing that he could possibly make things worse. "It's her Pinkie Sense, she's not hurt or anything." 

"Pinkie Sense? Twi what are you talking about?"

"I don't know how it happens, but whenever something bad is about to happen Pinkie Pie's body begins act on it's own, warning everypony." 

"What? Twi do you know how ridiculous that sounds." Shining Armor says in disbelief.

"I know, even I can't explain it, believe me I've tried. But whatever you do, don't try and stop it."

Pinkie Pie stops shaking. "Pinkie Pie, do you know what that was. I haven't seen you shake like that since I excepted your Pinkie Senses."

"No Twilight, but it is a doozy. A big doozy. A super-dooper-ultra-scary doozy." Her friends look all around them trying to find anything that may be the cause.

"Oh, well it can't be that bad. After all, there are a lot of things that could happen. An avalanche, dragon rampage..." A voice flies threw the air from every direction, but there was no pony around that owned that voices. But the six little ponies did not need to guess who the voice belonged to. They already knew.

"Or even me." A monster appears in front of them from thin air. A monster that is made up of several body parts from various creatures. A monster they once defeated in order to save Equestria.

"Discord!" Twilight was the first to respond. "What are you doing free?"

"Oh, is that how you greet an old friend Twilight? For shame." 

Shining Armor stands in between one of Equestria's greatest threat and his family. "Twi, find the Princess and get the Elements, I'll hold him off." He knew he was no watch for a creature equivalent to that of a god, but as Captain of the Royal Guard he had to put duty first.

"Oh don't worry about that. I'll take care of things for you." Discord snaps his fingers. Beside the ponies appears two alicorns, taller than the rest. One had a pure white coat and a mane of four colors. The second was smaller than the first with a dark blue coat and a mane that glittered with stars. Their manes looked like they swayed in a wind that was not there.

The tall white alicorn noticed here surroundings first. "Discord!" Her voice was usually in a calm and peaceful tone, but when she said his name it was filled with fury and poison.

"Now why does everypony keep calling my name? Any way, for my next trick." He snaps his fingers again. The Elements of Harmony appeared on their corresponding bearers.

"Oh, what tragedy is this?" Discord starts acting dramatic. "Discord: the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, defeated not once, not twice, but three times. Oh woe is me. Strike true Twilight Sparkle, and end my miserable and sorry life." He blindfolds himself and a target appears on the center of his chest.

An orange pony wearing a stetson hat looks to her friend for guidance. "What do we do Twi? These can't be the real Elements... can they?"

"No, these are the real Elements, but this doesn't make sense, even for Discord." She looks confused.

"I say we use them. He's practically giving himself to us." A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane says. 

"Okay. I just hopes this works." It wasn't that Twilight Sparkle was uncertain about the Elements of Harmony, it was Discord. He was different than from their first encounter.  

"Waitwaitwait." Pinkie Pie interrupted. "Think about this carefully Twilight. Chocolate. Rain."

The girls stared at their pink friend in disagreement.

"Okay." She says disappointed.

The six mares begin to float in the air as a white light starts emitting from them. Their eyes begin glowing a similar light and with a huge bang a rainbow explodes from them and targets Discord. As the rainbow swallows him he is coated in stone. The battle ends as soon as it starts.

"Well, is suppose this has been an eventful day." Twilight says expecting more of a challenge as the Elements lose their charge. Celestia, on the other hand was not so convinced.

As the ponies begin to walk away, they hear a voice behind them. 

"You know, after all the centuries that I have spent in stone you would think that I would have gotten bored of it. But now it feels like a wonderful fluffy blanket." Discord was not defeated. He may have been turned to stone, but far from defeated.

"What? But-but-but- How where you able to resist the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asks alarmed.

"Oh well it's quite easy really, just add a little sugar, some coco-beans, milk, and a little help from an yet-to-be-named friend, and voilà!" He rubs his stony fingers together making a clicking sound. "I know. I enjoy being stone so much, why don't you try it Sparkle." The stone begins to crumble off of Discord and turn into dust. The dust begins to fly towards Twilight Sparkle and shroud her. She begins to panic, trying to use magic and to get the dust away. Shining Armor soon joins her, but with futile efforts. 

As the dust thickens and sticks to Twilight, she looks back to her brother with one helpless tear rolling down her cheek. And she was turned to stone.

"Twilight!" Her friends cry out in unison. As her friends and family watch in horror at a stone Twilight Sparkle, a demon who considers himself a god laughs at the sick humour. 

"Discord..." Celestia says in a hush, tears in her eyes. She looks at him with more rage than she has ever felt. "What have you done? Luna!" Without so much as blink, the two sisters are side by side, horns glowing with strong magic. A stetson hat, vest, and two holsters appear on either side of Discord's hips. The sisters shoot their most powerful blasts of magic at him. 

Discord reaches for the objects in his holsters, two mirrors are in Discords hands and deflect the blasts back at the sisters. The two alicorns are struck by their own magic and go down from the great impact. Discord spins the mirrors around his index fingers, blow the smoke off them, and place them back in their holsters.

Luna is out cold, she couldn't handle her own power. Celestia is barely able to keep conscious. 

"How- how did you do that?" She asks weakly.

Discord leans in close to Celestia and whispers in her ear. "Sorry, my dear, but that tale must be saved for another day." 

Shining Armor blasts a bolt of magic through Discord. Discord looks down at the gaping whole in him and dissloves into chocolate milk. 

"Urg- Captain, take the girls, and order the guards to have the city evacuated. We may still have one hope left. It's a long shot, but if you're able to gather our allies, you may be able to subdue Discord long enough for us to free Twilight." Princess Celestia says with the last bit of strength.

"But, Princess-" Shining Armor protests.

"NO! As Princess and ruler of Equestria I order you to go." She cuts off.

Shining Armor stares at her for a second. His senses come back to him and he stands up and salutes. "Girls, Cadence, let's go!" The five mares run past him. Shining Armor turns around to see what was taking his wife so long. "Cadence!" 

He sees her standing there. "Come on, we can't do anything now, we have to leave!"

"I can't." She says.

"What do you mean? We have to go now!"

Cadence looks down to her hooves. The ground under her was no longer solid, it was now a sticky substance that was stuck to her like gum. 

She looks at her husband. "You have to leave."

"No, I can't- I won't leave you behind." 

"Honey..." She looks at him. She looks at him with an expression that says everything will be fine. 

Realizing that there truly is nothing that he can do he moves up to his wife. The two nuzzle each other, scared that the may never see each other.

Shining Armor and his sisters closest friends run for their lives. For once in his entire life, after all the wise advice Princess Celestia has given to him, he doubts her judgement this time.





"...And so I, a hoof-full of my soldiers, and most of the citizens escaped. Twilight's friends refused to leave her behind so they stayed and now I don't know if they're okay, Canterlot has been taken over and Discord's influence is spreading across Equestria, and pretty soon it will spread across the world." I sit there as he finishes his story as the sun begins to set. 

That was a lot to take in. Seven Hells! Discord free and ruling, Twilight Sparkle turned to stone, The Elements of Harmony defeated, the Princesses captured. Hot damn that's a lot.

We sit there in silence. "You said that Princess Celestia told you to gather your allies. What did she mean? And what do you mean his influence."

"I've ordered my soldiers far out of Equestria and ask for help from other's. The mountains of the Griffin Kingdom, the rocky chasms of the Minotaur camps, and the dry plains of the Zebra tribes. The gyphons and zebra's have always been kind to us ponies, the minotaurs may be harder to persuade but I'm sure they'll come around eventually. I am off to the most dangerous one, the caves of the Diamond dogs. And his influence is his chaos. Chaos is slowly spreading and will soon cover the world, creatures are more dangerous, land is being reshaped, ponies are going crazy, and the environment is going hay wire. If you've noticed the sun and moon are acting odd, it's because of Discord."

Well that explains a lot. I look at him in surprise. "Why ask the Diamond Dogs for assistance? Aren't they dangerous?"

Shining Armor nods his head. "Yes. Ponies and Diamond Dogs have never truly gotten along with each other. Throughout history Diamond Dogs have kidnap, sold, enslaved, and sometimes eaten ponies. But centuries ago a pact was once made, if one species faces a crisis too great to stop then the other shall aid them. But those have been centuries, I'm not sure if they will be willing to comply.

"Some of my soldiers and I were on our way to the caves, then out of no where we were attacked by a dragon. We  fought the beast with everything we had, but with no luck. Dragon's are very strong and have a short temper, not to mention that their scales are so strong that even magic has little effect. My soldiers fended him off while they told me to make my escape. I'm no fool and neither were they, they knew that if I stayed I would have died wth them, they knew the sacrifice they made by keeping me alive." He looks down in mourning as he mentions his fallen comrades. He looks at me "A day later I'm here talking to you."

"Well," he gets up, "I have a duty to carry out. It was an honour meeting you Jesse. I'll make sure not to tell anypony about you if you want to keep a low profile."

"That won't be necessary Captain." I stand up too. "I'm coming with you."

He and Flex let out a similar cry in surprise.

"Because from the sound of it you will be needing all the help you can get. And quite frankly, if something happens to Princess Celestia I may not be able to get home."

He stares at me in uncertanty.

"I know what you're thinking: Can I trust him? I don't know a thing about this guy. Well listen here, I have one hope of getting back home, and right now she is trapped in her own palace being held captive." 

He keeps looking at me uncertainly.

"And I can tell you one more thing:" I pull my knife out. "You're being followed."

I turn around quickly and throw it into a tree. We hear a loud shriek. 

I pull out my sword ready to fight whoever it was following Shining Armor. 

"Wait!" We her a woman's voice from the trees, pleading us to stop. 

Two figures drop from the tree I sent my knife into. "Please don't hurt us. We were just looking for help."

They were griffins. The girl who spoke up earlier was obviously older seeing as though there was a child griffin with here. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to surprise you or anything, we just didn't know how to introduce ourselves."

She was a fairly mature griffin, late teens to early twenties by human standards. Her feathers were mainly white with a tint of red and a lot of red around her eyes. The feathers at the top of her head were long, going down past her shoulders. The white feather-hair turned a red color lower down and turned orange at the very tips. Over her was a huge double-edged battle axe.

The boy was young, about ten by human standards. His feathers were more or less similar but with a blue tint, same around his eyes. The feathers on his head were streaked back to a point with black feathers at the end.

"Who are you?" Shining Armor asks as he advances up to them casually. He didn't look like he was prepared to fight them, so I lowered my weapon, but not letting my guard down. Much like how Shining Armor did around me.

The female griffin spoke up. "My name is Sharla, and this is my little brother Shantze. We come from one of the colonies in the forest. But recently something has been spooking the creatures, they've become more aggressive, wondering closer to our town, and they're even attacking us in broad daylight now. But that's not even the worst of our problems. Even weirder things have been happening to the forest itself. It soon became too dangerous for us to live there, so we had to leave. My brother and I were separated from our family, when we saw you fighting the dragon we began to follow you. I'm sorry for not approaching you sooner, but we don't have any experience meeting ponies and were uncertain how to meet you. Then he appeared and we were too scared to do anything."

"Hey that's not true." Her little brother speaks up. "I said we should have just gone up and said hello, but you thought it was too dangerous."

"It's okay." Shining Armor says in a calming voice. "I don't blame you. But what exactly were you doing following me?"

Sharla looks down in embarrassment. "Well, we were hoping you could help us with our problem, but it sounds like things are bigger than we expected."

The little griffin runs up to me. "Wow! You're like, the coolest thing I've ever seen. Well except for maybe that one time I saw Sharla slice through a huge tree with one swing of her axe. That was so cool. Are you able to do something like that? Is that a real phoenix? Is it a he or a she? Can you fly? Do you like trees? How old are you? How come your fur is only on your head? What's your favourite colour?"

"Shantze!" Sharla yells at him, getting even more embarrassed. 

"It's fine." I put my sword back in its sheathe and crouch down. I think hard on his questions. "Yes, yes, no, maybe, 17, because I was born like this, and red."

Sharla grabs his bird arm and pulls him beside her. "I'm sorry, he just likes asking questions when he gets interested in something."

"It's fine." I say again, "So Sharla, you said that you and your brother were separated from your colony right? And was it just the two of you? No one else?"

"Yes. Just the two of us." 

"And did you meet anyone else? And you know how to use that thing right?" I ask her indicating to the huge axe on her back.

"No. And yes, I've been trained. Why do ask?"

"Well, if you two were supposed to be the only ones following Shining Armor," I pull out Silver Fang again and turn towards the path where they came from. "Then who are they?"

The others turn their attention to the direction that I'm facing. Nine figures appear in the shadows and slowly begin to move towards us.

Shantze runs behind his big sister for protection as she pulls her axe from over her shoulder. Shining Armor readies his horn to unleash a magic bolt. Flex flies above us, sparks coming from his wings.

As the nine creatures step out of the shadows, our expressions soon turn to horror as we see them in what little sunlight there is. 

Whatever they are now is a mystery, but they were definitely ponies once. All their colour has been sucked away, leaving a dark ugly shade of brown left. That wasn't the only thing that has been sucked from them, it looked like they had such little blood left in their bodies. Their teeth are sharpened and ill-kept. Same thing with their hooves, they are chipped and sharp. Their manes are tattered and patches have fallen off leaving bald spots. Wings have had feathers torn off and horns have been sharpened to a deadly point. Their eyes are a solid green colour and cutie marks have become too indescribable to tell what they used to be. 

I knew only two things at that moment. One: What ever these things are, they are not ponies, not any more. Two: This was going to be a loooong night.
> Chapter Eight: What Goes Bump in the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Eight
What Goes Bump in the Night





"What are they?" Asks Shining Armor.

"Flex," I ignore Shining Armor's question. "We need light, a lot of light. Captain, you and I are going to take the earth and unicorn ponies. I have never gone up against an opponent that can use magic out front, I'll need your help to counter their's with your own. Sharla, take the pegasi that fly out of reach, but if they stray too far from us don't chase them, we need to stay together."

"W-what do I do?" Shantze asks stepping out from behind his sister trying to put on a brave face. 

"Go with Flex, he'll protect you. But if you really want to help, then call out to us if one of them sneaks up on us and we don't see him." 

He nods his head, taking pride in his task I gave him. 

"Wait!" Shining Armor says. "Maybe they aren't dangerous. Being Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, I have to believe that there is something wrong with them and they just need help."

"But being Captain also means it's your duty to protect the Royal Family's subjects. And if we don't stop these things, then they will attack other ponies." 

He looks at me with hard eyes, but soon soften as he gives in. "You're right. Even I can tell that they are too far gone to help. Alright, leave the magic to me, I'll watch your backs." 

I smile at him. Not because he will help me, not because I get to fight by his side. But because anyone would be lucky to have a friend like him.

Flex takes Shantze up high out of danger. The surroundings start to get a little brighter until it explodes with light. There are three of each type of ponies. 

Damn, now don't they look ugly. 

"Alright." I say taking a charging stance. "Let's go!" The three of us rush torwards them. 

Shining Armor lets out a magic bolt and hits the closest earth pony, knocking it down. I jump on it and bring my sword into its chest. It dies instantly. But something was odd, when I pulled my sword out of it, there was such little blood.

A unicorn rushes up to me, head down ready to stab me with its horn. There was no time for me to dodge out of the way, I was going to get skewered. Then a shield appears in front of me, a clear, transparent shield. The unicorn crashes into it, getting its horn stuck. 

"Good thing I'm here." Shining Armor is behind me, his horn glowing. He takes the shield down and I slice the unicorn's head off. I was expecting there to be quite a bit of blood, but there was barely any spewing out. What happened to these ponies' blood?

"Sis, behind you!" Shantze yells a warning to his older sister. A pegasus was bolting towards her through the air, wings tucked in to give it maximum speed. Judging by the weight of the pegasus, speed of velocity, and area of impact, that was going to be a very nasty hit. Unfortunately for the pegasus, he wasn't the one hitting. 

Sharla quickly makes a 180 degree spin, her axe was like a part of her body and sliced the pegasus in half. I can only begin to describe how it looked. Have you ever seen those shows about a high school kids' life and the cafeteria's 'mystery meat' looks like ground glop drowned in a bottle of hot sauce and you're just revolted by it? Well eat the glop and be thankful for it because this was nothing like that.

Shining Armor was pinned down by an earth pony that was trying to bite his face off. He held a magic shield around them while another unicorn was trying to use it's own magic to break the shield. I would have helped him, but unfortunately the other unicorn and earth ponies were ganging up on me. And Sharla was busy dealing with the two pegasi in the sky.

The earth pony charges at me. I cut low and slice its front two legs off and finish it off by ramming my sword into its brain. "Look out!" That warning was for me. The unicorn charges just a few paces behind the other, I never noticed that. I leave my sword inside the earth pony and punch the other in its face, it was like punching a flabby leather sack. The thing was so weak that I knocked it unconscious.

I run up and tackle the unicorn to the ground that was trying to break Shining Armor's shield and ram my sword far up its gut. This gives Shining Armor his chance to get the pony off him with a magic bolt now that he doesn't have to concentrate on the shield. "Good thing I'm here." I repeat to him. 

We look up to see how Sharla was doing. She looked like she was holding her own against the pegasi, or at least one of them. She was locked in a fray with one, while the other was hanging back, waiting for an opening. Then he sees it. "Sis!" She couldn't hear her brother. 

"He's moving too close. I might hit her too." Shining Armor says, he's trying to narrow his vision for a better shot.

"Don't worry." I reach deep inside me, looking for that phoenix magic I hold. As I begin to swing my sword upwards it catches on fire and streak of flame flies through the sky, cutting the charging pegasus in half. It falls like a rock. Well actually, more like two rocks.

Sharla stops swinging her massive axe and extends a claw around the pony's neck, digging in. With one powerful tug, she rips the throat out. Now this one, he fell like a rock

"Well," Shining Armor says as Sharla flies down. "That was unexpected." Flex and Shantze fly down to us. Flex perches on my shoulder, still giving off a little light so we can see each other. 

"What were they?" Asks Sharla as she embraces her little brother. 

"I don't know. In all my years I've never heard of anything like this before." Shining Armor says. "If this is a sickness than I've never seen any symptoms like these before."

We hear a noise. The unicorn I punched before woke up and was running away. I forgot about that one. "Flex, after it!"

"No, wait!" Shining Armor stops Flex and fires a magic bolt at the unicorn. I could have sworn he hit it straight on, but the unicorn kept running, unfazed. 

"Crap! You missed!" I said ready to blast it with fire. 

"Nope, I let it go." He said with a smirk.

We all look at him with confused expressions. "What do you mean, you let it go?"

"That bolt was not meant to harm him, it was to track him." He points a hoof at the a trail of glowing hoof prints. "These nine were obviously following orders, whatever those orders were, they failed. I've been in the military for a while now and I know that whenever underlings succeed or fail a mission, there's always somepony to report to."

"So if we follow these tracks..." Sharla begins to catch on.

"Then we can hind out who or what sent them and why."  Shining Armor finishes.

"Hang on. Let me inspect a corpse." I say walking up to the least mutilated one. 

The body is already cold, far colder to have died a minute ago. And they stink. There is a little blood left, too little to sustain a body for long. There was no indication of the teeth and hooves being sharpened, they were naturally made. They're bodies are raggedy and weak, whoever sent them didn't expect them to come back. This was a suicide mission. 

Then my fingers come over something on its neck. "Flex, come over here I need some light." Flex does so. I see what had me interested. There were two small indents in his neck with blood spots around it, and from the shades of the blood, it has bled several times from the same spot. Abd they don't look like they've been treated to. My heart starts pumping faster, I'm not afraid, I'm excited. It's a long shot, but I may be closer to figuring out a few things.

"Well Captain, as to who and why, I haven't the slightest idea." I say as I stand up letting my heart slow down. "But I may no what sent them."

"And what is it?" He asks hesitantly. 

I turn my head to them, a wicked grin of excitement and fear plastered across my face. "A vampire!"
> Chapter Nine: Blood and Fang
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Nine
Blood and Fang





We walk through the forest, following the magic trail left behind by the unicorn. Shining Armor and I are up front with Shantze, Sharla, and Flex behind. Shantze and Flex are playing with each other. Flex really seems to like the boy, and the boy likes Flex in return. 

"You're certain?" Shining Armor finally asks me regarding about the whole vampire thing.

"I hope I'm not." I reply.

"But that doesn't make sense. They're only myths, fairy tales, fictional characters." He's obviously trying to deny this.

"It's the best I've got. Vampire or not, there are ponies in danger, so we need to find out what is happening."

He gives me a silent nod, knowing that I'm right, but trying to denying the part that doesn't make sense.

After more walking and silence I finally ask the question that was bugging me since he told me what happened in Canterlot. "You said Discord's influence is spreading. What do you mean by that?"

"Discord has the power to distort and change reality, making things chaotic. His power have grown intensely since he was last freed. Now slowly, Equestria is beginning to change in his image. That's why Sharla and Shatze had to leave their home, Discord's influence was aggravating the local animals. And why the forest was acting odd. If he's not stopped soon, then it will spread all across into the other Kingdoms." 

"Hot damn." I say. 

"Hey, what's that up there?" Sharla asks from behind us. She looks through the dark. Shining Armor and I squint to see what she was talking about. "Oh that's right, I forgot that your eyesight isn't as good as a griffins'." 

"What? Why's your eyesight better than our?" I ask her.

"Because you don't have eagle eyes." She says matter-o-factly.

"Oh."

"Well what is it you do see?" Shining Armor asks her. 

"I think it's a light. If it were day time I could tell what it is, but I'm sure that is a light. And I see a silhouette of something. The tracks go towards the light." She says.

"Well, I suppose we have no choice." Shining Armor says.

We continue walking, heading towards whatever it is in the distance. Then we begin hearing sounds. Scurrying sounds. We were being watched.

As we get closer to the light, we see that it was a torch, set up on a house. But it wasn't just one house, there were many. We were in a small town. We begin to be more cautious, we knew we were being watched, and we had a guess by who. The tracks continue on through the town. The noises are all around us. All... Around... Us.

"Uh-oh." I stop in my tracks.

"What?" Asks Shining Armor.

"We're not being followed." I slowly pull out Silver Fang.

"What? Of course we are, can't you hear them?" 

"That's just it. If your'e following someone, you don't want to be heard. They're not trying to stay quiet, they're trying to surround us."

Everyone looks around frantically. It's too late, they've cornered us, we have no way of escaping. 

"Alright, this is what's going to happen:" I whisper to everyone. "Flex, it's night so their eyes are probably accustomed to the dark. We need you to light the place, and I mean light it. Shining Armor, you and I are going to clear a path to the closest house and barricade ourselves inside. Sharla, if any of them get to close, hack them in half. And Shantze... Keep an eye on our backs, 'kay?" The other nod.

"Alright, on three. One..." 

We tense up.

"Two..."

Flex and Shining Armor's horn are starting to glow dimly.

"Three!" Flex bursts the area in light. There were far more than we anticipated. All around us, and I mean all around us, were ponies, ponies turned by a vampire. We only waist a second as we stare at the great number, and a second is very vital. The whole town must have been turned.

I set my sword on fire, Shining Armor notices this and readies to fire. The two of us blast a mixture of fire and magic, creating a path to the closest house. "Run!"

We all book it to the house, slicing, shooting, hitting, doing anything we can to get inside. 

Shining Armor is the first to get to it. And stops as he collides with the door. "It's locked!" 

"Stand back!" Sharla come, quite literally, flying at the door and chops it down in one slice. We all pile in, Shining Armor puts up a bubble shield around the house. It keeps all the ghouls out and light in so we can see. The ponies bang against the shield, making a muffled *thud*.

"Crap man, we're stuck!" I shout. 

"Sis, what are we going to do?" Shantze asks his older sister.

"Don't worry Shantze, everything will be fine." As she says those last few words, she looks at me with eyes asking 'will we?'

"Shining Armor, will you be alright holding the shield up?" I ask him.

"Don't worry about me. None of them are getting in." He gives us all a reassuring smile. I don't doubt how long it can stay up or how much it can block. But I am worried about how long we'll be here. He can't keep it up forever.

I sheathe my sword and I walk up to the side of a staircase. Everything inside is small compared to me, if I were to jump, I could probably touch the roof. But I don't feel like jumping. I'm pissed that I never noticed that it was a trap earlier and I feel like hitting. That's exactly what I do. 

"God dammit!" I grab a chair and throw it at a wall. Everyone is shocked by my sudden outburst as I kick the table over. Shining Armor was about to stop me, but then we hear a whimper from underneath us. 

I crouch down low, and put my ear to the carpet covering the wooden floorboards and listen. I hear a stifled cry. I motion Shining Armor to quietly come over. I lift the carpet over and see a hidden door. We all look at each other, not sure what to expect. A survivor? More turned ponies? A dog? I grab the handles and pull open the doors. The moment those doors flew open we saw something small ran behind some boxes to hide.

Shining Armor takes the lead. "Hey, hey, hey wait. We're here to help." He motions over to the spot where whatever it is was hiding behind. "Don't worry, we're not one of them. We're friends. My name is Shining Armor, I'm Captain of Canterlot's Roya Guard. What's your name?"

We see a small face poke around the corner. It was a filly, a unicorn filly. She had a bluey/greenish coat. Her eyes were filled with tears and fear. When she saw me she quickly darted back into her hiding spot. 

"It's alright. I'm a friend too." I notice that I was the reason she hid. "My name is Jesse Ruesgen, I'm here to help too, along with a few others." I try to be gentle. This filly must have been through a lot, who knows how long she's been down here. 

She slowly comes back out, her mane is a tangle of knots and is covered in dirt. Poor thing. "My... My name is Light Flicker." She sniffs. "Are you really here to help?"

Shining Armor nods his head and extends a hoof. She takes it and follows him up the stairs out of the basement. I follow behind the two.

Shantze runs up to her with a friendly smile. "Hi! I'm Shantze. What's your name?"

"Shantze! Don't do that. Look at her, she's terrified." His sister says. 

"I'm... I'm Light Flicker." She says meekly. I can see her cutie mark now that we're in better light. It looks like three lights wavering on or off.

"So Light Flicker," Shining Armor helps her up a chair as I set the table back up. "What happend here?"

She looks at the table, tears are drying up in her eyes, but she must be going through all sorts of pain.

"It started five days ago. Somepony went missing one night and we never saw her again. The whole town went out looking for her, but nopony found anything. The next night more ponies went missing, everypony was beginning get worried. The following night all the ponies that went missing came back. But they were different, they turned into one of them." She gestures to all the creatures outside, trying to get in. "When we tried helping them, they just attacked everypony. Nopony was able to stop them, even if they wanted to.We're a small town, everypony know each other, we're like family. 

"When my mom saw what was happening, she grabbed me and brought me home and put me in the cellar. She told me to stay quiet until help comes. That was the last I saw of her." She looks like she wants to cry, but I think she's done so much of that in the past few days that she has no more tears to shed. 

"Do you know how this happened?" Asks Shining Arnor.

She shakes her head. "All I know is that they weren't like this before they were taken to the haunted castle."

"Haunted castle?" I ask as my curiosity gets the better of me.

"Mm-hm, I saw ponies being taken into the forest, towards the castle before they were like that. My mom told me to never go there. There's a story that says the old stallion that lived in that castle hundreds of years ago went mad after his family was killed. They say his ghost still walks those halls trying to find the family he lost."

"The haunted castle, eh?" I say with a shifty grin. "Well, I know where I'm going. Anybody else?"

"I'll back you up." Says Sharla. Flex gives a squawk of agreement.

"I'll stay with the young ones." Says Shining Armor. 

"Sounds good." I say.

"Hey? Why is it so quiet?" Asks Shantze. We all notice it. The turned ponies aren't trying to break in any more. I walk up to a window, trying to see what is happening. It's hard to tell what was going on, but I think they were clearing away.

"Flex, come over here. I need a light." Flex comes up to the window and starts brightening up the place. I see what's happening outside. They turned ponies are backing away. Why?

"Hey what's that?" Shantze appears beside us pointing at an object in the sky, flying towards us. 

"A pegasus maybe." We can only guess what it is from the moonlight. The figure gets closer to us and lands on the ground out of the light. He landed on two legs.

"Now what do we have here? My scout told me that there were five creatures in the area. And one of them resembled me. That is, he told me before I slit his throat when I noticed his hooves were enchanted." Whoever it was, I had a feeling that was our vampire.

"May you please come out so we can have a bit of a chat? It seems that I am unable to get in. I promise I won't kill you the moment you step out. Nor will my minions." He talks in a calm and soothing voice. 

"What makes you think we can trust you?" I call out.

"I may have done some bad things here in this town, but I assure you, I am not down right evil. I do have standards you know. Once you step out of the shield I'll step into the light so we can have a face-to-face conversation."

"What do we do?" Shining Armor whispers to me. "Can we trust him?"

"I don't know. But I'm going out. If want to meet him, then I have to play by his rules. Stay here with the others." I walk to the boundary of the shield and stop in front of it, wondering if I'll die the moment I'll step outside. With a shaky foot I move out of the shield. "Alright, I'm out. Now you step into the light." 

Much like me, he stops at the edge of the shadows before entering the light. But calmly steps steps in. Two black leather boots step out, a pair of black pants are followed, along with a long red overcoat. Son of a bitch I was right.

He has a human body with pale skin. But his nails and teeth are sharp, he has a bat's nose and ears, not to mention the big leather wings on his back. He has muscles, nothing huge. But big enough to snap a branch in half. 

"So I was right." I say. "You are a vampire. And that body of yours means you're probably one of Her children. You were on of Mother's weren't you?"

"You know about Mother? Not to mention you look more like her than I do. You must be a human."

What? He knows my species? "How do you know I'm a human? And who are you?"

"Many of us were kept secret from Mother's true identity. Even me. Until I overheard a conversation between her and Princess Celestia. It was quite a shocker the things I heard. But how do you know about her?"

"I met your brother, Balto."

"Really? How is the old dog these days?"

"Dead. I kind of killed him." I say flatly.

"Ah. Oh well, can't say I feel sorry for him. The two of us hated each other." He barely takes notice. "Tell me, what's your name? You're quite the extraordinary person. You killed Balto, you know who Mother is, and you know what I am. But, I suppose I should introduce myself first." He takes a low bow. "I am Nosferatu, one of Mother's eldest children. Vampire. 

"I am Jesse Ruesgen. Vagabond to Equestria. Human." I take my sword out.  "And you have killed innocent ponies, it will be my job to kill you."

"Tell me boy, do you trully think you can kill me?" He looks surprised about my actions. 

I rush forward, ready to slice him down the center. My sword comes down on his head, inches away. And goes through nothing. What? Where did he go? I feel a tap on my shoulder, I don't need to guess who it is. I spin around, sword swinging through the air. But no one's behind me. 

"Over here." He calls out ten feet from me. How is he doing that? "You know that must have hurt."

"What are you-" Before I could finish asking him, I feel a pain shoot through me. He is in front of me and his fist dug into my stomach. He gut punched me in the blink of an eye. A painful blink. I go flying and crash into contact with the shield. I try catching my breath, but he's standing over me, a boot on my face. 

"Oh, what was that about killing me?" He puts a hand to his bat ear. "Don't worry boy, I won't kil you. I'll just turn you into one of my minions. What do you think of that?" 

"I think he'd rather swallow a coconut whole before that!" Sharla tackles Nosferatu off and helps me back up. "How you feeling?" 

"Like I got my ass kicked." I gasp for air.

Shining Armor and Flex are with her while the kids are inside the shield. "That was reckless of you." Shining Armor says without look at me. 

"What can I say? I see something, I go for it." 

"Quite a curious bunch you are. I'm sure you will serve me well." He gestures a hand and all the turned ponies begin attacking. It's four against a hundred. 

We all punch and kick and slash and cry. We fight with everything we've got. We kill one, but two more take its place. There are too many, we're being overtaken. 

Sharla is the first to go down, she swings her axe wildly on a mountain of ponies, but it was futile. Next is Shining Armor, he couldn't focus on the battle when he was busy protecting the kids, they struck the back of his head. His shield goes down as his lights go out.

I'm covered in  small cuts and bruises. "Flex! The kids!" The turned ponies begin advancing towards the house. Flex bursts into flame and creates a fire wall. Before he can complete it I jump inside and see the two holding each other for protection. They're afraid.

"What's going to happen to us? Are we going to end up like them?" Asks Light Flicker.

"I won't lie to either of you. Nothing good is about to happen. But we may still have a chance of winning." I take off my necklace and put it around Light Flicker. It was the whistle Fora gave me. "I need the both of you to run. Blow this whistle when you get to a safe distance. And don't stop until help comes, when you see her tell her that you're a friend of me. She'll help." I hand my knife to Shantze. He takes it with a small griffon claw. "I'm entrusting you to protect her. Flex go with them"	

"Mirorr!" He protests.

"Look, they probably won't be able to get out of here on their own. They need someone to protect them. Now stop arguing and go with them!"

He falls silent then gives me a look that he doesn't agree that I should be left by myself. But I'm right, the kids won't be able to make it on their own.

"But how will we get out? The only door is blocked." Light Flicker points to the door. 

I blast a hole on the other side of the house, towards the forest. "Run!"

As they run through the new door the fire begins to die out. I look back at the turned ponies. I hold my sword high and run at them. My voice sounding like a the horn of triumph. I hack and slash. I burn and punch. I yell and fight. I bleed and faint.
> Chapter Ten: Vampires Don't Sparkle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Ten
Vampires Don't Sparkle





There's darkness all around me. I don't feel anything. I wonder Am I dead? Then I see a light, a warm, soothing, yet very familiar light. 

"Get up." I hear a voice.

"Who said that?" I ask, my voice is an echo.

"If you want to save your friends, then you must get up." It was coming from the light.

"Who are you?" I ask it.

"I am a piece of you, a piece of everyone. I am one of the key ingredients that makes a creature who they are. Only you are able to control me. And only I can help you defeat Discord."

"What do you know about Discord? Do you know why he's free and loose?" 

"You must get up. You must defeat Discord. Nosferatu is only a stepping stone in your quest. He is a puppet, a puppet being controled by the same one who brought you here.

"Wait, what do you mean he's a puppet?" 

"You must get up." The voice begins to get fade. "Get up. Get up."

"Get up!" Sharla yells.

"Eh? What happened? Where are we?" I wake up with a startle.

"Easy there, easy." Shining Armor helps me sit up. "How are you feeling?" 

"Not to good." I rub my face. "How long was I out? And where are we?"

"As to where we are, I'd say the castle. How long you were out, hard to tell. We were both unconscious until we woke up here." 

"Where's Shantze? Did they get him?" Sharla pushes Shining Armor aside. 

"No, don't worry." I slowly stand up. "He and Light Flicker are safe. I sent Flex to protect them while they get help." 

"Help? What kind of help?"

"The trustworthy kind." I look around. We're in a dark cage with a single torch outside. There are three stone walls around us and metal bars. 

"Shining Armor, can you get us out of this?" I ask. 

He shakes his head. "Sorry, but these stones are enchanted, it's not letting me use my magic."

I instinctly reach for my sword. Only for my hand to pass by my side. Of course they took it. I sit against a wall, waiting for something to happen.	

Sharla sits down beside me. "We heard you mumbling something in your sleep. Were you dreaming?"

I rub the back of my neck. "I don't know what it was. It seemed too real to be a dream. But I don't think it was real."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. Something about Discord and Nosferatu being a puppet." 

"What do you mean puppet?" Asks Shining Armor. 

"That's what I said.There's obviously something bigger going on here. We need to get answers."

"But how?" 

I think carefully. "He said that he'll turn us into his minions. So that means that we'll see him again. Maybe then we can get our answers."

"Great!" Shining Armor says with false glee. "So how do we stop him from turning us?"

"Eh, I don't know."

The cage doors opened up and eight ponies are standing there. They notion us to follow them. We have to comply. The castle is basically just what you would expect it to be. Old, creepy, stone bricks with cobwebs, dust everywhere. Nothing unusual.

We come up to two giant wooden doors. They are the only things not dirty. As the doors swing open we walk into a dimly lit room. The place is clean with a burning fire place, red curtains covering windows, beautiful rugs and a big comfy chair that Nosferatu is sitting in. He's facing away from us, reading a book. 

Why am I not surprised about any of this?

"Ah, you're all awake." He doesn't look at us. "That's good." 

"Why did you bring us here?" Asks Shining Armor. 

"Well, I thought that after living in solitude for all these years, you'd think that I'd get used to the quiet and loneliness. Unfortunately, ever since hearing all the screams and cries of these ponies, I've wanted a conversation. Sadly none of these thralls can keep a full conversation going. Right?" 

One of the ponies moans. 

"See? Useless."

"So, what? You want to talk before killing us?" I ask

"Exactly! So tell me, what brings you all together? A unicorn, two griffons, a phoenix, and, surprisingly, a human." 

I look around. We were in a nice room, cornered by undead ponies, and our biggest threat wanted to have a nice chat with us. I notice something at the fire place. Our weapons. I notice something about the curatins. Why were they closed? 

Because it was morning, that's why! It was hard to to tell but I could see light from the sides and birds were chirping. He was protecting himself from his greatest enemy.

"Jesse," Shinig Armor whispers to me. "I can feel my magic returning. This room must not be enchanted like the cage. Stall him long enough for enough of my magic to return." 

"Right, when I give the signal, use it." I whisper back. "So tell me Nosferatu, I've had a question in my mind ever since I met your brother Balto. Who is Mother exactly? I asked him, but he didn't know. But you, on the other hand, know more quite a bit more than he did." 

"Sorry, but I never knew who she trully was. I just know her species because I overheard her taking to Princess Celstia. I didn't give it much thought really."

"... And he even mentioned something about a monster that took her away."

He stops reading the book and stands up. He looks different than from before. He no longer looks bat like, now he looks like a regular human. Brown hair, human nose and ears, no fangs. He's even smaller. Just like a real person.

"He's an old enemy. The Princesses fought him centuries ago. He came, we fought, he won. We went our separt ways after that. A few days ago he came to me. He offered me a proposition, I spread his message around, and he returns Mother."

"What? That's why you're doing this? Killing innocent ponies just so you can have one person back?" You can guess I'm pretty furious.

He stays silent, looking at the fire. "... Yes. And I would kill even more if it I had to." 

"Is this what Mother would trully want? I spoke to Balto and from what he told me, she was a loving and caring woman. Would she trully want this? No! She would have wanted you and your other siblings helping ponies. And now is their darkest of days. If you help us you can make her proud."

He grows silent and angry. He knows I'm right, but he doesn't want to face the truth. "I've had enough. Bring him over. He's first." I'm being pushed towards him. 

"Not yet. Armor! The curtains." Shining Armor uses his magic and the curtains fly open, brightening the room. Nosferatu jumps into the shadow. I elbow both ponies in their faces and run for our weapons. Sharla and Shining Armor free themselves. I unsheathe it and throw Sharla's axe, killing the closest pony by her. 

I run up to Nosferatu, sword burning, and swing at him. He has limited space. But he's still too fast.

"You're just prolonging the inevitable." He says as he dodges between slices. He catches my sword while it's still on fire and backhands me. I go flying across the room and my sword's fire extinguishes. I glance to see how Shining Armor and Sharla are doing.

Shining Armor is doing everything to keep them back while Sharla is swinging wildly. They can't hold the ponies back forever. 

"I can't believe you actually thought that that would work." He steps into the sunlight. His face starts steaming, it's burning up. He's not the kind of vampire that dies on first contact apperantly.

I stand back up. That backhand really hurt.

I run at him again. Just to be knocked down. And again. And again.

"You know, you should really try a new tactic. I don't think this one is working out for you. Not to mention I'm getting bored." He goes back into the shade. His skin is burnt, he seems like he has hit his limit in the sun.

I wipe blood off my mouth and try catching my breath. "Shut up. I'm going to beat you. And that's final." I rush him another time. Only to go down again.

"Jesse!" Shining Armor is down and one of Sharla's wings is broken. She's trying to do everything to keep the turned ponies away from them. 

"Hmph. Maybe I'll start by turning the pony. Then the Griffon. And finally you." He disregards me and starts walking up to them. "How's that sound?"

I couldn't stand by and let him do that. I run at him and go sailing across the room and crash into the wall. For the third time since I came here, I could feel something burning inside me. 

I pick myself up and once more. You guessed it. I run at him once again, but this time I now it will work. He looks behind him and gets tired of my constant rushing. He brings his hand back, nails outstretched, and swings to cut my throat open. But his hand passes through air. 

"What?"

"Behind you." He turns around and sees me. I punch him in the gut. Don't you just love the sound of pain? I bring my leg back and knee him in his face and he begins bleeding from his nose. I grab the scruff of his jacket and pull his coat off.

"Aw. Dammit! How were you able to do that?" He grabs his face trying to stop the blood flow. "And give me my coat back!" 

"You know, this is one damn fine coat. It would be a shame to get blood on it." I throw it on the chair. 

He looks at me with a hint of glee in his eyes. "I am actaully starting to enjoy this." Then I notice something on his chest, a mark over his heart. The same one I saw at Flora's, the coat was covering it before. 

"How did you get that mark?" I ask him. 

"Oh this?" He points to it. "I told you, the creature that took Mother from me made a propsition. When I agreed he marked me, I suppose that means I'm now serving him." The mark was the very same on that note. It was a 'D' a backwards D.

'He is a puppet, a puppet being controled by the same one who brought you here.' The words echoed through my head. "Who was it?" I grow more serious. 

Nosferatu grins an evil smile. "Discord."

Son of a Bitch! I should have figured that one out. You idiot! 

While I was lost in my thoughts cursing myself, Nosferatu takes his chance and rushes me. He swings his claws in every direction. And I begin dodging him. 

I don't understand what's going on. Before, I couldn't even keep up with him. Now I'm matching him in speed, but I don't feel faster.  I glimpse over to see how Sharla and Shining Armor are doing. That's what was happening, Sharla was swining her axe at an incredibly slow speed. The reason why I don't feel faster is because everything else is going slower. 

No, no that's not it, I just don't percieve myself going faster, I percieve everything else going slower. 

But she's in a tight fix. She's not going to be able to kill them all in time. I kick Nosferatu into the sunlight and I light my sword on fire again. I swing it at the turned ponies and unleash a huge fire slash, burning them all to a crisp. 

The room begins to get darker. I look behind me, the night has come. Nosferatu is standing behind what little sunlight was left. "You... You have just signed you're death wish." 

He begins changing, fangs start to grow, two leathery wings explode out of his back, hair disappears, and he gets bigger. And I am about to be in a world of hurt. 

"You've killed my slaves. Now you'll have to replace them." He uses his wings to propel  himself forward. I brace myself as he we crash into each other. My left hand interlocks with his right, I stab his other arm to stop him from gouging out my eyes. We seem to be evenly matched.

He pushes the blade farther into his arm and bites down on my shoulder. "GOD DAMMIT!" I twist the blade and swing it up, severing half his tricept. 

"GRAHH!" He lets go of me, pulling a chunk of flesh out of my shoulder. "Do you know how much blood I'll have to drink to fix this?" 

"Stop comlaining, at least you can have it fixed, this is permanent." I point to the gash in my shoulder, it's spewing blood. "Crap!" 

The blood stops. "Eh?" 

"Over hear." I turn around and see a weak Shining Armor waving at me. "I blocked the blood flow with a bit of magic. But I haven't stopped it, so be careful."

"Thanks." I switch my sword to my left hand. It bursts into fire. I stick with the original strategy: rush him. I swing my sword left, right, up, down. Any direstion and every direction. He returns my steel with his claws. All we suffer are small burns and shallow cuts. We match each other in speed. Neither of us can get a good strike seeing as though the other dodges it. 

We break away from each other exhausted. My back is to a window. The fire inside me is burning. 

"Alright kid, listen up. It's obvious that we're evenly matched, so how about this. I go my way and you go yours, and we never see each other again. If we keep going on like this we'll probably kill each other. How about that?" Nosferatu asks.

"Heh." A  fleeting smile comes across my face. "That's funny, your brother Balto said something similar to me. I guess your Mother tought you all to be many things. Except brave. You don't want to die so you take the easy way out. If I let you go then I'm just letting you kill more innocent ponies. I won't stand aside and let you do that. I may have no connection to this place, but I won't let you reek havoc."

"Your choice." He sails towards me and knocks my sword out of my hand. He tackles me through the window. We end up on a cliff.

The castle is high up on small mountain. Underneath it is the forest. 

Really? I think to myself as I see the old castle. It's like I'm in some cheesy story and the writer is getting lazy with ideas.

Nosferatu lifts me up by my neck and extends me over the cliff. I try loosening his grip to breath. 

"This is what happens to heroes, boy. You live your life thinking that you can do anything, you can save everyone. But in reality, you're nothing, you're weak, and there will always be someone better than you." He opens his mouth wide, ready to suck me dry. 

I get an odd feeling in the back of my mind, a feeling that tells me to reach up. I don't ignore it and reach. A knife lands in my hand. I don't wonder where it came from, and I don't care. I just stab him in his heart. He stops in shock. He never saw this one coming.

"You're right Nosferatu, there will always be someone better than you. Sometimes they don't show it, sometimes they need a motivation. But losing isn't what happens to heroes. They fall, they cry, they bleed. But they always get back up. They always do the right thing. That's what I do. I get back up!" I twist the blade.

The last bit of his life disappears. Shining Armor and Sharla appear by the window. Just in time to watch Nosferatu go limp. just in time to watch me go over the edge.

I'm falling. I can see the tree's moving closer towards me, and soon I'll be seeing the ground. I'm about to die, aren't I? I notice that the knife is still in my hand. "Hey, wait a minute, this is my knife." Suddenly my leg is jerked so hard that it felt like it was about to be torn off. 

I look down and see that I'm moving parallel to the trees "Well isn't this a familiar sight." I look up. 

"Flora! Am I glad to see you!" For the second time in my life, this harpy saved me. "Hey, where are the kids? And Flex?" 

"Hm? You mean the bird, pony, and griffon? I ate them." I stare at her in horror. "Hahahahahaha! Just kidding, they're fine. But if they didn't say they knew you I probably would have eaten them." 

"Uh, that's great. Hey could you take us to that castle over there.  I don't know about you, but I kind of prefer my feet on ground." I see two figures flyin towards us. "Flex! It was you who gave me that heads up wasn't it?"

"Mirorr!" That's a definate yes. Flex flie up beside us with Shantze and Light Flicker behind, Light Flicker was being carried by Shantze.

"We saw you in trouble so so I threw it!" Shantze said.

"Heh, thanks buddy." 

Flora flies through the same wind I flew out of. "You're alive!" I see Sharla inside as Shining Armor leans on her for support.

"Hey, who's she?" asks Shining Armor.

"A friend." I get up on my feet after Flora sets me down. 

"You know quite a bit of odd creatures." 

"Heh, then I suppose that includes you." Pain shoots through me as I grip my missing shoulder. I lose feeling in my legs and collapse. I look at Shining Armor and Sharla, they seem to be in the same boat as me. "Hey Flex, think you can give us a patch-up?"

Flex starts glowing and I can feel my pain disappear. Blood starts receding into our bodies, Sharla's wing begins to straight out, Shining Armor no longer needs support to keep himself up, and the flesh around my shoulder starts mending, becoming whole.

I test out my shoulder, moving it in all directions. "Thank you Flex. And thanks for the save Flora." I say. "Looks like that's twice now you've saved me from falling to my death."

"Yeah well, I didn't have anything better to do." She says. "Besides, you're lucky I was this far. I'm looking to find a new spot to nest, otherwise I would have never been able to save you in time. There's been a lot of weird stuff going on at the mountains and forest."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. One day everything's fine, then next day half the mountains are frozen and the other half is spewing lava. And they're are polka dots everywhere. And the Forest? Don't get me started on that mess. I'm telling you, things have gotten crazy back home." 

"It must be Discord's work." Shining Armor said.

"Discord? Where have I heard that name before?" Flora starts checking her memory, trying to remember Discord.

"Discord. He's a draconquuis. Fancies himself a god. He's literally the spirit of chaos and disharmony." I say as a light goes on in her head.

"Oh yeah, wasn't he ruler of Equestria until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turned him to stone or something? What's he got to do with this?"

"When I met Shining Armor here a while back, he told me Discord escaped and has defeated his greatest threat and took the throne in Canterlot. He's too strong for anyone to try and stop him. Ever since he escaped, his 'influence,' as Shining Armor puts it is slowly spreading across the land, creating chaos and havoc everywhere. We're on a mission to stop this." 

"Then count me in. If someone is screwing with my territory, then I want in." She says.

The others look at me, wondering if it is a wise choice. I nod my head reassuring them that it's okay. 

"Alright then, next stop Diamond Dog Caves." Shining Armor says. Everyone begins walking out of the room while I stay behind. I walk back to the chair Nosferatu was sitting in and grab his coat. I look at it, admiring how the light shines off the leather.

"Now this here..." I throw the coat over my shoulders and put my arms through the sleeves. It's a good fit. "Is one damn fine coat."
> Chapter Eleven: Dragon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Eleven
Dragon





"You sure you know where it is?" Asks Flora. 

"For the millionth time: Yes!" Shining Armor says. He's starting to get annoyed from us constantly asking him. But to be fair, we have been searching for days after he kept saying 'Should be over here.' We're all starting to question his directive ability.

"Guy's maybe we should stop, the kids are getting tired." We look back to see Shantze and Light Flicker snoozing on Sharla's back. They try doing their part to help search, but their young and need rest.

"I suppose you're right." Shining Armor yawns. "We could all use some rest." 

"I'm not that tired." I say. "I'm gonna find us some food."

"Bring meat this time!" Flora calls after me. She's been kind of agitated recently. Probably because she's in some sort of meat withdrawal, she's had nothing to eat but whatever grows from the ground. I doubt she has never not had meat in her life. Only Shining Armor, Light Flicker and Flex are the vegetarians so they don't seem to mind not having meat. 

I asked Shining Armor what the Diamond Dog Cave was and why it was in Equestria.  He told me that Diamond Dogs don't have a king or absolute ruler like the ponies do, they keep to their separate packs. But the Cave was the only place where all Diamond Dog packs will meet each other to discuss matters like negotiate territory, new threats arises, so on so forth. So if we find the Cave all we have to do is ask to meet with the alphas present and decide whether to hear our story. 

When they discuss something but one of them disagrees, well, Shining Armor described it to me like when the pirate lords from Pirates of the Caribbean gathered together at Shipwreck Cove and 'discussed' whether to free Calypso. Sharla said that it was madness how they make decisions amongst each other in such a way. I couldn't help myself, and in my best Captain Jack Sparrow impression I told her 'that was politics'. No one got the joke. Apparently the Cave must never be abandoned, at the bare minimum three packs must stay at all times so if something were to occur, they would send messengers out across the world and summon each pack. As to why it is Equestria, no one is certain. Diamond Dogs have been in that Cave since, well forever. Even before the rule of Celstia and Luna. Some say that they were the first natives of Equestria, not ponies.

I get pretty far from the group, picking berries, fruits, nuts, and stalk what ever prey may be around. Heh, it's funny how life turns out. Who would have guessed that someone like myself would come to Equestria only to be on a mission to defeat Discord, the god of Chaos. And to travel with such an odd group, an alien, two griffins, a phoenix, two unicorns, one being Shining Armor, and a harpy.

I laugh at life's funny way of planing things. Then I begin hearing trees topple over. Something was making its way through the forest and heading towards me. My initial instinct is to hide, but I say 'screw you instinct, I'm staying.' Something is toppling the trees, and whatever it is, I wanted to know.

The sound of trees falling grew louder. My heart starts beating rapidly, I don't know if it's from nervousness or excitement. I hear thudding, they're foot steps, big foot steps. It's getting closer. Closer. Closer! I start to- Hey what smells like brimstone?

A dragon bursts from the trees, a huge, purple dragon. He was a titan towering over me. Great leathery wings blocked the sun from my view, the scales were so shiny that the glittered off the light, horns grew out the back of his head like it was a crown. His teeth are gleaming white with two powerful arms in front with razor sharp claws. 

I draw Silver Fang, ready for what to expect. He looks at me "Well, well, well, what do we have hear?" His voice is a deep growl with great force before it. 

"You talk?" I ask it a little surprised. In the show we've seen spike talk plenty, and those teenage dragons, and also that huge one that made a den near Ponyville. But I just assumed that stuff like vocal communication was pointless for beasts that were just about at the top of the food chain. 

"Surprised? Yes, I would understand your confusion. Bah! But what am I doing wasting my voice on you? Begone from my sight!" Without a second thought, he blasts me with fire. I instantly use my own to counter act his. 

My flame was smaller than his, but as the two met, they pushed at each other, neither would give in to the other. We were evenly matched. I could feel the heat of his breathe, it put the sun to shame.

We quit this pointless battle of fire power. "Hmmm. Phoenix fire. Only fire stronger than our own. You actual impress me small morsel."

"I got a name you know." I can feel my legs shake. I don't know which it is that's making them do that, fear or excitement. Both? 

"Why would I care for your presence? I should just kill you, another pest out of the way. But, there are few who have ever impressed me such as yourself. I shall be lenient with you and overlook this petty ordeal. Now, stand aside." 

"Who said you get to make the decisions?" I don't listen and stand my ground. Why? Why do I do it? He's a dragon for God's sake! He can rip me apart within seconds. "Heh, you're just going to leave? After what you just did? I don't think so! You and me, we've started a battle, and only one ever walks away from a battle." 

Idiot! Take his offer and leave! You're going to get yourself killed!

He looks at me, a bit confused at my action, but also something else, impressed. He sees something in me he hasn't seen in others for a long time. 

Pride.

"Who am I you ask? I am the Dragon Lord, my word is law!" He unfolds his wings and stands on his two legs, giving him an intimidating appearance. 

What? Dragon Lord? You'd think someone with such a title would be known. So why haven't the others told me about him? 

A smile creeps along his face. "And you, you are a good one. Confidence, pride, honour, strength, nobility. Many of the most important traits in a creature. You are a true warrior. Very well, I shall give you your duel, and only one will walk away." 

With one motion, he swipes his arm at me. I dive low to the ground, his arm going right over my head. I push myself up and see his other one coming down on me. I dodge left before I'm impaled and his claws dig into the dirt, he brings them back, his claws cut through the earth like hot butter. He looks at me, his eyes asking me if I really want to continue this?

I answer his with my own glare saying 'Bring it!' A malicious grin reveals his teeth. He opens his mouth and tries his luck by biting me this time. I roll to one side and watch his long neck stretch past me as his teeth bite into a huge tree and rip it apart. I go for my chance and bring my sword up. With all my might I swing down to cut off his head.

My sword stops as it comes into contact. What? It didn't cut? Crap that's right, dragon scale is near unbreakable, stronger than diamond. I'm screwed now.

He whips his head, knocking me over. He pins me to the ground, digging his claws in the earth around me to keep me trapped. I'm dead.

"Truly is a shame to see such a creature with so much potential die. You knew that you could not win didn't you? And yet you still challenged me, knowing that victory was impossible. You may not be a dragon, but you were proud and noble to the end." With what seemed like a blessing, he opens his mouth, ready to torch me. I can hear the roar of fire as it makes its way up. 

But he was cut short. The ground began to shake and crumble around us. He stops before the fire reaches the 'no turning back now' sign and looks around, worried. 

"No." He says in a low hush, I could see in his eyes that he knew what was happening. He quickly wraps both of his massive hands around and holds me close to his body. The ground beneath us gives way and we fall. The Dragon Lord bounces off one wall and the next, shielding me.

He lands hard on the ground, my body shakes but I survive. He saved me. 

I lay on his tough chest. His underside isn't scaled, but it feels rough and would probably be difficult to cut through.

I look at him as the dust settles. "You saved me. Why would you do that? Why save me if you were already about to kill me?" I ask him.

He rolls on his legs. "Because, you challenged me to a duel to the death. It is my honour and right to be the one to deal the final strike, no one else's. I saved you so I can kill you later, nothing more, nothing less."

Well that's reassuring. We begin hearing laughter, hard gravelly laughter. All around us. 

I light my sword, we're in a large cave with many tunnels connecting to it from everywhere. And Diamond Dogs. Lots and lots of Diamond Dogs, all wearing armour and holding spears, swords, clubs, or nets. And they look happy, in the bad way. I think I found the Cave.

The Dragon Lord looks like he's about to tear them all to pieces, which I'm sure he'll do. 

I step forward bravely. The Diamond Dogs begin to quiet down seeing that I have something to say. "My name is Jesse Ruesgen. I am an alien of this world look for your assistance. I wish for your alphas to listen to what I have to say." 

The all go dead quiet. "What matters do you have here alien?" A large pit bull looking Dog walks up to me. He stands a tall six and a half feet, little bigger than Balto with a harsh voice. He holds a spear with a long black gem at the end, cut to a fine point.

"Corig!" The Dragon Lord yell his name with all his rage and spits it like it was poison. 

The large Diamond Dog laughs. "Hello, old friend." He says in a mocking tone. The Dragon Lord roars at him.

"You know each each other?" Asking them both.

"Yes, we were friends once. A lifetime ago." The Dragon Lord says a little ashamed that he was.

"Until your damn iguanas turned on us!" 

"We did no such thing! You knew our customs, it was your mutts that were the culprits!" 

They growl at each other, one ready to rip the others head off. And I think they might just do that.

"Hey settle down!" I step in between the two. "Believe it or not but there is some out there that needs your attention. I take it you are one of the alphas here?"

The Diamond Dogs laughs as if I just told the funniest joke in the world. "One of 'em? Hah, kid I am THE alpha. Every pack does what I tell 'em and their alphas, and none complain!"

"What? But I was told that there was no king alpha. You all just followed the alpha from your pack and that's that." The hell?

"Yeah? Well now there is a king alpha. I decide what's good for them, and they listen. End of story. But you say you have something that needs my attention, eh? Alright boy, let's hear it."

"Discord, the god of chaos has returned and is stronger than ever before. We need the strength and tunnelling expertise of the Diamond Dog packs to help defeat him." I announce so all can hear me.

"Discord? Never heard of him. What's so great about this guy that we have to risk our necks for?" Corig asks.

"Never heard of him? He ruled Equestria for centuries. If he's not stopped chaos will wash over the entire world, everything will be wrong." I protest.

"Meh, I don't care, its got nothing to do with us." He shrugs it off.

"But everything and everyone will be affected by his chaos, including you. Your way of life will be threatened-"

"I said its got nothing to do with us! Take the alien and throw him in a cage, he'll be good use picking gems. And capture the dragon, but don't kill him, I want us to catch up on old times." He turns around and walks away, the other dogs jumped down from their perches and surrounded us.

"Hey, remember how you said that you were the only one to kill me?" I ask the dragon back towards him. 

Yeah..." He said not paying much attention to anything but Corig.

"Well, if we don't form a temporary truce, I think neither of us will get the chance to kill the other." 

"Agreed." And with that he lets out a blast of fire, cooking four dogs while the other's dodged.

I ram my sword in one of them as he tried jumping me. Another threw a net over top me, but I cut through as my sword melted past the wires. One grabs my right arm, with my left I grab my knife and stab his fore arm, he lets out a painful howl as he lets go. 

The Dragon Lord was blasting many with his fire, some were too slow to get out of the way. He slashed at them with his razor sharp claws and cut them to ribbons. They jumped on his back, trying to get past his armoured scales, but with no luck. Some were crushed as he rolled over them. 

We fought them one after the other, holding our own, but there were so many. They keep coming at us, left and right, front and back, above and below, there was no end to them. They come at us in small groups, testing us. 

A bolo ball wrap around the Dragon Lord and gets tied up, forcing him to come crashing down. They gang up and start striking his unprotected areas and beat him with clubs. He tries burning them but his mouth is closed shut. I run to his rescue, but one Diamond Dog jumps at me, I stab him in the gut but his momentum and weight were too great for me to lift. I fall under a dead Diamond Dog's body. The others lift it off and capture me. 

The room gets a little darker as my sword is taken from me and the fire dies out. The alpha, Corig, walks up to the Dragon Lord and pats him on the head, smirking at his triumph. The Dragon Lord thrashes around, trying to kill him anyway he can. The other dogs laugh at him, powerless and in their mercy. 

He walks up to me and is given my sword. He swings it around. "Nice blade, how did you get it to catch fire?" 

I spit in his face. One dog punches me with his huge fist, nearly breaking my jaw. Corig stops him from delivering another and wipes the spit off. 

"I'm gonna enjoy breaking you." He says with a smile and does the punches me. The room goes pitch black as I go limp and unconscious.
> Chapter Twelve: Diggy Diggy Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twelve
Diggy Diggy Human





Let's see here. Dark place, no physical direction what so ever, feel weightless. Here we go again.

"You defeated the vampire. Good, you are improving." It's that light again.

"Yeah, but he was damn tough, too tough in fact. I should have died that day, don't get me wrong or anything, I'm thrilled to still be alive. But it wasn't right, we should have both died."

"Your time of death is not yet ready.."

"Well that's reassuring. But you know, it's a little odd that you do know all this, you even knew it was Discord behind Nosferatu's actions too. That also means you knew that it was Discord who brought me here. Didn't you?" I ask it.

There is a long silence. "... Yes. I did. But that is irrelevant right now. That dragon and Diamond Dog alpha have bad blood between each other. Their hatred towards each other extends farther back than anyone could suspect." 

"But you won't tell me why and how it happens. All you'll tell me is what I need to know and not what I should know or how to do it. But hey, right now I don't care about that. What I do care is the questions in my head, like how about who or what you are? And why is it that apparently I am the only one who can control you if everyone has a piece of you? And why is it that only I can defeat Discord? You have a lot of explaining to do, and no bullshitting this time!"

"As to 'who' I am, I have no proper name to call myself. I am more of a 'what'. I am the thing that gives you strength, I am the thing that lets you walk, lets you choose, lets you be you. I am you, but you, are more importantly me. We are one person, yet two different things."

"That doesn't make any sense. I told you to not bullshit me! And what do you do? Bullshit me. Are you sure you're an actual entity of some sorts and not just a figment of my imagination. Because quite frankly, you do nothing but give me warnings and tell me half assed crap. If you're not going to cooperate then take a hike. Better yet, I'll do it. Just as soon as I figure out how to do that." The light stays quiet. Eerily quiet. Oh god don't tell me it has feelings and I just hurt them.

"Ugh, look if I insulted you I'm sorry." My head starts hurting. I put my hand to my head to numb the pain.

"Why would you have insulted me? You've been asleep this entire." It's a woman's voice. I realize now that I am laying on my back. I'm awake. I slowly sit up until pain starts shooting through my entire body. 

"Easy, here drink a bit of this." She puts a bowl of water to my lips and drink up. Until I spit it out. It was absolutely filthy.

"Sorry, it's the best we have." My eyes try to adjust, but it's too dark to actually tell what's what. As to what I can tell you is, I'm in a small room, well, more like a cave with metal bars blocking the only escape out of here than a room. Well, more like a cell than a cave. Past the metal bars is a hallway with dim torches burning, only enough to know what colour my skin is. Or that my apparent cell mate is a pony. A unicorn to be more exact.

In this light all I could tell is that she has a dark blue coat with a dirty and tattered turquoise mane. Everything else is pretty much indistinguishable. 

"Were are we?" I ask here looking around. 

"The Diamond Dog Cave. More specifically the slaves quarters, only place we can rest for a bit." Damn.

I slowly stand up and walk over to the bars that cage us. I run my hand down one, they don't feel that tough, I can easily slash through them. I reach for my sword only for my hand to pass through air. 

Of course you idiot. You're a slave now, they would have confiscated anything of value. They took my sword, knife, and my new jacket. Bastards.

I peer down the hall to see more metal bars, and other slaves behind them. Can't tell what each are, but they're definitely all slave.

"Why haven't you ask?" I address my cell mate, breaking the long silence.

"Asked what?"

"What I am." 

"I don't really care." She says sombrely with actual disinterest in her voice.

"What? Really? Why not?" I turn to face her.

"When you've been down here for a long enough time, you start to lose a lot of things. Interest, curiosity, happiness and joy, hate, even hope. That's what it's like for eveypony here." I stare at her with a mix of disgust and pity. How could anyone lose so much down here? How could you lose hope?

"Well then, guess that means I'll just have to rekindle the fires of salvation for you lot."   

"You think you can help us? Well good luck to ya. I don't know about you, but we all know that that is impossible." Diamond Dogs start yelling and cages begin to open. Ours soon opens with a Diamond Dog ushering us to move. "It would be easier if you just gave up." 

I stand there for a second and watch her move to where ever it is they'll be taking us. Her head down low in shame.

Give up? Never!

The Dog is yelling at me to move. As I pass by him, I glare at him, a stare that looks into one's very soul, saying to him: Shut it. I am not a slave. And I will never be one!

He growls at me, trying to intimidate me. I just walk past without a care. 

I catch up to the unicorn. 

"You know. I never introduced myself. I'm Jeese Ruesgen. Obviously I'm an alien, not from this world." I keep things short and simple and show pride, making her think that I'm some sort of big shot.

"I'm Blue Sails." She just gives me a quick glance back and says her name like it was just a piece of disinteresting stone you see every day.

We start to move into a crowd of ponies, all looking like zombies. Heads low and ashamed that they are even alive. There are mainly ponies in the crowd, but there are also other species here too, griffins, zebras, an occasional minotaur, and even young dragons. They look older than Spike, but don't seem that old. The Dogs probably capture them at a young age or before they hatch and put them to work on day one. I don't even want to know what happens to them when they get to big. None of them seem to care about me.

A grey pegasus with red hair that's been grown out and in tangles walks up to us. He has scars and bruises all over his body. He was the only one that didn't look like he lost his spirit. He held his head high and proud, kept a steady pace when he walked, not a shuffle like the others. He was the only one her that knew that he was alive. The only one that still knew what hope was.

"Hey Sails." He says in, not a happy voice, more of a gentle one. One that a friend uses when they try and comfort you when you're down.

Her mood seemed to change at his presence. Her walking got a little more up beet, and her eyes had emotion in them.

"Oh, hi Jet." I didn't need light to know that she was blushing, or flustered.

"Hey! Who, or what, is this?" He asks turning his attention to me.

"Name's Jesse, I guess I'm Sails's room mate now." I address him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jet Spark, biggest badass in these caves and soon to be biggest badass flier in the world once I get outta here!" I think R.D. has a competitor. "You used 'room' mate. Why didn't you use cell mate? You do realize that you're a slave like the rest of us, right?"

"Hell no! I may be trapped down here with the rest of you. But I am by no means a slave. I'm gonna break out of this dump soon enough, and the rest are coming along." I play the confident role. If he does have hope like I think he does, that means we're going to get along perfectly.

"Ha! Good luck. I've been trying that for years now, and I'm still here. And I'm still gonna get out of here! With another, whatever it is you are, our chances getting out have probably just increased. You, me, Sails, and everpony else in here. I was born in the clouds, I've lived in the clouds, and I plan to die in the clouds. Not here!" He sounds confident. So sure of himself. I'm glad to see that at least one here has hope left.

We were given pickaxes to dig. Those that didn't have hands or magic where fitted with a sort of scoop that was fastened to their hooves or harnessed to pull big rusty carts, soon to be filled with gems. 

I take a spot beside Sails, while Jet has a half full cart strapped to him. 

We dig for whatever gems we can find and put them in the cart behind Jet. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, everything.

"So how'd you two end up here?" I ask them to pass the time.

"Sails and I lived in Vanhoover, we knew each other since we were little. Didn't even have our marks yet. One day we decide to go on a road trip. You know, take a vacation, we were halfway through White Tail woods when we were ambushed. Diamond Dogs usually don't capture ponies often, guess we were in the 'more often' group. We were dragged in chains for several days until we were brought here. That was, three, four years ago." 

I whistle. "Four years. Damn."

"We're not supposed to talk." Sails says in a low hush.

"What? How Come?" 

"'Cause the Dogs hate it when we're being all cheery. If we disobey them then they'll throw us in the Pit." Jet doesn't lower his voice like Sails did, he's not fearing this 'Pit'.

"No talking!" He gets whipped across his back from a guard that walks down the hall to monitor us and moves on.

"So what's this Pit?"

"It's supposed to be like a detention room or something. If you're too rowdy like myself then you get sent into a pitch black cave filled with hungry rats. They'll feed you worse stuff than they already feed us, that's actually possible. You'll be lucky if they don't piss on it, in my preference, the piss actually numbs the true taste of that glop." Jet answers me, still not afraid of the whip.

"Ever been there?" I ask him a little curious.

"Oh sure, a number of times. Most can't handle their first trip to it and stay docile out of fear after that. But me, I'm tough. They haven't broken me yet and they won't brake me now." He says proudly.

"Guys, you really shouldn't be talking." Sails sees one of the guard's approach.

The guard's ears twitch and he begins to growl. 

"No talking!" He lifts his arm up and whips Sails. She lets out a whimper of pain and starts working faster. As you would have guessed, I don't appreciate that. 

"He'y mutt! It was him and I talking, not her." Surprisingly enough, it wasn't me who said that. It was Jet.

The Dog growls and whips Jet a few times. He doesn't recoil in pain, he doesn't let out a squeak of pain, he just stands there and takes it. I marvel at the amazement that he doesn't do anything when struck. He just takes it and stares hate at the Diamond Dog. The Dog saw that this was a losing battle, he turns to Sails who is furiously mining like her life depended on it, come to think of it, her life did depend on it. A wicked grin comes across his face.

As two other guards pass by, he whips Sails. 

"Hey! I'm the one that deserves that, not her!" He yells and starts to get out of his harness. Only to be held down by the two other Dogs. He's forced to watches as his friend gets whipped because of his intolerance. And I... I stand by, letting them do as they please.

Tears begin to roll down Sails's face as the whip tears through her hide. She finally lets out a scream of agony, giving the Diamond Dogs their pleasure. That does it.

His arm comes up once more, ready to strike her again. The whip comes down soon to spill more blood. But I don't allow that. I extend my left arm, shielding her as the whip wraps around my arm tightly.

"Piss off ya mongrel!" He's taken aback, surprised at my outburst. We have a tug-a-war for the whip, he's trying to reel me in, and I'm trying to stay away. My feet start skidding towards him, he's winning.

Damn he's strong, can't last much longer. He'll get me soon. Wait...  I stop resisting and jump at him, adding his own might to the push of my legs. I swing the pickaxe in my free hand and bring it right across his head. His helmet is knocked clean off and rings through the cave for everyone to see. They slow down work and begin paying attention to us. 

I land on top of the Dog, pinning him down. The other Dogs let go of Jet and tries getting me off the other one. 

"Hold!" I hear a familiar voice. Corig. "Let them proceed."

He's letting me fight one of his Dog's? Fine by me.

While he was still disorientated, I took my chance and started belting him across the face. One solid punch after another. He finally got fed up of me beating him up after I knock out a tooth of his. He grips the ground and digs his claws in to keep him anchored. He flips over and brings me with him, now I'm the one pinned. I put my arms in front of me as his fists come down on me. Damn Diamond Dogs are strong.

The others howl and cheer him on as he pummels me.

He swings wide for one punch, I block it before it makes contact with my face and ram my palm hard into his nose. I boop your god damn nose! He howls in pain and grabs his nose. I punch him in the stomach with all my might. I could just about see his eyes pop out of their sockets and uppercut him under the jaw. 

I climb out from under him and grab his fallen whip. A crack goes through the air as I whip it across his face, leaving a nasty scar on his left cheek. He whimpers.Another crack though the air and it ties around his neck and tightens, choking him. He tries loosening the grip to breath, I put my foot on his back and tighten the whip even more with both hands. 

He passes out and goes limp. But I don't let up, I don't stop. Something in me stirs, something that I felt once before on the first day in Equestria. When I found Discord's note. It was there again when I fought Nosferatu, not as noticeable, but I felt it. It felt creepy, but soothing, like it should be there. Like it was always there, I just never noticed it before. And I like it. I love it! And it scares me.

"Hehehe, all right, that's enough." Corig gestures to two Dogs to pull me off the other. 

"Off to Pit with this one." One of the Dogs say with a mischievous smile.

"No! Let him go." They look at Corig and then at each other. They let me go and pick up the unconscious one and drag him away.

"Very nice. You turned the tide quickly. You certainly are an amusing one." He says to me.

"Gee thanks. Hey that's a nice coat you have there. Think you can get me one?" I notice that he's wearing my red coat. 

He chuckles. "And a sense of humour, I'll enjoy having you around."

"So why didn't you let them take me to the Pit?" 

"Mmm. You're interesting. I'd hate to see you begging us to let you out of there so soon." He puts his chin on his overlapped hands resting on his spear. "Besides, I want to keep a close eye on you."

I pick up a pickaxe. "You better keep two eyes on me. Because the moment you look away." I strike the stone surface hard. Pebbles chip off. "You're getting one of these in your back." 

He grunts and walks off. I start digging beside Blue Sails again. 

"Thank you." She wipes tears out of her eyes.

"No problem. What are friends for?" I give her a generous smile.

"That was awesome dude. You gotta teach me how to do that." Jet is bruised and bloodied, but fine all around. 

"Hey, when we get out of here, I'll teach all of you."
> Chapter Thirteen: Pit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Thirteen
Pit





Is it possible for a slave to gain respect from his captors? Because that's what seems to have happened to me. Some Diamond Dogs will howl or pat my back like you would a team mate whenever I pass by. Is it because I was able to kick that one dog's ass by myself? Maybe.

My daily routine consists of a few hours of sleep, start digging, mouth off, and get beaten. Fun.

Corig sticks around and watches me most of the time whenever I'm digging. He won't tell me anything. Where my weapons are, where the Dragon Lord is, or won't give me another chance at convincing him to help us defeat Discord. He honestly doesn't know who Discord is. Well, I doubt they're very educated, bet you they can't even make a simple math equation. I can picture it now. 

'What's 2+2=?'

'Um.... chicken?'

Heh-heh-heh. Probably true.

"Get moving!" A whip cracks through the air and a griffin whimpers. They just won't let up. What I don't understand is why do they even have slaves? Diamond Dogs are stronger and better diggers than any of us. Plus they constantly have to 'motivate' us to work harder, then work to keep us alive. Seriously, too much of a hassle to keep slaves.

Jet and I won't shut up, which ends with us getting whipped, Blue Sails stays docile out of fear, and the Diamond Dogs are still jerks. More fun.

"So what was it like for you two before coming here?" I ask my new pair of friends.

"Well, Sails and I had fun causing trouble just about ever day when we were still little." Jet pipes up. He gets daggers glared at him by Sails. "Err.... Well, maybe it was just me who cause trouble and Sails had to bust me out of it each time. But it was harmless jokes and accidents, I mean, I didn't know that it was the mayor that was going to be there. He never looked at fish the same way after that. I found a new passion when I got my mark, racing. It's so much fun to feel the wind pass you, the adrenaline, the thrill, whoo. Love it. But never gave up my antics, they sort of... progressed. But why don't we skip a few years." 

A whip gets him along the side and his wings stand up. He never saw that one coming. The dog just growled menacingly and moved on.

"Anyway, I stopped my pranks after a terrible accident that I don't want to talk about that, so I stuck to racing only. Sails and I rented an apartment together, places aren't cheap in the city. Tried my hoof at the Wonderbolts, but they were too slow for my liking." He shifts his eyes left. He buzzed out didn't he? "And so life went on. Had fun, got a job, so on so forth. Then Sails and I made enough dough to travel for a few weeks and took it. Lookit' us now."

"Sounds pretty cool." 

"And what about you? What was it like for you?"

"Kind of boring. I could never find a challenge in the world. School, sports, music, you name it and I beat it. I lost all interest in the world making me detached from everything else. Got into a lot of fights because of a bad attitude, but my parents were always supportive no matter what happened to me. I only had one friend in my life, Markus. I don't know what it was about him but no matter what happened he never left my side. At first I was an asshole to him, didn't want him around, but he always kept coming back to try and be friends. Eventually I gave in because I was tired off telling him to piss off, guess it was the best choice I ever made. I began having fun again, but I was still pretty bored of the rest of the world, but a least with Markus it made things bearable. One day he suggests we should hang out for an entire weekend and I say yes. Afterwords I meet some guy saying he can send me somewhere else. I thought he was crazy and decide to play along."

"No talking!" I get whipped across my back, adding another scar to the bunch. The dog walks away after thinking he got the point out.

"Turns out he was crazy," I continue on, "but he also told the truth about sending me here. I wake up in a forest, almost die on the first day, get saved by a new friend, and I go on an adventure to explore this world and try to get home. Don't get me wrong, this place is great, I just never actually expected to come here and I'm probably missing back home. Later find out that it was Discord who brought me here and now he's ruling Equestria. So I and a few others are off to try and get others to help us defeat him. Diamond Dogs being one of them which is why I'm here. Now my companions are probably looking for me and the Cave, hopefully they don't come here. Hopefully they don't get captured." 

"Wow that's....something." Jet says not sure what else to say. We begin digging for a while, not quietly, but we would dig.

Four Diamond Dogs walk up to us, a very familiar one looking kind of pissed at me. "You come. Prime Alpha see now." He points at me.

"No thanks, tell him I have work to do." I antagonize them. The first one growls deeply and grabs my neck in his giant paws. Looking me in the face.

"No argue. You come!" He has anger in his eyes.

"Screw you." I gasp for breath. "You can get me to dig and hold me here against my will. But if that mongrel want's to see me, tell him to pop by. He knows where I'll be."

The Diamond Dog holding me brings back a fist, ready to hit me with everything he has. Only to be stopped by one of the other dogs. "You hear Prime Alpha. No hurt."

He stares at the one holding his arm and back at me. Conflicted to disobeying his leader and getting even with me. He gives in and lowers his fist and sets me down. I massage the tender spot, catching my breath.

"You come. Please." The one that stopped the other dog from punching me says.

I push past them and start walking down the tunnel they came from, the four following close behind. I see the other slaves as we pass by. All dreary, dead, and afraid. But above all, hopeless. They saw themselves working down here for the rest of their lives, however long they have. It was sad is what it was.

We come to two large iron doors. I was blinded by the bright light inside as they opened. As my eyes adjusted I saw that it was just like the rest of the cave, but with more lighting and a mountain of gems to the side. Corig was sitting on a crudely carved throne that looked like it was once a massive emerald, female dogs were laying around it.

"Ah, glad to see you came. Would have visited like usual, but I had... business." He said that last word with emphasis as he scratched under the chin of one of the females. 

"Right, well what is it you want from me?" I ask him.

"My guards have overheard you saying that came from another world. Is that true?" He gets off his emerald throne.

"Maybe. What of it?" Before he responds there is a loud roar of anger. Corig growls and points to some dogs.

"Shut him up!" The six of them go through two even larger iron doors to where the roar came from. I didn't have to guess what made that. It was the Dragon Lord. He's still alive. Good. "While that's being taken care of, why don't you tell me where you came from."

"How about no. Don't feel like having story time right now. How about when I and the rest of the slaves are free and you decide to help? Maybe then I'll tell you. Fair deal?" He stares at me for a while, then laughs when he realizes I'm serious. 

"I keep telling you. I do not know about this Discord fellow you keep talking about, and even if I did, what business does he have with us? He does not bother us, we will not bother him. But if I was miss informed, was it not him who sent you here?" He asks with gleam in his eyes.

"Yeah, he sent me here. Why?"

"One with such power can make a wonderful ally. Think about it. With his power we can dig this world dry of its riches, then get him to send us to a new world. One young and ripe for the picking. Just ready to be harvested of its tasty gems."

"No! You can't do that. That is just what he would want from you. You'd be causing chaos here and other worlds, it's just what he wants. He thinks of no one but himself. He will eventually bother you, torment your kind. Might be in a few weeks,  a few months, or a few years. But one day your dogs or descendants will look back to this day and curse you for not taking action when you could have. But you can stop it, please, help us defeat him now, before it is too late."

He stares at me with hard and cold eyes. "I tire of your pleading and begging. I have been kind to you. You won't give me what I want to know. You say he wants chaos, we want gems. We can help each other. Now get him out of my sight." Two dogs walk up, ready to take me back to the tunnel to dig for them. So he won't help. He'll side with Discord. That's it then. We'll have to do it with out him. And I need to get out.

One puts his paw on my left shoulder. I push back in a quick motion and ram my elbow into his gut, underneath the protective armour. He lets out a gasp of pain as I grab his spear in my right hand and swing it into the other guard's face. I turned around and grabbed it in both hands and gabbed the butt into the first one's helmet, disorientating them both. I jump towards Corig, gaining momentum as I thrust the sharp end of the spear at him. I was too slow to get him and the spear just cut across the right side of his chest, nothing too deep but it probably stung. I sweep at his legs to trip him, sadly he's faster than he looks and jumps well ahead in time. 

He punches at me, I was only just able to dodge as his fist passes over my head. He was close enough for his fur to rub up against my face. I crouch low to gain balance and thrust the spear up into his gut. He jumps back before the tip can pierce him. I jump towards him, the spear held high and bringing it down. But he catches it. The son of a bitch caught it! He bites off the metal tip, chews it into tiny pieces and rips the rest of it out of my hands. I receive a solid back hand to the face and fall over.

Next thing I know I have six other spears pointed at my face and another four on my back. Shit. I'm picked up and faced to Corig. He wipes some blood off him "Congratulations," he licks at the blood, "you just earned a trip to the Pit." He punches me in the gut. Hard. I gasp for air that doesn't enter. "Get him out of here."

I'm dragged through the tunnels and thrown into a damp dark cave. Not much of a pit really. There was a small hole at the top that reached to the outside. First time seeing daylight in a few days. They close the iron door behind me, laughing menacingly. The door had claw marks and puncture holes on it, evidence of others before me trying to get out.

"Well, might as well get comfy while I'm here."




Day One

Well the place sucks. There are rats that constantly try nipping me, it's small and jagged all around. Everywhere is damp so I can't find a dry spot, and Jet is right, they do piss in whatever glop they give us. And I'm kind of ashamed to say that I ate it. What? It was either that or starve and let the rats have me. No thank you.

I trickle of water landed on me. It came from the hole up top. Hey, why does it smell like-?

"Aw hell! Are you serious?" I moved out of the way and saw a Diamond Dog laugh at me as he finishes his business. 

Great pissed on food, and pissed on. Wait, am I gonna get pissed water too? Oh god.




Day Two

Still sucks down here. Still getting pissed on. And very bored. Nothing to do down here but avoid the piss and kick some rats. At least they had you doing something when you weren't locked up. The night and day cycle seems to have gotten worse. No surprise there.




Day Five

Seriously! It sucks down here! I actually prefer digging for gems for hours on end than do this for another day. 




Day Eight

My defecations have begun piling up in a corner. Smells terrible down here and absolutely filthy. I'm going to kill Corig when I get out.




Day Thirteen

Rats. Rats rats rats rats rats rats rats. Dead. All rats are dead. Killed them. They got too annoying. The survivors know not to mess with me. If you can call them survivors. Wonder if rats taste better than the glop they feed me?




Day Seventeen

...................................................................................................................................................................................................




Day Twenty

How long have I been down here? I think my sanity is slowly slipping away. Or I'm trying to pass the time by pretending to be crazy. Because if I'm pretending then I don't think I am any longer. Will I die here? If I die here, what will happen afterwards? Will I be sent home? Or will I have gone missing, never to have been found again? I lay face first in the wet stone.

The iron doors open. "He dead?" I hear a familiar growl voice. A Diamond Dog. He come closer and pokes me with a stick. The poking stick, the most scientific invention since ever. I give a low grunt.

"Nope. Not dead." His friend replies. "Let's get back to cage. He not look tough no more."

They pick me up and drag me out of the Pit. Thank God for small miracles, right? I don't struggle as they drag me. I don't look up and see the expressions of the other slaves. I'm dead. Dead inside.

I'm thrown into my cage and the two dogs laugh as they close the bars. "Jesse?" 

I know that voice. Sails, Blue Sails. She lifts me up and put my head over her shoulder. Embracing me tightly. "I thought I lost you." Concern in her voice and tears in her eyes. "I thought they had killed you. They never told us what happened to you. We were so worried. Oh Celestia, they broke you didn't they? You're just like the rest of us. You're dead inside aren't you?" She holds me tighter."Of everypony here I thought that it would have been you and Jet to never back down. Always stay strong. And one day give us hope. And they broke you."

"Sails... " I give a low hush. A quiet whisper. I pull away from her and look her in the eyes. And she looks back into my eyes.

"We're getting out of here." I look into her eyes, and she looks back into mine. My eyes, so full of confidence and hope. So strong and fierce. So powerful. 

They haven't broken me. 

They won't break me! 

And they. Will. Pay!
> Chapter Fourteen: Rebellion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Fourteen
Rebellion





"Jesse! Thank Celestia you're alive!" Jet pulls up next to us with his usual rusty cart as we dig, surprised to see me after so long.

"Of course I'm alive. But don't celebrate just yet. We're busting out of here Jet! Today!" 

"You got a plan?" He asks it with more excitement than skepticim. 

"Yeah," I see the Diamond Dog with a personal vendeta against me, he's making his usual rounds with a smug grin across his face. "Just follow my lead." I whisper to them. I stop digging and sit down, my back against the stone wall taking a break. 

The Dog sees me resting and lumbers over, looking annoyed. "Work!" He thinks I need a motivation and bring his whip up. It comes down on me, but never makes the cracking sound. I catch it before it can strike with my bare hand. I slowly stand up, keeping a strong hold on the whip, not letting go of it. The Dog doesn't like this little rebillion one bit, but doesn't know how big it will soon become. 

"SHUT UP!" I wrench the whip out of his paws and throw it away. My booming voice catches everyones attention. The Diamond Dog was too shocked to do anything, like dodge my punch to his face. He falls over, but I don't give him a second to recooperate, I kick him in his gut as hard as I can. He lets out a wheeze of pain, seeing as though he couldn't screem as his breath was all lost. 

Now I have everyones attention, perfect. "I'm tired of being down here! I'm tired being caged everyday to rest for a few measly hours and work nonstop for the rest. I'm tired of being served crap that shouldn't even be called grool! I wanna get out of here! I wanna bask in the sun and sleep under the moon! I wanna eat an apple for crying out loud!" I stomp so hard on the Diamond Dog's face that a small crater formed underneath his head. His skull was shattered. 

More Diamond Dogs came becaue they of the commotion. I fought against each of them, but I couldn't fight them all off. but soon I wouldn't have to. I only had to stall for time. One Diamond Dog receives a buck to the head. Jet is there beside me.

"Yeah! I wanna fly through the clouds again and I hear birds chirp! How will I become the fastest flier in the world if I'm stuck down here?"

We continue to fight them off. Just the two of us. Or the three. A magic bolt sends another dog crashing into the wall. Blue Sails, thank you. 

"I-I-I'm scared, I'm terrified. But I don'twant to be anymore! I wanna go home! I wanna see my family again! I don't wanna be afraid ever again!" And like that, our group of two became a band of three.

We fought hard with everything we had. Our escape was either now or never. I was captured by a Dog from behind. He held back my arms while another was ready to brake some ribs. But I was saved. A minotaur tackles the Dog about to hit me to the ground and brakes his arms.

"They're right. I've been trapped down here for over seven years. Because of them I've missed watching my son grow into a strong bull. But I will not miss anymore of that! I'm wanna see my wife and child again!" It's working.

Two more griffins joined in saying they still wanted to learn how to bake. Hey, they have a motive. We progressed from six. Then ten. Fifteen. Thirty-eight. We grew and kept growing. It was working. No one takes you serious if you just say something, it's only until you follow up will they believe you. That's why the one's who take most action talk least, action speaks louder than words. But what happens when you put words into your actions? You get peoples attention. You create a movement. You create hope.

We stormed through the tunnels, freeing every slave, fighting every Diamond Dog, never stopping. The Dogs eventually had to use lethal weapons against us. There were slaves that will never get to see the sunlight again after this day. But we kept fighting. We grabbed their weapons, we used them against the ones who forged them, and we fought. Soon a wall of Diamond Dogs blocked our path, they stood shoulder to shoulder from one end of the tunnel to the next, there were too many to get through.

"Hey big guy," I turn to the minotaur who helped us earlier, he was missing his left horn, "how's your throwing arm?" I raise a spear I picked up earlier. Not as good as my sword, but affective. 

"Just tell me what you need." He picked me and placed my feet in his right hand. Unlike Iron Will, this guy had big hands.

"We can't get past by pushing through. So we need to punch a hole from the inside. Throw me beyond the center of the second line, I'll create an opening and I'll need you to trample past. That way we can breach their defence and plough through them." I crouch in his hand, bracing myself for the toss. I can feel the intense force of wind as he sends me flying with his massive muscles.

I fly over the heads of everyone and over the first two lines of Diamond Dogs. My feet land on two of them, cushioning  my fall. I crouch low and sweep at the surrounding Diamond Dogs with my spear. They topple over as the stick pass over their legs. The bad thing about a Diamond Dog's build is that their upper body is larger than their lower, without their long front arms to stabilize them they can easily be knocked down. 

The ground starts shaking. The minotaur from before arrives right on time. With a hole sticking in the center of their front lines they're open for a penetration. And a big guy like that minotaur can break the wall into bits from a single hole.Everyone else follows behind him, killing the Diamond Dogs on the ground and fighting the ones smart enough to get out of the way.

We finally get past with more of the sacrifices from slaves who wanted to be free. Everyone's saying they can hear birds, feel a breeze, even I notice that the tunnel gets brighter. We're almost there. But I slow down, letting everyone pass by me, let them get out. They no longer have any reason to be here, but I still do. Of all the slaves that we freed, one is still missing.

"Jesse come one! We're almost there!" Jet notices that I stopped.

"Sorry, but you'll have to go on without me.I have unfinished business." 

"What are you talking about? We have our freedom now because of you! You have to come with us." Blue Sails calls to me beside Jet.

"Just go! I'll be fine! I promise we'll see each other again soon!" With that I turn back and run in the opposite direction. I promised them that we'll see each other again. And a promise I mean to keep. 

I just hope I can keep it in this life.
> Chapter Fifteen: Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Fifteen
Truth





Let's see here. Left, go right, continue past each turn until you find that fork, take the left route, there's the red rock, and presto. I stand in front of the iron doors to Corig's room, unguarded. I hold my spear and bravely open the doors. The room was empty, the emerald throne vacant, the mountain of gems unprotected. And the door to where the Dragon Lord  ajar.

I open it wider and walk in, keeping up my guard. It was dark, there was barely any light. I hear chains chime. Large chains by the sound of it. It came from up ahead, into where it gets darker.

I hear a snap, like someone clicking their fingers together and the room lights up. I shield my eyes with my free hand while I keep my spear held ready to strike in case someone takes advantage of the situation. But I don't hear growls or laughter like I would have expected, instead I hear someone giving me a slow applause.

"Very well done." Corig. I'll never forget that bastard's voice. "Not only did you not break after staying in the Pit for over a week longer than someone's average duration. But you also made it possible to rile up all the slaves and fight against my guards, giving them back their hope and freedom. I knew you would be fun." My vision starts returning, getting used to the light. And what I saw made my rage soar. Corig stood atop of the Dragon Lord, still wearing my coat. Dragon's scales were picked off in various spots, teeth were pulled out, he had spears sticking out of his body, his arms, legs, and mouth were chained, wings were shredded, and he had absolute fury in his eyes.

"Dragon!" I called to him in hopes that I can still save him.

"Don't worry, he's sill alive. For now at least." Corig jumps down and tosses some things at me. I instinctively drop my spear and  catch them. In my right hand was Silver Fang, sheathed and undamaged, and my knife in my left. I look at Corig in wonder as to why he gave me my weapons back. "You're not one to use a spear. If we're going to fight, I want you to be serious about this."

I strap my knife and sword to my side, a familiar and comfortable feeling. "You just dug your own grave." I slowly unsheathe Silver Fang. How good it feels to hold my old friend again. I wait for him to make the first move. And I'm rewarded for my patience. He lunges at me, his black spear head, sharp to the point that it could cut anatom in half aims for my heart. With a quick sidestep I dodg out of the way, but he was prepared for that and swings the spear at me. I use Silver Fang to successfully block it, but from the shear force of his strength I get sent flying. I land on my back and roll out of the way as Corig decends upon me, his spear penetrating the ground where my head was. I pick myself up, the intent to kill in my eyes.

I feel a tick, like a spark egnite in me that I know all too well and have missed for far too long. Magic. But there was something else along with it, definitely magic, but it wasn't what I was used to. Silver Fang catches on fire and I swing it, a huge and powerful wave of fire flies in a horizontal angle at him. But instead of him dodging the fire, he thusts his spear at the wave. and gets absorbed. The entire fire wave was absorbed by his spear. The black  head now had a faint orange glow to it.

"He-he-he," he chuckled at what seemed like a joke to him and runs his figer down the edge. "Zepcrodium. Unbalievably rare. Stronger than a diamond, never decays or wears out, is powerful enough to even absorb magic itself," he brings his arms back, the had still pointing at me, "and I can use the absorbed magic for my own purposes."

His spear shoots forward like it was to pierce someone infront of him. But instead this time, fire shot out of it. I bend
backwards, feeling the heat of fire as it passes over me. Singeing my hair. Well, looks like my fire is out of the question. Close combat only.

I right myself up and charge at Corig. Silver Fang and his spear clash together. We trade blow for blow. Dodging or parrying each others srike. Neither of us got more than a scrape. We fight for what my seem like an enternity. He blocks a downward strike, but I don't pull back. I keep the force on him so he has to defend. 

"Why Corig? Why do this to him? For the slaves I could understand. But what your doing to Dragon, that's not slavery, that's torture. So why are you doing this to him?" He puts great force into a swing that gives us space. 

"Why would you care what I do? None of this concerns you so why would you care about him?" He points a finger at the chaind dragon.

"Because," I say in a calming voice, "the only one who gets to kill me is him." I look at the Dragon Lord. His ruby eyes widen, I still remember his words clearly in my head like it was yesterday. If only it were.

I turn my sword backwards so the end points down and charge at Corig again. Corig gets ready to parry my attack, too bad for him he gave me another plan of attack. I swing my sword in my new style, it was easy enough to block, which is just what I wanted. I make a quick draw for my knife and stab his leg. He lets out a loud howl of pain and kneels down to grip his injured leg with one hand. Blood spews out, not fast or gushes, but it doesn't stop. 

He thrusts the spear forward. I move out of the way and put the edge of my sword against my forearm, the spear sliding along it harmlessly. I grab the spear and swing Silver Fang right-side up, I cut the spear in half. The end I held was about a good two and a half feet long. The zepcrodium head adding another twenty+. He pulled the knife out and struck at my gut, but was parried by the broken half of his spear. And by parried, I actually mean he had the pointy end jammed into his paw. He howled in pain yet again. That something from earlier that I couldn't figure out began stirring inside me. It was something crazy to high hell and I was wearing it like a fine cloak. 

I ram the butt of my hilt into his snout, he falls on his back. I sheathe Silver Fang and I jump on his chest and start volley after volley of punches to his face. Why didn't I stop? This wasn't like me, so why did I enjoy it so much? After leaving his face bloodied and bruised I spread apart the coat revealing his furry chest. 

"It ends here Corig. Let it be known that the Prime Alpha was brought down by a single human. Struck dead by his own weapon." I fiedish grin creeps along my face as I lift the spearhead high above me. Murder filled my eyes. But I stopped when I saw it. On his chest, right over his heart. It was there. The backwards D. The mark of Discord.

My head clears and I let go of the spear. It falls harmlessly to the ground. "That mark," I say in a shaky voice, "how did you get that mark?"

He looks at it the best he could. "Not sure. All I remember is a voice offering me retribution. I took it and this was on me." He coughs up some blood. 

"You son of a bitch, you're a puppet of his and you never knew it. You're his slave." I jump off him. Was it fear that sunk into me? No. It was worry. 

"I am no one's slave!" He retorts lifting himself up. "I was given a chance for revenge and I took it. Plain and simple." 

"And who offered it to you? So you can have your revenge on who?"

"Isn't it obvious? That bastard of a dragon over there." He looks at the Dragon Lord. "After so long we'll finally have it. After all you did to us we'll have our revenge. The war will be over. We'll finally have concurred the dragons!" War? What war is he talking about? 

The Dragon Lord thrashed around, rejecting his accusation. I pick up the spear head and stride over to him, he had something to say and I felt it needed to be heard. I lift it over the chains that bound his mouth and broke them in a single strike.

"LIAR!" He yelled at Corig. "It was you dogs that got greedy, because of you we are now reduced to beast of anger and greed! It was you who started the war! Not us!" I continued to break the rest of the chains. "You knew our customs and approved of our agreement. It was your own fault!" 

"I'll kill you!" Corig roared with such ferocity that it could shatter glass. He would have if he didn't wince in pain in his leg.

"No you won't." I cut him off. "Dragon Lord, let me see your chest." I stare at him intensely. "NOW!" I commanded.

He stands on his hind legs, and there it was, the backwards D. I laugh hysterically. "You idiots. You stupid sons' of bitches."

They sneer at me. "And what are you laughing at?" 

"You. The both of you. You made a deal with the devil and now you're paying for it! I don't know what war you're talking about, but it doesn't matter. You two have been played fools and never knew it." I laugh more. I feel like The Joker. "What revenge is it that you want any ways?" I look at Corig.

"He and his damn dragons took all the gems for themselves! Because of this we were sent into starvation, eventually leading into a war."

"It was you and your damn dogs that started it!" The great purple dragon bellowed. 

"You're both wrong." A voice echoes through the caves. One that didn't belong to any of us. But I knew who it did belong to. "It wasn't either of you." The gems from the room over flew through the doorway and started circling around. They began to stack up and form a shape. Pretty soon they created an exact replica of him. 

Before us now stood the Discord himself, made entirely of gems.

"What? Who are you?" Corig asks shocked at the intruder.

"Aw, you don't remeber me? I feel so hurt, Fleet Feet." Gem Discord called him that like they knew each other.

"No. It's impossible. Grom? Is that you?" Corig asks him.

"In a sense. Though I once did go by that name, it was just an alibi. Isn't that right Diamond Head?" He then adresses the dragon. 

"Only one ever called me that name." His eyes went wide when he was called that. "Bornak? Is that really you?"

"In a way, yes."

"Discord," my voice has a rage. The only thing that stopped me from not attacking him as the fact that I was left out of the loop on something important. "What the hell are you going on about?"

"Oh and Jesse. I am so glad to meet you once again. Tell me, how are you liking Equestria so far?"

"Don't toy with me! How do you know them? They called you Grom and Bornak, they know you. And would someone tell me what freaking war you keep talking about?"

"The war that those dragons started!" Corig answers imediately staring a hole into the Dragon Lord.

"You mean the war your mutts started!" Dragon shouted back.

"Well your both wrong. As much as I loved watching the beautiful chaotic war you brought on yourselves. It was actaully moi who did it." Disord confesses looking proud. The gem eaters tear themselves away from each other and look at him bemused.

"What?" They ask in unison. 

"Grom, what are you talking about?" Corig's voice is shaking, like he's trying to accept it as a joke. 

"First off, my name is Discord. The Diamond Dog you knew as Grom and the dragon Bornak were just disguises. And Because, you two were in the way. You ruled the world at the time. And I wanted it. But you lived in prosperity," he nearly gagged when he said that last word. "So I thought 'hey, why don't I get them to turn on each other. That way I can rule without having to worry about them.' And I did. I took the guise of each species and got in close with both of you. Then when your backs were turned I did the crimes that the both of you blamed the other for. And so you fought each other, killed each other, and hated each other. And I sat back and watched the chaos and took the throne afterwards. The end." The two looked at him, then at each other. They were fooled, they were friends and turned on each other.

"Wait a minute," I cut in catching on to something, "Didscord, you never came into power until about a month ago. You couldn't posibly have done that so soon. And what do you mean they were in power? Celestia and Luna rule Equestria, not them."

"Who said anything about this being a month ago? This happened several millenias ago." He says coyly.

"What?! But they're alive." I point at Corig and the Dragon Lord. "How could it have been millenias ago if they're alive now?"

"Why, because of us." He says with a glee.

"Exuse me?" I ask having touble comprehending the fact that I helped Discord. "What do you mean 'us'?"

"When we first met, what happened?" 

"You were crazy beyond belief and then sent me here." I deadpan.

"And what happened in that alley in between those two events?"

I think hard, my hand goes over my sword. I look down to see the snake coiled guard and remember. "Some weird snake thing imprissoned me and I busted a hole through it."

"And do you know what caused that?" He was too eager let me guess. "You used your own power to actaully absorbed my own chaos magic and use it against me!" He falls on the ground laughing. I did what? I used my what?

"What are you talking about? How did I absorb your chaos? What are you talking about? What power do I have?" I begin to threaten him.

"Oh the puny mind of the unimaginative." He gets up still giggling. "When you broke that sphere you absorbed some of my own magic, taking it for yourself. But unfortunately for you, you were already filled to the brim with your magic abilities. But you forced mine into you, pushing an equal portion of your magic out needing a new host. And who might be around to give it a new home? ME!" He bursts out laughing again. "Thanks to you I have been using your gift to amplify my own ends to extents even I on my own was unable to even muster. Like reviving these two to start a war they never finished. And haven't you ever felt a little, wonky, whenever a trace of my presence was around? The letter, the marks, everything relating to me. That triggered my chaos in you, HAHAHHAHA." I don't believe what I'm hearing, was it because of me that he got free? Because Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and even the Elements of Harmony were defeated? Because he's ruling now? It was all my fault? "And now that these two know the truth of their hatred and war, I have no further use for them." He snaps his fingers and a gust of wind comes from no where. 

I looked at Corig and the dragon, and to my horror, they began to flake away. Little pieces of them started peeling off from the wind. They were dematerializing. I could see their fur, skin, scales, everything peel off until it reached bone. And it didn't stop. They had a similar expression on their faces. They were dieing, again. But this time it was a slow and dreadful expierence. They watched themselves waste away into nothing.

"Stop it." I let out a little more than a whisper. "Stop it Discord. Stop it damn you!" He looks at me, a mocking expression on his face.

"Why? They're dead already, might as well return them. Dust to dust and so-and-so."

That fire I would always feel in time of dire need starts returning. How I got faster against Nosferatu and stronger against Balto. I could feel it. "Damn it I said stop!" 

"Then make me." He says it like a brat who won't stop being a nuissance. But there was something in his eyes, a challenge. A challenege, eh? Fine I'll give him what he wants. I clench my hand into a fist.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP IT!" I punch the crystal version of him. 

"Ouch." The last I see of him s a look of astonishment on his sparkling face before his body explodes into small chunks and fly everwhere. But I felt no pain, not even a tickle. I look back at the dematerializing creatures. It didn't work. They kept falling to pieces.

"Corig... " The dragon tries speaking while half his jaw deteriorates. "All this time... I hated... you... for a... crime... never committed."

"I know... old friend. We... were fooled." Corig is look just as bad. His entire left arm is gone and a hole in his chest gradually growing. "I wish... I could take... things back... everything... I've... done. Everything I've... said." 

"We... let greed... and hate blind us... I'm sorry." I tear roled down the dragon's face.

I rush to Corig's side. "Hey, come on you can't die here." I wrap my arm around his waist, I can feel it flake and crumble at my touch under the red coat. "You two finally found peace between each other. And now you know who really started this war. You've spent thousand of years hating each other. You can't die here. I won't allow it!"

"Child," the Dragon Lord's voice is calm, "there is... nothing... you can... do. We... blamed each other... for... years."

"That's why you can't die!" I turn the great scaly beast. "You hated each other because of someone else. Don't you want your revege?"

"Of course... we do!" Corig yells back at me, both legs are gone. "But... what can we... do...? We're ghosts..., soon to... return to... limbo." He looks defeted.

I stare at him, horror of realization that he's giving up. "...... You can fight." My fire is burning bright.

The last of Corig, Prime Alpha of Diamond Dogs wastes away in my arms. Two words echoing through my ears. "If only."

I look to the dragon, tears roll down my face. "You can't mean this."

"If only... there were... a... way." Just like Corig, the great king vanishes to dust. Tears pour out my face. Why? I barely know the dragon, and Corig enslaved me. So why did I cry for them? 

"Don't die." I weep, thinking that it's not too late. 

"Then don't let them." A familiar voice in my head. "Use me. Do the impossible and use me for what I can truly do. Discord can use me, so you can too."

Who are you?

There's a long pause before it speaks up again. "............. Your strength"

"Stop dieing." I take its advice and think that there's still time. That they're still alive. "STOP DIEING!" Fire. Fire inside me. Getting brighter. Getting stronger. Getting more powerful.

I began screaming. Sreaming pain. Screaming sorrow. Screaming rage. Screaming hate. I don't know what they hell was going on. But I could begin to feel power. Great power. Bottomless amounts of power. And I kept screaming.

The cave began to shake and shudder. The walls and ceiling began to crumble. The wind from no where came back. It picked up the remains of Corig and the Dragon Lord and circled me. My body felt like it was on fire. I kept yelling for them to stop dieing even though they were already gone. I kept screaming. I kept forcing it so they would live again.

I didn't know what was happening. Things were happening too fast. Too much was going on. Why did I kept screaming for them to stop dieing even if they weren't? What power do I have? What am I doing?

I didn't have the answers to any of those questions. I was growing scared, fearful. I could feel the world around me shake violently, like I was the center of a great quake. And I did the only thing reasonable.

I blacked out.
> Chapter Sixteen: Yesterdays Enemy, Todays Allie, Tommorrow's Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Sixteen
Yesterdays Enemy, Todays Ally, Tommorrow's Friend





'Wha-? Where am I?' I was being carried, I knew that much. By someone big, and warm. But carried by who? Did Jet or Sails come back? God how I hope they didn't.

"I think he's waking up." That voice, it's familiar. Too familiar. No...

I tried saying something but it just came out as a slur of mumbles. I'm still grogy from whatever the hell happened.

"Easy child, don't take things too far. You still need rest." A second voice. Deeper than the first. And just as familiar.

My voice finally comes to me. "How? You two died. Again." Corig and the Dragon Lord. Alive again. 

"Thanks to you. You saved us child." The dragon said. 

"How'd I do that?" My vision returned just in time to see a confused expression on Corig's face. To my surprise they weren't just alive, but all their injuries were gone. Dragon Lord's scales and teeth were all in their place and his wings were whole. And Corig didn't have any sign of ever being in a fight, cuts and bruises vanished. As to what else I could tell, Corig was cradling me in his two massive arms with my red coat over my body like a blanket. We were riding on the back of the Dragon Lord.

"You mean you don't know?" He asks. I shake my head. 

"What did I do?"

There was a long silence. "Sorry child, it's not our right to tell you." The dragon responded in a disappointed tone. What did I do? And what do they know about it?

"Where are we?" I ask looking around, obviously still in the tunnels. But without the ex-slaves or guards, it seemed kind of barren.

"The mine. We're working our way to the surface." Corig says flatly.

"Corig told me what your primary objective was as to why you came here." Dragon Lord pipes up. "And after all you have done for us, we have agreed to aid you on your mission."

"So you mean..." I look at Corig with hope in my eyes. He nods his furry head and a smile that went with it. But his eyes said something else. They were cold and harsh. "Why the sudden change of attitude? Just because I brought you back from the dead doesn't mean that you have to fight for me. It was a choice." My expression changes along with his.

"Bornak, or I should say Discord, we once knew him." Dragon Lord pipes up.

"Kind of noticed. You called him two different names. And he called you two something else. But you never recognized him from the beginning, so what happened, Dragon?" I stare at the great beast carrying us on his back.

"Krinox." 

"Pardon?" 

"It's my name, Krinox. Dragon Lord is but a title. Only the few I deem worth know my true name." 

"Krinox, it's a nice name." I comment. "But stop changing the topic. How do you know him?"

Corig sighs. "Might as well tell him our story old friend. After all, with your size we have to take the long way out." 

"I suppose I should start..."

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Okay there's going to be quite a bit of talking here. So purple will be the Dragon Lord, green will be Corig, and the occasioanal oranage will be Jesse and regular color text will be as per usual.
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"Long before ponies ruled these lands, it was dragons who ruled the world. Back when I was young we were the greatest creatures to exist, or strength and might were unbeatable, we ruled both the land, and sky. Our fire was so great that it was said that the first dragon created it with his dieing breath. He hated living in a dark world, so with all his strength he sent a giant fire ball into the sky where none are able to fly, shining light in this world and all its creatures. And we were smart and noble. Not the lumbering beasts that live these days. And there was a second race that lived with us."

"The Diamond Dogs. But we were cowardly mutts. We were worse off in those days than we are now if one can actually believe that."

"Our two races never cared for one another, we dragons cared for no one but ourselves. Not to say we were ignorant of the others though."

"But one day a young pup decides to try something different from the other dogs. He explores. He finds new things and new wonders. And he finds a young purple dragon."

"Let me guess, that pup and dragon were you two?"

"Heh-heh, not like we tried hiding it."

"May I carry on? Thank you. So the two meet each other. But neither one knows the other. And neither are afraid. The young pup was uneducated and didn't know how to speak, none of the Diamond Dogs knew how. So the young dragon tought the pup."

"As time progresses so too does the pups education. And the bond that the dragon and Diamond Dog grew stronger. He teaches the other dogs how to speak. Until eventually an entire clan learns how to speak and soon helps other clans. Much of it was rather choppy and bad, but we learnt rather well."

"Eh-hm."

"Right, sorry."

"But it wasn't just how to speak, we thought the Diamond Dogs how to fight, forge tools from the metal ore they dug up, how to plan, and much more. In return they would give us a fair portion of gems they would dig up. Being large and bulky, dragons couldn't find gems very well. And to help the bond between the dragons and Diamond Dogs, Corig became Prime Alpha and I Dagon Lord."

"One alpha leads a single pack until he is brought down and a new one takes his place. But the Prime Alpha leads all the packs. It always comes down to his final judgment alone, and all alphas and packs must obey. But not just any Diamond Dog can become Prime Alpha. There are trials and tests to claim victory over and approval from elders before becoming Prime Alpha. Many who attempted the trials have ended up dead."

"And the Dragon Lord is a title much similar. Dragons may be independant, but they know what honour and loyalty is. At least they used to. Even though they looked after themselves, they still followed the word of the Dragon Lord. His word is law."

"That's nice and all, but ya mind telling me what the war was all about?"

"*sigh* Impatient. There were wonderful years of living in peaceful bliss with the other species, until things turned completely around. One day each species reports that the other killed a large number of one another and took a large stack of gems for themselves. Pandemic and hate began to rise. But Corig and I never believed it, we kept trying to keep the two races from killing each other, and for a time it was working. Until I witnessed the most horrific thing." His voice grew dark and sad.  "One day I return to my nest to meet my mate. Of all the stars I wished I never did. I found her dead, her blood was splattered everywhere, and our hatchlings... I witnessed as a single Diamond Dog slattered them all. They were barely old enough to breath fire and he killed them each and everyone."

"As the same for me." Corig's voice soon grew the same coldness that was in Krinox's "I found what was left of my mate, spralled over our cave. And my pups were.... Our youngest couldn't even see yet."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. It must have been hard for the both of you." 

"Believe it or not, but a dragon can actually die of a broken heart. If he cannot learn to cope with a loss or fill a missing piece of his life, he risks going mad. I could never forget the one who did it, Grom. Corig's most trusted friend and Alpha."

"And it was the dragon Bornak, who took everything from me. Krinox's most noble dragon."

"We swore vengance and demanded so. But of course we denied the other not believing our favorited and closest member could do such an act. Because of this, our own rage and hate blinded us, sparking the war. And the end of a life long friendship."

"The number of Diamond Dog's back then were far fewer. But we were mighty. Despite being weaker than a dragon, we easily killed them by hiding underground for long periods of time until one was foolish enough to land near."

"Gems were the main source of a dragon's diet, because the Diamond Dogs no longer dug for us, we were forced to steal and reserve our gems for dire times. This soon grew to hoarding, and eventually greed, dragons slowly reverted to beasts who would only look out for themselves and protect their horde from anyone who would try and take it away from them. We soon turned on our very own, trusted no one and were no longer the majestic and noble creatures we once were."

I sit in Corig's lap for a time while the silence passed until I asked the question. "How did you two die? Did you kill each other?"

"Mm. No. Like I said before, if a dragon cannot cope with his loss or learn to the fill the empty hole in his heart, he risks going mad. That's what happened to me. Some dragon's who tried to stay on the noble path and follow the old ways were forced to stop me. By any means necessary. I slaughtered many of my brothers and sisters in my madness, but they were finally able to stop me."

"And what about you Corig?"

"I was killed in battle. Three dragons slaughtered us all. I was the last to go." Croig's ears perk up as we come to a wall. "Hang on, we're here"

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Ahhhh! Me brain hurt because pretty colours. Back to colourless text.
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Corig gently moves me off his lap and gets off Krinox's back. He begins digging at the wall, quickly making a hole big enough for him to crawl through. We hear the sound of crumbling stone and sunlight after digging about two feet through. 

"Hey! There's one!" Krinox and I hear someone's voice on the other side.

"No! Wait, wait, wait let me- GAK" Corig was soon dragged out and Krinox and I looked at each other both confused and concerned.

"Alright, mutt, you better tell me what I want to know or Tartarus will have another soul to look after!" I hear a distinctly familiar voice. One I am so glad to hear again.

"Hey I know this one. He's the Prime Alpha. This is the guy that threw Jesse in the Pit. He'll definitely know what we want to hear." Hey, is that Jet? 

"Hey Krinox, can you break down that wall?" I slide off his back and onto the ground. My body feels weak and I'm about to collapse at any given moment. I untie Silver Fang fom my side and use it as a cane to support myself. Krinox gets on his hind legs and uses all his force to push against the wall. I suppose I'm not the only one who feels weaker, Krinox actually looked like he was about to strain himself.

The wall finally collapses and pieces of stone fall away. We hear a lot of startled screaming from the other side. I shield my sensitive eyes from the sun with one hand. After being underground for however long I was in there, my eyes had adjusted to the dark. "It's okay Sharla, you can let him go." I call to my friends from the other side of the dust.

As the dust settles down everyone starts getting scared and defensive when they see Krinox, but once they saw me, they began to lighten up. I was right, it was Sharla's voice I heard. She was on top of Corig, her duel sided axe on his neck. 

"Jesse!" I'm tackled to the ground by Light Flicker, Shantze, and Flex, they were holding on to me like I was about to jump from a cliff. 

"Hey scamps, glad to see you too." I'm weaker than I expected, they actually knocked the wind out of me. They scream and hold me tighter as they see Krinox tower over us. "Don't worry, he's a friend. The Diamond Dog too Sharla. You can let him go." She looks at Corig one last time, a horrible scowl over her face. She reluctantly lets him go, not liking it one bit. I push myself up. Shantze and Light jump off me while Flex perches nicely on my shoulder. It's nice having him there again.

"Jesse, I'm so glad we found you." Shining Armor appears out of the crowd with Flora, Jet, and Sails behind him. "Your friends from the mine found us and told us what happened. The entrance caved in so we had to find a new way in." 

Jet walks up to me, I could see him better in this light. He had more of a dirty silver rather than a grey coat, his eyes were a sapphire blue, and his cutie mark were two lightning bolts that looked like they were made from fire rather than electicity, they crossed at the center. Damn that's cool. "We met them not too long after we escaped." 

"After telling them what happened and about you, they told us to show them where the cave was." Blue Sails continues. She looked much like how I imagined before, her eyes were a cyan blue, like Rainbow Dash's coat, but a little darker, and her cutie mark was an ocean wave. "But you called that Diamond Dog a friend, he was the one to put you into slavery, don't you remember?"

"Oh I remember Sails. I also remember what happened back there after freeing the Dragon Lord here." I point to Krinox with my thumb and refer to him in his formal title. "And trust me on this, he can be trusted and he is my friend. They both are." 

"Eh-hm, well if there isn't anything else that needs to be done I suppose we'll be on our way." Corig walk over to Krinox.

"And just where do you think you're off to? Just because he can forgive you doesn't mean we will." I griffin pipes up with a sword in his hand.(Er, talon?)

"Because they need to go and get help so we can defeat Discord and send this world back into harmony again." I deadpan to him. I push my sword out a little from the sheathe for intimidation. "And if you have any objections with that, then I suppose we'll have a problem. " He looks at me a little scared, my intimidation was working like a charm as he backs off. 

"Thank you for everything you have done for us." Krinox bows his head in respect.

Corig climbs on him and looks down at me. "Thank you, if it weren't for you we never would have known what really happened. And our hate would only relight a lost war." He bows to me in the same motion. "Ready, old friend?" 

"Ready!" Krinox unfolds his huge leathery wings and takes off.

"Meet us at Canterlot! It'll be a huge castle on the side of the tallest mountain! And good luck to the both of you!" I call out to them before they get out of ear shot. In a reply we hear a howl and roar echo loud enough for the whole world to hear.

"Hey Jesse," Shining Armor comes up next to me "can we trust them? I mean the whole purpose to coming here was to ask for the Diamond Dogs help. But after what they did to you, I don't think we can rely on them."

"Captain," I say in a stern voice not taking my eyes off in the direction they flew off in. "I'd trust those two with my very life. Besides, we were to try and convince the Diamond Dogs to help us. Mission accomplished, and as a bonus, we'll have the dragons on our side too."

"But that Diamond Dog imprisoned you. What could have happened in there that made it so you can trust him?" Jet asks me, not sure what the hell is going on.

"It's fine Jet. Trust me. But the better question now is, what are the rest of you going to do?" I turn to the other freed slaves from the cave. I didn't make my voice loud enough for them to hear, only Jet and Sails heard me.

"Well, Jet and I are going to go back to Vanhoover. After all that's happened, I just wana go back home." Sails says with a smile. Hey, this is the first time I've seen her do that. She looks good smiling. I lean down to Sails so Jet can't hear us.

"Does he know that you like him? Because after something like this, I'd suggest confessing to him." Her face goes from blue to red. I chuckle to myself as she tries saying something, but words just can't seem to come out of her mouth. Jet just looks at us confused as to what he missed. 

"Good question though, what are we going to do with them?" Shining Armor asks no one in particular. 

"Hey, don't worry about us." A unicorn comes up to us. She had a yellow coat, purple mane that's been cut short, and a cutie mark of a blue heart inside a box said. "We've got families to go back to. We all more or less already agreed on that. Some of us all live in the same town while others have to go out of Equestria. See, some of us are already leaving." She points at the large crowd, already getting smaller. Griffins and pegasi were flying off, other ponies and other ex-slaves were dividing into smaller groups and heading in different directions, they were all leaving to their homes after gone for years. "No pony else may have said this to you yet, but, on behalf of all of us, thank you for everything. Thanks to you we were given our lives back." With a small blush she turns away and joins a group of ponies and moves off.

We watched as the rest left to go home and thanking me for freeing them. Soon it was just our original group, Jet, and Sails left. "So, you're heading home to?" I look at Sails and Jet curiously. 

"Yeah, I suppose we've taken too long of a trip." Jet says in a carefree tone.

"Thank you for everything you've done for all of us. Your friends told us what your mission was, and we wouldd like to join you, but I really want to see my family again. It's been too long." Sails wraps her front two legs around me for a hug. She's surprisingly soft. 

"What are friends for?" Odd that I'm the one saying it. Before coming here I had next to no friends. Now I'm making them left and right. I've changed a lot since I came here. Maybe I should give Princess Celestia a friendship report. Maybe even thank Discord for sending me here; right before we turn him to stone that is. She lets go. 

"Hey, you were able to do what I always talked about, and I know when I'm beat, guess now I'm the second biggest badass. But don't think it'll stay that way forever." Jet challenges with a gleam in his eye. He extends a hoof out to me. Does he want what I think he wants?

"Heh-heh. Wouldn't have it any other way buddy." I meet his hoof with my fist. Bro-hoof. "So, I guess this is good-bye. It was nice meeting both of you." Sad, I've made two great friends, and it hurts to say good-bye.

"Nuh-uh. You're to weak to walk on your own." Sharla takes off her axe strapped to her back and gives it to Shining Armor. She grabs my arm and puts me on her back. "Until you get your strength back, I'm your legs." 

'*sigh* Can't argue with her. Hell, she'd probably break my legs if I tried walking.' 

I wink at Sails indicating for her to tell Jet as Sharla walks away off. 

"Hey Jet, can we talk for a minute?" She asks in a rather shy tone.

I look back after a few seconds and see Sails kissing Jet. His face soon matched the color of his mane and his eyes were wide in shock. I wish the two of them the best of luck, because they'll need it.

"Hey numbskull," Flora pipes up in her usual rude tone. "What happened after you left? And what did happen in those caves?" 

"It's a long trip to Canterlot." Shining Armor informs with the same interest.

"Alright, alright. Well, after I went looking for food, I met a very dangerous foe, and soon to be a very loyal friend... "
> Chapter Seventeen: Pop Goes The Bubble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Seventeen 
Pop Goes The Bubble





Well, it was a hell of a trip with me constantly getting my strength back, but we finally made it. Ponyville.

"This place has seen better days." Flora's right. This place is chaos. No surprise there. Buildings are floating upside down,  cotton candy clouds are pouring chocolate milk, the land is covered in giant checker board, dirt roads are soap roads, and worse of all, the sun and moon keep rising and setting less than two hours each. I absolutely hate that. But besides all the chaos, there was a new feature added to Ponyville. A giant green dome.

"What is it?" Shantze asks regarding to the dome. We've been in the chaos part of Equestria for.... Well I don't know, seven days? Doesn't really matter, its been long enough for not a lot to surprise us any more. We left the Cave maybe ten days ago. I've spent a lot of time regaining my strength on the trip. But something's been bothering me since then. Discord said I had powers, but what are they? Was it I who brought back Corig and Krinox from the dead? Discord said because of me he was able to do it by using my powers for his benefits, but he also said I have some of his powers. I have chaos magic as well as whatever else it is that I have, and that worries me a little.

"Not sure," I say. The sun instantly goes down and I groan. "Let's check it out." We head on down, we need the girls if we're to defeat Discord.

We all stare at it, inches away from the border. After a while of us studying it on close inspection Shining Armor finally speaks up. "It's a barrier." 

"You sure?" Sharla asks him.

"Yep, magic like this is my speciality, I'd recognize it, even if it is Discord's work. But there's something odd about it."

"What do you mean?" I ask wondering what it is.

"Look." He holds out his hoof and pokes it into the barrier, and it passes through without resistance. He pulls his hoof back. "Barriers are meant to keep things out. This obviously isn't working right so why is it here?"

"Maybe it's a decoy so you only think it's a barrier." Shantze suggests.

"No. If there's a wall in your way you try tearing it down. So if somepony tried to get past it they could." 

"That's it!" Everyone looks at me wondering what I figured out. "Captain what did you call it?"

"A barrier."

"No what did you just call it?"

"A wall?" He says quizzically. 

"Exactly! A wall. Walls are meant to for one of two things. One: Keep things from getting in."

"And keep things from getting out!" He's catching on now. "Okay, so it's to keep the ponies inside from getting out. Now what?"

I bite down on my finger putting on a thinking face. Lets see, if it's to keep the ponies from getting out then we can get in, but we'll be trapped too. But then it's physical on the inside so that means we can break it. "Okay. Here's what we do. Me, Shining Armor, and the kids are going inside to find the ponies we need. Flora, Sharla, Flex, I need you three to fly around outside the dome. If you see something that may look like an opening or weak points in the dome, spot anything unusual, or the ponies we're looking for, you call to us. Shantze, being the only flier on the inside you'll have to relay messages to us on the ground. We find the girls, break the dome, wait for whatever reinforcements come, then storm the castle to save the princesses, Twilight, and defeat Discord. Any questions?"

"Are you sure that we can destroy it form the inside? Because I'm not comfortable with the possibility of me and Shantze being separated." Sharla holds her little brother close. 

"Sis." Shantze gives that usual tone when your family is embarrassing you in public. 

"Sharla, I give you my word that he'll be okay. This thing is coming down." I look her in the eyes giving her the truth. And this thing IS coming down. It's made from Discord, made from chaos. I can feel that bit of chaos in me rising. I can do a lot when the chaos in me is active.

"Okay." She trusts me. But that doesn't mean she likes it. She gives Shantze a farewell hug. Me, Shining Armor, Shantze, and Light stop in front of it, once we step inside we're not coming out. I stretch my hand out and push it into the green bubble, anticipating something to happen. It slides through untouched. All doubts placed aside I walk through the barrier until I'm on the other side of it and inside Ponyville. The other three fall suit, all completely fine. I touch the dome again. Yep, I was right, solid on the inside.

"Okay, you thee remember what these mares look like by Shining Armor's description?" I ask the outside team. The nod their heads. "Good. Okay, spread out and search for anything that is out of order." I look at the chaotic town. "Er, anything that doesn't fit with whatever this is." They take off going in three separate directions. 

"Should we split up?" Light suggests.

"No, better to stay in a group, we may be able to cover more ground in separate groups, but who knows what could happen here. This isn't a quiet town any more." Shining Armor says to her. And he's right, no idea what will happen if we split up any more.

We walk through town, the sun rises back up to shed some light on this situation. It's worse than I thought. Everyone's been discorded. They lost all their color and they're exactly their opposite personality. I saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake cooking salads, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were nice, Snip and Snails were smart, Berry Punch was drinking water (wait, isn't that non-canon?), Derpy's eyes were normal, Vinyl Scratch was hitting some pots and pans trying to lay down a beat, and Cherilee was, oh god what was she doing? 

"What's wrong with them?" Asks Light Flicker getting closer to Shining Armor for protection. 

"They're discorded." Shining Armor answers. "All their color's been sucked away and they've been turned into their exact opposite personality. Take her for example." He points to Mayor Mare. She sneaks up behind a sleeping mare, a devious grin on her. She screams louder than a banshee in the sleeping pony's ear walking her in the rudest fashion. "She's supposed to be the mayor of this town, keeping the peace and order. But now she's causing trouble left and right." 

We hear a whistle over head to see Shrala waving to us. Shantze flies up to see what she has to say. After a time he flies back down to us. "She says that Flora may have found them. Their over by a farm near the edge of town, she said we should head south-west while she goes to get Flex." 

"Good job sport." I say enthusiastically. He smiles proudly when I give him a thumbs up. "Come on! We got some mares to save."

We run through town dodging obstacles, taking detours, and generally everything else that gets in our way. What am I feeling? Excited? Nervous? Zealous? All of the above?

As we see Sweet Apple Acres coming into view we hear sounds of grunting. "Ooh! Gah! Hrr! Duu!" What was that?

"Dag nabit Rainbow Dash stop that raght now! It ain't working!" I hear a familiar voice with a southern accent. I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect her here.

"We've been stuck in here for weeks! Twilight and the princesses needs our help! Discord needs to be stopped, so don't tell to stop! At least I'm trying!" I hear Dash retort back to her friend. Weeks? Jeez, how long has this wall been here? 

"There they are." Shining Armor rounds the barn ahead of us and points a hoof. Just a few more steps is all it'll take for me to meet them. Just a few more easy steps.

"Captain Shining Armor? Is that you dear?" Rarity. her voice is just as elegant as you'd expect. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out helping to find help?" The kids go on ahead of me to reach Shining Armor. I stop dead in my tracks, this is something I actually don't think I can do on my own. 

"Hey who are these two? Shiny did you adopt children while you were gone?" Oh Pinkie Pie, you're so random. 

"What? No, they're friends who tagged along to help defeat Discord." He says clearing things up with the hyperactive pink bundle of sugar.

"Help defeat Discord? Cap'n, with all do respect, A'h don't think children can do much against the spirit o' chaos." Applejack criticizes. 

"And it seems very dangerous for ones so young." A sweet little voice is heard. Only one pony that could be, Fluttershy.

"Hey! We can too beat him! Right Light?" Shantze retorts.

"Um, we couldn't take a raspberry from Flex, remember?" She says a little ashamed. Shantze grumbles remembering the time they tried and failed trying to get the last raspberry from him.Flex loves his raspberries.

"And I take offence to that! I may be a baby but I'm still a dragon you know." Hey, is that little spike too?

"And we all know how THAT turned out." Applejack reminds him of the time he went on the migration.

"Don't worry, help will be on it's way. Right now though, we have to get you out of here." He turns their attention back to the matter at hand. "And then we'll take back Equestria." 

"Good luck, I've been trying to break out for weeks now and barely even a dent was made." Rainbow Dash makes that usual 'if I couldn't do it then no one can' attitude.

"That's because you're not using the right method of attack." I finally make my appearance beside the captain, resting my arm on Silver Fang. It really is them, in the flesh! If it weren't for the fact that Equestria is in -pardon the pun- discord, this would be much happier.

"What the hay!" Rainbow Dash yells as she and the others see me. They're all taken aback by my appearance. Rainbow Dash lets her arms hang loose as she continues to fly, Applejack, Spike, and Rarity share a similar wide-eye expression, Fluttershy shrinks to the ground and hides her face behind her mane for protection, and Pinkie Pie... Pinkie Pie gives an impressive 'oooooh' and hops up and down. Am I supposed to be surprised at her reaction? Because I honestly don't know.

"Um, Cap'n, what is that?" Applejack shifts her hat.

"Oh, this is a new friend I met on the road. His names Jesse Ruesgen. He's been a big help and saved my life a few times. It's even thanks to him that the Diamond Dogs AND dragons are willing to help." He puts a hoof over my shoulder to show that there's no need for alarm. At the mention of the word 'dragon,' Fluttershy ducks behind here friends and covers her head.

"Okay, but what IS he?" Dash asks the question again with more emphasis as to what I am specifically. 

"I think he's a human." Spike says walking up for a better look at me. 

"Now Spike, you know that humans are only fairy tales. You must stop talking to Lyra so much." Rarity scolds him, but I could tell that in her voice he may be right.

"No, I'm a human. And back where I come from talking ponies, especially ones with horns and wings, dragons, griffins, and magic are all but myth and made up. So we're even. And Don't worry Fluttershy, the only dragon around right now is Spike." I reassure them all, and so that Fluttershy will come out of hiding.

"Hey, how do you know her name? Have you been spying on us? Maybe you're really a spy for Discord!" Rainbow Dash gets up in my face giving me the same 'you're a spy' thing she gave Twilight when Nightmare Moon was released.

"Rainbow. Dash." Shining Armor puts a hoof in between us. "He is not a spy! He knows your names because I told him who you all are and what you look like when we needed to find you." He looks at her hard. 

"Okay, okay. So tell us 'mister human'. How do we get out?" She crosses her arms doubting that anyone else can get out. 

"Easy," I walk up to the green bubble at hit it three times, solid as ever. "This is made of chaos magic."

"So?" She raises an eyebrow.

I pull out Silver Fang and he lights on fire. "So, Captain I'm going to need a lift." 

"Where to?" He asks.

I point to the centre of the dome where it is highest "Up." He braces himself and his horn starts glowing. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, searching for what will get us out of here. Where is it? Ah, there it is. The chaos. I let it flow through me, feeling the craziness wrap me in a warm blanket. 

"Hey, uh, Jesse? Are you okay?" Spike sounds a little worried.

"Yeah kid," I open my eyes and stare at him. He shuffles back uncomfortably, "I feel great." I run at Shining Armor, he better be ready because I ain't waiting. I jump high at him, tucking my feet in. A pink platform appears under me and launches me high into the air. And I mean high. Perfect time for night to show up.

The fire on my sword is a different color, actually, it doesn't have a color. Much like the ponies in ponyville, all it's color was sucked away and was now grey. Must be a side effect of using chaos magic. Don't focus on that right now. I bring my sword over my head as I keep rising. "Bigger." The fire extends twice as long as the sword. "Bigger." It gets four times bigger than it was before. "Bigger!" The fire gets so big that it was now went farther than half the town is long. Perfect!

"RAHHHH!" I swing the huge flame blade using everything I have. It may been fire, but it was definitely tangible unlike normal steel. It hits the dome and stops, I keep pushing on it. I used the chaos magic to stop myself from being pushed back from the force. Ever since we made it into the Discord's chaotic area I've felt the chaos in me stir. When ever the others slept I would sneak away and practice how to use it. Nearly went mad the first few times. I've learnt to control it now, but there's still a side effect of madness in me. 

There's nudge, the flame blade is getting through. Almost there. Just a little further. I yell with every fibre, muscle, and nerve I have. Pushing my body to the limit. Then it goes slack. I've pushed through. With a final mighty swing I slice through the whole thing, the blade cutting into the green bubble, leaving a perfect cut going all along the top half of the dome. 

The fire dies out leaving Silver Fang to it's original state. Something else happens, the chaos begins to die out. Which means there's nothing keeping me from defying the laws of physics that is gravity. "Aaaauuugh!" I scream all the way to the bottom, the ground getting closer and closer with each passing second. "Oof!" Something catches me mid fall, dragging me along with it.

"Okay, so you can get through it and I can't, and it was pretty cool on how you did it I suppose. But you only cut the top half off. What happens now?" Rainbow Dash. She saved my life. And surprisingly strong being able to carry me.

"Well 'miss pony', that bubble was made of chaos magic." I say matter-o-factly.

"So?" She asks again not knowing what that means.

"So," We hear a cracking sound and look up. The bubble began to crack in areas like glass. "Something's going to happen." Pieces started falling, large, jagged pieces. "Didn't expect this part though." We yell at the top of our lungs as she dodges piece by piece, trying not to get impaled. She flies us to the others, all safely under a shield Shining Armor made. We join them waiting for the rain of falling shards to stop.

It finally stops and a clear sky is overhead that's not tinted by a green color. Shining Armor lowers his shield. "Well, that was dangerous." Rarity looks around to see glass like substances embedded everywhere in the ground and houses. "I do hope nopony was hurt."  The sun pops back up.

"Shantze!" We see Sharla, Flora, and Flex fly over to us. "What happened? We saw something cut through the shield and then suddenly it just broke into thousands of pieces?" 

"Yeah, that was me." I raise a hand in acknowledgement. Flex perches on his usual place, my shoulder.

"Oh, Philomena, is that you? You shouldn't be here." Fluttershy addresses Flex thinking it the wrong phoenix. Flex looks at here quizzically, wondering why she's talking to him.

"Actually Fluttershy, this is Flex. A friend I made after saving him from a pack of timberwolves." I correct her. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." She hides behind her mane again embarrassed. 

"Hahahahahahaha!" We notice Pinkie Pie making funny faces in a broken piece of what was once the shield. "I look just like Gummy hahaha." We're al rather confused by her actions, so I decide to investigate. 

"Uhh, Pinkie? What are you doing?" I know perfectly well what she's doing. Being Pinkie Pie. But you'll never truly know until you investigate. 

"Oh-hahaha. Look at me. I look so funny." She points at piece referring to her reflection. I suppose she means how her image is distorted do to the bend in the piece. I look at it as she continues to make funny faces like one would at a carnival. But instead of seeing a distorted Pinkie Pie, I saw an actual alligator. A very angry, scary, alligator that was starring back. Then an even more unexpected thing happened. It didn't jump out of the shard, it actually was formed from the shard itself, but it seemed like it jumped out of it.

It actually wasn't an alligator. It just had it's head. The rest of the body was that of a gorilla, right leg was a dog's, and had an ostrich tail. It roared menacingly at us, massive arms held high over head. We're bucked.
> Chapter Eighteen: [Title goes here]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Eighteen:
[Title goes here]




I instinctively grab my sword and with a quick motion the alligator's head is lopped off. The giant gorilla-like body fell over limp as the head separated from the body. The girls were all shocked at my reaction and as to that thing that just appeared.

"What was that? And why'd you do that?" Rainbow asked, her flying got more rapid.

"I don't know what that was, and I did that because it would have killed us!" I retort giving the most logical explanation and re-sheathing Silver Fang. 

"Well ya' didn't have ta' go an' lop its head off!" Applejack says looking furious. "We coulda' tied it up! That way none of us would have been hurt!"

"Um, excuse me." Light Flicker speaks too quietly to be heard.

"If he didn't kill that thing then it would have killed us." Flora defends me. "Doesn't matter how strong a rope it would be, one way or another, someone was going to die. And I prefer it not be one us us."

"And who might you be exactly?" Rarity asks the harpy. 

"None of your damn business!" 

"Well!" Rarity gasps in offence.

"Uh, guys?" Light tries again.

"Maybe it wasn't going to hurt us. We never really gave it a chance." Fluttershy passively suggests.

"Jesse's been through a lot and has always protected his us from harm. That's just what he meant to do. Protect us." Shining Armor tried being the reason of this argument.

"Look, he didn't mean to do that to, whatever it is, without thinking. It was all instinct." Sharla joined him, trying to help keep the peace.

"Hey. Everyone." Light tried for a third time, really trying to get her voice out there.

"Yeah right. You saw how he looked when he ran at Shining Armor when his sword went all firey. His eyes said everything." Dash glared at me, I felt like she was about to tackle me to the ground if I made a wrong move.

"HEY!" Light finally yelled loud enough for everyone's attention to be on her. She pointed at the gorilla-alligator thing. "What's happening to that thing's body?"

We stare at it in confusion. The body was smoking, de-materializing really. Soon there was nothing left of it, everything just blew away in the wind and travelled to Canterlot Castle. 

"What happened to it?" Shantze asks confused as the rest of us as the moon appears. No one was able to give a proper answer. "And how come that was the only creature to appear from one of those pieces from the shield?" Shining Armor and I glance at each other, sharing the same look of worry when Shantze mentioned that. Why was it that that was the only piece to turn into a creature?

Suddenly all the pieces from the broken shield began moving. Their shape and form began shifting into creatures with mismatched body parts. This really isn't good. We were surrounded.

"Everyone group up. Cover each other's six. Don't let there be any blind spots." At the captain's command we did just that. Sharla unsheathed her axe and kept the kids behind her. We all stood back to back, huddled together. Shining Armor put a shield around, protecting us from all the creatures.

There were all different kinds of creatures, none of them were completely a single creature. They had anywhere between 3-10 different body parts. One creature catches my attention, it had a bat's body with bird wings, a dog's head, left leg of a crab, right arm of a bear, and left hand of a lizard. "Hey, don't these things kind of remind you of Discord?" 

"Yeah, none o' them are a complete creature. Yeah think they're draconequi?" Applejack suggests.

I shake my head. "I think you're half right. A draconequus is a half dragon and half horse. Discord has both and a bunch of other parts to him. Look at them, none have either of the two. I think they may be draconequi, but they're lesser ones compared to Discord himself." 

"So you mean these are like familiars? Like what that vampire Nosferatu did?" Sharla asks catching on.

"Yeah, so they probably won't be as difficult to handle, but with so many of them it will be a challenge." 

"By my estimation we're down 75 to 1." Shining Armor pipes up. 

"Great!" I let out an agitated sigh, I've learnt to never go against his better judgement.. "Okay here's the plan. Captain, you push them all back to give us room. Drop your shield for a brief second while me, Sharla, Flex, and Flora go out. Once we are, put the shield back up and keep the others safe. Sharla, you and I will handle the ones on the ground, you stay overhead of them. Flex and Flora, take care of the ones with wings and keep them off our backs. Everyone got it?" They all nod their heads. 

"Now who made you in charge?" Rainbow Dash asks annoyed 

"Because he's got a good plan." Shining Armor defends me. "And it's the only thing we have at this point." 

"Captain?" Rarity says looking shocked "You can't possibly be agreeing with him? Didn't you just see what he did to that... thing before? He killed it in cold blood."

"That thing wasn't even alive." I defend. "I could tell when it turned to smoke. It was completely made from chaos magic. It was just a thing. It had no conscious, will of it's own, personality, nothing to make it unique in its own way. So basically," A cold glare comes into my eye. "They aren't even alive." 

"Jesse," Sharla looks at me with serious eyes. "Don't do anything stupid." 

"No promises." I murmur under my breath. "Captain, whatever happens out there, do not drop this shield!" 

"Understood." Shining Armor was a soldier, he knows that sometimes personal feelings have to be cast aside if the primary objective is to be assured. No matter what happens to us, there's still a chance to win if the girls are safe. But that doesn't mean he has to like it.

'Hey you. I know you're there. I need your help. So will you lend me your power?'

"You do not need to ask for my permission. All you have to do is use me. All you have to do is show me your resolve. Show me your determination! Show me!"

I light flicks in my eye again and a burning sensation is in my heart, not chaos. No, this is the same one many times before that. When I fought Balto and Nosferatu, right before I brought back Corig and Krinox. This is my power!

"Ready?" Shining Armor gives me an affirmative nod, his horn glows brighter and the shield expands out. Flora, Sharla, Flex, and I rush with it and jump through as it was deactivated for a brief second and brought back up. Silver Fang flies in a horizontal arc and cuts two heads in half at the jaw, they instantly poofed into smoke and flew away. I'll never look at bats or owls the same way again. (Redwolf15: a little something to set the mood)

I rush past twenty of the creatures, all mixed and matched with different body parts from animals. Except for dragons or horses and ponies. Silver Fang catches on fire and I swing it straight and to the left, a wave of fire cutting through a lot of Lessers. This was fantastic, my heart raced, my muscles tightened, I got excited, it was like I was on an adrenaline high, just without the shakes. The fire extends to give my blade a longer reach going about half its size longer. I swing in a 360 degree circle, cutting seven of them in half. A lion headed bison with pig's, sheep's, and rabbit's legs charges at me. I split him in half going up the centre of his body. 

Pieces and burned bodies were falling from the sky, Flex and Flora were doing their job excellently. A cougar with the body of a rhinoceros and wings of a bat charged at me while my back was turned. I turn around, too late to dodge or counter. I was going to get trampled. If Sharla wasn't a god send that is. She brings her axe over the neck, lopping it off in one clean swing. "Gimme a lift!" I outstretch my arm to her. She grabs it and tosses me up. I fly over the heads of many Lessers just like back in the Cave with the Diamond Dogs.

I land on a walrus body and shove my blade into its cat skull. I pull it out and point it at a group of of them, a great blast of fire torches them all. A dog with a bear body tries cutting me in half with its manits forearms. That's a bug part and I have fire, I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that ended.

Sharla, Flora, and Flex round up on me. "There's too many of them. We can't take them all on." Sharla huffs.

"Nah, we can keep going." I say optimistically.  

"Sorry kid, but I don't think we can." Flora chips. Yeah, they're right, I'm short of breath as much as they are. I don't think we really can do it. We've taken out maybe twenty five each at the bare minimum. one hundred down, hundreds more to go. We're surrounded by them from every direction. "Anyone got any dying regrets?" She asks us all.

"Couldn't find my family." Sharla says.

"Nothing too regretful, but a lot that I still wish I could get done." Like kicking Discord's ass. "Well, enough of this depressing 'if only' bit, it's obvious that we'll come out of this alive. Whats say we go out in a blaze of glory?" 

"Sounds good." Flora says giddy. Flex gives an agreeable crow. Sharla just nods her head. 

I make a war cry suitable enough for Ares himself to follow, and the four of us charged at them, side by side. A loud horn is blown out in the distance just as the sun pops back up. Everyones attention was turned to the loud horn, in the distance we could see salvation. An army of minotaurs, zebras, and griffins lead by a handful of ponies in gold armour. They made it.

All the Lessers snarled at the army, they no longer noticed us. With another blow of the war horn, they charged at the Lessers. Minotaurs at the front stampeded in their huge, well built armour and carried huge weapons like maces, hammers, flails, and single or double handed axes. The Zebras looked like they were made in two divisions: the bigger, more well built ones up front with spears with the charge and smaller ones behind with pouches on their backs. The griffins took to the sky, they didn't wear much armour, I suppose it was to allow them mobility, but I see a breast plates and gauntlets. They carried bows and arrows, simple one handed swords, and axes like Sharla. Thank the gods they made it in time.

The Lessers completely forgot about us and charged at the incoming forces. The two forces collided with each other, the minotaurs bulldozed right through them. I looked at the others, I couldn't believe my eyes. They shared the same expression. Hope. 

I look back to see how Shining Armor is doing. Lessers are still pounding at his shield. "Hey Flex, how about that new thing we've been trying?" I face the sword's edge down.

He lands on the blunt side of Silver Fang and braces himself. I pull the sword back like a batter playing baseball. "Phoenix Bullet!" I swing my sword as hard as I could, sending Flex shooting, like the name would suggest, a bullet. He lights himself on fire and punches a hole through a quarter of the Lessers around the shield. The three of us quickly take care of the rest of them. 

"That was fun." Flora huffs with glee as we take care of the last of them.

"Yeah, it kinda was." I agree with her as Flex lands back on my shoulder. Something cuts into my leg. "Ow ow ow!" I look down to see a platypus biting my ankle. I kicked my leg up and the platypus biting me went flying to who-knows-where. Why did a platypus bite me? Wait a minute.

Platypuses are mammals, they have webbed feet, a duck bill, and they lay eggs. Is a platypus a Lesser? Because if they are, that actually explains a whole lot. Shining Armor dropped his shield, he looked rather worn out. 

Shantze runs up to us, completely awestruck from our awesomeness. His words, not mine. I re-sheathe Silver Fang, most of the fighting is already over thanks to our new friends, and we've done our part. 

"Aw man, I never carried this much stress in my back before I came here. I gotta stop doing this." I say massaging a sore shoulder. 

"I know how you feel. My head hasn't hurt his bad since my wedding." Shining Armor rubs his left temple. 

"Captain Shining Armor." A voice behind me is heard. It sounded rough and really husky. Behind us stood a white pegasus in the golden Canterlot guard armour saluting. I whistle in amazement at the quick work the others made to the Lessers. 

"Sergeant Major Whitestreak, I see that negotiations went well." He says in a commanding voice.

"It did sir. But I don't see the Diamond Dogs with you. Did things not go so well for you?" He says as he sweeps an eye over us, a longer look over Flora and myself. 

"Oh no, they went, well I wouldn't say fine, but the Diamond Dogs have agreed to lend us their aid. Even the dragons have agreed to help us." 

"Dragons? Sir, how could you possibly have convinced the dragons to help us? They look out for no one but themselves." He's impressed at what he presumed was his Captain's work.

"Actually it wasn't I who was able to get either of them to join." He waves a hoof at me. "It was my friend here." 

The Sergeant Major lifts an eyebrow. "Uh sir, what exactly is he?" He asks in a hushed voice.

"He's a human. And has been a very good friend to me." 

"Well you always were one to go by your better judgement. If you say he's not a threat, then he's not a threat. I suppose I should introduce you to our allies." He lead the way to the large group where the other three species were with Shining Armor right behind him. 

"All those griffins..." Sharla looks at them. I know what she's thinking.

"Go look." I say sternly. "I'm sure your parents there."

"Thanks." She begins to blush a little. "Come on Shantze! I bet Mom and Dad are probably somewhere there."

"Yay!" He says with giddy glee. "Hey Light, you wanna help us find our parents?"

"Um, sure." The three of them leave and go look for the griffins' parents.

"What happened to their folks?" Applejack asks me.

"Not sure. All I know is that those two were separated from their parents while Discord's influence expanded. I really hope they find them."

"And what about that filly? Why is she with you?" Rarity asks concerned.

"Her parents were killed by a vampire, an actual vampire. We saved her." My mood shifts to a darker state as I remember all those ponies turned into ghouls. "And in return I drove my knife into his heart." My hand motions to the knife strapped to my side, underneath the coat that once belonged to that bastard. Flex puts a comforting wing around my head. "Go ahead, say me killing him wasn't the right thing to do. But if you witnessed what we saw, you'd think that what I did was by far the right choice. Come on, let's go meet the troops." 
> Chapter Nineteen: Rally the Troops
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Nineteen:
Rally the Troops





"So, Captain, who might our savors be?" I ask the white unicorn after he's been introduced to the leaders of the three races.

"Ah, glad you're all here. Where's Sharla and the kids?" He asks noticing we're missing three members.

"Sharla and Shantze went to try and find their parents with Light tagging along, I hope they find them." 

"So do I pal, anyway. Everyone, in command of the stampeding minotaurs we have Chief Thunderhoof." He points to a big minotaur with shaggy, black fur. A big ring hung from his nose, five in his left ear and three in his right, his left horn was snapped off. He held a big warhammer suiting his size, he was a big guy with huge pex, massive arms, and he had a fat Steve Austin neck.  

"How ya doin'?" He had a deep voice and gives us a two finger salute. Note to self, don't fuck with this guy.

"General Swift." He pointed to a griffin with pure white feathers, with a black beak and talons, I think he was missing his left eye because there was a scar that went across his left eye and ran down to the left end of his beak. He wore green armour with a red insignia of an eagle at the centre.

"Hello." He said simply and gave a small nod.

"And finally, Head Shaman Vana." Out of the three ringleaders, the zebra was a woman. She had the usual black and white stripe and a cutie mark, or tribal mark, I don't know what zebra's call it, of a tornado in a triangle. Her hair was in a mohawk fashion like Zecora's, only longer and drooped down when it got too high with many strands sticking together.

"Greetings new friends," Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. "Soon Discord's tyranny ends." Dammit! 

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Jesse Ruesgen, this guy on my shoulder is Flex," he gives an affirmative squawk, "Flora," she nods, "Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash." Rainbow is a little unsettled by the griffins, I'm guessing Gilda. Fluttershy does what she normally does and shies away from them, and the minotaurs. Come to think of it, to my knowledge she hasn't had a good history with minotaurs or griffins. Applejack and Rarity are the only ones to give a proper greeting. And Pinkie Pie made a total, well, Pinkie Pie of herself. Vana seemed to like her though.

Night pops up, this is really annoying. "Jesse, girls, can you come us." Shining Armor didn't make it much of a question.

"Yeah, of course." The six of us along with the three leaders walked to a table with a map of Canterlot. 

"Well cap'n, what's the plan of attack?" Asked Chief Thunderhoof in his deep burly voice. 

"Actually, I'm not in charge of this operation." Shining Armor looks at me. "He is."

"Him?" The three leaders, five of the mane six, and I all asked at the same time. 

"Cap'n, with all due respect, are ya sure that's such a good idea?" Applejack asks uncomfortably.

"Yeah, why me?" I ask just as confused and unsure about his decision.

"Because if it weren't for you, I doubt I'd be here right now. Given my injuries when we met and what you went through when you were a slave for the Diamond Dogs, I wouldn't have survived a return trip." 

"Okay, so you think I deserve to plan this because I helped you. I honestly think that's a poor excuse." 

"Not just that, but you were even able to get the Diamond Dogs and dragons to side with us, from the sounds of how things went down in those mines when you were their slave, I wouldn't have been able to convince them, let alone live. And let's not forget about that vampire. If it weren't for you none of us  would have survived that. And just now, you took charge and made all the right choices. I think you're more than suited for this." He gives me a reassuring look with gentle eyes. He believes every word he said about me.

I think hard, and he is right, Corig didn't sound too keen on joining forces with the ponies. I even convinced dragons for crying out loud. I think this out a lot more, trying to figure if he's right by putting me in the hot spot. "Okay." I decide that he's right. I have made a lot of right choices and made some leadership skills. Besides, he always was one to go by his better judgement, and his judgement was always right."This is what's going to happen. Chief, I presume that you and your minotaurs are well with a full frontal assaults?" 

"You presume correctly boy!" He said with a bark of laughter as loud as thunder. 

"Perfect. Vana, how are your zebra's in a fight?" I look to the zebra.

"Our men are hardy and tough, and do not presume that I bluff. While our women perform enchantments, and brew many healing ointments." She said in what I will now presume is a zebra's regular speech pattern. 

"Alright. General Swift, what about your griffins?" 

"Only a fool asks how a griffin can fair in a battle." He says rather icily.

"Ooookay then. Alright, Chief, Vana, I need you and your soldiers on the ground storming the castle. I need you to be as big of a distraction as you possibly can. General, we need these five mares, Shining Armor, and myself in that castle pronto, so you and your griffins will be playing escort and clearing the sky. Vana, your women play a vital role, can they keep everyone else fighting, and more importantly, breathing?" 

"Of course, only the best can keep you strong in health, whether you charge forward or prefer stealth." She responds with a pleasant smile. 

"Great, you and your women look after the wounded and make sure they can still fight. Make sure that the minotaurs and male zebras get past those walls and in the castle. General, once we get on the castle grounds you'll have to help with the seizing the castle, we can handle ourselves." He gives a short nod.

"Okay, so it's a good plan, but why do we need so many to storm the castle? Isn't it just Discord?" Dash asks flying above us.

"I doubt that. Discord is able to summon Lessers, chances are there will be more of them. A lot more. He's not going down without a fight." I look over each and everyone one of the five ponies. My eyes are dead serious that things will not be alright.

"So that's the plan? Storm the castle and take no prisoners?" Chief Thunderhoof asks.

"Basically; short, simple, sweet." He gives out a thunderous laugh saying he likes it and pats me on the back with his massive hand. The impact knocked the wind out of me a bit. 

"What about the others who will be joining us? The Diamond Dogs and dragons?" The green armoured griffin asks.

"As much as an advantage it may be for them to join us on this, we can't wait for them. They'll have to arrive late or not at all. I don't know how long it'll take for them to get here, so we have to get into the castle ASAP." It's true, the sooner we beat Discord the better, I can't wait for Corig or Krinox. "But for now, I want everyone to rest up, we'll need to be at full strength if we're going to do this. We'll attack in about a day, well the estimate of a day that is, but let's keep plenty guards vigilant, I don't want an ambush while we're all napping. I'm going to take first watch." And just like that I departed from everyone else to dwell in my thoughts, Flex right by my side. Is this real the right decision? Did Shining Armor really think it a good idea to let me plan the attack? I can think of a hundred ways this can go wrong, but it's the best I have.

I sit underneath an apple tree, well now it was an orange tree because of Discord. Flex flies up into the tree and just like that he was lights out. I hear foot steps as the sun pops back up, two sets. One's a ponies going clockity-clock, the other's rather padded. I turn my head and see Applejack and Sharla. Sharla's not looking to happy, our eyes didn't even meet. "Couldn't find them?" I ask knowing the answer. 

He shakes her head. "Shining Armor briefed me of the plan." 

"So ya' were tellin' the truth 'bout that vampire?" Applejack asks in her southern accent. I nod my head saying I had no reason to lie to her. She sat down next to me. "Hoo nelly, that's somethin'. An actual vampire. What'd it look like?" 

"Like me, only more batty." I give her a half smile thinking I just made a poor joke. 

"Like you? Ya' mean there's more o' you humans in Equestria?"

"Nope, just me as far as I know." My eyes narrow. "And Mother."

"Your ma's here too?" She asks confused.

"No, not my mother. Mother. Apparently there was a human here before me. She was a mother to the vampire and a lot of other half-human creatures like Flora, the harpy. So what are you two doing here?" 

"The pink one decided to throw a party and thought you'd want to join. Don't worry, there are others who are keeping an eye out for danger." Sharla speaks up. 

"Nah, I'm fine." The three of us sit there for a while in total silence. 

"Ah'm real sorry fer the way ah acted towards ya earlier." Apllejack says taking off her hat to show her sincerity. "It's jus' been difficult for us ever since Discord returned, and ya just seemed ta spook me is all." 

"It's fine, I'd say I know what you're going through, but I really don't. You just want to protect your friends, and with Discord on the thrown you'd probably jump at just about anything." 

"By the way, while I was flying over the town I noticed all the ponies lost their color and were acting strange. How come you five weren't like that?" Sharla asks Applejack across of me.

"Hey yeah, you weren't affected." I join in remembering earlier before. They were discorded when Discord was first freed, so how come they weren't now?

"Well ah'm sure ya'll are aware that this ain't the first time Discord broke from his stone imprisonment. First time we met the fella he turned us all into our opposites. Ah became a liar, an even worse one then ah'm now. But thanks to Twilight she made us remember who we are, all we gotta do is remember that, and we ain't affected." She says putting the stetson back on her head. "Ya mind if ah ask you question now?"

"Go for it." 

"Why do you want t' come along? To the castle I mean, what business do ya have there?" Se asks me.

I stare at her in silence for a while. "Because Discord's the only one who has the answers." 

"Answers? What answers?" Sharla looked just as confused as Applejack did.

"Well, he's the one who sent me here, so he knows how to send me back. There's also Mother, who is she? Discord took her from Equestria and sent her back to my world, so he has to know who she is. But so should Celestia." 

"Princess Celestia?" Applejack says like I just told her I something shocking. Well Princess Celestia knew a human and no one else did, so yeah, I suppose that may be a little shocking. "Why would she know anything about that Mother lady?"

"Because they were friends. Mother lived in the castle with Celestia and Luna. They must know something. And then there's the question as to what this power of mine is that Discord mentioned."

"Power? You never mentioned anything about having any power to us before." Sharla says looking a little hurt that I kept something from her, a friend.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is, but it's something. It allows me to get faster, stronger, forget pain, so many things. There's something different with me that I need to know about. Remember when we fought against Nosferatu? The vampire? I was getting my ass handed to me because I couldn't keep up, suddenly I felt a spark in me and I got faster than you could keep track of, that's what I'm talking about. That's what this power of mine is." 

"So ya get better, what's so bad about that?" Applejack asks me not finding this to be a problem.

"My strength, speed, and stamina don't just shoot through the roof. I've even been able to do things that are impossible, I actually brought the dead back to life with it! And that's not all, it has a conscious, I have a second voice inside my head."

"How come you never told us this before?" Sharla asks concerned.

"I don't know, maybe because it's because of me and my power that Discord's free." I clap my hands over my mouth realizing what I just said.

"What?" Applejack was speechless. Crap-baskets. "Ya mean it was you who freed Discord?"

I hang my head and rub my hands through my hair. "Yeah, I kind of did. But I didn't mean to! I didn't even know that I did free him. That's the biggest reason why I need to go to Canterlot with you! When he sent me here, I apparently stole a bit of his chaos magic, and in return I had to give him a bit of my power, I didn't even know that I did that. It's my fault that he's free and ruling, so I have to be there to help defeat him. I don't know how much of a help I can be, but I have to do whatever I can. It's my fault so I have to take responsibility for this." There's a long silence. What could they be thinking of me? Can they trust me any more?

"Alright." Applejack deadpans.

I stare at her confused. "Alright? What do you mean 'Alright'?" 

"Alright. Ah'm the Element of Honesty bucko. Ah know when somepony's tellin' the truth and when they ain't. And ah can see a whole smack load of it in your eyes. Ya jus' wanna make things right is all, and ah can respect that. Now if ya don't mind, I'm gonna see how that party's doin'" She stands up and trots off, leaving Sharla and myself alone. 

"You could have told us before you know. We would have understood." She gives me a friendly smile, no longer looking hurt about the secrets I kept from her.

"Yeah, I know you guys, and you would have understood. Guess I was just scared how you might react when I would tell you that this is all my fault." We sit there in more silence. She lies down and rests her head against my chest, this felt strangely comfortable. I stroked her head, rubbing my hand through her long feathers. At some point we drifted off to sleep.
> Chapter Twenty: Siege on Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty 
Siege on Canterlot





It all went straight to hell. Don't get me wrong, it was fine in the begining, but everything went south for us pretty soon. I've been separtated from the others, Shinig Armor, Sharla, Flex, the girls, Chief Thunderhoof, Swift, and Vana. Only Sharla knows where I am, and last time I saw her was when I was falling through the sky and she was covered in Lessers. 



Earlier That Day

"Everyone ready?" I stare at the Canterlot castle high up on the mountain side. In a few minutes, that's where we'll be.

"They're ready." Shining Armor says confirming me.

"Alright, let's end this." I stare at the sky. "Why hasn't it changed yet?" 

Shining Armor looks to the sky too. "I don't know. Maybe he wants this day to seem perfect because he expects to win." Night hasn't appeared yet. It's been day for four whole hours now, it hasn't changed. 

The two of us make our way back to the army. Well what's left of it that it is. It's probably a bad idea to start without Corig and Krinox, but we need to do this now. Everyone is there, up and ready. Sharla's been fitted with green armour like the other griffins and Shining Armor's also been given new armour, basically that purple armour when we first met. Only better looking. The girls were offered armour but said they wouldn't need any, and Rarity said something about how tacky it seemed. They couldn't find armour that could properly fit me or Flora so we have to go without protection, that's fine, I move faster without it and Flora's wings are like steel, that's plenty protection.

We received word from our scouts a while back that the minotaurs and zebras were doing their job. We got them and some griffins to go ahead of us for distraction at the front entrance to Canterlot, apparently everything was going smoothly. And I didn't like that, it bothered me. This is Discord we're facing, he's unpredictable, we have no idea what he has planning.  And if something is going smoothly for us, then that means he probably has a plan for himself.

What was left of the griffins were ready for us. They stood about 150-200 soldiers. This was a quick run opperastion, the less griffins the less we have to keep track of, but we do need guards for when we run into trouble. "General," Shining Armor says looking at the one eyed griffin. "It's time." 

A smile creeps across his beak, I could tell that he's been itching for a fight. He addresses the other griffins. "Alright you pansy-ass chickens! We're playing escort for the moment, so guard these ponies with your lives!" A cry of cheers come from the other griffins. Shining Armour gets on Swift and they take off, it looked rather awkward for him. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack followed suite by climbing on three other griffins all wearing green armour. Flex, Flora, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy didn't need someone to get a lift from for obvious reasons. I hopped on Sharla's back, she agreed to let me ride her.

"Sis!" The sound of Sharla being called stopped us. We see Shantze, Light Flicker, and Spike running towards us. "Take us with you! We wanna help!" 

"Shantze, you know how dangerous it is, I won't be able to live with myself if something were to happen to any of you. You need to stay here where it's safe." She says sternly. 

"But Twilight needs me. I wasn't there when she was encased in stone, I might have been able to do something if I were there. I'm not going not to be there for her again!" Spike says determinedly.

"Sharla's right. It's going to be very dangerous and I can't guarantee that everyone will make it back, you kids don't even know how to fight." 

"But-" Light begins.

"No!" I say before they could object any further. "If you kids come with us then someone will have to constantly be looking after you, and I'm afraid no one can play babysitter. Face it, you'll just slow us down and put yourselves at great risk." They couldn't argue with that, but that doesn't mean they had like it. They just looked down, averting eye contact. 

Sharla gives Shantze a big meaningful hug before we left. "I'll come back, and then we'll find mom and dad. I swear." She whispers in his ear before letting go. We take off and catch up to the others, she wipes a tear from her eye before the others could see.

"What took you to so long?" Flora asked in her usual annoyed tone.

"Just saying good-bye." Sharla says quietly.

"Not good-bye," I say and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll be back." 

"Yeah, 'I'll be back.'" She echoes it.

We fly over everything, making our way to Canterlot. "Okay, we need to find Princess Celestia and Princess Luna first. With them we may be able to figure out a way to free Twilight and defeat Discord." Shining Armor yell over the rushing wind. And under his breathe I think I heard something about Cadence. He must be really worried for her.

"So where might they be?" Flora asks.

"Um, not sure." Sharla, Dash, Applejack, and I all facepalm/hoof, I could tell that if Flex and Flora could have done it, they would have. "But I suppose the best place to start looking is the dungeon."

"And where's that?" Dash ask. He points to a large tower closest to the mountain. I look more closely and see that it has a chocolate roof. Nothing is safe from Discord's 'corruption'.

"Captain, that may take us some time." General Swift says and unsheathes a sword from his side, it was shaped like a wing, sharp edge on one side that bends sharply a third at th bottom and sharp feather looking daggers at the back. "Because we've got incoming." Jumping out from behind the walls of Canterlot were hundreds of winged Lessers. The sky darkened from their shear numbers.

"Oh boy." Sharla and I ready our weapons Flora looks eager and Flex looks like he's leaving a trail of smoke, Shining Armor readies his horn with magic for a spell.

"Alright you chickens, keep in tight formation and protect those five ponies with your lives! It's vital that they make it!" The genral says to his soldiers.

"Shining Armor, do you have a spell that could amplify someone else's attack?" I ask him thinking of a way to get though them.

"Depends, what do have in mind?" He calls back. I light Silver Fang and give him a confident smirk. He quickly catches on and his horn glows brightly as he puts a full force of concentration into his spell. A surge of magic hits Sliver Fang, I can feel a huge amount of magic build inside. I swing it as hard as I can, putting a lot of force into it, it felt like it weighed fifty times heavier. I send two gigantic waves of fire at the Lessers. If those things didn't disappear the moment they die then the term 'it's raining cats and dogs' would be changed to 'it's a deluge of burned corpses!' I took out a lot of them, too bad it wasn't enough to even the odds There's still so many. And it looks like that amplify spell was a one-shot, I could feel the magic leave as soon as it was spent, not going to get that back.

"So what now?" Applejack asks holding her hat firmly with one hoof and the other on the griffin giving her a ride.

"That's an easy one girl." Swift says with a gleeful smile." We punch a hole right through them! Captain, you have anymore magic left?" 

"Yeah, you have a plan sir?" He asks rubbing his head.

"That I do. Spear formation! Keep in close or get left behind!" On his command the other griffins flew in closer to him and formed an arrow. The riders for the girls were at the front behind the general. Flora, Flex, Sharla and I formed in along. "Captain, on my mark through a shield around us, and make it like a spear, built to withstand and puncture." 

"Ugh, yeah right." I notice that he's not looking to good. I think he put a lot of effort into that power boost for me.

"He's not planning what I think he is, is he?" Rarity asks no one in particular. 

"This is gonna suck." I murmur under my breathe as I re-sheathe Silver Fang and hold on tighter to Sharla. 

"Hold," the general calls as our two forces come closer. 

"Hold," Closer.

"Hold!" this is getting too close. I can see the first batch of them, they look pretty ugly. And something about their gestures makes me think that they're ready to rip our eyes out and feast on them while dancing the macarena.

"Now!" On his command Shining Armor put up his shield. It was cone shaped, designed to puncture through any obstacle in our way. Which is just what it does. We fly through the lot of them, a thick wall of Lessers blocked our way, but like an arrow we soared through the air with no trouble getting through to the other side. Well almost. I glance back as we exited the wall and notice that a couple of griffins didn't make it into the shield, they were left behind to fend for themselves. Poor bastards. 

The shield begins to waver like a light desperately trying to stay lit. "Captain, what's happening?" I call ahead to the white unicorn.

"I don't think I can hold it, amplify spells aren't my specialty and I put a lot of concentration into yours. I'm doing the best I can to keep it up." 

"Well you'll have to keep trying, 'cause we're not out of the worst of it." General Swift points ahead, my heart sinks. There was a second wave of Lessers, and we didn't even defeat the first. We're surrounded, outnumbered, and the moment that shield goes down we're screwed. I grab my sword again, ready for the shield to fall at any moment. Shining Armor is struggling with all his might to keep it up, it looks like he's going to burst a vein if he keeps struggling. We begin piercing through the second, larger wall. Every time one of them hits the shield everything jostles around like a plane is experiencing turbulence. They're really trying to stop us. 

"I don't think I can keep doing this!" Shining Armor yells as sweat rolls down his brow.

"Just a little more! We're almost there!" The general calls out. There's hundreds of them, too many for all of us of take. 

"Jesse," Sharla says quietly, "We're going to make it out of here? Right?" I don't have an answer for her. I'm not one to give up so easily, but even I know when our chances of survival are slim. 

"AAAH!" Shining Armor yells in pain and the shield around us bursts. The entire swarm of Lessers charge us from all directions. 

"Divisions three and four, have your fun." On his command, two groups of griffins broke from formation and started wreaking havoc on the Lessers with axes, swords, spears, arrows, claws and beaks. I could tell that they were loving this. "Division two, give us an opening." A third group shot ahead of us taking care of as many Lessers in there way. "Divisions one and five, keep on track and protect these ponies." Despite the hundreds of shrieks and rushing wind we could hear the veteran griffin clearly as the sun is bright.

We fought with everything in our power, our ferocity, determination, and resolution kept us strong. We hacked and slashed and yelled and cut and fought. God how we fought. Sharla and I made a formidable team, nothing survived if it came into cutting distance of us, or burning distance, or even a distance of any measure. We just fought our way through.	I was actually enjoying myself a little. 

Something hits our blind spot and I get tackled off Sharla. "Jesse!" She calls as I and the Lesser that tackled me fall tangled together. Thanks to my added weight it was unable to sustain flight.The Lesser had a crocodile body, the hind legs of an webbed-footed bird and a grasshopper, his left arm was matched to his body but his right was a bear's, and had wings from two different birds. It had a chimp's head and shriek menacingly in my face. 

Sharla abandons her post and dives for me, but she was blocked by seven other Lessers. Don't think help's coming for me soon enough. It swipes Silver Fang out of my hand and I watch as the blade falls, the light reflecting off its surface as it twists in the right angel catching the sun's rays. I hold on to his bear arm with both hands, he tries shaking me loose but to no avail. With one free hand I reach for my knife still strapped to my side and stab his arm. He lets out a cry of agony and flings me off of him, my knife still in my hand. I straighten myself out as I fall, letting my body face parallel to the ground creating as much drag as I possibly could. All around me griffins and Lesser fought with their lives and for their lives. I spot a Lesser with the body of a hippo flying under me and a crazy notion snakes its way into my mind. I fold my arms to my side and dive, losing all my drag and dive-bomb the targeted Lesser. I hit right on target, and thank God for that because he was one of the Lessers near the bottom of the sea of winged monsters. I stab where I believe the left supracoracoideus is, the muscle that lifts the wing up. I struck in the right spot, its left wing began to flap around uncontrollably and the two of us began to fall with me on top. I embed my knife in his body again to gain a grip. By the way, this all happened in the short timespan of about fifteen seconds since I was tackled off Sharla.

I see a forest getting ever closer to us, I just pray that this plan will work, otherwise I'm about to become a pancake. The Lesser keeps struggling to try and shake me off but he just doesn't have the strength. I brace myself before we crash though the trees, destroying every branch on the way down. I'm bucked off the Lesser from the shockwave of him hitting the ground and I land off him hard on the ground. 

I pick my sore and almost-dead body off the gound, hurting everywhere. And that's a good sign, if I'm in pain then I have feeling, if I have feeling then I'm alive. I just fell an equivalent or greater amount of height to that of Mt. Everest and I survived it. Hot damn!

I pick up my knife from where the hippo Lesser was before it disappeared into chaos smoke and drifted away. A growl forces me to turn around, out of the shadows appeared four Lessers. I knew that this was going to be a long day, but I think this just made it seem a whole lot longer.

The first Lesser charges at me, a simple three piece creature, tail of a leopard, body and head of a great dane, and left front leg of an insect. Despite the off-leg it was able to charge at me just fine. It opens its mouth wide, ready to bite down. I swing my leg up and slam it down on its head, driving its face into the ground. I make quick work at finishing it off by driving the knife into his neck and twisting the blade. It disappears almost instantly. The second Lesser didn't waste any time at going for me.

Its front legs were actually octopui tentacles and the hind ones were a webbed bird and lizard's, the body was giraffe's while the head was a brown trout. It honestly didn't look that menacing. Until it wrapped one tentacle around my neck, strangling me and slithered behind me with its second tentacle wrapped firmly around my left arm. I stab at the tentacle around my neck, stupid idea I know, but it was either possibly stab yourself or get strangled to death by tentacles. Tough choice. 

Unfortuneatly, my free arm stopped short and a fierce pain shot through it. A badger headed Lesser had its jaw clamped tightly around it. Must have been right behind the fish one, I never saw it come at me. The tentacle around my neck loosened a little, just enough for me to breath propperly. And up walked the most intimidating and fierce one of the small band. It stood erect and walked on one rhino leg and an ape leg, bipedal style. The body was a tiger with a massive lion paw and a possibly worse lobster claw. But the worst part about it was probably the king cobra head, long neck and all. 

I suppose this means I'm royaly screwed. Least I can go out with a pun. So is this how I'm going to die? In Equestria? By draconequui? Unable to help save Equestria? Not able to say good-bye to the friends I made? What will happen to me? Will I actually die, or get sent back home? Will my body be found? 

The cobra Lesser raises its massive lion paw, claws glinting off the edge. For once in my life, I actually feel fear. I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. But instead the cobra hisses in pain, I open one eye slowly and see an arrow imbedded in his paw. What? Suddenly three more arrows fly out from the shadows, each hitting the Lessers in their heads, right to the brain. Someone's got accuarcy. The Lessers disappears into smoke and I massage the tender part of my throat.

"Sharla? Shining Armor, is that you?" I ask with my voice raspy. I hear hoof beats, a steady four trot, whoever it was that just saved my life is probably a pony. If it's a pony then it's probably a unicorn, ponies can't opporate a bow because of obvious reasons unless they use magic. 

"My, my." A woman's voice comes from the direction of the trotting, no one I know then. "I knew instantly from the chaos that it was Discord again, but I never expected him to bring a human home." Out from the shadows was a mare, no, a mare isn't what she was. A woman. A half-human half-horse. She was a centaur. She had red flowing hair, tanned skin, and a pure white coat, she wasn't muscluar, but she was well formed. Strong arms and abs, a figure most women would kill for, you know, minus the horse half. In one hand was a bow and a quiver full of arrows on her back. Her expression wasn't smug, but more more like it was noble and confident, always keeping her head held high. She wore a tight brow vest, revealing her mid section. I'm not ashamed to say it, but I couldn't help but keep staring at her figure. Hey, give me a break, she was hot. And what's more, she had a cutie mark! Two golden tipped arrows making an X with the yin-yang sign behind it.	

"Well? Something wrong child? Never seen a centaur before?" She asks playfully. 

I snap back to attention. "As a matter of fact. No, I haven't. But you don't seem to phased by me." 

"And why should I be? I know of your species." 

"That's the thing, you know of me. I know that you know what a human is, but you've never seen any other other than Mother. I'm just more surprised that you're not surprised as to what I am. Your siblings Balto and Nosferatu were." I mention Mother and her likely brothers. 

"You know of Mother? And you have met my brothers, tell me, how are they doing?" 

"Dead, I'm afraid."

"Oh? And how did they come by their demise?" She asked not looking too saddened by this bit of news.

"I'm afraid I killed the vampire myself. You can call it murder if you'd like, but I saw it justice. He killed an entire village and turned them into his familliars. As for Balto, he was killed by phoenix fire, and I'm sure you're aware that fire and tree bark don't mix well together." I lay the cards flat on the table, let's see how she reacts.

"Really? Well I'd be a liar if I say that it didn't bother me to know that my brother were killed. But Nosferatu was alwats a troubled one, but I rather liked spending time with Balto, he had such humor." Humor? The were-wolf? Well if what I experienced was his humor, then I'd hate to have seen his rage. "And I suppose you know of Mother from them too right, and what happened to her?" I nod my head. "Good, anyway, why's Discord back?" 

"I'll explain on the way. But right now we have to get to Canterlot. Celestia and Luna are needed."

"Celestia? What happend to her? Is she okay?" The centaur asks frantically. 

"I'm not sure, but it can't be too good. But there's a good chance that they're fine, we're off to save them, reform the Elements of Harmony, and defeat Discord. I trust that you're in?" 

"If Celestia's in danger and Discord's on the loose, then you can count on me to be there."

"Good, name's Jesse by the way." 

"Chex." She extends a hand out and I shake it. "You're not looking too good. Climb on, I'll give you a lift." I get on her back, the only place to keep a firm hold on her to not fall off was her waist. "Easy there hot shot. You'll have to buy me dinner first." He winks and gives a playful smile. I know it's just a joke, but I couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed.
> Chapter Twenty-one: Link Story: Shining Armor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-one: 
Link Story: Shining Armor




I'm Captain Shining Armor. At least that's what I am to my soldiers and the Princesses. To everpony else, I'm Shining Armor, okay, not much of a difference, but it's the formalities is all. Sometimes I'm also referred to as 'Shiny'. My little sister nicknamed me that when we were young. But now everypony I know and love are being held captive. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, my parents, my little sister imprisoned in stone, and finally my wife. I only hope that she's fine and Discord hasn't done anything to harm her. 

I wasn't around last time Discord was freed. I had pressing business in the Griffin Kingdom to attend to. There was word that the Diamond Dogs in those parts were getting more courageous, the griffins and ponies have always had a peaceful relationship and were always there for each other in times of dire need. Princess Celestia sent me to help with pushing the Dogs back, won't say that it went over well, but it wasn't that bad either. Last time Discord was freed you'd think that that would have been one of those 'dire need' times. The lucky thing for us is that we have a powerful weapon that can only be used for good, the Elements of Harmony. Six elements, Honesty, Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, and Magic, with those six combined they form the greatest power the world has ever seen. And my sister and her friends are the only ones who can use it. I was so proud of her when I first heard of this and how she was able to defeat Nightmare Moon.

And it should have defeated Discord, but something's wrong. When they fought him last year the Elements worked just fine, but for some reason they're ineffective. So on Celestia's orders I ran to recruit all our allies, I don't know why she gave me this order, Discord beat the Elements' power, he beat Celestia and Luna, he's taken over Equestria. How could the rest of us stand a chance? But Princess Celestia has always had the best judgement on decisions. But I still don't know.

Hm, while we're on the topic of strange things I've met and heard some of the strangest things since I left. The first was definitely the strangest. I met a new creature, one never seen in Equestria  before, as far as I know, something like this has never been seen in the entire world. He calls himself a human, says his name is Jesse and he's some sort of branch of the prime ape family. But he talks, walks on two legs all the time, can think for himself, has a personality, everything. He carries around a sword all the time, I haven't seen a blade much like that ever. The edge is sharp on only one side and curves back, the oddest thing about it is that it can light on fire, leaving the metal completely intact. What's more is that he has a travelling companion, a phoenix. Those creatures are rare to be seen, the only one I've ever seen is Philomena, Princess Celestia's pet. 

Ever since then this journey has gotten stranger yet, after introductions and meeting the two griffins Sharla and Shantze, we fought a vampire. An actual vampire! And it wasn't a pony vampire either, it looked human too. Jesse killed the vampire, bringing justice to a slaughtered town, then we met Flora. She too looked rather human, but had bird features. Jesse said that she was a friend that saved him on his first day in Equestria. 

Then there was the Cave, Diamond Dog origin den. After what we presumed were weeks of searching for Jesse after he went missing we found slaves of the Diamond Dogs. They said some creature never before seen freed them, that he gave them something they all that forsaken: hope. We our hunch was that it was Jesse, and we were correct. He was captured by Diamond Dogs and forced to dig for gems. After enslaving him, his captors helped free him. That was rather strange. But the strangest part was that the Diamond Dogs had a Prime Alpha, a king if you will. Diamond Dogs never had a king, just a single Alpha for each pack, no Alpha ruled more than one pack. And there was a Dragon Lord. Dragons are unruly and care for only themselves. I've never heard of a king dragon, and there are no records in any books on Diamond Dogs or Dragons having a king. Trust me, my little sister will read anything.

All these strange things have been happening since Discord came into power. This cannot be a coincidence. I trust Jesse, he's earned it, but he's definitely connected with Discord. Ever since we left the Cave he's seemed a little different, like he was hiding something. No, he is hiding something. One night I saw him sneak into the night while the rest of us slept, and I followed him. He found a clearing and started practising his sword-work. Normally I'd just presume this to be him preparing for the future, but then he started talking to himself. Like he was having a conversation with somepony else, but it was only the two of us, and he didn't know that I was around. Most would presume that he was going crazy, but I knew that there was something else. 

I never brought it up because I knew that it was one of those secrets that you can't tell others. Because if you do, everpony else would presume that you're crazy, or they'd stop trusting you. Only until the right moment could he tell us.

And there he is, staring at Canterlot Castle, something is one his mind. That same thing that he's hiding. I walk up beside him, not saying anything. We've only known each other for a short time, but we already know that words are useless for communication between the two of us. 

"Everyone ready?" He asks referring to our escort team to get us to Canterlot quickly.

"They're ready." I confirm for him.

"Alright let's end this." I begin to walk back to the group for our assault. "Why hasn't it changed?" His question stops me in my tracks. I turn to find him staring at the bright sky now. I turn my attention to the sky also, ever since Discord's rule night and day have become shorter and shorter until they only lasted about five minutes each. But it's been hours since the sun rose and there has been no abnormal change.

"I don't know. Maybe he wants this day to seem perfect because he expects to win." That's my honest answer. I really don't know why he hasn't changed it, and Discord certainly is full of himself. Confidence isn't even close. Without a clue as to  why, we head back to the group together. The minotaurs, zebras, my soldiers, and some of the griffins went on ahead of us to distract all attention at the gates while the rest of us strike from the air. 

"General, it's time." I address the leader of the griffins. I've met the general before, years ago while I was still a private and he a colonel, he also had both his eyes back in those days. I never met him formally, but I knew of him and heard many of the stories. He was a model soldier, one every other hoped to become. 'Swift Silver' was his nickname. He didn't choose it, he earned it. It was said that when he was a corporal his entire squad was ambushed by a rogue dragon, the survivors conformed that it was Swift that killed it single handedly. He sliced open the throat with a buster sword, the kind meant to take down large monsters like dragons. They said he swung it so fast that light couldn't keep up with it. He still denies his speed, but confirms killing it.


"Alright you pansy-ass chickens! We're playing escort for the moment, so guard these ponies with your lives!" He calls to his troops, rallying them for war, he's rewarded with cries of cheer. He swings me over his back, some of us need a ride. We take off, hundreds of wings took to the air. 

Sharla and Jesse straggle behind, not because they were slow. What took you two so long?" Flora asks.

"Just saying good-bye." Sharla says in a quiet voice.

"Not good-bye. 'I'll be back'." Jesse says to her gently.

"Yeah, 'I'll be back'." She perks up a bit repeating those words. She's thinking of her little brother, I know what he's feeling, what she's worried about. Not a day goes by that I worry that Twilight and Cadence are alright.

"Okay, we need to find Princess Celestia and Princess Luna first. With them we may be able to figure out a way to free Twilight and defeat Discord." I yell to everpony else over the rushing wind. Under my breath I tell Cadence that I'm on my way. 

"So where might they be?" The bird woman asks.

And it dons on me. "Um, not sure." The others slapped their faces with hooves, claws, hands, and whatever else they had. "But I suppose the best place to start looking is the dungeon." It's not that I didn't know, I know the castle inside out, but because of Discord's distortion they could be anywhere.

"And where's that?" Twilight's athletic friend Rainbow Dash asks. I point towards a very large tower closest to the mountain side.

"Captain, that may take us some time." The general grabs his trademark sword. "Because we've got incoming." My stomach sinks as I see hundreds of Lessers fly over the wall and charge at us. I get ready for battle, my horn had its magic aura around it, preparing to fire a bolt.

"Alright you chickens, keep in tight formation and protect those five ponies with your lives! It's vital that they make it!" The one eyed griffin under me calls to his soldiers.

"Shining Armor, do you have a spell that could amplify someone else's attack?" Jesse asks me. 

"Depends, what do have in mind?" He lights his sword on fire and gives me one of those look when somepony gets a crazy idea that'll work in our favour. I get an idea of what he has in mind. I put all my concentration in using an amplify spell that I know. Spells like these aren't my speciality, more so defensive spells, so this amplify takes a lot of concentration. A send a bolt of magic at Jesse, hitting his sword. He swings the sword twice, each time two huge  crescent shaped flames fly out and they fly towards the Lessers, killing an impressive number of them. Too bad there's still hundreds that can replace the fallen few.

"So what now?" Applejack asks now that that idea wasn't a complete success.

"That's an easy one girl." General Swift calls out,  gleam in his single eye. "We punch a hole right through them! Captain, you have anymore magic left?" 

"Yeah, you have a plan sir?" I ask massaging my head for the throbbing to subside.

"That I do. Spear formation! Keep in close or get left behind! Captain, on my mark, throw a shield around us, and make it like a spear, built to withstand and puncture." 

"Ugh, yeah, right" I concentrate hard on making a shield, it's not hard, but it takes concentration to keep it solid and my head was pounding. 

"He's not planning what I think he is, is he?" Rarity asks.

"This is gonna suck." Jesse knows what's going to happen. Griffins have always been known to be the most courageous and fearless of creatures, the minotaurs would disagree.

"Hold," General Swift prepares us for the last minute. 

"Hold," We get even closer. 

"Hold!" He's really waiting for the last possible second.

"Now!" On his mark I threw up a shield, surrounding all of us. We punch through the wall of Lessers, . It's hard for me to keep it up, I can feel the shield  weakening. 

"Captain, what's happening?" Jesse asks noticing the shield.

"I don't think I can hold it, amplify spells aren't my speciality and I put a lot of concentration into yours. I'm doing the best I can to keep it up." I haven't tried this hard since my wedding. I mean, keeping a shield, that's what I meant.

"Well you'll have to keep trying, 'cause we're not out of the worst of it." General Swift points. In front of us was a second mass of Lessers. Things are not going to be easy are they? I struggle further to keep the shield up, the Lessers bounce off it as they try stopping us. 

"I don't think I can keep doing this!" I yell. Its beginning to physically hurt doing this.

"Just a little more! We're almost there!" I'm trying, I really am. I'm not just trying to save the Princesses and reunite the Elements of Harmony back together. I'm trying to save my family.

"AAAH!" I lose concentration, the shield shatters and all the Lessers dive at us.

The general gives commands, ones I can't understand, everything's a blur. I've overexerted myself. The best I can do is keep a hold on General Swift as he flies in every direction, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's fighting and dodging the Lessers. 

I finally start seeing straight, just in time to witness a Lesser with the head of a turtle fly at us at full velocity. It's panther claws fully extended. I fire a weak bolt at it, weak, but strong enough to knock it off course.

"You finally wake up?" The general asks noticing my conciousness.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry, I failed." I say disappointed in myself.

"Captain, you have time to feel sorry for yourself later. But now is not the time. Besides, I see a path clear for us." He points diagonally below, a clear path out and towards the castle, I check our current status. The griffins have been dispersed to hold back the Lessers, the girls are still fine, Flex and Flora are occupying their time with the Lessers, where's Sharla and Jesse? They should be right behind us.

"Captain!" Sharla flies towards us, but Jesse isn't on her back. She hacks at every Lesser that gets in her way. 

"Sharla, where's Jesse?" I ask fearing the answer.

"He fell, I tried to save him but I was held back. I saw him fall into the forest below." She says frantically. She looks like she's about to break down. I could tell, she thought that it was her duty to protect Jesse, watch his back. She must have been so close, but she saw herself as a failure. She has that same look in her eyes that I do. 

"If he fell then he's dead." General Swift says bluntly. "More's the pity to have lost someone as tough as him."

"Shouldn't we go and find him? Maybe he didn't die from the fall, maybe he's alive." She says trying to hold on to the little bit of hope. 

"Sharla, I'm sorry but there's no way he could have survived. And we can't risk going to find him, we have more pressing matters at hand." I say sorrowful. Hearing a friend die in the middle of a battle is probably the worst, and he was a good friend. Jesse wasn't the first friend I've lost in battle, and I know that he won't be the last. I've gone through this pain time and time again, Equestria may be peaceful, but the other sections of the world aren't. I've known friends who got drafted to places like the Kingdom to help fend off dragons and Diamond Dogs, and I would always get news that they had died.

"No! That's not true! He survived, he must have!" She's trying to rationalize things now.

"Sharla, he knew the risks, he knew what he was going to face. He knew that he may die today, and he knew that if he did then we would have to go on without him." I say in a stone hard voice. "I want to go find him too, I want to believe he's alive too. But we have to keep moving, if we want to see tomorrow then we have to put today's pains behind us."

She knows I'm right, she just doesn't want to admit it. "Okay." She says in a small voice. 

"Quickly, this way! We can get to the castle!" The general calls to the griffins protecting the girls. We dive for the opening, getting rid of every Lesser in the way. He was a good friend, one of the best I've known, when we finish this I'll see to it that he gets a proper burial. This may not be his home, but he deserves to be honoured.
> Chapter Twenty-two: Link Story: Sharla
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-two:
Link Story: Sharla




My name is Sharla Scatterfall. For my entire life my family has lived in our small village, Vinestrail. Due to unfortunate current events we've had to evacuate our home, my little brother Shantze and I were separated from everyone else, including our parents. We met a pony named Shining Armor and a new creature called a human, his name is Jesse, we see him as our leader, but it's obvious that he doesn't see him as one.

Anyway, I need to make a long story short here. Basically, a bunch of us have gathered an army to defeat Discord, the God of chaos or something, now we're storming the castle to save the Princesses and Shining Armor's little sister. Apparently she and her friends are the Elements of Harmony, the only thing that can beat Discord. We have to get through an army of weaker draconequui we've started to call Lessers first though. But before that, why don't I tell you a little bit of this morning...


I wake up feeling rather refreshed, which is odd seeing as though it is still night out, but from how night and day have been working for the past few weeks it's not much of a shocker. I see Jesse beside me, sleeping, we must've fallen asleep against one another. As I stare at him, some gloomy thoughts come to mind, if Discord's defeated, in best case scenario Jesse has two choices. One, he's sent back to his world where he belongs, or two, he's stuck here with us on our world. I see pros and cons to both sides here. If he goes, I'll be happy for him, Shantze and I have just been separated from everyone we've ever known, so I know the feeling of being lost, out of your element. It's not comforting. But that also means I'll be losing a friend, which brings me to the positive side of if he stays. Call me selfish all you want, I'll be happy if he stays, he's a close friend, surprisingly, they closest I actually have. Vinestrail was a small village, griffins ranged from all different ages there, but there weren't enough griffins my own age I could call a friend. And those that I did hang out with I never really got to see very often. I suppose that's the life you get if you're born the chief's daughter. 


Hm? Oh that's right. Shantze and I haven't told anyone yet. Our father is the chief of our village, and me being the oldest, I'll be succeeding our father when the time comes, whenever that is. I always ask him when I'll become chief, and his answer is always 'When the time comes'. It's never, 'In about ten years' or 'when I've passed on'. No, it's always a riddle. but I don't ask because I'm eager to lead, but because I'm worried. To lead and protect an entire village, all that responsibility and pressure, I think that I'd break and fall apart when given the position. 

I get up without waking Jesse, he's going to need all the rest he can get, we may not have another chance later. I check to see how the rest of the camp is doing, everything is quiet. That party the mare Pinkie Pie threw must have ended, wonder how long we were asleep. I hear someone approach behind me, I instantly think it's a Lesser trying to catch me off guard. My father's training kicks in and I whip around, wings extended to full length to distract the target, as I wheel around I reach for my axe. Metal clashes together as my axe comes to a short stop and I realize who I just attacked. 

General Swift, leader of the griffin faction of our army, and from what small stories I've heard so far about him, the greatest and most respected fighter in in the Griffin Kingdom. And I nearly killed him. 

"I'm so sorry. I thought you were a Lesser trying to sneak up on me so I acted without thinking and nearly killed you." I start apologizing as fast as I can and bring my axe away. I really screwed up this time. What must he think of me? through the entire time I try apologizing to him he keeps inspecting his blade.

"A fine strike, fast and powerful, and using your wings for distraction too. Sling's taught you well." He says not taking his eyes, er eye, off his sword.


"You... know my father?" I ask him, shocked that he knows my dad's name. He finally takes his eye off his sword and looks at me.

"So you really don't remember. Can't say I blame you, you were just a chick when we first met. And is attacking others how you greet everyone, or just your god-father?" Wait a minute. What did he say?

"We've met before? Are you really my god father? How do you know my father and I? Who are you?" I ask confused more than that time I found blueberries smeared all over the house. I don't even know how Shantze was able to carry them all by himself.

"Ha-ha-ha! So he hasn't told you? Typical Sling, leaving important facts out till the last minute. Yes, we're friends, met each other when we enrolled in the Guard. But we didn't start out as friends, at first we were rivals, always tried impressing our drill sergeant who was better. That rivalry soon grew to competition, dared one another who could be better. By the time we were paired up was about the time we became friends, and it looked like our rivalry finally had come to a decision. In the end, turns out our superiors were more impressed by me, and so your father became my wing griffin. Heh-heh-heh, the look on his face that day. 

"He may have been my wing griffin, but I remember more times than I can count where if it weren't for him I'd be dead. Anyway, we became the fiercest team, no one was better than us. 'The Dynamic Duo' they called us. And we kept getting more titles, promotions, trophies, respect, everything. Eventually we got drafted into the Vigilance, a special division in the Guard that consisted of missions with little chance of return. If there was a great threat, the Vigilance was sent. These missions were so dangerous that only the toughest of the Guard were permitted to accept, and usually never returned from them. In one piece that is." He goes quiet for a while. I listen intensely as to a part of my father's past that I never knew about. 

"So what happened? Did you two leave? Did something happen during one mission?" I push him to continue.

"We got reports that Diamond Dogs were getting braver, they moved from town to town, taking the food and gems, kidnapping the young and strong, killing the old and weak. Barbarians. A large division of the Vigilance was sent, but it was a trap. We were ambushed, many lost their lives, I lost my sight, we began losing our faith. Everything was over for us. But through it all, we some how ended victorious. Was it adrenaline? Rage? our value of life? I don't know, but we some how made it." He falls silent putting his right claw over his missing eye. "After that your father left the Guard. Something awoke in him during that battle, he said he didn't want die alone. So, he left and I didn't hear from him for another three years. By that time I left the Vigilance, but stayed in the Guard. When we finally met each other again he introduced me to his wife, and child. And apparently I was made your god-father, I was against it be honest, not that I had anything against any of it. But why make me your rightful guardian? He never gave me a proper answer."

"Yeah, he tends to do that." I agree. We sit there for a while in silence. My appointed god-father finally speaks up.

"Why isn't he around?" He asks quietly. I don't know if it was because he didn't want to hear the answer because he feared it, or he didn't want to ask.

"I don't know." I say. "When the chaos started spreading and reached our village, my brother and I were separated from everyone else. We've been trying to find them ever since, but then we met Shining Armor and Jesse. When we found out what was going on we decided to help them. I thought that maybe if we stuck with them we'de have a better chance at finding them." 

"At least that's what you keep telling yourself." I look at him in surprise. He knew? "Don't act so surprised, you're your father's daughter. I saw how you can swing that axe, he's trained and taught you everything he knows. And I can see it in your eyes, their the same as his, you want to help others. Your afraid to take charge, to lead, but you want to be strong. So you push personal matters to the side and focus on the real goal. You know that finding your family is but a trival matter, and defeating Discord is the real threat. He always wanted to help in the biggest ways." He falls quiet again. And I know that he's right, finding mom and dad has to wait. Discord, the lord of chaos is running amok, he has to be stopped. And I just might be able to help.

"Well, I suggest you go back and get some rest, it'll be a big day tomorrow." He gets up, leaving me with thoughts swirling my mind. Things I never knew about my dad, who am I really, what happens after this? What happens tomorrow?


I dive as fast as I can. I'm so close, I just a little more. I can just about grab him. 

But I was blocked. Seven, maybe six Lessers get in my way. I shriek in rage and fury as my axe goes through all of them in just three mighty swings. The moment they disappeared I dived again, but he was no where in sight. We're storming the castle now and I offered Jesse a ride so he can get to the castle with us. But he was knocked off my back.

"Oh nonononono, please don't tell me..." I fly back up, looking for the only one who can help me find Jesse, Shining Armor.

"Captain!" I yell as loud as I can as I see the white unicorn on general Swift. I swipe at every Lesser that gets in my way, barely noticing.

"Sharla, where's Jesse?" He notices that he isn't on my back. He already knows what what the answer is.

"He fell, I tried to save him but I was held back. I saw him fall into the forest below." I say in a panic, oh sweet Angels he's dead. No, he can't be dead, he's escaped death many times before, he's done it again.

"If he fell then he's dead." The general says bluntly. He doesn't even care.

"Shouldn't we go and find him? Maybe he didn't die from the fall, maybe he's alive." I suggest, not caring for reason. 

"Sharla, I'm sorry but there's no way he could have survived. And we can't risk going to find him, we have more pressing matters at hand." Shining Armor says sympathetically. How could he say that? They're friends! 

"No! That's not true! He survived, he must have!" Jesse would have gone to find him if Shining Armor went missing and thought that there was a chance that he was still alive. 

"Sharla, he knew the risks, he knew what he was going to face. He knew that he may die today, and he knew that if he did then we would have to go on without him." He says it more authoritative, making me listen closely. "I want to go find him too, I want to believe he's alive too. But we have to keep moving, if we want to see tomorrow then we have to put today's pains behind us." 

He's right, I know it but I don't want to admit it. Oh he's right and Jesse's dead, oh Angel. "Okay." I say quietly.  

"Quickly, this way! We can get to the castle!" General Swift calls to everyone. He points to an opening that we can fly through and get to the castle. I follow behind, I knew I wasn't leadership material. The phoenix, Flex, and harpy, Flora, flying beside me.

"Where's Jesse?" Flora asks noticing he's missing. I don't say anything. I can't say anything. I can see the features of her face grow dark. "You fool! You damn, clumsy fool!" She shrieks. Flex doesn't take it too lightly either. Instead of shrieking at me like Flora, he dives down. Leaving a smoking trail behind him. 

"Look alive! Weep for the fallen after the battle! We've got bigger problems!" My god-father calls overhearing her yelling at me. Now out of the sea of Lessers, with a few trailing us while the majority is being held off by the other griffins. We don't shake them, and the entire time I see them, I remember Jesse. How he trusted me, how he depended on me, how he put his faith in me, and I blew it. And I keep thinking this as my anger builds, my rage boils, my fury builds. And I can take no more.

I stop trailing the others and fall back. I float there, my axe in both talons, and I see the Lessers chase close in. I think of one thing, and only one thing. My disdain.

The next part of what happens to me is a blur of hatred and blood lust. I swing my axe in every direction, chopping limbs, hearing cries of pain, feeling my blood drip from new cuts. My axe stops short for one swing, one snuck up and caught it behind me. I let go of my axe and whip around quickly, talons extended to a full length like a knife. But that too was stopped, and I was struck across the face. But the strike wasn't made from a claw or meant to be lethal, it was just a sharp crack. This snaps me out of my blood rage and I see my god-father, Shining Armor still on his back, staring at me with his right talon holding my axe and his left suspended in the air in the opposite side of the cheek that was hit. Swift glares at me with hard cold eyes. Then he does something I never expected.

He gave me a hug. "I'm sorry." He says quietly. "Please understand, you can't bring him back. You can't help him any more. And this isn't avenging him. You failed, and you want to redeem yourself. But this isn't it. If you really want to avenge him, to redeem yourself, then take your axe and follow us. He saw Discord down-fall as the primary objective, and he cast his own safety to the side so he could see it. But now he can't, but we will not fail him, if you want your redemption, then come." 

He doesn't let go of me the entire time, and I don't want him to. I hug him back, weeping freely. He finally pulls back as my tears dry. "Okay," I say quietly. He right again. I was my fault that Jesse's dead, but he knew the risks, I didn't. I take my axe from Swift and put my game face back on. "Let's go." 

But before we go Flex pops up from wherever he was before. He starts squawking and flapping rapidly. 

"Flex, what is it? What's the matter?" Shining Armor asks. Flex extends his talon to me, something is in it. I gasp in fear as I see what it is when he hands it to me. 

"Sharla..." Swift starts "What's wrong?" He looks at the object in my talon, a white feather tipped with black. I know whose it is instantly.

"Shantze," Flex dives to the ground. To Tartarus with it, my stupid brother needs me.
> Chapter Twenty-three: Link Story: Flex
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-three:
Link Story: Flex




You think you know me. You don't.

You think that I don't know what is happening. I do.

You think I'm some simple creature. I'm not.

I have never gone by a name, not since meeting the human. I am now known as Flex, I don't know why, but I like it. I've never had a name before. Most would think that I only understand a little, that if others are worried then I should be worried too. But I know everything.

I know what is happening. I know who is responsible. And I know what he can do. After all, I was around at the peek of his rule. I have gone through many cycles, and I have seen many things. I have witnessed the arrival of ponies to our lands, claiming it for their own. I have seen the tyranny of the Mad King Discord, and the dissaray he put his subjects through. I have seen him overthrown by two ponies and lead these lands into a time of peace. I was even around for the birthing and banishment of the Night pony. I have seen everything.

I won't bother with detail, all I will say is the basic of our situation. The Mad King is once again free and in power, a union of multiple species have banned together to stop him. I am here to support my... my friend. It's funny, I've never had much in my long life that I could be proud for. But for the first time in over five millennias, I have others to turn to. 

There is the knight, Shining Armor, he is careful and collective. A suited leader and admirable figure to look up to. The griffin Sharla, separated from her family with her younger brother. She's caring and nice, but can wield an axe like a true griffin, like the fierce sky warriors four thousand years ago. But she hides something, something she's not comfortable with others knowing. The bird-creature Flora, she's a mystery, in my long life I have never come across anything like her. Not to mention her "amazing" personality. Then there are the children, Shantze, the brother to Sharla, and Light Flicker, an orphan who's parents were taken from her. I play with them quite a bit, they make me happy. I rather like children and have always hoped to meet a mate and father my own. But I fear that may never happen, our species is few and dwindling, finding a female would prove more challenging than one would think. Yes we have the power to be born again from our ashes, but not all choose to, after living for so long, your only wish is to stop living. I thought that I would end my cycle, but then I saw him.

I was old, weak, and cornered. Surrounded by timberwolves that were ready to devour me. And as I was about to give in, let death have me permanently, I saw somthing, something new and different. And I called for him, many don't know it, but phoenixes have a psychic power. Just small range telepathy, only enough to give the targets mind a push. I called for him, and he came. I did not know what this thing was, I have never seen it before. And when I looked at it, I saw determiniation, and that determination passed on into me. I wanted to live.

He saved my life, and when I made another cycle, I returned the favor. And I stayed with him. He was a human, an alien, but most importantly, a friend. He gave me my name, I could have asked for no more, and I have followed him ever since then.

Now I fight with him, this buisness with the Mad King would not concern me, but it concerns him. I fly, my touch burns every demon spawn created by Discord, they turn to smoke and drift off. Another fact many don't know about us phoenix, regular fire is hot, dragon's fire is one hundred times worse, our fire is a thousand times worse than a dragon's. If we want it to be. 

A shame these things do not burn like everything else, I would enjoy dancing through their ashes. Do not take me for some sort of psycho, but ash to me is like snow for ponies. I find it beautiful and fun, it's a phoenix thing. 

"Quickly, this way! We can get to the castle!" The leader of the griffins calls out. He points to an opening in the great sea of Lessers. I dive with the mass of them, smoke trailing behind me. The harpy thing, Flora, groups with us as we fly through. 

"Where's Jesse?" She asks Sharla noticing that he's not on her backside. She doesn't asnwer, she just hold pain and regret in her eyes. My heart sinks. 

"No! That can't be true! Tell me that is not true!" I cry to her. She does not understand me, none of them do. But that does not stop me from shrieking at her. My anger gets the better of me and I break away from them. I dive down, in hopes that I am wrong. But I should not believe myself, I have lived long enough to know the truth. But to accept it without proof, I shall have none of that!

I scour the land, searching for any sign. But there is none. 

No Lesser bothers with me, they think me to be less intelligent than they are, how wrong they are. I spot something in the dense trees, a hole at the top of the roof they make. I investigate the spot and find many odd things about it. Branches are snapped and broken. Something fell, something very large fell. But that's not what's odd, the fact that there is nothing around at the bottom that looks like it was able to make such an impact. Nothing at all. 

I notice track marks, track marks that brings my spirit back up. They resemble the same kind as Jesse's. I follow the marks, and I see that his are not the only marks around. Another six or so prints are left, none of them matched. He survived, but he was being chased. Even more odd, he should have been able to dispatch of them quickly, I grow more unneasy. Something seems wrong, and then things get even more confusing.

A new set of tracks come into play, and they are matching. They look to be a pony's, and the tracks of the Lessers just stop. They must have been dealt with, but Jesse's tracks have also vanished, the only ones left are the pony's. What happened here?

I hear a cry, far off, and I recognize it. Light Flicker! 

I fly in the direction of the cry, those damn fools! What have they gotten into? I weeve between trees, flapping my wings hard. I pray that I'm not too late. And my prayers are answered.

I come out of the forest to find the kids and that young dragon from town. And they're being attacked by a Lesser! My rage boils as it looks like it's about to devour them. I drape my body in fire and my speed increases. I charge towards the Lesser's back side, as I come closer I fold my wings in. I don't tackle it, I tear right through the monster, bursting through the  other side of its chest. The rest is history.

I stop the fire that wraps my body, and fly to the kids.I can tell you one thing: I am not happy. "What do you think you're doing? You should be back at the town where it's safe! This is no place for children!" I would nag at them more if my eye didn't catch something. Shantze holds a sword, one that is far to big for him to be holding. Something that does not belong to him. "Where did you get that?" I ask, my anger for them now replaced with worry. That is Jess'es sword. Why does the child have it?

They may not know what I'm saying, not that doesn't mean they don't understand me. "The sword?" Shantze asks seeing that I've noticed that he has it. "It fell from the sky. We saw Jesse fall, and his sword was knocked away from him. So we were going to return it to him." 

They're young, they don't understand the concept of death. Except the filly, she knows it too well. I fly a bit over their heads, motioning to the forests. True, he's probably dead, but I hope with every fiber in my body that he's not. He can't be, I saw the evidence... I hope. 

I'm about to lead them into the forest so we can find Jesse, if we can find the tracks again we can follow them. And hopefully we'll find him at the end of those tracks. But before we can start our search, a blood thirsty cry is sounded above us. Down from the sky drops six Lessers. The kids all scream in fear as they surround us. I fly in front of them, shielding them from the horrors. The monsters circle us, slowly. They're a mix and match of different creatures. But not like the manticore; these are worse, far, far worse.

I look around, I can take them. But what about the kids? I can't fight and protect at the same time. No matter what senario I think up, it ends bad for the kids. If I'm able to provoke them all I may be able to guide the Lessers away from kids, but how long could that take? I haven't a clue.

I wish... Oh how I wish a miracle will happen.
> Chapter Twenty-four: Link Story: Spike, Shantze, and Light Flicker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-four:
Link Story: Spike, Shantze, and Light Flicker




They watched as their friends flew away, off to fight a monster that called himself a god. They couldn't go, they weren't allowed to go. At least that's what they were told. 

"Well, let's get going." Shantze said after everyone else was far enough off. 

"Wait, what?" Spike asks confused. "Where?"

"To Canterlot."

"But we were told we couldn't go." 

"Pfft, so what? Just because they said we couldn't doesn't mean we can't. Right Light?" The griffin turned to the orphan girl.

"Well," She started uneasy.

"Oh come one! You can't be serious!" Shantze yelled at his friend. "I bet they'll need us. Hey, I bet they need us right now.




Meanwhile in the sky

"Dammit these things are everywhere!" 

"There's too many!"

"We're all going to die!"



The dragon and unicorn looked at one another uneasily. "Okay look," Shantze began. "Grown-ups always say 'not until you're older,' well when will we be older? I say that we show them what we can do!" 

"Fine, I'm in." Light said giving in knowing that her friend would only keep ranting. But deep down she too wanted to go.

"I don't know," Spike backed up a little. 

"Oh come on Spike," Shantze said moving towards him. "How are you supposed to grow up to be a big, strong dragon if you're afraid? What will happen if something like this happens again when you're older? What if the only one able to protect everyone is you?" 

Spike visualized that possibility.
--In Spikes’ mind--

"Spike! Oh Spike help!" Rarity cried out as she looked to the dark sky as a dragon flew overhead for no apparent reason. 

"There's nopony to save us!" Rainbow Dash panicked. "What will we do?"

"Wait, who is that?" Twilight pointed to a figure way up on a hill. His masculine not quite musclebound figure leaving a glorious shadow with the sun behind him. His purple scales, glinted with their shine. His spikes from which he gets his name, sharp and dazzling. And his chin, so perfectly chiseled  the gods themselves must have crafted it. And the best asset of all, his long flowing mustache.

"It's Spike!" Pinkie Pie calls in glee and a massive cheer could be heard.

He ran down the hill at speeds a cheetah couldn't match and stopped at a giant tree, three times his width. He inhaled deeply, and with the power of a volcano he exhaled green fire, lighting the top of the tree. He sinks his claws into the bark, and with the strength of an Ursa Major he unrooted the flaming tree. He turned back to the sky that the dragon occupied and with one hand he tossed it at the beast. With a crack of thunder the tree hit the dragon and fellsto the earth. Another round of cheers is heard all around as he towers over the townsfolk.

"You're our hero Spike!" Twilight congratulated.

"Oh Spike," Rarity cried over the crowd and jumped into his arms. "You're so brave and masculine. You're the only one for me." She leaned in to kiss her rescuer. 

--Reality--
Spike stands there with a gaw-gaw expression on his face. 

"Uh, Spike? You okay?" Light Flicker poked him. He snapped out of his trance and shook his head vigorously. 

"Okay, I'm in." 

"Great!" Shantze said with a grin. "So how do we get there?"

"We could try the train station." Light suggested.

"That won't work." Spike announced. "The train's turned into a steamboat that flies around. We may be able to fly it, but I wouldn't trust it."

"Is there another way?" Shantze asked. 

"Mmm, we could try taking the Hiker's Path." He suggests. "There's an old dirt trail that leads up the mountain. It's a long path but it will get us there."

"Any faster roads?" Spike shook his head. "Well, looks like we're hiking. Do you remember the way?"

"Yup, come on." Spike lead the way, running as fast as he could on his stubby legs. Light Flicker and Shantze didn't have trouble keeping up with him. They ran respectable well for ones so young.

"Hey what's that?" Light asked pointing to something falling from the sky. It was thin and reflected when it fell in the right angle with the sun. They ran to where they saw it fall, near the forest's edge, not too far off from where they were. They finally found it, stuck in the ground was a sword. But not a regular double-edged sword most used. It was curved and sharp on only one side. It was polished to a brilliant shine and had a tint of orange in the steel. The guard looked like a coiled snake with its tail in its mouth. Light and Shantze recognized it instantly.

"That's Jesse's!" Shantze says.

"Then why'd it fall from the sky?" Spike asks confused.

"Uh, guys. What's that?" Light Flicker pointed to a large figure falling from the sky. They couldn't tell what it was at first, but Shantze's eyes widened when he saw it.

"That's Jesse! He's on the back of one of those Lesser's!" 

"How could you tell from here?" Spike asks only seeing a dot.

"I have eagle vision." He answered. "This isn't good. He's been separated and is without his sword." Shantze flew to the large handle and began tugging at it.

"What are you doing?" Asks the purple dragon scratching his chin.

"We need to return this to him." He said trying to pull the sword out of the ground. Spike and Light joined in and helped pull it out. With their combined strength they managed to wrench it free. "Great," Shantze says flying above the other two and holding on to the sword. "Now all we have to do is find Jesse and return it to him."

Unfortunately for them, a stray Lesser noticed the three and lands with the thud that shook the ground. It had a boar's face, and much like its master, it was made up of a multitude of different other creatures with no pattern. They all shrieked in fear as the beast squealed at them, with a horrid hunger in its eyes. Thanks to their small size they were able to bob and weave around it, all the while screaming.

The pig-faced Lesser towered over all three of them, his shadow loomed overhead. Suddenly, his chest burst forth and a streak of fire and smoke was replaced. The Lesser turned into smoke and drifted off in the wind, floating towards the castle on the mountain. The fireball turned out to be their fire elemental friend Flex, the phoenix. He extinguished the fire that wrapped his body and flew over to see how they were. 

He began squawking at them in anger, they were not to leave the town. He stopped his inaudible nagging and motioned to the sword in Shantze's claws. "The sword?" Shantze asks. "It fell from the sky. We saw Jesse fall, and his sword was knocked away from him. So we were going to return it to him."

Flex motioned them to follow him to the forest. They join him, but before they could start their search, a scream echoed through the air. A demon's scream. Six Lessers drop from the sky and surround the children and phoenix. The children screamed once more, scared of the monsters that circled around them. Flex gets in front of the kids, willing to risk his own life for them.

One Lesser could no longer take the suspense any longer and lunged at the kids from the left. Flex tackled it mid flight, knocking the creature over on its side. Another one went for them while Flex was preoccupied. Light Flicker screamed and hugged Shantze tightly for comfort. 

But instead of feeling their flesh being torn from them, they hear a whistling sound cut through the air. When they open their eyes they find that the Lesser has an arrow embedded in its forehead. Everyone's attention was on it as it disappears into smoke and drifts off. Three more arrows shot from the forest and hit each of three Lessers in their eyes, killing them instantly.  

The other to Lessers became frantic as more of their comrades fall. Before they could defend themselves, a great white pony appeared from the foliage holding a bow and arrow. Only she was different than any pony that has been seen before. From the waist up she looked sort of like Jesse, but with a pony's body. 

She lets fly another arrow that striked a Lesser in the neck, killing it instantly. Something jumped from her back. It looked like a blur of red as it rolled off the ground and hid behind the last Lesser, obstructing the view of the children. The Lesser didn't fight back, it never had a chance to. It too disappeared with a knife where it was standing, and holding that knife stood a very beaten human. 

"Jesse!" Shantze and Light Flicker cry and run up to him along with Flex. Shantze drops the sword and hugs his chest while Flex perches on his shoulder cooing and Light Flicker holding his leg.

"Hey guys," he said past a weak smile. "Nice seeing you again. Hey Flex, I sort of took a nasty tumble, need a patch up buddy." The phoenix obliged and bathes Jesse in his healing light. His cuts closed, bruises healed, stamina rejuvenated, and all his strength returned. He stretched and released a thankful groan. "That's so much better. I really don't know what I'd do without you pal." The phoenix cawed in excitement and perched back on Jesse's shoulder.

"I'm glad we came as soon as we did," the weird pony creature said. "Any second later and we may have come to a not so pretty sight."

"That's for certain." Jesse replied.

"Jesse, who's she?" Light Flicker asks eyeing her.

"Guys, this is Chex. She's another one of those half-human creatures. She's what you'd call a centaur."

Shantze pulls away from his hug. "Oh, we found your sword." He flew over to where he dropped it and picked it back up. "We were going to return it to you when we saw you fall. We thought you'd need it." Jesse gripped his sword in his right hand. Everyone gave him room as he swung it around, taking comfort in the feeling. 

"Thanks kids," he says with a grateful smile. "But could you answer me one question?" His expression soon switched to something darker. "Why the hell aren't you in town?!" He shouted.

"We wanted to come help, we couldn't just sit back and wait for the rest of you to make things better! Not this time!" Shantze said persistently. Before Jesse could send them back to Ponyville, a great number of Lessers crawled out of the forest. Chex readied an arrow while the kids hid behind him. 

"There's too many," Chex said trying to pick one to hit first. More Lessers emerged from the tree line and began to slowly close in around them. "We need to get a message for help."

"Great idea," Jesse says sarcastically and igniting his sword. "So how do we do that?" Chex say nothing do to the fact that she has no answer. Jesse looks close at each of the Lessers, then to Flex, and finally Shantze. A poor idea clicks into his head. "Hey Chex, what do you notice about them?"

"That they're all disgusting and seem to be made up of more than one creature?"

"Well yeah, and that they can't fly." He squatted low and pricks off a feather from Shatzes head. He complains how much that hurt while rubbing the spot where Jesse pricked. "Be glad that it was just a prick, you're still in trouble for not listening to us and staying in the town. Flex," he hands the feather to the phoenix. "Take this and no matter what, do not look back."

The phoenix gentle takes the feather in his talon, instantly know what has to be done. Jesse of all knows that Flex is not just a senseless creature like most animals. As fast as his wings could carry him, the phoenix flew to the sky, finding the only one who could help them.

"Kids, I suggest you get as far away from here as you can." Chex called to them as she backed away. "I doubt that we could protect you and fight them off at the same time."

"But-" 

"No buts!" Jesse cuts Shantze off. "Just run..." The young griffin boy was about to try and convince his protector to let him stay, but Light Flicker puts a hoof on his shoulder and gives him a teary look and shakes her head. The young child refused the truth that he couldn't help, that he was useless. But after looking at the watery gaze of his friend, he realizes the reality of the consequences if he stays. The three of them ran as fast as their short legs could carry them.

A Lesser chases them and tries making it past the two-man wall. An arrow greats its head let loose by Chex. Another Lesser saw this as an opening and jumps at her, mouth gaping open. It is split down the centre of its body by a crescent flame. "This is just a major pain in the ass." Jesse proclaimed.

Chex nocked back another arrow, readying it for another Lesser to try and attack. "Are things always going to be like this with you?"

"Nope," he says lowering his sword to his side. "Sometimes things get even more interesting than this!" Without warning, he jumped into the swarm of draconequus, a fire in his eyes.
> Chapter Twenty-five: Siege on Canterlot... Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-five:
Siege on Canterlot... Again




I leaped into the fray of Lessers, my heart was pumping with excitement. I punched, kicked, slashed, stabbed, and burned every Lesser around me. Chex didn't seem as excited about this as I was, but why would she? This is practically a battle we can’t win. Everywhere I turn, everywhere I look, there they are. Monsters from a child's nightmare, demons meant to be forged in the image of angels. In short, damn they're ugly.

I retreated back to the center with Chex, short of breath. "This, really sucks."

"You don't say?" She asked sarcastically while letting fly another arrow,. Her quiver isn't infinite, and she's running out of arrows fast. "So what do you propose we do?"

"Fight to our last breath?"

"Not the best idea, but I guess we can't be choosy can we?" She readied another arrow.

"Heh, and here I thought this was going to be a straightforward plan." Silver Fang burst into flame and I sent a wave of fire at another Lesser. One came at me from behind. I turned around too late and froze up as rows of sharpened teeth flew towards me. This is the end, I thought to myself as time seemed to slow down. Does my adventure really end here? I watched in horror as the teeth came closer to me inch by inch. Maybe it's luck, or perhaps fate, hell, it could even be her wonderful timing. but I survived. The Lesser went from mid-air to the ground in less than a second.

Standing over him was the greatest griffin I have ever known. Sharla, she had her claws dug into its skull, and a fire in her eyes. An entire squad of griffins followed close behind, fighting as many Lessers as possible, but we were heavily outnumbered. The girls were there, Flora, Flex, thank god he made it, Shining Armor, General Swift, and a lot of griffins. 

"Hot damn am I glad you guys got here!" I say as the Lesser under Sharla disappears. "I see you got the message."

"Where's Shantze?" Sharla asked ignoring our predicament last we saw each other. 

"Safe, and I'm fine thank you very much." 

"Sorry," she wrapped her talons around my neck and gave me a hug. "I'm sorry. I tried to save you. I'm so glad to see that you’re not..."

"Hey, easy." I push her away and look into her eyes. "I'm not dying that easily. As long as you have my back, I'll be fine."

"Think you two can wrap things up?" Shining Armor called out over the yelling. "We need some help dealing with these things!"

We gathered ourselves together and sprung into action. If I had to guess, we were outnumbered maybe seven to one. Lessers came at us in droves. We all fought with a tenacity that reminded me of the time we fought Nosferatu and his ghouls. I don't know how long we fought them off, it could have been anywhere between ten minutes to an hour. We stood side by side each other, exhausted. We took a lot of them out, but for every one that fell another seemed to take its place, and they hadn’t suffered losses alone. They've taken out more than a third of the griffins.

"So, what were you saying about fighting to our last breath?" Chex asked, long since depleted of arrows. I looked around, everyone was tired and sore from all the fighting. Shining Armor, Sharla, Flex, Flora, Chex, the girls, General Swift. All of us.

A cheeky smile passed over my face. "That I'm not going to waste it just sitting around and letting them pick me apart on their own leisurely time!" I rushed at the mob, sword on fire and at the ready. Before I knew what was happening, a cloud of earth exploded between me and the Lessers. A great big hulking blur jumps out from where the earth exploded and dives at the nearest Lesser, jamming a spear through its head. The blur came into focus and before me was a muscle bound dog standing on its hind legs and wearing heavy armour. "Hey, you're a..." Before I could finish my sentence more clouds exploded from the ground and more dogs jumped out and started picking off the Lessers. To our astonishment, the Lessers were soon overrun by Diamond Dogs.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked just as confused as the others. 

"What happened?" A muffled voice is heard from under us. A paw appears from the voice's source and soon an entire body follows. "What happened is that your reinforcements finally showed up." 

"Corig!" I shout in blissful surprise. He smiled back and extended his fist to me. I pounded it with my own, "It's about time you showed up, we were going to take them all out without you."

"Sorry, but it took us a little longer than expected." He pointed towards the sky with his free thumb with his other paw holding his spear with the magical stone attached to it. We looked to the sky and our reactions were a mix of horror, surprise, glee, and awe. Overhead, wiping out the Lessers that occupied the air, were dragons! The sky was ablaze with color and fire, mainly fire. A giant purple figure flew at us and landed with a great thud next to Corig. 

"Dragon Lord Krinox." I said happy to see the king again. 

"Hello," he lowers his head in a small bow. "I apologize on our tardiness, but the dragons of this era seem to be more beast than dragon. But they still know power when they see it, or feel it."

"Your timing couldn't be better, we need to get to that castle, but as you can see most of us have no wings."

He sighed in annoyance. "Very well. But this once only." He lowered a wing so we could climb onto his back. "Corig, when your dogs are finished with this lot, help out the ground forces at the gates." He nodded his in acknowledgement and jumped into the fray with his subordinates. The others were more skeptical about getting on Krinox. "It's fine. Now we don't have all day, either get on or get left behind."

The relented and all but Dash, Swift, Flora, and Flex get on. Dash and the General said that they preferred their own wings, the Flora just constantly refused, besides, she had her own wings so why stop her? Flex, yeah I guess he just preferred his wings rather than a dragon's like Dash and Swift. 

He lifted his wings up, and with a push we were lifted off the ground and flying. We were forced to hang onto his scales or spikes otherwise we'd be blown off. "You're doin' good Sugarcube," Applejack tried yelling over the rushing wind so  Fluttershy may hear her. "Just keep those eyes closed and think your getting lift from some..." She tried looking for the right word for the mare.

"Butterflies!" I yell back as my hair blew in my face.

"Yeah, you're getting a ride from a bunch of butterflies!" Applejack comforted the shaking mare. She was scared beyond paralysis. the only way we were able to persuade her at getting on Krinox was putting her in her 'happy place.' It was a dreadful experience getting her on his back, one that took much longer than it should have. But, she eventually did it and we could finally get a move on.

"How you doing Chex?" I called behind to check on the centaur.

"I'm managing," she answered. She had to laid down and gripping tightly to one of the spikes going down Krinox's spine.

The dragons made quick work of the Lessers occupying the sky, it was nice have a break. Even if it was dangerous to let our guard down. "Where do we go?" Krinox called.

"There, the tower closest to the mountain." Shining Armor pointed with a hoof.

"The one with the chocolate roof?" We confirmed his question, and he dove down towards the building, landing with a great thud and crushing a few Lessers in the process. We all slid off his back, and come upon our next challenge. there was no door.

"There's no door." Flora says voicing my thoughts. 

"If I may," Krinox stepped in between us and the tower. With one great slash of his purple claws he busted a huge hole in the building. 

"Dammit Krinox, think before you act! What if you hit the Princess!" I yell at him angrily. "Gah, never mind, go fight the Lessers or something." 

"Jesse," he says in a calm and serious tone. "Make that demon pay for what he's done to us." I just nodded and watched him fly off.

"Okay everyone!" I addressed the group. "All we have to do now is free the Princesses, figure out how to save Twilight, use the Elements of Harmony on Discord, and then we've saved Equestria. Any questions?" 

"Uh, I got one," Applejack says raising her hoof. "How are we going to use the Elements if we don't have them?" Silence fell over all of us and a typical breeze, a tumbleweed gently blew by us. Thank you Discord for the awkward wind. I look at each of the girls' neck, and sure enough, they have no Elements around them. 

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" I shouted. "Do you mean to say that we left them back in Ponyville? DO we really have to go back and get them after all that trouble we went through to getting here?" 

"Stop yelling!" Flora yelled back making things counter-productive.

"No, we didn't forget them, Discord stole them from us." Rainbow Dash flared angrily. Great, just great. Discord holds the Elements now. "Okay, new plan: we save the Princesses, get the Elements or save Twilight, whichever comes first, then then we defeat Discord."

"How do we know that we can even do it this time?" Fluttershy askde quietly.

"Because, we just gotta believe we can." I replied. "Now with no further questions, can we go save some Princesses now?" They all nodded, We marched through the tower, determination coursing through us. Shining Armor, Sharla, Flex, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Chex, and Flora; each of them have been with me through thick and thin. Some more than others, and I'd trust them all and put my life in each of their hands/hooves/talons or whatever appendage they may have. And now they look to me, with not just my life in their hands, but theirs in mine, and all of Equestria's. 

We pass by cells, all empty. Nothing looks likes its been changed by Discord's influence, looks like a typical dungeon.  shining Armor and I turn a corner and frantically get back behind the corner for protection. "What is it?" Chex asks.

"Lessers. Three of them." I whisper. "Too far to take them out with a sneak attack."

"What do you propose we do?" Shining Armor asked peering around the corner, careful to not get spotted.

I look to Flex and give him a wry smile. "This:" I jumped around the corner and rushed the Lessers, yelling as loud as I could to grab their attention. I grabbed my coat and spread my arms out to make myself look bigger, more intimidating. The plan worked like a charm and I grabbed their undivided attention, they all shouted and charged at me. The hallway was narrow, only allowing one Lesser at a time. I wait until we get close enough together, time for some fireworks.

"AAAAAAAAAnd distraction!" I let go of my coat and drop to the ground, sliding across the stone ground. Replaced by my presence was Flex, a great ball of fire shooting at the Lessers like a bullet. Flex flew over me and smashed into the first Lesser, sending it and the other two flying through the hall. "Heh-heh-heh, morons." I chuckle to myself.

"Jeez that was reckless and stupid of you," Sharla nagged me as Flex flew back and perched on my shoulder, he's taken care of the Lessers.

"Hello? Is somepony there?" We heard someone call from the darkness of a cell.

"Princesses Celestia?" Shining Armor called in shock. Wait what? Holy shit what? Shining Armor rand down the dark hall, stopping at one cell. 

"Captain, you're back? Have you brought us help?" The same voice, whom I am 95% certain that is Celestia's, asked. The girls ran down to meet the captive.

"Shining!" A voice from the opposite cell calls. He turns around and lightens up and he moves to the opposite side. 

"Hi honey, I'm home." He extended his hoof through the bars and held onto whom I'm guessing is Cadence. 

"Okay, things are getting sappy and nice," I said as the rest of us stepped into the scene. I see two figures in cell where Celestia is, I suppose Luna's there with her but there isn't enough light to tell properly. "Anyway, we're the cavalry. So let's get you out of there." I cut through the bars with ease, in fact, it was too easy. Instead of hearing metal bars cling against the stone ground we hear more so a cracking, sort of like something chipped. Sharla picks up a piece and examines it.

"It's made out of candy cane." There's an awkward five second silence. Then Pinkie Pie grabbed it out of Sharla's claws and ate it whole. 

"I'm not sure what's less surprising," I say, freeing Cadence in the same manner.. "That the bars aren't made from metal, or Pinkie Pie just did that. Flex, mind lighting this place up a bit? it's kind of dark." He nodded and conjured a bit of light for everyone to see..

We hear a collective gasp from the girls. "Princess, what happened to you?"  Rarity asks. 

"Cadence, what happened to your horn? And wings?" Wait, what's that? I turned my attention to the rulers of day and night first, and my jaw hung loose. Okay, let's knock that 95% to an 85%, because last time I checked, Celestia and Luna were alicorns. In front of us were two earth ponies that held the cutie marks of the Princesses. Cadence had the same problem.

A number of things happened in the next few seconds, let me make a list of how it happened in chronological order:

1. Celestia now had a solid pink mane with no wings or horn. Luna looked like how she did back in episode two, but again, no horn or wings. 

2. I got three separate expressions of shock and astonishment.

3. Chex gave Celestia a hug calling her mother.

"Mother?" Everyone asks in unison. 

"Wait wait wait, Chex do you mean to tell me that Celestia is actually Mother?" I ask stepping in as the centaur let's go of her 'mom'.

"Oh my," Celestia says staring at me. Another feature missing from her and Luna were that their manes didn't blow in a non-existent wind. "I never thought there'd be another."

"So it's true, there was a human before me, huh?" She nodded her head. "Well, that's something then, on a later note. What in high holy hell happened to you three?"

"It was Discord." Luna answered. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity looked uneasily to what makes them special as they remember when they got their horns or wings taken. They even looked smaller than I expected. "Who might you be by the way? And how is it that you've come by this world?" 

"My name is Jesse, and I can answer whatever other questions you may have while we still have time. And if you could also answer some of my own."

"Of course," Celestia nodded. 

"Well for starters, it was Discord who brought me here."

"Of course it was him." Celestia says with disdain. "I'm sure you have questions for us as well. Ask what you will."

"Why are your manes different? Didn't Discord just take your horns and wings?" 

"By taking our extra appendages he also took away our magic. We've lived for centuries, after all that time magic soon became a part of us, sending our bodies into a metamorphosis. Now that your magic has been taken from us we have been reverted to our original forms." Well, I can't say that it's unbelievable or unreasonable. 

"Okay, so how do we free Twilight?"

"That would be a challenge, Discord has reshaped the Elements of Harmony and used them against us. Freeing Twilight Sparkle will be no easy task."

"Reshaped? What do you mean?" Shining Armor asked.

"No creature against harmony can use it." Luna answers for Celestia. "Discord is the very opposite of harmony and yet the Elements had no effect on him. He somehow found a way to mutate them and change them for his own use, yet they’re still as strong as the Elements of Harmony."

"Shit; Discord holds the Elements now, how can we retrieve them?"

"I am not sure, but if it is one thing Discord likes, it's games. We'll just have to play along and hope at beating him and retrieving the elements in the process." She paused for a short time and looked to Chex and Flora. "I'm surprised that you haven't asked me of them."

"Well I've been meaning to, but I'm not sure what to ask. I know that there are a number of half-human creatures in the world, that many of them died fighting Discord, that they went their own ways after he took her. I was even forced to kill two of them, and I know that whoever this Mother is, she's human. And I know that you've been helping her. So I guess that leaves only one question: Who is Mother?" 

"And who am I?" Flora asked her in a gruff tone. "Why don't I remember any of this?"

A long silence was carried out as I stared intensely at Celestia, and her back at me. "You do not remember because you have no memory of those ever happening." She directed her attention to Flora. "You were not yet born, your mother must have been pregnant with you after the Discord fiasco."

"My mother...?" Celestia nodded her head.

"She was cunning and hot tempered." Well that explains a lot. 

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain who Mother is." I interrupted them. "And why are there half-human creatures around? In fact, why are you Chex's mother?"

"Well, to say that I gave birth to her isn't an exact statement. The woman to come to Equestria was fascinated by it's magical creatures. She told me of ones I've never heard or seen before, half-human types especially. Through fascination and curiosity, we worked at trying to create them. Unfortunately, much like any creature born you need two parents..."

"And you donated your own genetic code to create Chex while Mother donated the other half. And you did the same thing for all the other half-humans. A timberwolf for Balto, bat for Nosferatu, bird for Flora's mom, and even whatever else there was like fauns and even lamias." I finish for her. She nodded her head in confirmation. Then another question comes to mind. "So how did that work?"

"Magic, science, and much experimentation." I shiver goes down my spine as she says that last word. It sounded heavy and filled with sorrow. My guess is there must have been some failures.

"Well, that answers those questions, but you've still neglected to mention one important fact..."

"The identity of Mother." Chex answered for me taking a step forward. None of the half-humans have been told their identity either.

Celestia held her tongue for only a moment, a moment that felt longer than it should have. "Lauren. She was a loving woman named Lauren Faust." The answer hit me like a ton of bricks. Lauren-Freaking-Faust? 

A crack of a smile creeps across my face."Heh. Heh-heh-heh. Heh-heh-ha." I soon start laughing in hysteria as the smile get larger and larger. I put my hand over my face, not to calm me down, hell I don't even know why. It was just reaction. Everyone looks at me like I've gone crazy, and with Discord around I wouldn't be if someone didn't go nuts. 

"Jesse? Are you okay?" Sharla asked me, concerned.

"That woman! I can't believe her. She lied to us by telling the truth!" I burst out laughing even harder. She told us the truth, but who would have taken her serious? A world of cartoon ponies actually exists? no one would believe it. I finally calm down, everyone still staring at me.

"Are you okay?" Applejack asks just as concerned as Sharla and the others are.

"Yeah," I wipe a tear from my eye. "It's just funny really. Chex, Celestia, I have good news for the both of you. Lauren  is fine, safe, and doing very well. She's famous after all."

"My mother? Famous?" Chex asks bewildered. "How do you know that? What did she do? Where is she?" Before I'm given a chance to answer any questions, the wall beside us was torn apart creating a gaping hole. Remarkably enough, there was no dust. 

We crouched into a defensive position, expecting trouble. But instead of something like a Lesser standing in the hole, there was a Diamond Dog. "Corig!" 

"How ya doing?" The bulldog asked saluting us with two fingers.

"How'd you get here, how'd you even find us?" I ask lowering my sword.

"My dogs and I busted through the gates like you told us to, and now we're storming the castle. And I'm a dog, we have an acute sense of hearing and smell, it wasn't hard to find you. Did you know that these walls are made out of styrofoam? Here, look." He grabs the wall from the hole he's made, rips it off and shows it to us. Yup, that's styrofoam. I can't believe that we ran through corridor after corridor when we could have just busted through each wall with ease. "But we've got a problem." He looks at us with a dead serious expression. "Discord's made his grand appearance."
> Chapter Twenty-six: The Resolve of Strength
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-six:
The Resolve of Strength




We ran through the halls, following the path Corig had carved out. His words from back at the cages lingered in my mind.

"He has?" I shouted, only half-shocked. I knew that he was going to pop up sooner or later, but we've got nothing. "Well what's happening now?"

"The others are trying delay him while you lot figure out how to stop that monster. By the way, what IS the plan?" Corig asks, one eyebrow raised.

I look uneasily to Celestia, and she back at me. "We don't have one." Corig's arms sagged.

"Are you joking? How could you not have a plan? I thought you had a plan!" 

"Well that was before we found out about this." I point to Celestia and Luna. Corig looks to them, then to me questioningly. 

"And?" That's right, he was around before their rule. Before Discord's rule.

"These two here are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." I explain. "They're supposed to be alicorns with vast amounts of magic that could help break free Twilight Sparkle's stony imprisonment. With her free and the Elements of Harmony together we could defeat Discord. But without their magic our plans have just crumbled in front of us. Now we have no idea how to free Twilight."

Corig stares at the Princesses, no looking impressed by their appearance. "These are the pony rulers?"

"Like he said before," Celestia spoke up. "We are supposed to be alicorns, much more impressive than how we look now. And I have not had the pleasure of making your acquittance." 

"I'm Corig, Prime Alpha to all Diamond Dogs. I ruled these lands before you, you merely inherited it." Celestia was confused and intrigued at the same time.

"I was not aware that the Diamond Dogs had a Prime Alpha. And how is it that you ruled these lands before us?  My sister and I took the throne centuries ago."

"It's a long story, one we can discuss a later time, but can we please focus on the danger at hand?" I interrupt. 

"But how?" Sharla asked me. "Discord's made his appearance, the Princesses are powerless, we don't have the Elements and even if we did there's still the matter of Shining Armor's sister. So how are we going to beat him?"

"We no longer have a plan," Shining Armor chipped in.

"No power," Corig states.

"And what about Twilight? Without her the Elements wouldn’t work even if we had them." Rainbow Dash points out. It's true, we had none of that. Our plan has crumbled, and it wasn't even that sturdy to begin with, the Elements are in possession of the enemy, and we have no idea how to get Twilight out of her prison. 

"What do we do?" I ask them rhetorically as a cheap smile plays across my face. "We do what we've done best and wing it." Everyone else look surprised at me, how I could suggest such a reckless thing. "How many times have we ever had a plan that has worked for us through thorough thinking? Instead of negotiating with the Diamond Dogs, I got captured. We were supposed to storm Canterlot, but I fell and jeopardized everything. We were supposed to get Celestia's help in freeing Twilight, but now she's lost all her magic. Face it, we've never had a plan work out for us, we've survived this far by relying on our wit and quick thinking. I don't know about the rest of you, but ever since coming to Equestria, I have been chased through a forest, nearly ripped to shreds, torn apart and mauled, beaten, starved, enslaved, kicked around, and nearly killed a dozen times! And there's only one person who was the cause of all that: Discord. So you know what, I'm tired of running into a brick wall at every turn and I'm going to get even with that son of a bitch and kick his ass any way I can." The others stare at me, then at one another.

"So you're going to fight him without a plan?" Luna asks, stepping forward.

"Even though you have little to no chance of winning?" Corig asks, leaning on his spear, looking more amused than surprised.

"And that he's thousands of times stronger than you?" Celestia points out. I looked to each and every one of them. 

"That's the plan,"

"Then I'm in." Sharla steps forward, beside me.

"Me too." Shining Armor agrees.

"Shining?" Cadence gasps.

"Honey, he's right. Everything is gone. But not lost. I've been by Jesse's side long enough to know to trust his judgement. If there's a chance that we can beat Discord, then it's with him." She hugs him, proud to hear those words. Flex perched on my shoulder and nuzzled me, he's in too.

"Well you can count us in." Rainbow Dash said proudly, voicing for the other girls. 

"Hey, you're not having all the glory for yourself." Corig growled."Besides, I have unfinished business with that bastard."

"You do realise that facing him head on almost certainly means your own defeat, do you not?" Celestia announces.

"Maybe, but we'll never know for sure until we find out. And what about you? Are you going to sit around while he destroys your country?" I asked the white mare.

"He does have a point sister." Luna says to her. Celestia looks to her younger sister and sighed, giving in. 

"In all my years of ruling, I have had to make every decision thoughtfully and carefully to make sure my country stood strong. Very well, if you think that this is the best course of action, I will join you." There's a quick holler and hoot as we celebrate as we make the worst possible decision imaginable.

"I see the exit!" Sharla announces as we watched a bright dot grow bigger and brighter. We burst through the exit, rather dramatically and heroically if I might add. Might as well go down in style. And there he stood; his back to us.

His one antler and goat horn on his head; a lion's right arm and left arm a bird's; one lizard leg and one goat; his right wing is from a bat while his left is a normal bird wing, and connecting it all together was that reptilian tail and snake-like body. He had his back to us, not caring that we're here.

"Discord you third rate excuse for a child's nightmare, turn and face us!" I blurted out. But he doesn't, he continues to keep his back to us. 

"Hey, we're talking to you!" Rainbow joins in. Still, he ignores us.

"Perhaps he just needs a little 'Motivation'." Corig charges at him on all fours. When he comes into range, he jumps on Discord, and still, the draconequus doesn't move. As Corig slams into him, he instead passed right through, breaking Discord in half.

"Wait a minute, what?" We rushed over to the scene and crowd around Discord to only find out that it's a two-dimensional cardboard cutout of himself. Of course, what else would he have done?

"Hey, what are we looking at?" We look up and jump back in surprise. Somehow Discord was able to slip in our circle when we crowded around the cardboard one. 

"Holy crap man," I yelp as my heart skips a beat.

"Discord!" Celestia hisses.

"Celestia! Oh how good it is to see you again. I would have visited sooner but things have just been so hectic of late. Running a kingdom is so stressful." Discord says dramatically. "Look at yourself, off the throne for just a few weeks and already you look younger."

"HEY!" I shouted catching his attention, "you owe me some answers."

"Well, well. If it isn't the human. And I see you've brought friends. The remaining Elements of Harmony, Captain of the Royal Guard, a griffin, and look. I never thought I'd see some of her children again. Tell me Chex, how has Mommy been doing these days?" Chex swore at him and loosed an arrow, aimed right at his forehead. Discord snapped his fingers and the arrow turns into a rose. "Aw, you shouldn't have," he said catching it.

"Hey, I said you owe me some answers! Do you have any idea what I've gone through ever since meeting you?" 

"Why yes, I do. You've been chased around by a putty-tat, had a skirmish with a flying rat and a wooden mutt, and you did a bit of excavation work. But isn't this what you wanted? To come here?"

"Shut up! It's time you gave me some straight answers. First off, why me? Why did you send me here?"

"Why else? To stir up trouble. True, it wouldn't have lasted long and you would have been accepted into society soon enough, but it would have been amusing for that short of time. Though it seems I've gained more than I bargained for. Little did I know of your potential. And now thanks to you I'm free and have defeated the only ones who can stop me." The others looked at me uneasily upon hearing that I had helped Discord.

"You did what?" Dash yells flying to face me at eye level. "I knew that you couldn't have been trusted. You were a spy!"

"No I'm not!" I retort back. "I don't know what he's talking about or what power I hold. All I know is that I've absorbed his chaos magic, but in exchange I had to give up some of my own, whatever it is. And now he's taken the bit that I've lost for himself! But none of that matters now, what we should be focusing on is beating him!"

"And how will you do that? Without the Elements of Harmony you can't lay a finger on me." He extends his arms and shows us his hands. Upon his three of his fingers on his left bird's arm sat three of the Elements. Laughter on the middle, Generosity on his index, and Loyalty on his pinkie. On his other hand were Honesty and Kindness. "I feel pretty, oh so pretty."

"Then we'll just do it the old fashioned way." Sharla threatened as she swung her axe over her head.

"That's not going to work, take it from your friends." He whistles a tune and out of nowhere appeared Krinox, General Swift, Chief Thunderhoof, the Shaman Vana. All gagged and tied up. And what's more, they were dressed like circus clowns. If it weren't so embarrassing it would be hilarious. "As you can see here that failed miserably. But go ahead and try anyway, let's see where it gets you."

Crap, as much as I'd hate to admit it, but I doubt we'll be able to beat him with the usual method we've used thus far. Maybe we could trick him on his own game. Wait, that's it!

"Tell me Discord, you like games don't you?" I baited him. A sudden interest is displayed on his face.

"Of course I like games. Who doesn't?"

"Well how about this, we play a game of tag. If we win you return all of the Elements of Harmony to us and Twilight Sparkle with them." The others look like I've gone crazy, except Celestia, I think she may have caught on too.

"And when I win?" He asks.

"You win. We stop trying to overthrow you and you can run Equestria in your image. End of story." 

"What?" Everyone gasps, not liking those terms.

"Jesse, are you certain about that?" Shining Armor asks.

Before I get a chance to answer him, Discord interrupts. "Okay, what're the rules?"

"All we have to do is tag you any way we can. The moment we touch you, you lose. But you have to stay in the vicinity of where we can see you and you can't forcibly stop us."

"Doesn't seem too fair," he complains. "But okay, let the games begin." He claps his hands twice and the statue of Twilight on a pedestal pops into view behind him. A blindfold is wrapped around his eyes and a rope ties him firmly to a pole that wasn't there before. A lit cigarette is placed into his mouth, he looks like he's being executed. But what he's really doing is baiting us.

Too bad some of us are more impatient than others. Without thinking Rainbow Dash bolts towards him, taking her opportunity. We all slapped our faces as she crashed into the pole, and Discord vanished. Laughter is heard from everywhere with no fixed location. 

"Discord, you're out of view, that's breaking the rules." I remind him. 

"Oh, am I?" We look up and see him floating above us. Flora flies after him this time, her talons outstretched as she gets closer. At the last second before she could get him, Discord pops a trampoline into existence. She didn't have enough time to slow down or swerve out of the way and was shot back to the ground.

Chex bolted to where she was going to crash to catch her, it looked like the only thing that could move faster than her was the wind. Discord appears just off to the side of her path, eating a banana. He takes the peel and throws it on the ground, right in Chex's way. Of course one of her hooves just happens to land on it she starts sliding out of control. What else would have happened? But thankfully her momentum carries her on and she was able to make it to Flora before she could crash to the ground. Unfortunately she still crashed, into Chex. The good news was that they were both safe, to an extent.

"A-hahahaha. Oh the old ones are the best!" Discord laughs wiping a tear from his eye. He's distracted at the moment, the best moment we could have.

"Toss me!" Without a moments hesitation, Shining Armor wraps me in his magic aura and flings me though the air towards Discord. Before I could catch him he shifts his snake-like body just out of the way and I pass right by it. I tuck and roll and land on my feet, turning around to meet Discord head on. I push off and fling myself at him, Silver Fang flying through the air. I had all intentions of doing more than just grabbing him. I was angry, furious even, at what he's done. The random crap he's made, the day and night cycle, even the discorded ponies I could handle, I could even laugh at. But everything else he's done. The lives he's ruined, the families he's separated, the power he's taken for his own twisted purposes, I won't sit back and let him do any more! I'm ending this now!

"I know what you're thinking," he says as he cooly dodges my swings like I'm a child trying to beat up his older brother. "You think you can win, that you can beat me. That once you get me I'll release Twilight Sparkle and return the Elements of Harmony, they'll turn me to stone, and then everything will be as it once once. Well I have a newsflash for you:" He aught Silver Fang using just two of his claws and grinned like a snake. "You can't do it."

"Shut up!" I yell wrenching the sword from his grip, ignoring his words and trying again.

His eyes start changing different colors in waves. "Oh, keep trying as you might, but you know deep down inside you, you can't do it." He hisses. "You can do so much, but you can't beat me. You were always the best, always the greatest. Everyone expected you to fail, but you proved them wrong. You say that you don't care, but you do. You want to prove yourself, but to make sure you don't feel like you’re better than everyone else you cut them off and lie to yourself. And all that time you're afraid, afraid that one day it will happen. That they'll be proven right for once and you'll fail! And you know that that is today."

I stopped short of my last swing. I tried not to listen, tried to tell myself that he's just talking shit, tried to ignore him. That I know I'm right, that he's just making this up. I tell myself that I can win this, I can do it...

I bring my sword high over my head and he stop moving, giving me the perfect chance to strike. But I can't bring my arms down, I can't move. My arms tremble and the fire slowly fades away. I drop Silver Fang, it lands harmlessly to the ground. I fall on my hands and knees. 

"You're right." I say, my voice trembling. "I... I can't beat you." The other gasped, horrified to hear what I'm saying. I said I'd win, this was my decision, my plan, my confidence, and my gamble. I can feel something change, something's happening to me, and I can see it. I'm losing my color, heh, I'm being discorded. And you know what? I don't care, I let it happen. I look up to Discord, and he grins back at me with victory flashing in his eyes.

"Get away from him!" Sharla shoots towards us and swings her axe at him furiously. Her axe cuts through him, chopping him in two. But inside were springs and cogs, a robot decoy. We hear disembodied laughter from all around us. Sharla puts down her axe and hoists me up, holding me in her arms, all my color's gone. "Jesse, Jesse!" She calls to me.The others arrive on the scene with Dash, Flora, and Chex back in action.

"On no." Shining Armor exclaims. "Why would this happen? Why him?"

"Discord wants to change everything, even personalities. Whatever this power he's taken he won't give it up so easily, and he'll make sure this boy doesn't use it either." Princess Celestia explains.

"Well we just has to make him remember what he was like before with the memory spell." Fluttershy says. "Then he should be back to normal."

"Leave me alone." I say emotionlessly, but they ignore me.

"Great, so one of you just has to perform it." Sharla says frantically, not sure why she'd want me to change back. I see the truth now, we can't win, and if I change back then I'll just think that we can again, but it won’t change anything, It's stupid.

"I don't know how it works." Shining Armor says. "You were like this once Rarity, you were changed back with the spell before. Did Twilight ever teach it to you?"

"I'm afraid not. And even if she would have I wouldn't be able to turn him back. The spell is a collection of the caster's memories, so only you could do it."

"There is another way." Princess Celestia says. "When this first happened I sent Twilight every friendship report she ever sent to me, reminding her and reversing Discords grip on her. If any of you can remind him of how he was before then it could change him back."

As if on queue Discord appears again. "Oh I'm sorry, but that's not going to work."  He says to the others. As strange as it is I'm glad he's here now. Thanks to him I'm free of these vicious chains of hope.

"Change him back!" Sharla let me go and grabbed her axe, she flies at him full force. Sad, she can't win so why even try? Discord poofs a wolf suit on him and inhales deeply, then blows with all his might. She is sent sailing back to us, Shining Armor catches her with his magic.

"Looks like this little piggy made her house out of straw." Discord comments proudly and pulls the wolf suit off.

"Damn you Discord," Celestia curses. "How could you do this?"

"Oh it's quite easy Celly. First you just think up an idea, then you set it in motion, and voilà, chaos in a can."

"Well turn him back!" Chex threatened nocking an arrow.

"Well maybe I don't want to change back!" I retort. "Maybe I like the way I am now! Ever thought of that?" They start trying to convince me all at a once.

"We're only trying to help you." 

"We're your friends remember?"

"What about getting home? Don't you still want that?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I yell at them. I put my hands over my ears and shut my eyes, trying to block them. But I can still hear their muffled voices all around me, all of them trying to convince me, to change me. "I don't want to hear it from you! Don't you see that we can't win?"

"Pathetic," I hear a single voice clearly in my head as all other sounds have stopped. I open my eyes and slowly take my hands from my ears. I don't know where I am, but I know I've been here before. It's a large empty place, completely black, but not dark, I can see myself clearly. I look around to try and find where the voice came from but I can't see anything. "You truly are pathetic."

I look ahead of me to see a familiar light. "You again?"

"Did you expect someone else?"

"No, just surprised I guess. So can I ask why you brought me here? And will it take long? I'd like to leave soon."

"Why don't you go right now?" It asks, thinking I can do it.

"Because I can't. You brought me here so obviously only you can let me go. Besides, I couldn't leave even if I tried."

"Oh course you can!" It shouts furiously. "Do you think that I picked you because you give up so easily, because  won't try? No! That's not you That's not the person I gave my power to!

"And just who are you exactly?" I shouted back. "You say you give me power, you say that you are my power, that you are me and I am you! But just who are you exactly!" It's silent for a while. Like it's not sure how to reply. Then it gets brighter, so bright that I have to cover my eyes. As the light dies down I remove my hands shielding my eyes, only to find that I am staring at myself.

"I've told you. I am you." It says. I'm stunned, I don't know what to say. It's a perfect replica of me, like I'm staring into a mirror. But something is different, it's vibrant with colour while I am grey. "Do you know why you are so good at everything you do?Why you never quit? Why you've always been the best?"

"Because I always tried." I answer. "Because I can be better."

"Only when you want to be." It puts its hand on my back and gives me a warm smile. "You are only able to be the best because you try, because you want to be the best." It waves a its hand and a screen appears before us. On it are flashbacks of my life, of my accomplishments, my victories, my... my greatness. "You are only able to accomplish this because you break the very laws of the universe: everything has it's limits. But you have pushed past that law, you have no limits. There is virtually nothing you can't do. And that's where I come in."

"What do you mean? What do you do?" 

"You've asked me what I am. Well I am your strength. I am the factor that controls your behaviour, that keeps you from temptation, that doesn't waver your resolution, that forces you to push past your boundaries." It puts its hands on my shoulders and comes and comes face to face with me. It doesn't look mad, but confident. "Don't you see, why Discord chose you? What this power is? What makes you so special? Don't you see it? You’re the only one who can beat him because only you can force it."

"But... but what if I can't?" I ask, more unsure of my failure than I am in it's confidence.

"Then let me help you." It brings its fingers to my forehead, the tips shining with brilliant light. And suddenly, it all makes sense now. I understand. I understand my power, my strength, why I'm so special!

"Oh come now," Discord separates my friends away from me by placing barricades around the two of us, he's dressed like a cop. I'm back in the courtyard, like not even a second has passed by. "Give him some space. Can't you see that you're making the poor boy feel bad?"

"Jesse!" Sharla pleads to me. Hoping that I can hear her.

"So sorry, but he doesn't want to listen to you." Discord taunts.

"Actually," I reach up and grab his goatee and slam my fist into his face, causing him to be sent flying and the barricades to disappear. The others gasp in surprise at my action. "I can hear her just fine!"

"My nose," Discord complains lying on the ground several feet away from me. "How did you do that? You shouldn't be able to defy me like that!"

"Like what?" I start to change. Everyone stares in shock as my colour returns to me. My hair turns black again, my coat red, and my eyes burning with passion. "I don't see anything wrong with myself."

"What? But how did you reverse my spell?" He sputters in disbelief. 

"Easy, forced it away Discord. You should know that. But that's beside the point. I tagged you Discord, now free Twilight and and fork over the Elements."

"Ha, like I'd actually do that!" He gets up and two perfectly shaped pies appear in his hands. Pies that have fuses like a bomb. He throws both pies at me, they hiss through the air as the fuses get shorter. I was hoping he'd choose the hard way.

"Sword!" I extend my hand out as Shining Armor levitates Silver Fang to me. Once it was in my hand, I kick off from the ground, and in the blink of an eye, I vanish. 

"Wha-? Where'd he go?" Applejack asked as she and the rest look everywhere for me. 

"We have bigger problems to worry about." Sharla points to the incoming pie-bombs. Shining Armor throws a shield around them, protecting them from the blast. But before they make contact with his shield, they're both cut cleanly in half, and I now stand hunched over in front of the pies. They exploded behind me, I'm clear of the blast range, safe from harm. The others look at me in disbelief as I stand up straight, exhaling cooly.

"Damn I'm fast." Before any of the others could ask how I got there or what just happened I lunge right and disappear again. I appear before Discord, suspended in the air. I twist in the air and deliver the bottom of my foot to his face.

"OW! Again with the face?" He complains. "How are you doing that?"

"Oh come on Dissy," I bring my sword up to face horizontally, my left palm placed against the flat of the blade. "You should know that by now." With no warning, I'm surrounded by fire. Fire that envelops and consumes me, fire that is strong, fire that does not burn on the touch, fire that I control.

"Jesse!" Sharla cries out for my safety. 

"Wait child," Celestia stops here, mystified at what is happening before her. "Let this happen."

"What? But he's-"

"Safe," I cut her off. The fire dies down, not even the slightest of burns is shown. I'm not harmed, not even singed.

"What? You actually..." Discord droops his shoulders as he points at my metamorphosis. I'm not different, not in appearance that is, but something has changed. Silver Fang, no longer the blade I once held has been transformed as a medium for me to control and use my powers to the full extent.

What was once a mighty katana is now scimitar. The blade still bent back, but was now a bit thicker than it used to be. The handle, pommel, and cross-guard were all made from what looked to be gold while the blade itself had a pattern of red, orange, and yellow instead of the standard grey and that tint of orange. And in the centre of the rain guard was a sigil that looked to be painted glass in the pattern of fire.

"Princess," Rarity says in awe. "What is that?"

"I never thought there to be another." She responds, her eyes locked onto the blade, specifically the flame sigil. "I thought there to be only six."

"Six? Six what?" Pinkie Pie asked, confused as the rest.

"Why the six Elements that make up Harmony of course. " I answer. I hold my sword up for the heavens to see it's glory. "This is the seventh. The Element of Willpower!"

> Chapter Twenty-seven: End Game
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-seven:
End Game




"Hahahaha" Discord applauds. "Oh, this is rich. Simply outstanding. You actually figured it out, and what's more you were able to change yourself back to normal, kudos."

"What? What do you mean another Element? Aren't there just the Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash asks Celestia.

"Only the Elements of Harmony were the only known Elements. Luna and I suspected that there could have been others, but no matter how hard or how long we searched, not a single one would show up."

"So how come a six has shown up now? And why does his look so much more different than our own?" Rarity asks, eyes fixed on my new sword/Element.

"The nature of the Elements are of their own agenda." Luna answers instead of her older sister. "And each takes on the appearance best suited for their bearer. So when you needed a tool to beat the evil of Nightmare Moon..."

"He needs a weapon to beat Discord." Shining Armor finishes for her.

"Come on Discord, you promised you free Twilight and give back the Elements." I remind him.

"Crossies, doesn't count!" He shows us the fingers on his lion paw, crossed in a knot like a balloon animal.

"Fine, have it your way," the fire symbol of my Element catches fire, but not the regular fire or the phoenix fire gifted by Flex. This was my fire. My strength! 

With one push off the ground, I bound to where the other leaders were tied up. Nearly forgot about them. With a single swing through the air, my flames wash over them and release them from their bonds and removes the clown make-up. 

Krinox gives a low, wrathful at Discord. I can see the hatred inside him building up, blinding him. The fire of my Element dies away and I put a gentle hand against his snout, trying to keep him calm. "Easy mate, I know you are angry and want your revenge. But please, control yourself. I'm sorry to say, but he's out of your league."

He stops growling, I can see his common sense returning. "You are right boy. I may be an old and mighty dragon, but even I know that I would stand no chance against him. I am sorry to do this, but you must carry my burden for me, and please, do not die."

"It's fine, I created your burden for you. I was the one to find out the truth of your hatred. It's only suitable that I be the one to carry it." I swing my sword over my head as it lights on fire once more and give him a childish smile. "And don't worry about me dying. Your the only one who's allowed to kill me, remember?" I dash away from him in the blink of an eye, forcing my body to sprint at speeds I never achieved before. 

I appear before Discord just as fast as I disappeared from Krinox, allowing him to see me. And as I look upon his face I don't see surprise, worry, or even an expression of defence. Instead, I see expectancy. He knew I would attack him head on; good.

I lift my sword over my head and swing it down. But instead of slicing through it just sort of... sliced right through him. But with no form of resistance, it was like I cut through air. In fact, I fell right through him, like he was a ghost. I pick myself up from the ground and look back to Discord, he hasn't moved an inch, didn't even look around to taunt me. I creep closer towards him, keeping my guard up if he tries something funny. I poke my sword into him, and it passes right through. 

He starts to flicker, like a hologram. I look down and find a little R2D2 looking straight up. I pick it up and the image of Discord disappears. Christ, it was a hologram.

"Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." I turn around to see a very disturbing sight of Discord wearing a Princess Leia costume. And I'm not talking about the one with her hair in buns in the first movie, I mean the one when she was a slave for Jaba the Hut in the third.

I put my arms up as I receive a back hand with his lion paw. I'm thrown a good ways back, feeling that strike only slightly. I bolt towards him again, this time I know it's him and not some cheap image. I stop in front of him, just like before. He steps to the side and I come face-to-face with a cannon. 

"Eat it." He says playfully pulling a string and firing a cannonball. Thank god for the invention of bullet time. I watch as the cannonball is fired in slow motion, just like when I couldn't keep up with Nosferatu, I couldn't keep up with his speed so I viewed everything going slow. Guess I know how I did that now.

I slice the ball in two, each half flies past me, and of course they explode. Michael Bay approves. For a hesitant second, Discord looks at me, his cannon, where the explosions took place, and back to me. "Well... that happened."

With no warning I tackle him to the ground, and his princess Leia costume disappears too. Thank you for small miracles. We start rolling, trying to get the better of one another so we aren't the one to end up underneath. Too bad for him, I get on top.

I raise my sword above my head, ready to plunge it into his chest. But instead of my sword pushing into his chest, a small compartment pops out and a spring powered boxing glove punches me in the face. I'm pushed off him with such great force that I start skipping over the ground like a stone on water. 

I abruptly stop, finding a pink aura has caught me. I look back to see Shining Armor's horn glowing, what would I do without my friends? I get off the magic glove and regroup with the rest, the tip of my blade scratching along the ground and leaving a small trail of fire. The trail grows bigger and starts moving on its own, like a snake through grass. Once it stops we're surrounded in a ring of inferno, separating us from Discord. Most of the others panic as they watch the fire cut off all exits.

"Are you trying to burn us alive?" Flora shrieks.

"It's okay. It's cold fire, acting as a shield to give us a bit of breathing space from Discord." I explain to the others while rubbing the spot where I was hit by the boxing glove.

"It's not much of breathing space when it's burning all the oxygen." Cadence counters, covering her nose.

"Don't worry, when I said it's acting like a shield, I meant that it was an actual shield. It's just taking the form of fire. Kind of like how a rainbow is projected when the Elements of Harmony come together." All the ponies stare at me quizzically. 

"How do you know about that?" Rainbow Dash asks. 

"Uh, let's not get into that at the moment. But I do have good news and bad news."

"I would prefer it if we received the bad news first." Celestia answers.

"Okay, the bad new; things aren't going over so well. I don't think I'll be able to beat him on my own. We need to hurry up and free Twilight."

"And the good?" Luna asks as everyone leans in to see the little bit of light in this darkness.

"Things are going according to plan." We hear Discord on the other side cursing up a storm. Literally, I could hear thunder and gale winds. I reach into the pocket of my coat to reveal why the king of chaos was so enraged. The others gasp as I pull out five small golden rings, each with a different symbol. 

"How the heck did you get those?" Sharla asks, just as curios as everyone else. 

"Swiped them from Discord while we were scuffling across the ground." I explain. "While we were wrestling I used my Element to slow my perception of time down as slow as I could and swiped them from him when it seemed like I was trying to push him off me."

"Great job! But uh, how are ya going to change them back?" Chief Thunderhoof scratches his head. I put my own Element over the others, concentrating hard. I think on how large they originally must have been. Licks of flame start jumping from my Element to the others, bathing them in a warm fire. They began growing in my hand until they were about their original size and the fire washes off them. I give each to its respected owner.

"Nicely done." Shining Armor praises. "But, how did you do it exactly?"

"I'm the bearer of Willpower. If I can believe I can do it, I can." I brag. "But we have an upcoming problem. I have a plan to beat Discord, but we need Twilight to complete it, and I'll need all of your help."

"Just give the word and we're there boy." General Swift replies. The other leaders give me an affirmative nod.

"Okay, here's how things will hopefully play out. Sharla, General, when I give the word I need the two of you to grab Twilight. Vana, what potions do you have on you?"

The shaman looks into her bag and pulls out a green vial. "Only a potion of to give back strength, one that last for a good length."

"That's fine, keep that tucked away, we may need it some time later. Flex, Chex, Flora, Krinox, Corig, and Chief, I need you six to distract Discord for as long as you can. And, yes, that means you can use lethal force." A devilish grin to both the Diamond Dog and dragon. I hope I didn't just make a big mistake. "Shining Armor, I need you and your wife her protect us. She may not be able to use magic like you can as of the moment, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have any. I've found that just because something can't use magic doesn't mean it doesn't have it."

"Why include Cadence in this?" The Captain asks worried.

"Your stronger with her by your side."

"What about us? Do we get a special part in this plan too?" Pinkie asks excitedly.

"You? You five have most important job. If we can pool our Elements together this may work out and we can free Twilight. Though I wonder if five of the six Elements of Harmony can do the trick."

"So what are we doin' exactly?" Applejack asks me.

"I need to talk to my Element directly, and I think with your help I can pull it off, but while I'm chatting with it I'll be vulnerable. That's why I need you lot to fend off Discord for as long as you can."

"And what of us? Or are we of no use to your plan?" Luna asks, feeling that she and her sister have been left out.

"If things go south and the others are unable to protect us against Discord, you are our last line of defence until I've finished my chat. You two have known Discord the longest, so I'd imagine that if he would ever listen to anyone with reason, even if it's just for a short while, it would be you two."

"I like this plan and all but, how are we supposed to fight Discord? We can't even touch him." The minotaur leader points out. I dip my index and middle finger into the fire being projected from my Element and scoop out a tiny bit of flame. I dab the flame off my finger and onto his chest, over top of his heart. He feels around where the fire burns. "It doesn't burn."

"Of course not, it only looks like fire." I then proceed to do the same to Shining Armor do and the others who are about to face Discord. "What I'm giving each you is a one-one-hundredth of my Element's power. With this you will all be able to unlock your full potential, that way you guys will actually stand a chance against Discord and not be blown away in the first three seconds."

"How come you didn't give me or the General this power?" Sharla asks.

"I need you two right here where it's safe. I still need you to get Twilight." I sit down cross legged, my sword over my lap. "Okay, girls, form around me and concentrate on your Elements. Cap, I'm going to let down the barrier. Once I do, I need you to put a shield up once the others are out of range."

I close my eyes and release the barrier, and I begin concentrating to communicate with my Element. Presuming that things haven't already gone to hell, I hear the others charge out and the sound of Shining Armor erecting his shield. I can feel my Element's power, and the foreign presences of five others.

When I open my eyes I find myself in an empty, black place, like a void. In front of me is, me. Well my Element I should say, I just saw it as a perception of myself, but a little more fiery. 

"Well, what is it?" It asks, facing away from me.

"I'm sure you know as well as I do what I came for."

"I told you, you don't need to ask for permission. I am you and you are me, we share and we give one another what we need."

"If that is true, if we are one and the same, then you know why I came to talk to you. I know now how or why I'm able to be the best when I try, how I can achieve greater feats than the next guy. But for once in my life I'm... I'm actually doubting myself. this is our last shot, our moment of glory, and it's all decided upon me. And I feel that, if I screw this up, what will happen? Will the others resent me? Will any of them even live past this? Will they regret it that I ever gave them such hope?" 

"Nonsense! You know you can do it, you just have to trust yourself."

"I... I know. But I can't. I just can't. If we are the same then you understand what I'm thinking. And you're just as scared." I hold out my hand for him to accept it. "So, what's it going to be?"

It looks at my hand, then at me. And it gives me a smile.

"...But what else can you do? Your comrades are beaten, all defences broken, and I am still standing. Really Celestia, this is just sad." My consciousness comes full board, and I hear Discord talking. I look around to see a horrific seen. Everyone's on the ground, and I can see that each of them has been taken down in a different, chaotic fashion. Princess Cadence was caressing her husband's head, he was on the ground and looked to be in some sort of pain. Sharla stands between me and Discord, her axe in claw, acting as the very last line of defence if Luna and Celestia are unable to stall him long enough. 

"Though you may think it is, Discord, you know that I never was one to give in." The sun goddess replies, I can see a fire in her eyes.

"Yes, yes, fight to the bitter end and all." Discord waves away. "But how do you plan on stopping me? You have no magic, remember?"

"She's not the one to stop you!" I spring from my spot on the ground and fly towards Discord, delivering a left fist to him again.

"Why always the face?!" He shouts, several feet away from where he once stood holding his nose.

"You are awake!" Luna proclaims. "Did it work?" My Element lights a new fire, and soon the entire blade is consumed. 

"Let's find out." I answer. I grip the handle with both hands and pull back, my sword pointing towards Discord.

"Remember," I can hear the echo of my Element in the back of my head. "I am right here with you. We can do it, together."

With all my force, determination, and will, I thrust the sword towards Discord and the flames that wrapped it shot forth like dragon's breathe. Discord was too slow to react and his entire head from shoulders up was caught in the blast. I intensify the flame, making it hotter, bigger, and stronger, depleting myself of most of my energy. The fire eventual stops flowing and I fall to my knees, exhausted. The girls came to my side, worried that I could have over-done it. Sharla drops her axe and helps me stand up.

Discord comes out of the inferno fine, he looks just like himself but with burnt fur and the tip of his goatee aflame, staring into the emptiness with a blank expression on his face. He blinks twice, realizing that he was surprisingly fine, looking himself up and down to find that no actual harm came to him.

"Ha, barely even a scratch!" He boasts. 

"Ha-ha-ha. And who says that the inferno was meant to harm you? You were merely in between me and the real target." I point a lazy finger to an object past Discord. We hear the sounds of cracking and chipping, of something breaking. A terrified expression creeps cross his face as he realizes what it was. The stone statue of Twilight was beginning to fracture, strands of light shone through the cracks. I re-ignite my Element again, only a tiny flame appeared. I dip my finger in it and wipe it on Sharla. "Now!"

On my command she gentle lets go of me and bolts off, flying past Discord faster than she ever could. Discord attempts  to stop her by making the ground underneath her morph into statues of himself. I motion for Vana tosses the me vial, she passes it and I catch it through the air. I pop the cork off and chug it down, tastes like watermelon. I feel my strength returning to me, I jump on my feet and use my Element's power. I swing in an upward's arc, a crescent shaped flame flies through the air towards Discord. Just because this isn't my original sword, doesn't mean it can't do the same tricks. 

Distracted by the on-coming attack, Discord pops a bellows into his hands and blows the crescent out. Giving Sharla that extra time frame needed. As Twilight's stone imprisonment crumbled away, Sharla grabs her. Without any warning or awareness, Twilight is pulled off her hooves and is flying through the air. Sharla flies past Discord and skids to a stop by us, dropping a dazed Twilight. 

"What... I... Huh?" Twilight was unable to form a coherent sentence as she looks around to see both a very familiar and unfamiliar sight. 

"TWILIGHT!" Her friends get together and give her a hug, overjoyed to see their friend safe.

"What? Hey, what's going on?" Twilight musters as she is being squeezed with affection. "Last thing I remember is seeing Discord and then everything goes blank."

"Kind of a long story there sugarcube," Applejack replies as her friends let go of her. "We're happy t' have ya back. But to quickly summarize it fer ya, Discord's back and this fellow here's helpin' out ta beat 'im." I see Twilight's eyes turn as round as dinner plates as she sees me, awed at my unusual appearance. 

"Sharla, see if Cap's alright." She does as I ask. Twilight's eyes go from awe to worry as she follows Sharla to see her brother in his condition.

"Shining!" She yells, rushing to her brother's side.

"Hey sis," Shining Armor says in a weak state, trying to look strong. "Glad to see you again."

"What happened? Did Discord do this?" 

"Afraid so Twilight. And a lot more while you've been away." Cadence says, motioning to her loss of horn and wings.

"How could this have happened? What happened to me, and everything?" She asks, more confused than she ever has been.

"Discord happened." I answer in a somber tone. "For about a month now you've been a statue. Since then he's been ruling, doing as he pleases because he can. But we're stopping him now. Twilight, I need you and the girls to use the Elements of Harmony."

"But the Elements of Harmony aren't working on him." Twilight reminds me. "We tried before, and failed." I give her a smile, not one that is warm or mocking, but one that says she's wrong.

"I never said for you to use the Elements on him." I show her my Element. "Use it on me."

"What? Why you? What good would that do?" 

"Twiliy," Shining Armor says. "Trust him. If there's anyone who can actually beat Discord as he is now, it's him."

"Hey! Have you all forgotten about me?" Discord roars in anger, hating to be ignored. He claps his hands together and a military suite appears on him, along with an old style mounted machine gun, the same kind used in WW2. Except this one has a barrel wider than my head, and it seems to be loaded with... watermelons. He pulls back the lever and lets loose his ammunition. Twilight ducks in safety from the oncoming projectiles, I on the other hand, do nothing.

"Please," I scoff. With the simplest of thoughts, my Element lights anew and I wave it through the air. A fire jumps out from sword and washes over the watermelons, turning them to sludge and loosing all momentum. Twilight opens her eyes slowly, wondering why nothing happened. Her face turns to confusion and wonder as she sees my Element.  "Bearer of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle. Meet the bearer of the Element of Willpower. Jesse Ruesgen."
> Chapter Twenty-eight: The Power of Eight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-eight
The Power of Eight




"The... Element of Willpower? I've never heard of that before." Twilight says as she slowly stands up.

"Listen Twilight," I say walking away from her to get a little distance. "I know you have a lot of questions, but I need you to hold them off for now. Now please, do as I ask and use the Elements of Harmony on me!"

"Why? What's this plan of yours anyway?" She asks getting frustrated, and she wasn't the only one.

"Damn it woman! Do as I say or chaos will rule Equestria forever! Do you want that?" I yell at her. A worried look crossed over her face, like she thought I was going to hurt her.

"Twi," Applejack puts a reassuring hoof on her friend's shoulder. "You can trust him. He's only lookin' ta help out. And if it weren't fer him you'd still be a statue." Bless that farmer’s heart.

"Okay." Twilight eventually says trusting Applejack's judgment. "Girls, line up! We're putting Discord away for good this time!" On her command the other bearers got into formation. Soon each of their Elements began reacting with one another and their eyes glowing a white light. I prepare myself as for what will happen next, as Harmony was formed, the rainbow shot from the bearers and towards me.

The rainbow hits me and it swirls around like a vortex. I feel a mixture of feelings surface up inside me, feelings I never dreamt there could be. I felt love, warmth, serenity, pride, faith, calm, and wholesome. Heh-heh, of course: harmony. This is what being in complete state of joy was like? I like it. In fact, I like it so much, maybe I'll share it with Discord. But even this sort of level of harmony couldn't possibly soothe such a beast.

My senses snap back and I extend my free hand, and the most peculiar thing happens. The Rainbow vortex starts swirling more rapidly around me, then it begins to get sucked into my hand like a vacuum. Soon there was nothing left of the shimmering rainbow that surrounded me, yet Harmony was still there.

My Element's flame explodes out of the sigil, but not the same kind of fire. This was not an orange fire that was wild and  destructive, this was a rainbow fire. One that was soothing and well-mannered, and very strong. The fire was so strong that it engulfed my sword and my entire right arm. I brush my fingers through it, it felt more like soft wool.

Everyone else stares in awe at the new hybrid Harmony. And Discord... Discord looked terrified.

"Scared?" I ask him in a giddy voice. I raise my flaming blade so it points directly at him. "You should be!" And just like that, an explosion of rainbow fire bursts from my blade and shot for a one way trip to the King of Chaos. He said nothing, he did nothing; he didn't scream, laugh, cry, or curse. The last thing I saw him do was giving me that deer-in-the-headlight look and held up a sign saying 'HELP!' Then Harmony took him.

The rainbow fire of Harmony and Willpower engulfs Discord, like a whale on a school of fish. I can see inside the fire as Discord began to petrify, and once the process was complete, the rainbow fire shoots up into the sky and spreads out in all directions. It looked a lot like a sonic-rainboom, only it was fire, not just a spectrum. As the fire spread, everything under its embrace that Discord changed began to revert to its original form. I covered my eyes as everything the fire swept under began to glow and change back to nromal, the grass turned from blue back to green, the castle was no longer made of candy, and clouds became clouds.

As the light died down I removed my hands, to see a shining Equestria and an imprisoned Discord. I look back and see that Celestia and Luna were given back their horns, wings, and flowing manes. It worked, it actually worked!

"YEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!" I shout to the heavens. The uninjured cheered whooped with me. The others who fended off Discord earlier cheered too, though their cries were a little weak.

"What the-?! What's happening to your arm?" Rainbow Dash yells over us all and cutting off our cheering. She's pointing a hoof to my left arm with an expression of terror over her face. I look down to see what bothered her, and then my stomach went cold with fear.

It was slowly petrifying, working its way up my arm, already past the elbow. I began to freak out, not clue as to what was happening or why. I panic, trying to scrape, peel, and rip the stone from my arm. As it reaches my elbow I get smart, I use my Element and light my arm on fire, burning away the casing around my arm.

As the last bit fell away from my fingers and the fire died out, we are left to utter shock and wonder, and a hangs in the air. I flex my arm and stretch my fingers, everything was working fine.

"What happened?" Sharla was the first to ask. "Why were you turning to stone?"

"The Elements of Harmony purge and neutralize all darkness," Luna explains, having first hand (hoof?) experience. "But they do not destroy. That is why Discord is encased in stone, he the exact opposite of Harmony-"

"Because he is chaos, and uses chaos magic." I finish, my stomach feels like a dagger of ice was just thrust inside it as I realise what happened. I look to Sharla and Applejack, and I can see that they figured out the same thing. We hear a laughter that belongs to none of us, an all too insidious and familiar laughter. "And I... I took a bit of his chaos, and he was given..."

"Your Element's power!" Discord finishes for me just like how I did Luna. The stone statue of Discord crumbles away, freeing him. He flips the sign around from saying 'HELP!' to 'NOPE!' "That's right! Or have you forgotten, young Jesse?"

"You knew," I turn to Corig and Krinox, both looking better since the combined powers of Willpower and Harmony were unleashed. "You knew about this didn't you?"

"Yes, we knew." The Diamond Dog leader says somberly. "Ever since you saved us from a second death, we've known."

"So why didn't you tell me? You could have saved us a heap of trouble!" I yell at them furiously.
“And what difference would it have made, hmm?" Krinox matches my rage. "If we told you that you could not beat him you still would have gone after him and tried winning. But in the back of your mind you would know, you would ignore it but you would know, he will win."

"Of course I'd win! After all, I am the fire. And you can't fight fire with water, it just doesn't work out." Discord brags victoriously.

"So, that's how it is? He has truly won." Celestia says. I turn to her, not believing what I heard. But I could see it in her eyes, the expression on her face. And something else, a cold hard, and very sorry expression in her eyes.

"Princess, you can't mean that!" Twilight asks, not believing her teacher to give up so easily.

"I don't care what any of you are saying!" I lift to the ready. "I don't care if Discord is unbeatable, if we can't win, if you've given up! I'm not stopping!"

"But," Celestia say, not breaking eye contact.  "Unless we had a draconequus of our own I don’t think we stand a chance."

"One of our own? How could we get one? What draconequus would even join the side of Harmony?" Dash asks their ruler.

“I know exactly how." I say not liking the idea. I know the price, and I can see the end result as well as Celestia. "Twilight, hit me with the Harmony again."

"But we just saw that Harmony doesn't work against Discord no matter how amplified it may be. And it'll even affect you." She counters.

"Just do it!... And it's not meant for Discord." She's reluctant at first, but she gives in all the same. The lights shine in their eyes and the rainbow hits me. It swirls around viscously again, and this time I don't vacuum it in, instead, I let it surround me. The rainbow spins faster and faster, creating a small storm of wind. I turn my sword the other way so the blade faces towards me. I grip it with both hands and plunge it into my chest.

I fall to my knees as my own sword goes in one way from my chest and out the other. Everyone gasps as the see my apparent suicidal action, but it only looks suicidal. But by god, it hurt so much. Fire shoots from the tip and starts spreading like a spider web. The web spreads out and grows, until at last, one flame passes right through Shining Armor.

"Shining!" His wife cries as the flame goes out from one side of his body and out the other.

"Easy Cadence, it doesn't hurt." He touches where the flame is cut off from entering him. "Doesn't even feel warm." The same thing proceeds to happen to seven others: Sharla, Flex, Krinox, Corig, Chief, and Vana. None of them feel a thing as the fire pierces into them.

The fire web burns out, and as shown, it caused no harm to the people it hit. I have that bit, now I just need the chaos. As I reach deep inside me, I bring out the chaos that's been laying dormant. I begin to scream as I feel Harmony attacking me now that chaos is no longer hiding deep inside me, safe from the two colliding.

"Princess! What's happening to him?" Twilight asks over the head winds. She does not answer, only looks on sadly and regrettably at what she had to do. Then again, I could have just said no.

My body lights on fire, a mixture of grey, orange, and red. The fire is to help keep Harmony from petrifying me, among other things. The rainbow starts to form with the fire, mixing in with the greyness of it. I hear something snap. I feel something snap. I howl in pain as I feel the effects coming to, as my body changes. My muscle tissue moves around, bones length, grow, and form, and skin changes.

A bright and dark lights blinds everyone, and finally, my pain stops. Smoke comes off me, I lie in a small crater that was not under me when this started. I open my eyes, my vision blurry at first, but soon things clear up. I wave my hand in front of me, but it wasn't my usual human hand. It was a beefy, muscular arm covered in orange fur. I slowly stand up, a bit wobbly but quickly getting used to my new appendages. I stood on one hoof and a dog paw instead of a feet.

As I looked over the worried and scared expressions on some of my friends I realize that I was now towering over to be about the same height as Discord. I breathe in deeply and stretch my arms, my right being the muscular one I first saw, but my left was much different. I had feathers poking out from my shoulder down to just before my elbow, with an eagle’s talon for a hand.

I no longer had a flesh body, now it was covered in fur of a white and black stripe pattern, not as muscular as my orange arm, but more so than it used to be. I brush my hands through my hair, only to find that I no longer had hair, instead it was more like bristly feather/spikes/mane. I also found that I had two horns on my head now, one on the center of my forehead that was a unicorn horn, and the other on my left side like a bull horn. The bull horn pointed downward instead of up like the Chief's does. Along with my hair changing, my skin seems to have been replaced with incredibly hard scales and I now possess a row of sharp teeth.

I felt something swish behind me, I crane my head to find two different wings. My right, a feathered wing that was a mix colour of red, yellow, and orange; the other was a green leathery type wing that looked to belong to a  dragon. But that's not what I felt sway before, it was lower down. To my giddy surprise I find a long bushy dog tail. That probably made it all worth it.

But the most distinguishing part about this new body of mine, I still had my Element sigil. Embedded into my chest!

"Jesse?" Sharla asks worried. "Is that you?"

"'Course it's me, who'd ya think, hmm?" I reply like this was no big deal.

"A-hahahahahaha." Discord howls with laughter. "Again! He's done it again folks!"

"What happened to you?"

"Discord was right, you can't beat fire with water, only fire can fight fire. So I had to force myself to become a draconequus." I explain to my confused friends. "Using my Element I forced it to happen, but I needed traces of DNA from different creatures, hence the fire web. But being foreign to my own body I needed a way to make them be compatible with myself."

"So that's where the Elements of Harmony came in?" I nod in response as Twilight starts getting the idea. "But why use chaos magic? Aren't you running a risk of turning yourself to stone without it hiding?"

"We draconequui are creatures of chaos, Twilight Sparkle." Discord says feeling more than obliged to answer this one for everyone. "He needed to make chaos noticeable to actually become one of us. It's like saying you're a unicorn with no horn. Speaking of which..." He snaps his fingers and Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence's horns and wings disappear. Again.

My Element lights a grey fire in my chest and I snap my orange fingers and a grey flame flies out from them. The fire travelled to one of the mares who Discord just targeted and landed atop her head, it made its way to her back and jumps to the next mare. As the fire burned away, the missing features had returned to each of them. Discord frowns in disappointment and confusion.

"Now how did you do that?"

"Have you forgotten already Discord?" I ask sarcastically. "I'm the bearer of Willpower, whatever I think can happen will happen. Throw a bit of chaos into the mix and there's nothing I can't do!" As a demonstration, I slam my fists together, grey fire burst from them and wraps around my hands. I slam my eagle fit into the earth, the ground gives way to my strike and a fissure begins to form starting at me and moving towards Discord.

Grey fire explodes from the fissure in the shape of animals. Discord pops a firefighter's costume on himself, equipped with hose. He pulls back a lever on the hose and a jet of water bursts out of it and drenches the animal shaped fire, causing the fire and water to cancel out and turn into steam.

"Hmm, maybe water does work nicely against fire." Discord comments through the steam.

"And maybe you should shut up and be more vigilant!" I yell high above him. When he reduced my fire to steam I took advantage of my situation and flew above him. I jump off an invisible wall and shoot myself towards Discord, even Dash would be jealous of my speed.

The grey fire around my hands begins to lengthen and form a trail behind me. I crash into Discord, tackling him to the ground. We tumble around again, but this time I make sure not to make the same mistake twice. As I pick Discord up off the ground, the grey fire that formed a trail behind me morph into flaming chains and wrap around his arms and legs. The same fire chains wrap themselves around my own arms and legs, anchoring us together

"Got ya!" I yell in triumph, holding him in a bear hug from behind.

"Do you really think that these can stop me? Honestly boy, I thought better of you." He struggles to free himself, but my grip on him was too tight and the chains only tightened themselves.

"Sorry Discord, but those chains are binding. Once they got you, they aren't letting go. I made sure of that, but just to be safe," I released my eagle hand from him and plunge it into his chest. A chorus of gasps rang out from the others.

"Jesse, there is no need to kill him!" Princess Celestia shouts trying to stop me.

"Kill him? Nah, I'm just getting back what's mine." I say pushing my hand farther into his chest. I finally find what I was searching for. I wrench my hand out of him and pull out a tiny bit of normal looking fire, no hole was visible in Discord's chest from where my hand was.

"Hey, I liked that." Discord complains trying to grab at the flame.

"Too bad, besides, it originally belonged to me." I counter, holding my missing piece of Willpower out of his reach. It flies out my hand and floats above my head. "Twilight, I got back my missing piece of Willpower, use the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone!"

"That's great, just get out of the way or you'll get consumed too." She yells back, happy for this nightmare to finally be over. Celestia put a hoof on her student's shoulder, a look of sorrow across her face. Twilight's hope slowly washes away as she realizes something is wrong.

"Afraid I can't do that Twilight," I say softly. "If I complete myself, then I lose all my chaos power, reverting me back to a human. And these chains are made from more chaos than anything else. And once I lose my chains, these chains disappear-"

"And I'll be gone the moment they do." Discord laughs again. No matter what may happen, he wins.

"Then what do we do?" Fluttershy asks Twilight. "We can't turn him to stone too, not after what he's done for us."

"But if we don't then Discord will be free." Twilight counters, torn between two difficult choices. "He may be locked up now, but I don't think those chains can hold forever."

"They can't. Listen Twilight, I've made my decision. If self-sacrifice is the only way to beat Discord then I will gladly make that sacrifice."

"But you can't!" Sharla yells rejecting the plan. "What would happen to you? This might kill you."

"Trust me bird-cat, he'll live. I've had firsthand experience." Discord says dryly.

"Then what about us? You're friends. What about Shantze and Light? What would I tell them? They look up to you, you know. Shining Armor, you're with me on this aren't you?"

"... Do it Twilight." The Captain says unable to look at anyone.

"What?!" Sharla yells looking betrayed. "How could you be okay with this? He's your friend, he's saved your life a number of times before! How can you just stand by and let this happen?"

"By using every fiber of my body to stop myself from agreeing with you!" He shouts back, a tear rolling down his face. "Oh course he's my friend, I'd do anything to make sure he was as safe as my own wife! But if I did that then it would only be selfishness, not nobility. As Captain of the Royal Guard I must protect and see to the safety of the country and the crown before anything else. Even if it means I would have to sacrifice myself for that. And that's just what he's doing now, putting the safety of his friends before his own well-being. He's protecting us, he's protecting everything and everyone."

"He's right Sharla, I'm doing this to protect you. All of you." I say with a gentle smile, no hint of regret in my voice. "So, seeing as though I won't be needing this, I have a more practical use for it." The cut off piece of Willpower begins to mold itself into a sheet of paper. I catch it in between two fingers and gently guide it to Celestia. "Don't think ill of me Sharla, you'd do this for your brother wouldn't you?" She couldn't say anything back. She turns her head away from the pain, tears I her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asks, hoping that we could think of another way out of this. But she knew as well as I did, this was the only way. I nod my head, at peace with myself.

"So this is how it ends? I must say, I'm actually okay with turning back to stone. I had a lot of fun that's made me well and content." Discord says to me looking satisfied as we see the Elements of Harmony come together.

"You seem awfully calm about this. Some may even say peaceful." I remark with a sly smirk. He shrugs, the chains clinking together as he moves.

"Well, there's a difference between being evil and being chaotic. I just wanted to have fun, mess with some ponies, sit in my old throne again, so to speak. And you've provided me with dump truck loads of fun. Of course I don't relish going back to that stony prison, but at least I'll going back with a smile."

"I take it that is going to be the closest to a thank you I'll ever get from you?" I ask as the rainbow of Harmony shoots into the air. He smiles and chuckles like I made an amusing joke, watching as the rainbow shoots towards us.

I can feel the power of Harmony much stronger this time as it strikes. It sort of hurts, but in a nice way, like when you slowly peel off a band aid after a perfectly healed cut. Perhaps because I was a draconequus now. As I feel myself petrify, I stare at my friends.

As I petrify, I put my left hand on my hip and bring my other one up in a two fingers and solute off. Making a large, goofy smile. If I'm going to be stone for the rest of my life, then I may as well be in a cool looking pose. And that's the last I remembered before the darkness consumed me.
> Chapter Twenty-nine: Aftermath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Twenty-nine:
Aftermath




Where am I? I can't see anything, there's only darkness. I feel weightless too, I can’t feel my body. So, is this the afterlife? Mm, could be limbo, this seems like something limbo would be.

So, this is my reward for saving Equestria? To remain in purgatory for the rest of time? I can't really complain I suppose, I did know what I was getting into, and that there would be consequences. I just didn't entirely know what the consequences would be. Still, I suppose it was worth it, we beat Discord. Equestria has returned to its former glory, and everything can go back to normal. Minus my own situation. So, what do I do now?

...

...

...

You know, I think I understand why Discord is so insane now. I've been here for maybe, three minutes and I'm already bored. I'll probably go mad myself soon enough. I mean seriously, it's so boring! I have no physical body, it's freaking quiet, there's no way of telling if I'm floating or falling, if I'm dead or alive, there's nothing to look at, it's noisy as hell, no one to talk to... ? Noisy as hell?

My hand automatically shot out and landed on a plastic box, silencing the repetitive beeping sound. I open my eyes to find myself in a bed. I slowly sit up and look around, why was I in a bed? Shouldn't I be trapped in stone? I find that it's not just a bed that I was sleeping in, it was my bed! I was in my room; I was home. 

I appear to have been sleeping in the same clothes I wore when I met Discord and I went to Markus' place. And my bag that I packed was on the floor next to my bed, in the same condition it was in when I first packed it. I climbed out of my bed and rummaged through it to find that nothing was missing. I checked myself to from head to toe to find that I was in peak condition. The scars and bruises I received in Equestria have vanished. 

I must have been missing for at least a month. So... why is it that nothing has changed? I look to digital clock next to my bed, to find that the date is just the day after I vanished. So, does that mean it was all a dream? But how could I have dreamt all that in one night? It was so vivid and real, not to mention long. My attention snaps back to the clock, it displayed something else that shocked me.

"Holy shit!" I yell, grabbing my already packed bag and rushing down stairs and out the door. "How do I sleep in 'till eleven-fucking-thirty?" 

I start sprinting down my street, running as fast as I can like a bat out of hell. I’m just glad my school isn’t that far away from where I live. As I run down the street, occasionally stopping at a red light, it occurs to me. Why am I so concerned about being late? I've been late for school hundreds of times, sure, not this late, but late. And even when I am late I'm still a head of the class and get everything done. So what's with me, could it have been that dream?

After ten minutes of running, I eventually make it to school just in time for lunch to start. 

"Now, aren't you late?" I turn around to see my friend Markus, giving me a mocking but friendly smile. Man, it's so nice to see him for some reason. "So what happened to you last night?"

"Um, that's a good question. Last I remember, I was  on my way to your place." I answer, leaving out the part that I met 'Discord.'

"You were, but you never showed up. I phoned your place to see if you were still coming, your parents said that you had already left. We got worried and started looking for you. They later called me on my cell and said they found you sleeping next to an alley somewhere on the way to my place. They took you home and that was the last I heard. So, you want to start explaining?"

"Well, I think I met a drug dealer, or something. Shit, I think he made me take something because I'm pretty sure I hallucinated some stuff." I say sheepishly. He tries holding back laughter. 'Tries' being the key word here.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He says in between breaths. "That shouldn't be funny, I know. But I can't help myself."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I got drugged and passed out. Ha-ha-ha." I say sarcastically. My stomach growls in hunger, breaking the awkwardness. I check my pockets for my wallet, but of course, it's not there. "Crap, I haven't had anything to eat all morning and I must have left my wallet at home." 

"Are you sure it's not in your bag?" With the possibility of it actually being there, though however unlikely, I take off my backpack and sift through it. I just find my  papers and books, but no wallet. As I soon give up and accept the fact that I forgot it, I find something unfamiliar in my last pocket. a medium sized box with a note on it, like it's a present..

Curious to know what it is or where I got it, I read the note to myself:

Well that was fun! You know kid, I should do something like that more often. Anywho, it's a me, Discord, world renowned plumber off to save my princess in hopes of cake. Or maybe that was the mustache guy. Just wrote you this note to make sure you know you aren't crazy, even though I'd love it if you went mad. Us: trapped in stone, permanently. That's right, you and me are on display for the whole world to see. And I don't see any way of me getting free again. Not even if Celestia thinks that I can be reformed and use my powers for good.

Equestria: as peacefully boring as it was before I made everything cool. Your friends: safe. That's including the overgrown lizard and mutt, they're still around. And everything is hunky dory for everyone. Wait a minute, no it isn't! I'm still in stone! But why aren't you, you ask? Simple, I just used the restricting amount of my powers to send you home. Call it sympathy or whatever you want, but I just did it because I could. And maybe because it could have actually been sympathy.

I know what it's like to be trapped in stone for centuries, trust me, by the end of the day, you would have lost your mind and went bonkers. So, I spared you the torment and sent you home just five minutes after you vanished. It did involve tearing the fabric of space and time a little, so you would arrive back without your items missing or with any of your injuries you sustained, but that's easily fixable... I think. Your universe and a few others may or may not meet one another now. Well, I suppose that's all I care about saying: You're home and safe, I'm in stone, and everything back in Equestria is fine. To their standards at least. Well, ta-ta for now, maybe I'll check up on you again some time, reminisce of the good ol' days over a cup of chocolate milk maybe.

And at the bottom was a familiar little signature. A backwards D. I'm speechless and absolutely shocked. I don't know what I should be feeling. Disbelief that it wasn't a dream, excitement that I got to go to Equestria, relief that I saved everyone, or caution that this could be another trick by Discord? Underneath his signature on the letter was a post script.

One other thing I left you two presents. The first is just so you'll never forget lil' ol' me. I made it myself. And the second one is for you, just a little something to remember who you are. It's not the real thing, a replica.

I open the box and find it surprising, yet totally predictable, as to what lay inside. I pull out a stuffy doll of Discord himself. Of course, what else would it have been?

"Dude, do you actually have a Discord plushie?" Markus asks. I'm not sure if he's mocking me for actually having one, or jealous that I have one and he doesn't. Inside the box was a small item wrapped in paper, I put the Discord plushie down and unwrap the mysterious gift. My hands freeze up as I unwrap the last bit, revealing the item.

"Thank you," I whisper. I feel a small amount of gratitude towards the same creature that sent me on one of the most hellish and exciting adventure of my life. I grab the golden chain that was wrapped inside lifting it up to reveal the entire gift. The chain connected to make a necklace, and a figure attached to it. It was made from stained glass of red, yellow, and orange, held together by more golden material, all formed to make a flame.

I put the necklace on, it felt perfect around me, like it belonged there.

"Hey, cool necklace." Markus compliments. But his comment goes unheard. I reflect on my adventures I had, the friends I made, the pain I suffered, the excitement I felt. And above all else, the challenges that was brought.

"You know, I wonder what Lauren Faust was thinking when she created Discord? Though an excellent villain he made, I wonder what possessed her to think up something so crazy." Markus comments, inspecting the Discord plushie. That's right! Lauren Faust went to Equestria, just like I did. But a less grandiose departure as mine. I'll have to meet her.

Ha, she chronicled her experience in Equestria, minus a few important factors like being the mother of a bunch of half-human creatures. And no one believed her because it was too preposterous to believe. Hmm, maybe I could do that. Write a story on my adventure to Equestria, let people know what it was like. What Equestria and Discord are like. Share the truth to the world, let hundreds of eyes see, tell them what I am. And you know something? No one will believe it.

No one will believe how true that story will be. No one will believe that I am the Element of Willpower; that Equestria is real; that those adventures actually happened.

No one will believe it...
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Epilogue




The blast of Harmony died down, and in place of two battling draconequui, are two statues linked together by a stone chain connecting to each of their ankles and wrists. The more familiar draconequus, whom they have been battling, has both his hands in the air and a smile across his face like he were going down the first hill of a rollercoaster. The second, the one who, with his sacrifice, saved them all and Equestria stood tall and proud. And even though it was finally the end of a nightmare with one of Equestria's greatest threats locked away, no one smiled. 

"That boy gave us life," the Diamond Dog Alpha says next to his renewed dragon friend. "If only we could have done the same for him." 

"Aye, he was young and full of life. He had an entire future in front of him. We're old, out of our generation. It should have been us." His dragon friend agrees.

"We all wish that it could have been different. But I'm afraid that we were dealing with powers greater than most of us could have come equal to. He knew that this was the only option, the only way to beat Discord." Celestia whispers with a little hollowness in her voice. She knows the pain of what it is like to be separated from someone who you care about, someone important to you. And if it were not for him, Discord would still rule, so why shouldn't she feel gratitude towards her savior, why shouldn't it pain her that he had to have been turned to stone?

"He was a good friend, wasn't he?" Cadence asks trying to comfort her husband.

"Yeah, he was. There were a lot of things that made him a unique person. He saved my life once or twice, always had our backs, knew how to talk to us." Shining Armor tried looking strong, to not show how hurt he was about this. But he knew that even the strongest of shields have a weak point. 

"He was the first to not think of me as a monster, to try talking to me before screaming." The harpy says to know one in particular. She did not look like she was sad about the loss of her friend, but that didn't mean she was unaffected by it. "And if I never met him I would never have found out who I am."

"What did he give you?" Sharla asks Celestia regarding the sheet of paper made from the last remaining piece of Willpower. She had tears in her eyes that she failed to keep back. 

"A letter:" Everyone listened as the sun princess reads it out loud.

"Dear Princess Celestia, 

Back where I come from, I had a single friend. I had trouble making friends not because I couldn't make them, but because I didn't want them. I was the good at everything, too good actually. Because of that it made people jealous and resent me. After a while, I decided that I didn't need friends, and that's what I believed so I began acting the same way towards them as they did to me. But no matter how bad I was, my one friend was always there with me. He didn't care what I was like or how much better I was than him, he was always there. And I never understood why

But since arriving in Equestria, I actually have learned what the value of friendship is actually like. I can be a jerk, a coward, a weakling, a bragger, or simply an annoyance; but even with all those traits I could still have friends. I learned the lessons of caring, looking out for someone else, comforting those in need, and giving a hand for help. In a way, I guess I have to thank Discord for sending me here. If it wasn't for him I would never have learned what friendship was really like. 

Flex, you were my first friend here. You taught me quite a bit, I learned how to laugh, fight, and protect from you, you were no doubt the biggest factor of my learning experience. Shining Armor, protect everyone, but do not sacrifice yourself like I did. If you have to protect them by hurting them, do not do it, it will not be worth the price. Flora, I know that socializing is not on the top of your priorities list, but talk to Celestia and Chex. You've been confused as to what or who you are for your entire life, always looking for answers. They can help you, please, find out who you are. Krinox and Corig, I have nothing else to say to the two of you, I'm sure you already know what it would be. But still, your bond with one another was once strong, and then Discord broke it, turning the two of you on one another. Promise to never let that happen again.

Sharla, you could have been my closest friend of all. You taught me the most, you taught me to care about people. Please, take care of the kids and watch over them. Make sure Shantze becomes strong, make sure he will be able to protect his friends next time. And take care of Light Flicker too, she and Shantze are good friends, I'd hate for that to end. And please, say good-bye to them for me. I'm sorry I couldn't help you find your family, I wish I could have, I really do.

And to Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity: thank you. Thank you all. You may not know it, but you six have been a great influence on me, thank you for everything. And please, don't feel bad for what you did, this was my decision, not yours. This was all my doing, all my responsibility, and that comes with consequences. Thank you all, and goodbye. 

Your friend, ally, human, and Element bearer,

Jesse Ruesgen.

Crystal clear tears fill the eyes of many of the listeners, and if not then it was a somber look. The paper spontaneously combusted in the corner, reverting back to a flame. The fire consumes the whole note until nothing was left. But it did not burn up and turn to ash, the paper was just being replaced until it was only fire. The fire slips out of Celestia's embrace and flies off, going wherever the wind may take it. 

"Was that a... friendship report?" Twilight asks with tear filled eyes, confused as to how a stranger knew about those. 

"I believe so." Celestia answers in a strong tone, suppressing her emotions to overtake her. 

"What do we do with him? After all he sacrificed, we cannot just leave him like an average garden ornament." Rarity asks.

"I say we break him off from that monster and give him a proper memorial." Sharla directs all her anger towards Discord. Wanting to smash him to pieces if she could.

"You are right about giving him a memorial, he deserves one." Celestia replies. "But I am afraid they must stay together for fear that Discord could be freed in the process. For now, I am afraid we must hold off on that, there are more dire matters I must attend to. There must be confusion all over the country as we speak, and everypony will be overjoyed to know what has happened. Everypony will know what happened, and who saved us. And they will rejoice and praise his name for years to come. Come everypony, there is be work to be done.”

> Author's note + Sneak Peak
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Well, that was fun. It took me one year, thirty chapters, a hiatus, and a lot of work, but it's finally done. I hate to see it end, this is my personal favourite of all my fics even if my other stories have been doing better than this one. And I'd just like to thank you guys for the support, criticism, hitting the favourite button, and throwing some ideas at me. It was an awesome ride.

I thought of doing a sequel to this, one about Sharla and Shantze still looking for their family with the help of Light an Flex. Of course I'd have Shining Armor, Flora, and Chex would be in it, but they wouldn't be prime characters. And I still just might do it too, maybe not though.

But is this the end of it? Yes, yes it is. I don't think I'll be making that sequel. But is this the end of Jesse and the gang? NOPE! Don't worry guys, they'll be back, but some things will change. I'm currently working on a project with another guy and we are going to make a crossover of our two of our stories. I don't know how long it will take, but it will take quite a while. 

"Redwolf15, you handsome bastard you, what changes do you speak of?"

I'm glad you folks asked that question. This story takes a apart of the multi-verse theory. There are an infinite number of universes, each one a little different from the next or a whole lot different. If your still don't understand it, then just click this link. And if you still don't get it, well then your fucking stupid.

Jesse, Sharla, Shantze, Flex, Light Flicker, and Shining Armor will all be in it. But Chex and Flora as well as any other half humans will be non-existent. I can't tell the plot or who I am working with, but I can give you  sneak peak at the first chapter:


So, how long have I been here? Four weeks? A month maybe? God, if Discord wasn't stuck in a stone prison I'd say 'Thank you for keeping your word and sending me to Equestria but I do not appreciate the dropping-me-off-near-a-hungry-manticore part.' All the while beating him into submission with my fists. So maybe you're confused as to what the hell I'm talking about. Well let me quickly summarize it for you:

I was heading to a buddy's place, he insisted that we have a sleepover. I declined at first, but he was determined for me to come over. After bugging the hell out of me, I agreed. So I'm only a few blocks from his place when this creep walks up to me and starts talking about how he can send me to Equestria. I thought he was some drug dealer or was crazy, but I decided to have a bit of fun and played along, little did I know he was telling the truth. What's more, I didn't know I was talking to the Lord of Chaos himself, Discord.

One freak-trip and a morning later, I'm in a forest in Equestria that I don't recognize. How did I know that it was Equestria? Because on the same god damn day I was nearly eaten by a manticore that looked exactly like the same one from the show! Anyway, I escaped and lived. Now let's stop talking about what's happened to me and start talking about who I am.

The name's Jesse, and I've always been the best at everything I've ever done. Sports, school, fighting, you name it and I'll be the best at it. You may think being the best at everything is great, well it's not! I have zero competition and no challenge in life. That is, until I came here. Just about every day has kept my heart racing and my mind struggling. Every day is a challenge, a struggle for me to survive. And I love it!

At first I just wanted to find my way home, but things have changed, it's so much more different here. For one, I've been making a lot more friends than I've ever had. That buddy of mine I told you about earlier? Yeah, he's also kind of my only friend. I'm not a freak or anti-social, it's just that I tend to be a dick to people at times without meaning it. The only reason I have one friend is because he just laughs at what I say. Of course I don't insult him any more unless it's a pure joke, and we both usually share a laugh. Anyway, I'm digressing.

So as strange as it may seem, I've made some friends here. The first was a phoenix, I don't understand a single word he says, he only squawks after all. I saved him from a pack of hungry timberwolves. He was old, losing his feathers and everything, just like how Philomena was. I didn't recognize him to be a phoenix at first, but after he spontaneously combusted and was reborn, I kind of caught on after that. Together we fought off all the wolves and I gave him his name, Flex, we've stuck together ever since then. We would both be dead if it wasn't for one another. I kept him alive long enough to be reborn, and he burned every timberwolf around. You should have seen how they ran. Meanwhile, I took some severe damage and was basically dying. You want to know an interesting fact about phoenixes? They can project a warm light that heals your wounds. Seriously, my blood was pouring out, I would have been dead if not for Flex.

Then there's the griffin siblings, Shantze and Sharla. Sharla's a year older than me by human standards I figure, about nineteen, give or take. Her eye level come to about my shoulder, she's really fun, and I finally have someone else to talk to who can keep a conversation going. Much like Gilda, the feathers around Sharla's eyes were coloured and in a pattern. Only they were red instead of purple, a nice dark red I might add. She had much longer feathers on her head that streamed down past her shoulders, resembling a hair-like style. The feather-hair stuff was white but turned a red lower midway and then turned into more of an orangey shade at the tips. And that was just how she looked, she was far from helpless, trust me. 

She kept a double sided axe on her back at all times and could fight with the ferocity of a lion and precision of an eagle. Seriously folks, don't piss her off! What's more, she's not a bitch like how Gilda was. She is a nice girl, we laugh a lot at one another's jokes, compliment each other, and she always has my back. Maybe if only I had a friend like her back home then I wouldn't always be such a prick.

Moving on, her little brother Shantze is another story, rambunctious little scamp. He's small, but I suppose a twelve year old is would be. His feathers were more or less the same as his sister's, but with a blue tint. It's official, all the feathers on a griffin's head are shaped like hair. Shantze's streak back like it has been blowing in the wind. His blue hair-feathers change to a black tip like how Sharla's change to an orange. He's a bugger that can always made me laugh and enjoy talking with. Flex is really keen to the kid, spends a lot of time playing with him while his sister and I do other stuff. 

But how we came across the last member of our group is a sensitive subject that none of us like talking about. The girl's name is Light Flicker, and she's the first pony I've met. She's a unicorn with a blue/greenish coat while her mane is a zig-zag of navy blue and teal. Her cutie mark is three lights wavering on and off. She spends time with Shantze and Flex mostly, seeing as though the two are the same age and Flex is kind to her. She's grow accustomed to me, no longer frightened of the 'big-alien-monster' that I am. Why is it that she's a sensitive subject and why is she with us you ask? Because she's an orphan and her entire town was slaughtered. I'm surprised that we even found a survivor. I'll tell you something about Equestria: it isn't the wonder land we've come to think it to be. It was a small town, bodies were everywhere, rarely any of them were in one piece. We don't know what happened to them or what caused this mass homicide, and quite frankly, I don't want to find out.

I've learned since day one that I need to know how to defend myself. And how do I do that? With a katana. When I came to Equestria I had two things on me: one was my belonging I had at the time before I was sent through time and space, and the second is a sword. I never had it, or even seen it, when Discord and I met. I guess Discord was feeling a tad bit generous and gave me a little present. 

At first it was a regular steel blade, nothing fancy other than how it looked. But after a little magic and a feather from Flex, I've been able to do so much more with it, don't ask me how it happened, I don't even know. Now the blade lights on fire for a more effective melee ability, and if I don't feel like getting close, it comes with two long distance attacks now. One is a stream of fire, I just point in the direction and presto, instant flame-thrower. But my preference of distance combat is the flame wave. I just have to swing my sword in an arc while it's on fire, and a crescent flame is shot out.

So that's basically my life now. I travel around Equestria with my friends: a phoenix, two griffins, and a unicorn whose parents were killed. What fun! Anyway, let's get to the present now.



That's all you get for now. I'm excited about this project! Special thanks goes out to NightmareKnight, Thardoc, and quilzel, and of course you, the fanst. Anyway, this is Redwolf15, saying thank you for your support. Until next time!