This story is based about a month before Twilight became ruler of Equestria
Have you ever wondered what would happen if fate had changed in ways you do not understand? As Twilight and her friends prepare for their newest Night Lantern Festival, fate had other plans. After a terrible storm, they found two sets of weapons, a newcomer and his sons. But when an old threat since before the ponies' time appeared, the race against time is on to help fulfill the boys' dead mother's last wish; to scatter her ashes above the highest peak of her home. But along the way, they made new discoveries, new revelations, as well as a path of self discovery for both the newcomers and the Mane 7, including the EG Mane 7. They later who the newcomer is, what he is, and what had happened during his journey. He even helped Twilight change her fate for the better, that she, along with Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Flurry Heart can benefit from. But can they defeat the ancient god of Equestria that threatens the balance of the world? Only fate, as well as the power and magic of their own, can tell.
On an ordinary day, over a lush and beautiful land, where the tallest of trees pierce the dark skies, the grass are freshly green, the night stars were shining as well as the moon, whilst the river waters run smoothly down the stream as the animals were as cheery as they can be.
But far from them were a small but colorful town called Ponyville. Among them, the Earth Ponies, the Pegasi and the Unicorns were enjoying their night time tasks as all of them were enjoying the lantern lights that had been placed all over town, to many of their delights. From one part of the street to another. A unicorn with a lyre symbol on her flank called a cutie mark, was talking to an earth pony with pieces of candy cutie mark, showing that they were friends, whilst one white unicorn with blue hair was listening to music through her earphones whilst another earth pony with mulberry eyes was placing her cello away after she was done practicing music.
Ponies from all around were enjoying their nighttime tasks, but up from above, a certain rainbow mane Pegasus with a lightning rainbow cutie mark, flew over the lights whilst she enjoyed the bright colours from each of them. From down below, the rainbow mane Pegasus saw her friends from down below. Two Earth Ponies (an orange pony with a blond mane and a cowboy hat with a apple cutie mark named Applejack, with a pink pony and a pink mane with a balloon cutie mark named Pinkie Pie), two Unicorns (a white unicorn with a purple mane and a diamond cutie mark named Rarity, a slightly purple pony with a purple mane and has a glimmer type of star cutie mark named Starlight Glimmer), one Pegasus (a yellow pony with pink hair with a butterfly cutie mark named Fluttershy), one baby dragon with wings named Spike and an Alicorn (a purple Alicorn with a purple mane and a star that sparkles named Twilight Sparkle). She flew down and greeted them.
‘Hey, everypony.’ said Rainbow Dash, hovering over her friends ‘How’s it hanging?’
‘Fine and all Dash,’ said Applejack when she wondered why Rainbow Dash flew down here late ‘What kept y’all?’
‘Sorry, I had to clear the skies all around Ponyville so that we could continue with our new annual Night Lantern Festival. Speaking of which, any problems?’
‘Oh not at all darling,’ said Rarity with a gentle smile ‘The lanterns were quite a delight to display. Especially with the lanterns having my own personal designs.’
Each of the lanterns had Cutie Marks of everypony in Ponyville, with Rarity being proud of her work in the process.
‘Ah gotta admit it Sugarcube,’ said Applejack whilst she tilted her hat backwards ‘They look mighty decorative there.’ ‘Why thank you Applejack.’
‘And I have to admit it, I was worried that we wouldn’t have enough treats for everypony here.’ said Starlight whilst she looked around, but everypony were able to get some cake, candy and many other treats ‘But thanks to Pinkie, they seem to be getting along well.’
‘Thanks,’ said Pinkie with a smile and skipped a bit around her friends ‘I always say that a cake and a treat and a party will always bring a smile to Everypony’s face.’
‘Got that right,’ said Spike whilst he stuffed his face with a cake whilst making happy noises from consuming his cake ‘They certainly make me happy.’
Twilight giggled when she saw Spike’s face being covered with cake icing ‘I can see that.’
‘Even the animals seem to enjoy it.’ said Fluttershy whilst she noticed there were a handful of creatures continuing to set up the festival whilst some of them were enjoying their new treats ‘And on the plus side, they get to experience a new party for tonight.’
When all of a sudden ‘Ah just hope they don’t cause a ruckus.’
To their surprise, they saw a filly with a bow, eating a treat, which was none other than Applejack’s little sister, Apple Bloom.
‘Apple Bloom?’ said Applejack to a surprised, but not that surprised, Applejack ‘What in tarnation are y’all doin’ out here?’
‘We volunteered to continue help hanging up the decorations of the Night Lantern Festival.’
They saw many of the fillies and other towns folk continuing to hang up the decorations and lanterns for the ongoing festival. ‘Oh, right.’ said Applejack whilst she blushed slightly, when she had forgotten about that.
‘I’m just glad Princess Luna agreed to this festival.’ said Starlight when she continued to look at the decorations and the rest of the festivities ‘She was really happy that we organized it.’
‘Probably because she kinda owed you after you helped her and Celestia solve their differences.’ said Spike when he remembered that time when Celestia and Luna didn’t see eye to eye over a petty squabble. ‘Although it would’ve been better if Twilight would’ve learned to stay out of it.’
‘What?’ said Twilight with a stern eye and looking at Spike.
‘What?’ said Spike whilst he explained things to her ‘Whenever a pony goes out into the world, they had to find out about things on their own. It may not be easy, but it’ll be worth it in the end. Besides, didn’t Princess Celestia trust you to do things on your own when you first set out to learn about friendship?’
Right before Twilight wanted to change the subject, Applejack spoke to her ‘Y’all have to admit it Twilight, Spike does have a point.’
‘I do not.’ said Twilight trying to object.
‘Oh really?’ said Rainbow Dash with a cocked eyebrow ‘Ms. Twiley Nanas?’
Twilight moaned when Rainbow Dash brought that up.
‘Darling,’ said Rarity whilst trying to reassure Twilight ‘Try to calm down. You’re heart may be in the right place, but you do have a tendency of taking things too far, and that’s coming from me whenever I go crazy over fashion.’
‘The pony of fashions speak the truth,’ said a striped Zebra named Zacora when she came to visit whilst helping out with the decorations as she walked by ‘Though you may the anxious in troubled times, but it can also cause, a large amount of stress.’
‘And we all know that anxiety is not very healthy for you.’ said Fluttershy when she reminded Twilight of her well being ‘Like Princess Celestia taught me during the play, you need to keep a calm mind and soul, for you never know what you might learn.’
Twilight sighed when she knew her friends were right ‘How is it I can never disagree with you?’
‘Because,’ said Pinkie whilst she floated around with balloons tied around her ‘You have a habit of being overconfident and always tend to give up too easily like the time Neigh Say shut the school down, or Starswirl being mad at you for releasing the Pony of Shadows, or thinking of taking Tirek alone, or…’
‘Okay, I get it!!’ said Twilight loudly when she didn’t want to be reminded of those days. ‘Why do you girls always bring that up?’
Pinkie placed the left side of her face against Twilight’s with a smile ‘Because we love you.’
‘And you need to learn to relax,’ said another voice, which revealed them to be Trixie.
‘Trixie.’ said Starlight when she and Trixie hugged one another and broke it ‘You made it.’
‘Of course,’ said Trixie whilst she placed her hat and cape away ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie would never miss out a new festivity here in Ponyville.’. Trixie looked around and saw the lanterns hanging about. ‘Ooh, I so approve of this.’ said Trixie when she admired the lanterns, whilst looking at Rarity ‘And I must say Rarity, this is some of your best work.’
‘Oh, um, thank you.’ said Rarity whilst partially being surprised at the same time.
‘Wow that’s…mighty honest of you.’ said Applejack when she felt the same way Rarity does.
‘We all gotta grow up sometime.’ said Trixie when she admitted it. When all of a sudden, Trixie suddenly had a piece of paper fly into her face, which made her take it off in frustration ‘Okay, what the heck, I thought that there was going to be no wind today?’
The others also realized it when they realized that the wind were picking things up slowly. ‘What the heck is going on?’ said Twilight when she wondered what the wild wind was about.
‘Rainbow,’ said Applejack whilst she held onto her hat ‘Ah thought y’all said the weather was clear and all.’
‘I did,’ protested Rainbow Dash when she didn’t want to take the blame ‘I didn’t think that a wind like this would just show up.’
‘Or…,’ said Spike when he gulped, whilst pointing at something really scary above ‘That?!!’
They looked up at the sky, and to their shock, they saw dark thunderclouds flying above their skies, but instead of covering all of Ponyville, it covered all of Equestria. The thunder began to make more noises as the winds got sharper. And without warning, lightning began to strike against a few buildings, causing them to be lit on fire. Many of the citizens of Ponyville ran around in a panic trying to get away from the lightning storms.
‘Quick, Applejack, Pinkie Pie,’ said Twilight when she directed her friends ‘You two get the ponies to safety under every cellar you can find!!’
‘Okie-dokie-lokie!’ said Pinkie as she and Applejack darted off to help the ponies.
‘Fluttershy, get your animals to safety and fast!!’
‘Okay.’ said Fluttershy with a frightened voice as she guided her animal friends to safety.
‘Rarity, try to get the fillies to a safe distance!!’
‘Alright darling!!’ said Rarity whilst she gathered very filly she could find, with Spike volunteering to help.
‘Rainbow, get up to the clouds and see if you can direct them away!!’
‘You got it!!’ shouted Rainbow as she darted towards the clouds.
‘Starlight, help me redirect the lightning so that they don’t hurt anypony else!!’
‘Alright, will do!!’ said Starlight as she and Twilight began to redirect the lightning whilst flying through every direction as quick as they could.
From every corner, Twilight and her friends were doing all that they could to help the citizens of Ponyville. Spike helped Rarity get the fillies to safety, as well as Fluttershy with her animals.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie were directing most of the ponies to nearby shelters. Twilight and Starlight were doing what they could to redirect the lightning to different parts outside of Equestria.
Rainbow Dash on the other hand flew around and tried to destroy what she could, but discovered the clouds were being recreated and were still being used to shoot lighting, but instead lethal ones when she noticed that the lightning had just struck at Fluttershy’s sanctuary, as well as half of Applejack’s barn.
‘What the heck is the matter with this storm?!!’ said Rainbow Dash as she got frustrated ‘Does it have a mind of its own or something?!’
When she smashed another cloud beside her, she heard a loud screeching and zipped past her, which looked like a half severed body as well as a few wings. ‘What the…?’ she said to herself as she looked up.
To her shock, they saw a few creatures above with wings (resembling to Greek harpies) as they flew around bearing totems that can control lighting. Rainbow Dash saw that they were busy shooting at something that moved at a faster rate, until one of them got punched as it hovered below Rainbow Dash. She heard yelling and looked above her. To her shock, she saw a being that launched himself in the air with wings of his own as he screamed in rage whilst holding two objects as they were on fire, shocking her when she yelped whilst she dodged it.
She saw it fighting the creature with his swords, until with one mighty swing, and it sawed the winged creature in half, shocking Rainbow Dash again in the process. The mysterious being continued to fly and fight the creatures, but at the same time, Rainbow Dash tried to dodge the lightning no matter what.
When all of a sudden, one of the lightning had struck against her right wing, causing her to scream of pain ‘Aw, Buck!!’
She ended up being hurled towards the ground as she descended from the ground, spinning out of control, until she finally fell through the clouds straight towards Ponyville and straight towards Twilight’s castle. She closed her eyes when she was about to crash. But somehow she stopped. The moment she realized it, she opened her eyes and looked up. To her surprise, she saw Derpy saving her whilst she landed in front of Twilight’s castle doors.
‘You okay?’ said Derpy when she was worried about Rainbow Dash’s well being.
‘I’m good,’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she held onto her hurt wing ‘Wing got hurt, but good.’
‘Quick,’ said Derpy whilst her hoof was against the door ‘We’d better get inside.’
Derpy opened the door whilst they quickly walked in. Whilst at the same time, half of the citizens of Ponyville were inside, trying to make sure all of them were safe, whilst Twilight and most of the hospital staff from the local Ponyville Hospital, quickly gave them blankets to keep warm, whilst some were being treated for their injuries when most of the debris hurt most of them.
Twilight saw Rainbow Dash coming in and saw she was injured, causing her to fly down and thanked Derpy, with her walking away to see if Dinky was alright. ‘Rainbow,’ said Twilight when she wanted to know what went wrong ‘What happened out there?’
As Nurse Redheart mended Rainbow Dash’s wing, she explained what happened ‘I tried Twilight, but the clouds up at the sky is nothing like I’ve ever seen. Every time I take down a couple of clouds, a ton more show up, and they’re more violent than the last. What about the others, are they okay?’
‘Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were able to take half the town to the shelters for safety,’ said Twilight whilst she was giving her an update ‘Rarity and Spike were able to take a the other half of the town folk here and also the doctors just in case. Starlight and I were able to place a protected shield around the castle so that the storm couldn’t take them down.’
‘That’s a relief.’ said Rainbow Dash, but was somehow a bit terrified at the same time.
‘Are you alright Rainbow Dash?’ said Twilight when she noticed that Rainbow Dash looked more terrified ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘I…uh…’ responded Rainbow Dash whilst she stuttered a bit through her voice ‘I saw something within the clouds Twilight. Something…horrible.’
‘Like what?’ said Twilight out of curiosity, for when she saw Rainbow like that, she had every reason to be concerned.
‘I saw a handful of creatures up there,’ said Rainbow Dash when she started after Redheart was done with her wing as she went to help other ponies in need ‘ They were big, scary, have wings, but they’re not dragons, and they can control lightning.’
‘What,’ said Twilight when she was shocked to hear what Rainbow Dash had seen ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure, and among them, I saw another creature. He didn’t look like any creature I’d seen, and he was carrying swords that were on fire.’
‘Fiery swords?’ said Twilight out of confusion.
‘I’m not making this up Twilight,’ said Rainbow Dash when she was literally nose to nose with Twilight ‘It was scarier than those creatures, it butchered them like they were nothing.’
They heard the lightning crashes from outside, which frightened those who were hiding inside. At the same time, Spike flew down and panted with exhaustion when he landed near Twilight
‘I’ve shut every window and door throughout the castle and sealed them tight. But it’s really looking bad out there Twilight, the lightning is destroying half of Ponyville.’
‘Destroying half of Ponyville?!!’ said a shocked Twilight when she held Spike close to her.
‘That’s what I said,’ said Spike when he wanted to make sure she heard it right ‘Half of Ponyville.’
The crashing continued outside, as well as a small quake happening form outside, leaving them more frightened. The lightning crashes and quakes continued to happen outside, with everypony still bracing themselves from within. ‘We can’t go out there Twilight, it’s too dangerous. I vote that we wait it out until all of this is over.’
‘I uh, second that notion.’ said Spike when he agreed with Rainbow Dash, as all of them continued to wait, until the storm had ended.
Later that very morning, the sky began to shine with the rising Sun, thanks to Celestia. After all of them woke up and were fed, all of them walked outside, and were shocked when they saw half of Ponyville in ruins. Many had gathered around and began to clear the debris and messes whilst the construction workers began to rebuild the town. Twilight was shocked to see Ponyville in ruins.
‘One storm, caused all this?’ said Twilight when she could barely fathom of what happened.
‘It’s not just half of Ponyville,’ said Rainbow Dash when she had just finished inspecting the sky and landed near Twilight ‘Half of the Everfree Forest is in ruins.’
‘Half of Everfree?’ said Twilight when she didn’t realize that not even the wild magic there could counter weather like that.
Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy came from the other side when some of them looked sad, whilst Twilight went over to see how they were. ‘Thank goodness you girls are alright, are you hurt?’
‘Not…really.’ said Applejack whilst she looked hurt.
‘What happened?’ said Twilight when she noticed Applejack looked hurt.
‘Half of the trees, even half of Sweet Apple Acres are in partial ruins.’ said Pinkie Pie whilst she tried to comfort Applejack, even Fluttershy ‘And Fluttershy’s cottage was almost destroyed, and uh…Sweet Feather Sanctuary doesn’t look too good either.’
‘Oh no.’ said Twilight when she didn’t realize how bad things were ‘But what about Granny Smith, is she…?
‘She’s fine, but mostly heartbroken.’ said Applejack when she was just as concerned with her health ‘But luckily for us the Apple Family came to visit her, so they’ll be able to help put things right in no time.’
‘Plus I was grateful to the bigger animals to keep the smaller ones safe’ said Fluttershy whilst she tried to smile.
Rarity walked up and spoke to them too ‘Thankfully most of Ponyville’s homes are still intact.’
‘And not to mention the old folks homes are also okay,’ said Starlight Glimmer when she had just come from the other side of town ‘Same goes for most of the stores and the preschool down the street. But unfortunately the Cutie Mark Crusader’s school’s a bit trashed.’
‘Then it looks like we’re gonna have to lend a classroom to them in the meantime,’ said Twilight when she thought of a solution to help them ‘I’m sure Miss Cheerilee won’t mind if we shared a…’
With great pace, and also out of breath whilst flying, Spike landed closely to them as he collapsed next to Twilight ‘Twilight…quick…other side…
Twilight quickly helped Spike sit up straight whilst Rarity gave him some water.
‘Now simmer down now Spike,’ said Applejack when she tried to calm Spike down ‘Why don’t you take a deep breath and start from the beginning.’
Spike breathed a bit to calm down, and eventually spoke to them ‘Like I said, I was busy inspecting out of town to see if everything else was still damaged, and I found something strange outside of town.’
‘Something strange?’ said Twilight when she was curious of what Spike was talking about ‘Like what?’
‘Follow me and I’ll show you.’
Spike guided them outside of town to show them what he had seen. They went through broken branches, past falling trees and partially burnt bushes. They were able to reach a clearing and had reached a type of trench. Spike was able to land on a sturdy rock, whilst the Mane 7 slowly stood next to him as he pointed ahead
‘There, you see it?’
They were able to get a good look, and to their surprise, they saw on the center, with a sturdy sandy slope, were three weapons that were well placed as if it were the sword in the stone. On the left was a sword, bearing a scabbard that had demon wings on it. On the right was a twin sword identical to the other, but its scabbard was different, as it had partial angel wings. But right at the center, was a type of Viking axe, which would resemble to any Viking or Norse god of Asgard or Valhalla.
They were surprised to see what they are, whilst Twilight spoke to Rarity, Applejack and Starlight ‘Girls, give me a hoof here.’
Applejack used her lasso to successfully pull the swords and axe out of the ground, whilst Twilight, Rarity and Starlight used their magic to pull them towards them. Twilight placed them on the ground in a neat line so that they could take a better look at it whilst they stood around it.
‘Whoa,’ said Applejack when she saw them up close ‘Ah never seen weapons like that before.’
‘They do look a bit tacky.’ said Rarity whilst she felt partially disturbed by the way they were designed.
‘And frightfully sharp.’ said Fluttershy when she was nervous near them.
‘Is it just me, or do I have a bad vibe from these things.’ said Spike when he had a weird feeling about the weapons.
‘Pff, oh come on Spike you’re exaggerating,’ said Twilight whilst she rolled her eyes, whilst she slowly began to reach for them to prove that there was nothing wrong with them ‘They’re just a pair of swords and an axe, how could they possibly…’
Within a split second, she instantly saw a scary image with a scary type of roar that sounded like a grunt, causing her to yelp whilst she retracted her hoof, and instantly sat down. The girls could see that she looked scared and were quickly going to her to see if she’s alright. ‘Darling what happened?’ said Rarity when she took a closer look.
‘I saw,’ said Twilight whilst she was still trying to recover from her shock ‘I saw something scary. Terrifying even.’
‘Still think I’m exaggerating now?’ said Spike whilst he crossed his arms and looked at Twilight with a cocked eyebrow.
‘I think you can mark that one down as “Amazingly accurate” Spike.’ said Starlight when she was surprised that Spike had great instinct.
Rainbow looked at them again, and to her shock, she recognized what they were. ‘No way, that’s it!!’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she pointed at the weapons ‘That’s what I saw last night!!’
‘Wait, what?’ said Applejack whilst she was surprised by what Rainbow revealed ‘How?’
Rainbow Dash then explained what she had seen ‘When I was busy trying to clear the clouds, I saw a creature bearing those swords whilst fending off a bunch of creatures that had wings and were wearing some kind of totem or something, allowing them to control and shoot lightning.’
‘Creatures?’ said Twilight confused by Rainbow Dash’s description of what she saw ‘What creatures?’
Rainbow Dash quickly flew back to Ponyville to fetch a parchment and a quill. She flew back and drew as best she could to show them what they looked like. After she was done, she threw the quill away and showed them ‘This is what they look like.’
She showed them a picture of a man sized bat, bearing a green totem of sorts, which surprised the girls in the process, with Fluttershy curling behind Applejack whilst she shivered with fear.
‘Ooh, that looks like a weird looking bat.’ said Pinkie Pie when she saw the creature.’
Spike suddenly had the urge to barf whilst he held his gut and mouth at the same time. Within an instant, Spike burped out a bit of fire, creating a scroll in the process. Twilight was surprised to see a parchment, meaning it had to be a message from Celestia. She quickly opened the letter, read through it and looked surprised at the same time, whilst she looked at her friends
‘Princess Celestia has quickly called us to Canterlot. We need to get there immediately.’
‘Well what are we waiting for,’ said Starlight ‘Let’s go.’
‘Wait,’ said Spike when he gained their attention ‘What about those?’
They looked at the weapons, whilst feeling nervous around them, until Pinkie had an idea ‘Ooh, why don’t we wrap them in a blanket, we can take them with us.’
Pinkie wrapped the blankets around the weapons and regrouped with Twilight, allowing her to teleport herself and her friends to Canterlot to see the Princess. But unknown to them, they were being watched by a stranger as he was wrapped around strange drapes from within the woods itself.
Within a split second, they landed in the middle of Canterlot, with Twilight instructing them ‘Alright, once we arrive, we can tell the princess about…’
She instantly stopped as she was shocked, for when they arrived, half of Canterlot were in ruins, as many of the construction ponies began to rebuild the town and the medical ponies came to check on the wounded civilians and soldiers. ‘What…what happened here?’ said Fluttershy when she was just as shocked as the others were.
At the same time, they heard a familiar voice and looked above, seeing their old friend Flash Magnus directing most of the Pegasi guards ‘Alright, you and your team go to the east and check on the barracks and make sure the rest of the recruits are okay. And you, go to the west and check up on the schools, there are a ton of scared fillies out there and they need to be well taken care of, so let’s move out.’
The Pegasi guards saluted and flew in different directions. Flash Magnus saw the Mane 7 down below, whilst also surprised to see them, flew towards them, and landed right in front of them ‘Twilight, I didn’t know you’d be here. Sorry about the mess.’
‘Flash, what happened here?’ said Rainbow Dash when she was surprised to see all the destruction all over Canterlot.
‘A violent storm broke out here, nearly destroyed everything in their path. The weather teams here did what they could but they could barely contain it. It was so out of control, it send half of them to the hospital.’
‘Wait,’ said Twilight when she was surprised by the news ‘So the storm nearly destroyed both of Ponyville, and Canterlot?’
‘You didn’t hear?’ said Flash Magnus when he was surprised that they didn’t know ‘The storm didn’t just hit Ponyville and Canterlot, it also hit every town and city throughout Equestria, even beyond the borders with the rest of our allies’ kingdoms.’
The Mane 7 and Spike were shocked by the news, with Starlight starting off with ‘Wait, the storm happened all over the kingdom and beyond it?’
‘Right,’ said Flash when he placed his shield on his back ‘Princess Celestia decided to call every leader throughout Equestria to help investigate the cause of the problem, even the leaders of every kingdom beyond Equestria’s borders are here.’
‘What about the rest of the Pillars?’ said Applejack when she was concerned for the others ‘Are they okay?’
‘They’re fine, but they were just as shocked when they found out what happened to their home, so they came to Celestia for help. Only we didn’t know it was just as bad as here.’
‘Where are the pillars now?’ said Spike out of curiosity.
‘They’re in the throne room with the Princesses. They’re afraid things might escalate out of control, so they’re doing what they could to help trying to find a diplomatic solution. I can take you there if you like.’
‘Of course,’ said Pinkie when she was concerned ‘We wouldn’t want our friends to get hurt.’
All of them rushed over to Canterlot Castle’s throne room. But at the same time, the strange creature wearing drapes was slowly following them, but was also wobbly at the same time, not being able to walk right.
An hour later, all of them had arrived in the throne room, where many of the leaders were meeting Celestia. Luckily for them, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armour are with her to help them resolve things. But whilst the rest of the Mane 7, even Spike and Flash Magnus are trying to resolve things, Twilight walked over to Celestia with worry and concern on her face ‘Princess Celestia, what happened?’
‘Twilight, thank the day and night you’re alright. Is Ponyville alright?’
‘They are Princess, but what happened, how did it happen?’
‘We do not know,’ said Luna when she showed just as much concern ‘We’ve never seen anything like this. All of our weather Pegasi were greatly wounded trying their best to repel the storm from destroying Canterlot.’
‘What about the Crystal Empire?’ said Twilight when she was also worried about her brother, sister in law and niece.
‘It was just as bad Twiley,’ said Shining Armour when he stood next to her sister ‘We had to evacuate most of them underground to escape from the storm.’
‘We nearly lost the Crystal Heart too,’ said Cadance whilst she held onto Flurry Heart ‘But thankfully it held back the worst parts of the storm before it could do any damage.’
Twilight began to think that if the creatures Rainbow Dash saw had any connection to what happened. Celestia noticed and gained her attention ‘Twilight, is there something wrong?’
Twilight decided to tell the princess of what Rainbow Dash had seen ‘Well see Princess, when Rainbow Dash tried to clear the weather when Ponyville also got struck by this strange phenomenon, she encountered strange creatures from above.’
‘Creatures?’ said Celestia when she was curious ‘What kind of creatures?’
‘They looked like this Princess.’ said Twilight whilst she used her magic to project an image of the creature.
The Princesses were surprised to see the creature, for they had not seen it before. That was, until Dragon Lord Ember noticed and were shocked when she saw it herself. She walked up to Twilight by grabbing her and shook her a few times whilst she said ‘Where did you see that thing?’
‘Wait,’ said Twilight whilst she was shocked at the same time ‘You know what that thing is?’
‘It’s…it’s an…’ said Ember when she looked at it ‘Anteroom.’
The Dragons were shocked to hear the name, as well as a handful of creatures. ‘A what now?’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she was confused of what kind of creature it is.
‘Ah’ve heard of it.’ said one of the Pillars, Mage Meadowbrook whilst she took a step forward ‘While ah was attending to the dragons’ pain when we had just been united before we stopped the Sirens, they told me the story of those creatures.’ ‘Then all means.’ said Prince Rutherford ‘Please tell Yaks and creatures what they are.’
‘Gladly your highness.’ said Mage Meadowbrook, whilst she cleared her voice and told them the story. ‘Long time ago, long before Pony kind or any creature ever existed, there were an ancient race of creatures that walked on two legs and do not wear any fur, but strange clothing. They once lived in harmony, but overtime they no longer worshipped their gods. So Galahad, the king of the gods, along with his brothers and sisters, ended up waging war against them, using any horrific manner of creature unimaginable to eradicate them. But they retaliated and fought a war so terrifying, it ravaged this world, thus driving each other to the near brink of extinction. Since then, the beings that lived in this world, moved on to the next one where they could be safe, whilst their gods, no longer being able to stay among the waking world, ended up encasing themselves in deep sleep, never waking themselves to this world ever again. After that, all knowledge of their kind were erased, leaving them to be nothing but stories.’
Many of them were surprised by the story. ‘Wait,’ said Rutherford when he realized something ‘If knowledge of them no longer existed, how come dragons know about this?’
‘I can answer that,’ said Dragon Lord Ember when she took a step forward ‘There was an ancient legend that Dragons used to live in this world long before any creature ever existed, but remained hidden because their kind use to hunt dragons. But after the lands were ravaged, the unicorns of old used up all their magic to recreate this world so that we could have a chance to be free again.’
Spike realized something and walked over to Twilight, poking her and gaining her attention as she looked at him ‘Twilight, you don’t think that the creatures of old Meadowbrook told us about are the exact same people from Canterlot High do you?’
Twilight was surprised and agreed with Spike ‘You could be right, there may be some logical explanation.’
‘I see, but how did these creatures resurface?’ said Princess Celestia when she tried to piece it together ‘They must have a reason to have resurfaced again.’
Twilight then thought about something else, then spoke to Celestia. ‘I think I might know,’ said Twilight whilst she gained her attention ‘Rainbow said that whilst she saw the Anteroom, she saw another creature fighting them.’
‘Fighting them?’ said Celestia when she was surprised by the news.
‘Yes, but at the same time,’ said Twilight whilst she placed a blanket on the ground ‘He was armed with these.’
She took off the blanket and showed them the war axe and two swords. Leaving many surprised when they saw them. Luna walked over and stood near them ‘Where did you find these?’
‘We found them outside of Ponyville Princess.’ said Applejack when she stood near Twilight.
‘Right, and it left behind a massive crater too.’ said Rarity whilst she did the same.
‘They’re very scary.’ said Fluttershy when she hid behind Twilight.
Princess Luna slowly placed her hoof on one of the weapons ‘They do not look so….’ but was immediately cut off, for within a split second, she instantly saw a scary image with a scary type of roar that sounded like a grunt, causing her to yelp whilst she retracted her hoof, and instantly sat down, surprising Celestia as she ran down and held onto her sister. ‘Luna, are you alright?’ said a worried Celestia.
Luna, with a shockened reaction on her face, grabbed Celestia and spoke to her ‘Sister, do not go near them, I sense an unspeakable evil on them.’. She looked at the swords and war axe ‘They are nothing like I’ve ever seen or felt.’ Celestia, now looking at them, with worry on her face too, looked at Twilight ‘Twilight, please assist us.’
With the combined powers of Twilight, Cadance, Shining Armour and Luna, Celestia was able to encase them with a special wrappings around the weapons to contain them so that no creature could use, bear or touch them. ‘What are we going to do about them Princess?’ said Twilight when she was just as worried.
‘We lock them away,’ said Celestia when she was now concerned for the safety and well being of her fellow ponies and their allies ‘And solve the reason why they’re here.’
‘Halt!!’ shouted the guards for some reason, gaining their attention. But to their surprise, they saw a hooded figure entering the throne room, weary, exhausted, as well as not having the strength to go on any further. Some kept their guard up, especially the Mane 7 when they didn’t want to take any chances.
‘Who are you, why are you here?’ said Celestia, demanding the hooded figure to reveal itself.
The hooded figure continued to walk, whilst speaking weakly ‘Please…help.’
The hood was ripped and slowly slipped off the stranger’s body. And to many of their shock, they saw a bearded white Stallion as tall as Celestia, but bared a horn as well as silver Alicorn wings. He was battered, bruised, and could barely see. He muttered one more time ‘Please…help.’
No longer having the strength, he passed out and collapsed on the ground. Many were shocked to see a male Alicorn as they surrounded him, looking at him in shock. ‘A Stallion Alicorn?!’ said a shocked Twilight when she didn’t believe what she had been seeing.
‘Celestia, what does this mean?’ said Cadance when she looked at Celestia.
‘I…I do not know,’ she replied confusingly ‘I really do not know.’
At least half a day had passed since the stranger had entered the throne room. Many of the ponies could hardly fathom of what they had witnessed, for a pony had entered their realm, but not just any pony, but a Stallion Alicorn. The pony moaned in pain and sweated a bit, for it felt really weak and also in pain. At the same time, many of the doctors did their best to help him, for some felt amazed by what they had seen. But as for the rest of the creatures, they were partially confused by why they were acting that way.
‘I don’t see the big deal.’ said Dragon Lord Ember when she looked at the Stallion Alicorn ‘He’s an Alicorn, whatever.’
‘Don’t you get it,’ said Sandbar when he gained their attention ‘That there is an actual Stallion Alicorn, there had not been a Stallion Alicorn in, well, ever.’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Princess Skystar when she was confused ‘There had never been a male Alicorn before?’
‘No, never,’ said Sandbar when he could barely hold his excitement in ‘There were only a selected few Alicorns, and to find a male Alicorn, think of what we could learn.’
‘Well I learnt one thing from meeting him,’ said a griffon named Gallus ‘That pony does not look good.’
They saw that the Stallion Alicorn had trouble trying to keep his body calm, for it had been extremely difficult for them. But at the same time, The Mane 7, as well as the Alicorn Princesses were watching him when they couldn’t believe their eyes of what had just come into their castle.
‘Ah, ah can’t believe what ah’m seeing.’ said Applejack when she couldn’t believe her eyes.
‘Princess Celestia,’ said Starlight when she looked at her ‘How is this possible. How the heck can there be a Stallion Alicorn?’
‘It is a mystery to us too Twilight,’ said Luna when she was also concerned ‘Just as we didn’t know about the birth of an Alicorn, there were nothing in history about a Stallion becoming an Alicorn.’
‘Then what are we looking at?’ said Pinkie with a sly smile when she pointed at the strange new visitor.
‘Do you think he’s a Prince?’ said Rarity when she was curious about it.
‘Uh, the Prince of what Rarity?’ said Rainbow Dash in her tomboy attitude as usual.
‘Um, well…’ said Fluttershy when she was nervous ‘Maybe we can ask him once he wakes up?’
‘Good idea,’ said Cadance when she agreed ‘We’ll just have to wait until he comes around.’
Shining Armour began to direct the guard ‘I want guards stationed at this door at all times. Anything else happens, you know what to do.’
‘Yes sir.’ said Celestia’s handful of guards when they were assigned to keep an eye on their strange new visitor. Half an hour later, the Mane 7, along with Spike and Sunburst, who decided to accompany them, continued their conversations with both Celestia and Luna.
‘Princess Celestia, who do you think he is?’ said Twilight when she wanted to know more about the Alicorn.
‘I do not know Twilight,’ said Celestia thinking about what happened ‘But we need to find out more about this visitor. He could be connected to what happened recently.’
‘What makes you say that?’ said Fluttershy when she wanted to know.
‘A massive storm happens, a handful of ancient and might be evil weapons, especially the appearance of a Stallion Alicorn,’ said Luna when she tried to piece it together ‘There must be a logical explanation for all of this.’
‘Like what your highness?’ said Sunburst whilst he tried to keep his documents in his saddlebag together.
‘From what Starswirl told me,’ said Celestia when she remembered what he had said ‘He could sense a powerful and maybe dangerous aura around those weapons, but he also sensed it at the newcomer.’
‘Maybe,’ said Starlight when she thought about it ‘But there must be another reason why there’s suddenly…’
Pinkie suddenly interrupted when she got excited ‘A new pony in Equestria. He could be somepony super special, somepony powerful, and maybe even a pony that can be excited, maybe mean, but really excited to talk to.’
Rainbow Dash shoved her hoof against Pinkie’s mouth ‘Uh, Pinkie, now’s not the time for overbearing excitement.’
Rarity spoke to Rainbow with a cocked eyebrow ‘This coming from a pony who got overbearing over the last Daring Do book?’
‘Hey, that wasn’t my fault okay, the delivery system got mixed up.’
‘I still don’t get how Derpy’s still employed.’ said Spike when he thought about it ‘You’d think that after getting packages mixed up as well as a few accidents she made, she would’ve gotten kicked out or something.’
‘Spike.’ said Twilight when she bumped Spike when he was being rude about Derpy.
‘What, I’m only saying.’
From out of nowhere, Nurse Redheart ran toward Celestia and stopped near her. She spoke aloud in panic at the same time ‘Your highness, the patient is missing!’
They were shocked to hear it, ‘What happened?’ said Celestia with great concern.
‘None of us know your highness,’ said Redheart whilst she told them of what happened ‘One minute we had turned our backs for one minute to help him further, the next thing we knew he was gone.’
‘Quick, we must find him!’ said Luna when she wanted the pony found ‘He couldn’t have gone far.’
‘Well duh,’ said Pinkie with a smile whilst she pointed outside ‘Of course he didn’t, because he’s sitting right there.’
They looked outside, and to their shock, they saw the Stallion Alicorn sitting outside on a tall grassy flower field. A while later right outside,’ the Stallion Alicorn sat there whilst he had his eyes closed whilst he took a few breathers trying to regain his senses. At the same time, the others arrived when they were looking for him.
Until Pinkie Pie zipped over and tried to welcome him ‘Welcome, welcome, welcome. A fine welcome to you. Welcome…’
She was suddenly cut off when the Pony looked at her. But there wasn’t any happiness, but rage for some reason. Pinkie noticed and got a little bit scared and quickly darted back, not saying a word or anything.
They noticed that Pinkie was a little scared because she saw something scary. Wanting to stand up for her friend, Fluttershy walked up to the pony. She was scared, but instead she walked up calmly and spoke to him whilst she spoke in a calmed manner ‘Excuse me sir. I don’t mean to be rude. But could you please calm down and not be mad please? We just wanted to get to know you, if it’s okay. So please don’t be mad and scary like you were to one of my friends.’
The pony looked at her, and noticed that she was kind. He was still angry, but instead, he took a breather and breathed calmly. He looked at her and spoke in a calmed tone, not showing any of his emotions ‘Apologies young one. I didn’t mean to be…harsh. It just…I’ve been isolated for so long, I had forgotten how to commune with others.’
They were surprised to hear the pony’s tone had changed. Fluttershy continued to ask in a calm manner ‘So um…what’s your name?’
The pony sat there for some time, not wanting to answer her question. But he still chose to be calm, and eventually spoke to her as he looked at her again ‘My name is Invictus.’
‘Fluttershy.’ said Fluttershy whilst she extended her hoof. The pony looked at it, but slowly reached her hoof as he used his own hoof to shake it. Fluttershy walked back to her friends as the pony looked at her, whilst she introduced her friends to him ‘These are my friends. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst. This here is Spike the Dragon. Whilst these three are our Princesses. That’s Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Sun. Her sister Princess Luna, the Princess of the Moon. And this is our best friend Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.’
‘Are they gods?’ asked Invictus when he partially looked at them.
They were puzzled by what he asked, whilst they looked at one another in confusion, then they looked back at them. ‘Um, no?’ said Spike when he was the first to respond.
Invictus slowly stood up and turned around to face them, now that he had his strength back ‘Good.’
‘Y’all don’t like gods?’ said Applejack with a cocked eyebrow whilst tilting her hat back to a normal position.
‘No. Let’s just say, we don’t always see eye to eye.’
They were surprised by what he had said, with Rainbow Dash responding to an ‘Okay.’
‘If I may ask,’ said Twilight when she took a few steps forward ‘What are you doing out here?’
Invictus sighed whilst he looked at the openness of the land. But at the same time, he spoke to the lot ‘I was busy on our journey.’
‘Our?’ said Rarity when she was curious of whom he was talking about.
‘Myself and my sons.’
‘You have sons?’ said Luna when she was surprised ‘How many?’
‘Fourteen.’ said Invictus straight up, but whilst they were surprised, he continued to explain ‘All of them are currently a year older than Fluttershy and her friends. At the moment I am traveling with six of my sons. My eldest left to deliver the news to the others.’
‘News?’ said Starlight Glimmer when she was curious ‘What news?’
Invictus sighed whilst he looked at them ‘My sons’ mother has passed.’
They were shocked to hear the news, with Fluttershy responding to an ‘Oh no.’
Invictus continued his tale whilst he looked at them ‘She died of natural causes. Before she died, she made me promise that I would look after them until they have earned the right to live on their own in the world. The task she offered, was an acceptable one. She wished for them to scatter her ashes in the highest peak in all thirteen realms.’
‘Thirteen realms?’ said Celestia surprised.
‘Of course. There are nine realms within existence. Equestria is part of it, as well as another world that Princess Twilight traveled to.’
She was surprised that he knew about it ‘How did you know that?’
‘From one of my sons,’ said Invictus when he thought about him ‘His name is Merlin Bronzetail. He is exceptionally gifted with vast knowledge he gathers, he even gained the power of future sight once.’
Twilight was surprised that a certain pony had future sight ‘Wait…he has…future sight?’
‘And I also believe he is an, what do you call them, Alicorn?’
That part of the news took them by storm when they couldn’t believe what they had been hearing. ‘Another Alicorn?’ said Luna when she was just as much surprised ‘How is it possible?’
‘I do not know, I don’t question fate when it came to the important decisions.’
‘So…where are they now?’ said Sunburst when he adjusted his glasses.
‘We were separated, we encountered rogue creatures from within the woods, until the storm had separated us.’
‘Then why don’t we go look for them?’ said Spike when they wanted to help.
‘No.’ said Invictus, surprising them when he didn’t want any help ‘This journey is ours and ours alone. Having more in our company would just slow us down.’
‘You sure about that?’ said Twilight when she was concerned that Invictus turned them down.
He slowly walked past them, until he stopped and looked at them saying ‘Positive.’ whilst he walked away, until he heard a loud thud, gaining his attention, as well as the others. They saw a Pony of sorts, rubbing his head, with Invictus looking at the pony as he only replied with ‘Copper?’
The pony looked and was surprised to see Invictus, whilst at the same time he shouted out ‘Guys, I’ve found him!!’
The pony ran towards Invictus, as well as five other ponies when they followed, giving their father a hug, but he didn’t respond. They looked at Invictus as they were worried ‘Are you alright?’ said one of the Pegasi.
‘I am.’ He replied whilst he looked at them ‘Where have you been?’
‘We were in the southern woods for a while trying to find you,’ said one of the Pegasi with the Rainbow Shield Cutie Mark ‘The storms left tons of destruction.’
‘Uh, excuse me?’ said Spike, gaining their attention as they looked at them ‘Care to introduce us?’
Invictus sighed when he looked at them and introduced them ‘Very well. These are my sons. The eccentric one here is Copper.’
‘Hey there.’ said the light brown fur, brown mane Earth Pony with blue eyes with two cogwheels and a quill in the center for a cutie mark
‘The one over here is Knight.’
‘Hey’ said the white fur, rainbow mane Pegasi with light fade purple eyes and a rainbow royal shield cutie mark.
‘This here is Chivalry.’
‘Salutations.’ said the light/pale brown fur, moderate amber mane Unicorn with moderate vermillion eyes and a royal crown cutie mark.
That’s Bashful, don’t ask why that’s his name.’
‘Um…hello.’ said the moderate cyan fur, moderate brown mane Pegasi with vivid brown eyes and a tree with wings cutie mark.
‘This is Applebuck.’
‘Howdy there.’ said the Gold fur, orange mane Earth Pony with green leaf eyes and a golden apple with a golden horseshoe background cutie mark.
‘And this is Merlin Bronzetail.’
‘Hello there.’ said the Brilliant Gamboge fur, pure bronze mane Alicorn with vivid blue eyes and a spell book cutie mark.
‘Greetings there.’ said Celestia when she greeted them.
However, at the same time, the Mane 6 were in awe to see what they look like. They were really handsome and were amazed to see what they look like, especially when Twilight was shocked to see another Alicorn Stallion right in front of them.
‘You’re…you’re uh…’ said Twilight when she was surprised.
‘Yes I am,’ said Merlin with a cocky smile ‘Don’t wear it out, otherwise you’ll need to take a picture in order for them to make it last longer.’
Within an instant, Pinkie took a picture of him, then hid her camera away with a smile. Invictus spoke to them ‘We must be on our way.’
‘Oh come on dad,’ said Knight with crossed hooves ‘Don’t be like that. We’ve been traveling for almost a week now.’
‘He’s right,’ said Merlin ‘Even the mightiest of warriors need to rest, remember?’
‘Plus they could help us,’ said Copper next ‘We’ve been traveling these lands for a while, it wouldn’t hurt to bring some guides with us would it?’
Invictus only groaned, for they could tell they don’t like the idea. But he eventually sighed and only said ‘Fine.’
Chivalry walked over and bowed to the ladies as he asked ‘Excuse me kind ladies of this land, would you be so kind enough to have some rooms for us for the night? If so we’d be very grateful and you could join us on our quest.’
They were surprised to see how well his manners were, with Celestia being the first to answer with a smile ‘Very well then, right this way.’
A few hours later, all of them were in the dining hall, with many enjoying the comforts from within the castle. Pinkie juggled a bit to try to make Copper laugh, until he gathered some food and a pie, smacked his face into it, and showed her a funny food face, which made her laugh out loud. Both Bashful and Fluttershy wanted to say something, but were too shy to say anything. Chivalry watched Rarity draw a few sketches for her fashion, then he showed her something by drawing some of his own, which made Rarity smile with glee when she found a similar compatriot who could design like she does. Applejack talked about her Apple Farm and family that she loved, with Applebuck wondering if he could go over there sometime, which she gladly accepted. Rainbow Dash began to boast about how she’s the fastest mare in all of Equestria, with Knight boasting back that he bet that he could beat her easily. She wondered what he was going to wager, with him whispering, causing her to be surprised, blush bright red, and shoved him a little, whilst she felt embarrassed about it at the same time. Twilight on the other hand talked to Merlin when she wanted to know more.
‘I don’t, believe it,’ Twilight finally said ‘A real life Stallion Alicorn, sitting right next to me.’
‘Yeesh, overreact much?’ said Merlin with a cocked eyebrow ‘Yeah so I’m an Alicorn, big deal.’
‘Big deal?!’ said Twilight when she placed both her hooves onto the table ‘But you’re an Alicorn, the first male we’ve seen in Equestria. So how did you…?’
‘I was born with it.’ said Merlin whilst he took a sip of his tea.
‘B…born with it?’ said Twilight when she was surprised ‘Just like Flurry Heart?’
‘You mean that tiny little ball of destruction?’
‘Hey, she’s not destructive.’
‘Really,’ said Merlin when he looked at her with a cocked eyebrow ‘You really want me to bring up the time she broke the Crystal Heart, caused massive damage at the hospital, toy store and school, not to mention the pudding in…
At the same time, the Mane Six reacted at the same time ‘Don’t talk about the Pudding incident!!!’, which surprised Starlight and Sunburst.
‘What pudding incident?’ said Starlight out of curiosity.
‘Oh Twilight wanted to make special pudding for Pinkie Pie for Hearth’s Warming Eve, until Flurry Heart botched up the recipe and nearly covered the entire castle with pudding.’ said Merlin.
Starlight was surprised, but moaned ‘Aw, I missed it?’
‘Yeah,’ said Merlin when he thought about something ‘Plus I can’t believe you didn’t go with Twilight and the others when the Storm King invaded. You’re usually with them all the time.’. He looked at Twilight at the same time ‘Maybe then you could’ve tried to talk some sense to her about not stealing the pearl.’
Twilight was shocked about that he knew about it ‘How did…?’
‘I mean sure,’ said Merlin when he tried to make a point ‘It wasn’t Equestria and what you lot had wasn’t enough. But even you have to realize that you can’t just go around stealing stuff from another country, that’s just begging to start a diplomatic incident. You lot came there as diplomats, meaning as diplomats you had to find a diplomatic solution.’
‘The boy is right,’ said Invictus as he gained Twilights’ attention ‘A good leader should know not to spark another war, even when your own kingdom is in danger, you need to have time and patience to gain their trust then have them joined your side in battle. You may be a Princess, but you still have a great deal to learn. For if there’s one thing I learnt, it’s that even when you’ve already graduated from any school, you should never stop learning and obtaining knowledge, otherwise overconfidence will be your downfall.’
Twilight was surprised by what Invictus told her, especially Celestia ‘Oh, you used to be a leader?’
‘Of a mighty army once yes,’ said Invictus ‘I once made the same mistake…and it costed me dearly.’
‘Oh dear.’ said Luna when she was surprised by what he had revealed.
‘There’s still one thing I don’t get,’ said Merlin when he spoke to Twilight ‘Why the heck do you always panic and are always filled with so much anxiety, you’re a fully grown mare for crying out loud.’
‘Believe me,’ said Spike whilst he rested his head on his left hand when his elbow was on the table ‘I’ve asked her the same question for years.’
‘You should really do an intercourse.’ said Merlin to Twilight.
‘Uh, what kind?’ said Twilight, thinking that it was about studying from a book. That was, until Merlin whispered to Twilight. She listened for a few moments, but instantly blushed bright red the moment she was surprised, whilst she yelled out loud ‘What?!!’ whilst she was looking at Merlin shocked, with the others looking when they were surprised.
‘Darling, whatever is the matter?’ said Rarity whilst she was surprised.
‘Uh…’ said Twilight when she couldn’t say anything.
‘He says that if she wants to avoid getting stressed, she should go and have sex.’ said Knight.
The girls blushed and were surprised as well. ‘Okay,’ said Rainbow Dash when she was surprised ‘Why?’
‘Well,’ said Merlin when he started off ‘Recent studies have shown that having sex can be a great stress reliever. It can even help remove some of the serious anxieties.’
‘Uh, that’s not…’ said Twilight when she didn’t believe it.
‘Sure it is,’ said Merlin whilst he took a book out and showed it to her ‘It says so here in the medical books.’
Twilight took the book and read through it. She stopped and slowly placed it on the table as her eye was twitching as she was in shock. ‘Uh, Twilight?’ said Pinkie when she was concerned ‘You okay?’
‘I have no words.’ said Twilight when she was shocked beyond words.
‘If you don’t mind me asking?’ said Sunburst whilst he adjusted his glasses when he wanted to change the subject ‘We know of your sons here, but who are the others?’
‘The eldest’s name is Thunder,’ began Invictus when he told them about his other seven sons ‘Then there’s Yin Sid, Lyon, Atreus, Don, Bucky, Barry and Duke.’
‘Well, where are they,’ said Spike out of curiosity ‘Besides Thunder I mean?’
‘They went to attend a school, it was their mother’s idea. They’re at a place called Canterlot High.’
Twilight spat her tea in a different direction in shock, whilst she looked at Invictus surprised at the same time ‘Canterlot High?!!’
‘You know of it?’ said Merlin when he looked at Twilight.
‘My friend Sunset Shimmer and the rest of my friends are from Canterlot High.’
‘You mean your parallel selves?’
Many were confused by what Merlin meant, with Applejack answering with ‘Parallel what not?’
‘Oh,’ said Copper Plume when he spoke first ‘See when you go to parallel worlds, remember when you lot encountered your evil selves when Celestia and Luna were evil and Sombra was good?’
They were surprised that they knew about it, with Pinkie answering with an ‘Um, yeah?’
‘Well,’ said Copper when he told them ‘There are some worlds where all of you are different creatures. In some worlds, we are dragons, some worlds we are humans, some worlds where we’re different and so on.’
‘Um, yeah,’ said Bashful finally when he told them ‘That’s why Twilight went there alone, because if her friends from here would go there, everyone would get confused by who is who. Like a pair of twins, not knowing which is which.’
‘Huh,’ said Applejack when she realized that they had a good point ‘Ah see y’all point, and that would explain why we couldn’t come with y’all in the first place.’
‘And Twilight met her counterpart there before,’ said Merlin when he told them, but then got curious ‘Although there’s one thing I don’t get.’
‘What’s that darling?’ said Rarity when she was curious.
‘Twilight met her counterpart there, looking similar, but are different. So which begs the question; If Sunset was originally from Equestria, how come she hasn’t encountered her counterpart yet?’
Twilight was surprised by his question, but agreed with him ‘He’s got a point. I met all of your alternate selves. They’re talents are similar to yours, but they’re very different too. It’s really strange that we didn’t encounter her counterpart yet.’
‘Maybe you could ask her.’ said Spike as he gained her attention ‘I mean she’s been there a long time, maybe we can ask…’
Suddenly, Invictus groaned when he felt something whilst he held his forehead, with Merlin and the others acting the same way.
‘What’s wrong?’ said Celestia when she and the others saw what was going on.
‘Something’s not right.’ said Invictus.
Before they knew it, a being teleported in the middle of the room and ended up standing there wearing his roman style robe/armour, whilst he also boasted saying ‘Oh ponies? Anyone home?’
To their shock, it was Eros, an old god from long before Equestria was formed. ‘Eros?’ said Celestia in shock.
‘But that is not possible,’ said Luna when she stood up ‘We saw you perish!!’
‘Oh silly ponies,’ said Eros whilst he smiled and placed his arms behind his back ‘You should know you can’t keep a good god down.’
‘Yeah right, we beat you once before and we can beat you again.’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she boasted.
‘Oh I’d like you to try my dear.’ said Eros, until he felt a wing on his shoulder, which made him roll his eyes as he looked behind ‘Oh please, haven’t you learnt by…’ but to his shock, he saw Invictus.
‘Leave…now.’ said Invictus.
‘You?!!’ said Eros in shock.
Invictus created arms made of his horn’s aura, and used it to punch Eros hard as he was struck against the wall. Many were shocked by what they had seen, with the ponies looking at him as Starlight said ‘You know him?!!’ But before he could say anything, Eros charged and tackled Invictus through a wall, leading them outside. But as the ponies covered their eyes, Merlin and his brother ran/flew after them. When the dust settled, they noticed that they were gone. ‘Where did they go?!’ said Spike when he looked around.
They heard crashing outside, thus they ran out to check upon the noise. But as they did, the Princesses told the guards to keep the civilians safe, which they did as they ran. But at the same time, a familiar pony with a broken horn named Fizzlepop Berrytwist entered Canterlot, but was surprised to see Twilight and the others run past her. Out of curiosity, she ran after them, wondering what it was about.
The moment they arrived, they saw all of them fight Eros. He tried to control them like he did to Twilight and the others, but to his surprise, it did not work ‘Why isn’t this working?!’
At the same time, from out of nowhere, Knight flew in at a super speeded rate, causing him to create a double Rainboom, which shocked Rainbow Dash in the process. ‘You can’t control what can’t be controlled jerk wad!!’ shouted Knight as he punched Eros’ face.
At the same time, Copper and Applebuck darted towards Eros. Copper ended up jumping on Eros’ wrist, then from the ground, and ended up bucking Eros in the face. At the same time, Applebuck did the same, but below Eros’ chin. From out of nowhere, the two of them darted again and bashed his face when the two of them head butted him at the same time. Eros tried to attack again, until Bashful ducked as he missed, whilst Chivalry charged when he used his aura to create himself energy armour, as well as lance and shield, whilst he shouted out ‘Havat thee!!’, allowing him to bash against Eros again as he was caught off guard, whilst also surprising Rarity when she saw how brave he was, knowing why he was named Chivalry.
At the same time, Invictus attacked, but was swatted away as he crashed against a rock, until Merlin stood there with all four of his hooves firmly on the ground. He charged up his horn to a maximum degree, as well as his wings, which shocked Twilight when she saw how powerful he was getting. With full concentration, Merlin fired his magic full blast, knocking Eros backwards as he skid on the ground. The dust settled. However, Eros wasn’t going down that easily as he looked angry.
‘Is that the best you can do?!’ shouted Eros when he looked at them angry.
They heard a hoof stomp, causing them to see Invictus, standing up and partially wobbly, with Rainbow Dash shouting ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get help for…’
But this time, something was different, for Invictus grinned his teeth as he slowly looked at Eros angry, but his eyes had turned red this time. At the same time, Fizzlepop Berrytwist peeked when she wanted to see what was going on. Invictus stared at the angry god and growled as if he was an animal. Electricity began to cackle from him as he groaned louder. And as if in the right time, he roared angrily, whilst he burst into rage, with his wings and hooves lit on fire as his body glowed red, with his mane set aflame as well, with Celestia, Luna, the Mane 7, Spike, Sunburst and Fizzlepop shocked when they saw Invictus’ power.
Invictus took one good look at Eros and charged head on like a crazed animal. He pounced on Eros as he was pinned onto the ground. With Eros pinned on the ground, Invictus ended up pounding him with his hooves whilst the ground shook through his amazing strength. Eros pushed him back, until Invictus stomped his hooves onto the ground and created a boulder the moment it was raised in the air, allowing Invictus to buck the rock straight to Eros as it knocked him backwards again.
Invictus stood up and kept on stomping him over and over and over again and again and again, which bruised Eros slightly. Invictus used his aura to hold onto Eros’ neck in a sleeper hold. After holding tightly, he said ‘Die already.’ and snapped Eros’ neck, which shocked them the moment Eros dropped onto the ground, but not before Merlin used his magic to teleport Eros away.
After Eros was gone, Invictus’ sons ended up sitting on their rumps as they panted from the exhaustion they endured. ‘You…you just killed…’ said Fluttershy when she was shocked more than the others.
‘He won’t stay gone for long.’ said Copper when he was able to stand.
‘Wait,’ said Rainbow Dash when she was surprised ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘We killed him like five times,’ said Knight when he rubbed his sore wings ‘And he always comes back.’
‘Wait,’ said Luna with a shocked voice ‘He was after all of you?’
Bashful answered with a slight hint of fear ‘Are you kidding, he’s been after us ever since we started on our journey weeks ago.’
They were surprised by what they were hearing, with Starlight asking ‘What? Why is he after you?’
‘We don’t know,’ said Chivalry ‘We tried to reason and ask, but he wasn’t in the mood to answer our question, not even his sons.’
Twilight was shocked to hear it ‘Wait, he has sons?!!’
‘Yeah, and Anon doesn’t count.’ said Merlin when he remembered their encounter with him before. ‘Oh, and good job finding a way to turn him into a pony. His relationship with Octavia has grown stronger, especially the fact that those two are getting married next month.’
‘Wait,’ said Pinkie Pie when she remembered Octavia ‘They’re getting married?!!’
‘Well she is carrying his baby.’ said Knight when he also heard about it, shocking them as Rarity fainted.
Applebuck talked to his father ‘Dad, you know we can’t stay any further, we need to keep moving.’
‘Right,’ said Invictus when he realized that too ‘But first we need to retrieve the rest of your brothers.’
‘And that means going to Canterlot High.’ said Copper next.
‘You’re going to Canterlot High?’ said Twilight.
‘Yes, we need to keep moving, otherwise we’ll end up getting stuck on our journey.’ said Bashful next.
‘Then you can count us in.’ said Twilight, which surprised them in the process.
‘Wait,’ said Applejack to Twilight as she gained her attention ‘Are y’all sure about this?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Twilight when she looked at them ‘They might not know much about these lands, but I’m sure they could use all the help they can get. Plus if we do get to Canterlot High, I’ll be able to introduce you to my other friends there.’ ‘So we get to go to another world, cool.’ said Rainbow Dash when she got excited.
‘No,’ said Invictus once more when he declined their help ‘As I said, this journey is…’
‘Come on dad,’ said Merlin when he gained his father’s attention ‘They do have a point. We don’t know most of these lands much, and we could use some help. Plus you’ve seen what we’re up against, we can’t do this alone anymore.’
‘He’s right father,’ said Chivalry next ‘We need all the help we can get.’
Invictus sighed when he didn’t want to agree to that idea. But eventually gave in and answered ‘Very well.’
The Mane Seven, even Spike and Sunburst cheered to that idea. ‘Well what are we waiting for Twilight,’ said Pinkie when she gained their attention ‘Fire up the mirror portal and…’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ said Copper, surprising them in the process ‘We know another way there.’
Twilight, Celestia and Luna were surprised by what they had said. ‘Another way?’ said Celestia when she was just as surprised.
‘Yep,’ said Applebuck whilst he tilted his hat backwards ‘We sure do. But if I were y’all, ah’d bring the Pillars along, especially her.’
They saw Applebuck pointing towards a surprised Fizzlepop Berrytwist, which surprised the ponies too when they had no idea that she had been coming to visit today.
A few hours later, after the Pillars had received their message, they were beginning to pack up their things, with Celestia and Luna talking to the Captains of the Earth Pony, Pegasi and Unicorn guards. ‘And I want all daily updates to Eros’ activities. Make sure no one suspects a thing, not even him.’
‘And alert our allies from the other kingdoms,’ said Luna to the Pegasi guards ‘If Eros and his sons are planning to attack Canterlot or their kingdoms, we need to warn them as fast as we can.’
The guards then saluted and went off to try and alert their allies and forces. Celestia and Luna spoke to Twilight whilst her friends were just finished packing their bags ‘Twilight, we want you and the others to be careful on your journey, we cannot take any chances of Eros gaining what he is seeking.’
‘Of course Princess Celestia,’ said Twilight whilst she looked confident ‘We won’t let you down.’
At the same time, Invictus arrived and told them ‘We are ready. We must leave.’
‘Got it.’ said Applejack when she had just finished packing up.
‘Wait, before we leave,’ said Merlin whilst he gained their attention ‘Could all of you stand in a line for me please.’
‘Um, okay?’ said Spike when he wondered why.
They stood in line as they asked, with Merlin concentrating. His horn began to glow and cackle as he tried to focus. He began to wave his horn around as they appeared to be a symbol of an Omega and an Infinity, which surprised them when they saw how he was doing his magic, even Twilight and Starswirl were amazed by his feats.
He finally said the words ‘Praesidium.’, and he casted the magic onto them, making them glow in the process, as well as their necks. After the glow faded, they wondered what kind of magic it was. ‘That’s a protection spell, it’ll keep Eros from tracking us whilst we’re out on our journey.’
‘Wow, that’s really impressive.’ said Twilight when she was surprised ‘Where did you learn that?’
‘It’s uh…complicated.’ said Merlin when he was nervous about telling them.
A while later, Twilight and the others had just left the castle with Invictus and their sons. When they were out of sight of Canterlot, both Celestia and Luna overlooked the Equestrian valley as Luna said ‘Sister, are you sure they’re going to be safe?’
‘I do not know Luna.’ said Celestia when she had just looked at her sister ‘I have faith that they will, I just hope it will not be too…’
At the same time, one of the Guards ran in and panted, surprising the two sisters in the process. ‘Silver Sentry?’ said Celestia when she was curious of why he was in a rush ‘What is the matter?’
‘Your highness,’ said Silver Sentry when he tried to gasp for air a bit ‘The weapons you gave us to guard and study, they’re gone.’
The two sisters were shocked by the news. ‘What?!!’ said Luna first ‘How is this possible, who took them?!!’
At Twilight and the others’ position, they continued down the journey, until Merlin flew next to Invictus ‘Father, we were able to find what you asked us to find.’
Invictus took a glimpse and saw the two dual swords as well as the axe, whilst he looked at them ‘Good, but not now, not until we’ve fully earned their trust.’
A while later, everyone were gathered as they were traveling. Whilst Merlin and his brothers scouted ahead, Invictus walked on ahead, the Mane 7, Spike, Sunburst, Fizzlepop, even the Pillars, namely Starswirl the Bearded, Rockhoof, Mage Meadowbrook, Somnambula, Mistmane, Flash Magnus and Stygian, were accompanying him when they were going to the place that Invictus’ sons told them about. Twilight walked next to Merlin when she wanted to know more about him.
‘So uh,’ said Twilight whilst she tried to make a good impression ‘How did you become an Alicorn?’
‘I was born one,’ said Merlin whilst he focused on where he was walking ‘But I had my immortality removed.’ Twilight was surprised by the news ‘You removed it, why?’
‘Because I don’t like the idea of outliving my own friends and family,’ said Merlin whilst he looked at her ‘A mistake you realized too late.’
Twilight was surprised again by what he had said ‘Why would you say that?’
‘“If you had a choice between friendship, family and forever, which would it be?”’ said Merlin when he made a quote and looked at her ‘I chose my friends and family, why didn’t you?’
Twilight couldn’t answer his question as she only said ‘Uh…’
‘You see Twilight,’ said Merlin when he told her of what he had learnt the hard way ‘You may have finished Starswirl’s spell and you became a Princess because of that, but at what cost? My father once told me that if a title like that was given to you, you should pass it down to your children, not kept as a curse for all eternity. He once made that choice and it costed him everything. And one day it’s going to happen to you, Cadance and Flurry Heart.’
‘How could you possibly…’ said Twilight when she could barely say a word.
‘I’ve foreseen it.’ said Merlin as he looked at her ‘Cadance and Flurry Heart will end up heartbroken, as well as mentally scarred when Shining Armour will die when Sombra’s rogue shadow army will attack. Not to mention you’d also end up in the deep end if you went down that path. Both Celestia and Luna went through that path. They lost their families and friends because they chose to live forever over them.’
‘You don’t know that.’ said Twilight when she looked at him.
‘How many other Alicorns do you know besides Celestia, Luna and Tempora?’ said Merlin. Twilight didn’t know how to answer, with Merlin making a point ‘I recon not a lot because you, Cadance and Flurry Heart just started out, so let me make it clear; my father and even myself knew a lot of great immortals that tried to find peace and happiness in their lives, all of their intentions real, great and pure, it never ended well for any of them, not ever. Cause tragedy, heartbreak, loneliness, whatever. That’s what your life is going to be, if you continue down this path.’
Twilight nearly felt distraught after what he had said to her, for she didn’t think about it. She never even considered that, outliving her friends and family like that. She remained quiet for a few moments until…
‘But I can help you with that.’ said Merlin as he gained Twilight’s attention whilst she looked at him ‘What if I told you that I know a way to remove the immortality so you could age normally, with you still keeping your Alicorn status?
Twilight was surprised by what he was offering. She slowly began to think about it, it would be nice, and if it meant she could grow old with them, then so be it. ‘Alright then, when we have time. I’d like to try it out.’
As they continued to walk their current path, Spike secretly kept on fawning over Rarity, with Chivalry walking next to him as he whispered ‘You do realize that the possibility to have a relationship between you two is never going to happen, right?’
Spike got a fright when he saw Chivalry. He crossed his arms as he looked away and said ‘No I don’t.’
‘Look Spike,’ said Chivalry to the clueless Dragon ‘You do realize that the thing you have is not right, right?’ ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘What Chivalry means is,’ said Applebuck when he overheard them and wanted to be honest, whilst Applejack suddenly overheard him ‘Rarity is perfect like a jewel, you’re also unique and kind, you even help those in need. In fact, you represent an element of harmony.’
Spike looked at him surprised, with Applejack also surprised by it ‘What?’
‘And before you might dismiss it, or what Twilight would do, did you really think the ones you, Twilight and her friends found were the only ones, there are more of them than you think.’
‘How many…’
‘Oh there’s many things,’ said Chivalry when he told them ‘Besides Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty, and even Magic. There are Light, Acceptance, Melody, Nobility, Love, Wisdom, Humility, Compassion, Forgiveness, Redemption, Courage, Happiness, Sensibility, Leadership, Charity, Devotion, Integrity, Optimism, Faith, Knowledge, Inspiration, Fairness, Serenity, Will, Determination and Reliability, along with Sorcery, Bravery, Hope, Beauty, Strength, Healing and Guidance. You can’t expect the ones you know are the only things keeping the peace in Equestria and beyond now did you?’
‘So, what do I…?’ said Spike when he was curious.
‘Acceptance,’ said Chivalry ‘Because instead of turning away the likes of both Thorax, Discord and Ember, you accepted them for who they are. You bring them in your life, and in many ways you help them change, made them realize what it meant to be a friend.’
‘And the point we’re making Spike,’ said Applebuck ‘Is that you need to accept that if you love her, then you need to support her, help her, stand by her side as a friend, not a lover. And if you can accept that, the better your life and hers will be.’
‘So, what you’re saying is,’ said Spike when he tried to piece it together ‘I can love Rarity enough to support her as a friend, and I’ll be able to accept my life will be better, as well as hers?’
‘On the nose,’ said Chivalry whilst he smiled that Spike was able to figure it out ‘Besides, why don’t you try to love say, I don’t know, Smolder?’
Spike blushed bright red when he mentioned her ‘Uh, what?’
‘Oh come on, it’s clear she has a thing for you,’ said Applebuck when he bragged about it ‘No other dragon besides Ember would hang out with you. And not to mention the fact that she was the one that sent you a love letter a while ago.’
Spike blushed really bright red whilst he was surprised to hear that ‘Whoa, that was her?’
‘Yeah,’ said Applebuck when he pointed things out ‘You two are dragons, you love to breathe fire from time to time, you have fire breathing competitions, you fly, you two even stuck together to support one another. You help her learn about friendship, she teaches you what it means to be a dragon.’
‘That was her…’ said Spike whilst he felt love struck.
‘Oh brother.’ said both Chivalry and Applebuck when they rolled their eyes when Spike was at it again.
At the same time, Knight hovered next to his father ‘Father, mind if I scout on ahead to make sure we aren’t going to be in anymore danger?’
‘Very well,’ said Invictus whilst he was focused ahead ‘But be discreet, we do not want to attract any unwanted attention.’
‘Got it.’ said Knight whilst he dashed on ahead, but at the same time, Rainbow Dash wanted to know more about him, so she flew alongside him in order to get to know him.
As the two of them flew above the skies to scout on ahead, Rainbow Dash tried to make a conversation ‘So um…that was some awesome flying you did back there.’
‘I have my moments,’ said Knight whilst he kept scanning the skies ‘Plus it also took a massive amount of training to get it right.’
‘And a double Rainboom,’ said Rainbow Dash when she nearly got excited ‘You know, I can make a Rainboom of my own too.’
‘One you rarely used,’ said Knight whilst he did a cocky smile ‘Especially with those stubby wings.’
‘Stubby?!’ said Rainbow Dash when she felt insulted ‘First of all, my wings are not stubby.’
‘Tell that to Nahmat.’ said Knight, which surprised Rainbow Dash.
‘Wait, you know the wolf that visited us?’ said Rainbow Dash when she flew next to Knight.
‘Of course, she knew our mother and she’s also one of our teachers.’
‘Teachers?!’
‘Of course,’ said Knight whilst he was flying upside down ‘Nahmat taught us a lot about advance magic, which is why we’re always one step ahead. As for the stubby wings part, we knew a couple of Pegasi a while back. They resemble to Celestia, and also have bigger wings, but they’re thrice as faster than you are.’
‘Fast?’
‘You didn’t think you were the only one that was fast, did you?’
Knight landed on a nearby tree, whilst he looked around and notice that there weren't any danger, with Rainbow Dash next to him ‘They taught you on how to be fast?’
‘Yep, maybe even faster than you.’
Rainbow Dash chuckled when she objected to that notion ‘I happen to be the fastest.’
‘Alright, when we have time we race,’ said Knight with a cocky smile ‘What are we betting on?’
Rainbow Dash began to think for a few moments, and had an idea ‘Alright then. If I win, you buy me a milkshake and a cake at Sugarcube corner.’
Knight thought about it and smiled again when he looked at her ‘Alright, you’re on. But if I win, well I don’t wanna say it out loud.’
‘Like what, lay it on me.’
Knight thought about it and had an idea. He whispered to her in her ear of what he would like if he’d win whilst she listened. But somehow what he was asking, made her blush bright red and was surprised in the process. She slowly retracted herself backwards whilst she was surprised by what he had said. ‘Do we have a deal?’ said Knight.
Rainbow Dash ended up shaking her head, trying to be confident ‘Uh, deal.’
The two of them decided to fly back. A few moments later, they saw them coming as Pinkie Pie had said ‘Oh, there they are.’
But at the same time, the two Pegasi were having a conversation.
‘Oh, so that’s why you don’t like pie.’ ‘Yeah, I guess.’
‘You’ll think you’ll find your love for it one day?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Rainbow when she was unsure of herself ‘I don’t think it’ll be that easy.’
The two of them stood near Invictus as he looked at them. ‘Well?’ said Invictus when he looked at him. ‘Looks like we’re in the clear father,’ said Knight as he pointed the way ‘We’re nearing our destination too, it’s just over the hill.’
‘Good, the sooner we gather the rest, the quicker the journey will end.’ said Invictus whilst he walked ahead.
‘Uh, Twilight,’ said Merlin when he looked at her ‘You wouldn’t happen to still have that journal that you gave to Sunset just in case now, didn’t you?’
‘Uh, yeah, why?’
‘Tell her to find Yin Sid and the rest of his brothers, and tell her that I said that it’s time. Add a symbol of a spell book on it, he’ll now.’
‘Uh, yeah, sure.’ said Twilight whilst partially confused. She ended up writing to Sunset whilst she traveled at the same time.
After a much tiresome walk, they had finally arrived. ‘We are here.’ said Invictus, whilst the others began to see it as well, surprising them when they never realized that the lake looked beautiful, especially the bridge at the center as it was connected to what appears to be a palace.
‘Amazing,’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she looked at the view ‘I never thought that this place would be so beautiful.’
‘You came here before?’ said Bashful whilst he looked at them.
‘Of course,’ said Stygian ‘After we were able to gather everyone, we first traveled all over Equestria, both mapping and helping others along the way as we prepared to face the Sirens.’
‘So why are we here?’ said Sunburst whilst he was confused.
‘You recall the Rainbow Bridge correct?’ said Copper whilst he looked at them.
‘Of course,’ said Starswirl whilst he told them ‘The Rainbow Bridge consists of portals and bridges leading to other worlds that anyone could visit if they wanted to, but the bridges were sealed when they deemed it too dangerous.’
‘All but this one.’ said Invictus when he pointed at the bridge.
‘Wait,’ said Twilight whilst she said loudly ‘That’s also a Rainbow Bridge?!!’
‘Well duh,’ said Knight whilst he looked at her with a cocked eyebrow ‘You really should’ve at least try to use a scanning spell to pinpoint its location, seeing that both the bridge and the mirror share the same magic signatures.’
‘Right,’ said Copper when he gave another piece of Intel ‘That and you won’t need to transform into a human in that world, you can just try to use that and you would’ve used your magic no problem. Especially that there was also a spell that you could’ve put on yourself that you could’ve used your magic no matter what form you took.’
Twilight ended up getting a twitchy eye, for every detail they mentioned, they were right, and she didn’t think of doing that in the first place. She ended up smiling crookedly as she walked a few times backwards as she said ‘Excuse me for a moment.’, walked to the back of a boulder, and ended up screaming so loud, all of Equestria heard it whilst the ground shook a bit.
At the same time, Canterlot also heard it, whilst Celestia and Luna feeling it too, as did their servant Kibitz and their secretary Raven.
‘Twilight freaking out?’ said Kibitz and Raven when they looked at the Princesses.
‘Indeed.’ said Celestia and Luna when they agreed.
After she was done, Twilight walked back as she took a few breathers, whilst all of them had said ‘You finish?’
She nodded yes, still not being able to say a word, whilst Invictus looked at them ‘Good, let’s get moving.’
They made their way towards the bridge, but as they walked, they noticed the humanoid statues, with one side wearing armour and weapons that resemble to Rockhoof’s people, with the other side looking like Flash Magnus’ people.
‘Whoa, they nearly resemble to us.’ said Flash Magnus when he was surprised.
‘Aye, that they are, and they must be fierce warriors.’ said Rockhoof when he admired them somehow.
‘Door’s up ahead.’ said Stygian when he saw it.
However, at the same time, a strange creature, bearing Viking like clothes, as well as wearing things that a blacksmith would need, whilst looking like its human, was busy scavenging any remaining metal for the workshop, with the Ponies surprised to see what the creature is.
‘Now let’s see here,’ muttered the person whilst he was busy examining the sword he had just made, until he spotted Invictus and the others coming, allowing him to drop the sword and walk over to them ‘Oh hello there, wasn’t expecting you here till later.’
‘Yeah well under the circumstances,’ said Chivalry when he stood close to him ‘We had to push up our timetable.’
‘I see,’ said the creature until he saw Twilight and the others ‘Oh hello there, didn’t see you there. Uh, my name is Driskle, it’s uh, well, pleasure to meet you.’
‘Uh, pleasure to meet y’all.’ said Applejack when she was partially confused by the creature.
‘Um, excuse me?’ said Fluttershy when she was curious about the creature ‘What might you be if I may ask?’
‘Oh, I happen to be a dwarf, from the home realm of Dwarrodelf.’
‘Driskle’s people are known for being miners and craftsman,’ said Merlin when he explained about him ‘Any kind of metal you can give them, they can turn it into the most powerful weapon in all the realms.’
Applebuck ended up sneezing, which caused Driskle to freak out as he used a sanitizer wipe. Puzzled, they looked at Copper, with him only saying ‘He also happens to be a germ freak sometimes, and also has a problem keeping his lunch in without him losing it.’
‘So we notice,’ said Mage Meadowbrook as she walked over and gave Driskle a potion ‘Here you go, if you ever need some clean hands, this is the kind of remedy that can help.’
‘Oh, um,’ said Driskle when he was surprised the kind gift that they offered ‘Thank you. And I must say it’s truly a surprise to see ponies here, we never get to see them that much, and uh…’ he suddenly got nervous when he saw Spike ‘Oh, hello there.'
‘Don’t worry Driskle,’ said Applebuck when he looked at Driskle ‘He’s harmless, and he’s the only dragon that’s friendly.’
Spike looked confused whilst he looked at Merlin ‘Did I do something wrong?’
‘Nah, don’t take it personally,’ said Merlin ‘He’s only nervous around Dragons because the Dwarves and Dragons were at war against one another for a short time.’
‘Wait,’ said Mistmane ‘Dragons were at war with the Dwarves?’
‘Yeah, let’s just say the last Dwarf king had dragon sickness, which made him crave for gold and would rather hoard it rather than give it to the free people,’ said Knight as the others were surprised ‘Which gained the dragons’ attention and they ended up waging a war against them. That was, until they drove the dwarves away from the Capitol city. They retaliated and thanks to the last spell, they were able to create warriors that could help them drive them away, and also created them some gold so that the dragons would not return here ever again.’
‘Right,’ said Driskle when he agreed ‘It’s been hard trying to keep the peace, but they’re sometimes very aggressive.’
‘Oh my,’ said Fluttershy when she sounded worried ‘I hope they’re not warlike.’
‘Oh not to worry, they’re harmless now.’ said Driskle after he began to wear his leather bag ‘So what can I do for you?’
‘We’re on our way to fetch the rest of our brothers,’ said Applebuck whilst he sat down and spoke to it ‘They’re going to meet us near this bridge’s location.’
‘Oh right,’ said Driskle when he remembered ‘We were wondering when you lot would arrive.’
‘Are the items I requested ready?’ asked Invictus when his out of patience nearly showed.
‘They’re waiting for you lot in there,’ said Driskle as he led them ‘Please, right this way.’
As Driskle led them inside, Rarity spoke to Chivalry ‘Who is this, “We” that Driskle kept on talking about?’
‘Oh, he’s referring to his brother Brock,’ said Chivalry when he looked at Rarity ‘The two of them are the best blacksmiths you could imagine. But a while ago, they got into a heated argument and they ended up going their separate ways. But we later found them and in time they eventually learnt on how to get along before they could’ve done something stupid.’
Whilst they walked, they were surprised to see so much ancient texture on the walls, telling small legends about many brave warriors from back then. But as they walked, they were able to walk past a blacksmith’s forgery, until they met another Dwarf, but was very different, as his skin was blue, which surprised them as it said ‘Well, well, well, look who finally showed up, even after I made all of you try to be on time for once.’
‘Keep your man apron on Brock,’ said Knight when he stood in front of them ‘We would’ve come here sooner, but were delayed.’
‘Figured as much, word’s already spread about the stunt your old man pulled, especially with Eros still around.’
‘Wait, you know Eros?’ said Starlight Glimmer when she was surprised that they knew about it.
‘Who doesn’t,’ said Brock as he placed his hammer down ‘Eros and his fellow gods used to rule all the thirteen dimensions, but after the humans in this world got out of control with their new magical abilities, they tried to stop them, but were all destroyed by them, with Eros, if I might guess, was locked up before they were engaged in battle.’
‘That would explain why he was locked up at that monastery.’ said Twilight whilst she thought about their previous encounter with him before.
‘So where are all of you off to?’ said Driskle when he was curious about them traveling together.
‘You remember that magic mirror we told you about that’s connected to another world?’ said Applebuck to jock their memories.
‘Yeah, we know of it,’ said Brock ‘What of it?’
‘We’re going to fetch the rest of our brothers there.’ said Copper when he stood close to Brock ‘Did Thunder already come by?’
‘Afraid not,’ said Driskle when he told them ‘Thunder didn’t come here, said he was busy tracking someone.’
‘Father,’ said Bashful ‘You don’t think Thunder could be tracking them down now do you?’
‘Possibly.’ said Invictus ‘But he knows his training, he’ll be alright.’
‘By the way,’ said Knight when he wanted to remind the Dwarves of their favor ‘Were you able to make what we requested?’
‘Sure, it’s right here.’ said Brock whilst he handed them three large bags, allowing Merlin, Chivalry and Invictus to accept them.
‘We best be on our way.’ said Invictus whilst he walked, with most of his sons coming with him.
‘Is he always this rude?’ whispered Rarity to Chivalry when she wondered why he had such ill manners.
‘You get use to it,’ said Chivalry ‘Dad’s never been much of a “Please” or “Thank you” kind of person. But he gets the job done.’
All of them stood in front of a large stone door as they were able to open it, allowing them to enter. To their shock, they saw a type of shattered tree, with many rainbow colors flying all around. ‘Whoa.’ said the ponies whilst they were surprised.
‘Incredible.’ said Starswirl when he couldn’t believe his eyes.
‘So this is the Rainbow Bridge?’ said Twilight whilst she was just as surprised.
‘I’ve heard of this place,’ said Stygian whilst he looked around ‘But I thought it was only just a myth.’
‘Aye, it ain’t no myth.’ said Rockhoof whilst he looked around ‘But then again that’s what folks would say about us.’ ‘What’s with that there shattered tree?’ said Applejack whilst she was confused by it.
‘When this place was constructed,’ said Merlin when he told them of this place’s origins ‘It was designed by the Norse gods, who once came to this world a long time ago. This place resembles to their Bifrost bridge back on the Norse realms. But after they left, this place was forgotten throughout time.’
‘Hmm,’ said Somnambula when she looked at it ‘This tree nearly resembles to the Tree of Harmony.’
‘So uh, how does it work?’ said Sunburst when he was just as curious about what they might find.
Invictus pulled out a type of key, allowing him to place it into what appears to be a slot, creating a magic map, showing the Rainbow Bridge in the middle, whilst there were thirteen gateways all around, except one that’s no longer on the map. They were surprised to see the map on the pedestal as it showed them.
‘These are the gateways of the thirteen dimensions,’ said Bashful when he wanted to be helpful ‘On one world, is the world where the mercenaries live, you know, the ones you met over there some time ago? Plus there are other realms where there are Elves, Dwarves, Giants and so forth. And right here, right next to the one that leads to who knows where, is where Sunset Shimmer and the others live.’
‘Whoa,’ said Rainbow Dash when she never realized on how cool the discovery that they made was ‘Awesome.’
Invictus chose the world where Sunset and the others are. Whilst at the same time, he turned the key as if it were a car, causing the map to glow brightly as it automatically turned around, allowing the bridge to aim at the world of the Equestrian Girls. After it was aligned, a beam of light fired from above their head towards a gem above one of the doors, allowing it to open to that specific world. When the beam died down, Invictus took the key with him as he said ‘Come, let us go.’
All of them walked towards the door they just entered, with them walking past both Brock and Driskle, whilst they argued over what they should have for lunch. Invictus opened the door, whilst it revealed to them that they were definitely at a different place. All of them were amazed by the terrain, whilst at the same time, Rainbow Dash was surprised that the clouds were moving on their own ‘Hey, the clouds are moving on their own, and so is the sun.’
‘Yeah they do,’ said Copper as he stood in front of them ‘In this world nature is performing on its own, including the weather and stuff.’
‘So where’d y’all say to Sunset that where should we meet?’ said Applebuck to Twilight whilst they walked towards the bridge.
‘They said that they’d meet us at a park somewhere. I know about it, I went there once before.’ ‘In that case, lead the way.’ said Knight whilst he walked.
They walked towards the end of the bridge, then through the woods of where they were going to meet Sunset and the others. An hour later, Invictus signaled them ‘Now we wait here.’
Whilst they waited, they heard noises. Twilight took her friends and the Pillars with her and showed them. To their surprise, they saw many humans walking by going on about their business, getting on with their lives and everything else. ‘Whoa.’ they replied.
‘So this is what the human world looks like.’ said Rarity when she was surprised by the people.
‘Whoa, awesome.’ said Rainbow Dash when she was amazed by what she was seeing.
However, Applejack spotted someone walking down the street. She slowly recognized her, and was shocked to see who it was ‘Wait, is that, Apple Bloom?’
To their shock, it was. But not just her, but also Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. ‘Wait,’ said Sunburst when he thought about something ‘Didn’t we see them back in Ponyville sometime ago?’
‘That’s their counterparts actually.’ said Merlin when he joined them and showed them ‘On any other world, we exist, but we took on different paths and look different from one another. The CMC that all of you know are ponies, but the ones over there are their human counterparts.’
They were surprised to see what they looked like in a different form. ‘Well I’ll be,’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she looked at them ‘So we see. Ah wonder what we look like in this world?’
‘Like this.’ said Merlin when he showed them pictures. But as he placed the pictures away, he looked at Starswirl ‘And did you know that this was the world you banished the Sirens too?’
Starswirl looked at him shocked ‘What?’
‘You heard me, instead of sending them to an empty dimension, you banished them to a populated world, allowing them to cause even more damage.’
Starswirl then felt guilty for not knowing about it, realizing that pride really did cloud his judgment. ‘Did I miss something?’ said Tempest when she wondered what was going on.
‘Long version or short version?’ asked Copper.
‘The short version.’
‘Okay then,’ said Chivalry when he told her ‘Back then Stygian called on the legends to help to save his town, but felt left out. He wanted to use their elements to create his own copies of them so that he could be a pillar too and stand beside them, but unfortunately Starswirl, in all his stupidity, falsely accused Stygian that he wanted to take their magic for themselves, so they casted him out. And in the end, his own darkness took hold of him, and eventually became the Pony of Shadows. They fought one another, until the Pillars banished him to limbo, with them in it. After they were freed, Starswirl still acted like an idiot and didn’t even give him a chance to explain. Eventually they freed Stygian from the darkness, so they mended their differences afterwards.’
‘I see.’ said Tempest when she was surprised by the information.
They eventually heard voices coming towards them. When they looked over, they saw seven other individuals arriving, along with familiar girls with them. Twilight saw Sunset, but to the rest of the Mane 6’s shock, they saw their counterparts walking towards the park grounds.
‘We’re here.’ said one of the boys holding a journal.
‘Okay, spill it bub,’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she wanted answers ‘Why are we even here with you?’
‘Wow,’ said Spike when he walked out of the woods ‘And I thought our Rainbow Dash had bad manners.’
They were shocked to see a dragon, however, they instantly recognized it when they got a closer look as all of them had said ‘Spike?!’
The human Fluttershy was surprised to see Spike is actually a cute dragon instead of a ferocious one ‘Oh my gosh, you are so cute.’
‘It’s so great to see you girls again.’
‘Same to you Spike.’ said the human Rarity when she was also happy to see him.
‘Wow,’ said the human Twilight when she was really surprised to see a Dragon ‘So this is a Dragon.’
‘And that’s what I also look like if I was born in another world.’ said Spike whilst he pointed at his dog counterpart. He stood near his dog counterpart as he said ‘Well aren’t you a handsome feller.’
‘Well hey, you don’t look so bad yourself.’ said the dog Spike, with some rolling their eyes.
Out of nowhere, they saw Princess Twilight walking out and said hello, surprising Sunset and the others. They were surprised to see her and hugged her tightly, which she felt overjoyed that she also got the chance to see them again.
‘It’s so great to see you again Princess Twilight.’ said Applejack when she broke the hug.
‘It’s so great to see all of you too.’ said Twilight when she was happy to see them.
‘Wait,’ said Sunset when she noticed something ‘How come your form didn’t change the moment you got here?’
‘We found another way to cross here. We can still come here without us changing our forms.’
‘Awesome.’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she was surprised by the news.
‘Oh, right, before I forget…’ said Twilight whilst she signaled the rest of the Mane 7, allowing them to step out of the bushes. Both sides were shocked to see one another, whilst they took a few steps closer together just to take a good look at one another. Each of them were surprised in their own way to meet one another.
Rainbow Dash and her human counterpart high fived one another, Rarity was bedazzled by her human counterpart’s wardrobe, with the human Rarity feeling the same way about her mane. Both Pinkie Pie and her counterpart were excited to see one another as it made them jump with joy. Both Fluttershy and her human counterpart were extra shy and could barely even try to say hello to one another. Applejack and her counterpart were just as much surprised to see one another. As for Twilight and her counterpart, well…
‘Oh my gosh,’ said the human Twilight when she got excited ‘I can’t believe it, I mean, I’ve always theorized about alternate dimensions, but I never thought I’d meet mine, especially when she’s a Princess.’
‘Don’t worry, I was just as surprised to have met you,’ said Twilight when she tried to reassure her counterpart ‘Even if it was for just a brief moment and all.’
At the same time, Starswirl and the others appeared, which surprised Sunset and the others. ‘Hello there all.’ said Stygian when he felt nervous for some reason.
Slowly, Sunset recognized each and every one of them ‘Oh my gosh. Starswirl the Bearded, Flash Magnus, Mage Meadowbrook, Mistmane, Rockhoof and Somnambula.’
‘Wait, what?’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she darted over ‘Oh my gosh, it’s like actually meeting the legends on our world in person.’
‘Don’t forget the former Pony of Shadows.’ said Pinkie Pie when she introduced Stygian to them.
Starswirl noticed the pendant around her neck and recognized it ‘Where did you get them?’
Sunset walked up and gave him his answer ‘We founded them at a summer camp at a place called Camp Everfree. But most of the Equestrian magic came from a portal back near our school.’
‘Interesting.’ said Starswirl whilst he examined it.
Lastly, Invictus, along with Merlin and his brothers, appeared from out of the bushes, gaining Yin Sid and the others’ attention. They walked up to their father and brothers, then stood close to one another.
‘Father.’ said the brothers.
‘Boys.’ said Invictus whilst he looked at them.
Slowly, they hugged their father, with Sunset and her friends surprised by what they called one another.
‘Wait,’ said the human Rarity whilst she was shocked ‘That’s their father?!!’
‘Sho ‘nuff,’ said Applejack whilst she stood next to her ‘Their father had sent them through a magic mirror when they asked to go to school here.’
Duke looked around and noticed somebody was missing ‘Where’s Thunder?’
‘We don’t know,’ said Chivalry ‘We know that he was with Driskle and Brock earlier, but after that, we have no idea where they are.’
Human Applejack walked up to Princess Twilight and were curious about the boys that they’ve seen earlier ‘Now Twilight. Y’all mind telling us what’s going on here?’
‘Well, you see…’ said Twilight when she started out ‘Yin Sid and his brothers, are also Merlin Bronzetail and the others’ brothers. And their mother passed away.’
They were surprised to hear that ‘Whoa, that’s harsh.’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she also heard it.
‘Before she died, she asked them to scatter her ashes from the highest peak in all the thirteen realms.’
‘Thirteen?’ said the human Fluttershy ‘You mean there are more dimensions out there?’
‘Oh trust me,’ said Spike when he landed on Twilight’s back ‘We’ve seen them. We even found another portal to here.’
‘We must be off,’ said Invictus when he nearly loses his patience ‘Our journey still continues.’
‘But before we go,’ said Knight when he dropped a few duffel bags ‘A gift straight from the dwarves.’
‘Oh sweet.’ said Atreus when he got dibs.
Shortly after, they were wearing partial armour, but each of them had their own weapons. Don had a bow, Bucky had the axe, Lyon had the hammer, Barry had the mace, Yin Sid had the shield and sword, Atreus had the spear and shield, whilst Duke had a broadsword.
‘Let us be off.’ said Invictus as he guided the boys.
‘Um, Twilight.’ said Sunset when she felt nervous ‘Do you think we can come with you this time?’
‘Are you kidding, of course.’ said Twilight whilst she got excited ‘I’ve been dying to spend time with you lot again, and they could also get to know one another.’
Sunset and the others cheered when they were both happy and excited at the same time. ‘Well then what are we waiting for?’ said the human Rainbow Dash in excitement ‘Let’s go.’
And so it was, they journeyed together to fulfill Merlin and the others’ mother’s wish, not knowing the dangers ahead, for soon, there will be more to come.
Shortly after their travels, the Mane 7 and EG Mane 7 were accompanying Invictus and his sons to where they needed to go when they were on their way back to the Rainbow Bridge. Merlin walked next to Invictus and asked ‘Father, do you think we’ll ever find Thunder?’
‘He will be alright,’ said Invictus, still being confident ‘He’ll find his way when time permits him.’
At the same time, the others were having a conversation to catch up on old times whilst Sunburst talked to Yin Sid of what the human world of Equestria was like, with him explaining of how this world works.
‘Wait,’ said Sunset when she looked at Princess Twilight ‘You opened a school of Friendship back in Equestria to teach others the meaning of friendship?’
‘More or less,’ said Princess Twilight ‘Although Neigh Say didn’t like the idea of other creatures being taught there, thinking that they’d end up using friendship as a weapon against us.’
‘Wait, what?’ said the human Twilight when she heard the whole thing ‘How can they use it as a weapon? That’s completely ridiculous.’
‘Not as ridiculous as the fact a little Filly worked for one of Equestria’s greatest enemy.’ said Sunset when she remembered from what Twilight told her.
‘Yeah, but I’m still sorry I couldn’t help her. For yes, friendship is powerful, but power isn’t why you make friends.’ said Princess Twilight when she thought about it.
‘Hey, that wasn’t your fault,’ said Sunset when she reassured her ‘But you have to realize that even the older and more experienced teachers couldn’t predict for what’s to come, remember when me and Celestia had a rocky relationship when I didn’t care about friendship except power?’
‘A little,’ said Twilight whilst she smiled and looked at her ‘But on the bright side I got to make new friends and meet all of you.’
‘And what’s with the story of the unicorn without the horn?’ said the human Twilight when she pointed at an unsuspecting Tempest.
‘Oh, that’s Tempest Shadow.’ said Twilight whilst she told them of Tempest’s story ‘Back then her name was Fizzlepop Berrytwist. One day she was playing with her friends and she ended up getting her horn cut off by an Ursa Minor. Her horn didn’t work right and she felt abandoned. In time she joined up with the Storm King when they took over Equestria. After the Storm King’s defeat, she joined our side. She began her journey to redeem herself to make up for her mistakes.’
‘I know the feeling,’ said Sunset when she could relate to something like that ‘But isn’t there a spell to fix broken horns?’
‘I’m afraid not, I’ve been looking for it for years. But so far, I couldn’t find anywhere.’
‘Why not look through the books of Clover the Clever,’ said Sunset Shimmer when she told her about Clover’s discovery ‘Before the Unicorn sages disappeared, he discovered that they had an ancient spell that could restore a unicorn’s horn in case their horns gets broken. He even wrote it all down so that he could pass it down to future generations of unicorns should the need arise.’
‘Really?’ said Twilight when she was surprised by the discovery ‘You mind writing this down?’
‘Of course.’
Rainbow Dash on the other hand had a conversation with her human self.
‘So let me get this straight,’ said Rainbow Dash when she started the conversation ‘In your world, you have a team called the Wondercolts, and they’re basically in charge of every single sport your school has to offer?’
‘Pretty much,’ said the human Rainbow Dash with a smile as she placed both her hands behind her head ‘And you, what do you do?’
‘Oh, I’m in charge of my town’s weather. But I’m also part of a team called the Wonderbolts. We mostly do shows like races and fly stunts together.’
‘Cool, like an air show?’
‘What’s a air show?’
Human Rainbow Dash showed it to Rainbow Dash on her phone ‘See, they fly in machines like this called planes. And they mostly do shows like that by performing tricks and all.’
‘Whoa, awesome,’ said Rainbow Dash when she saw them, then looked at her human counterpart ‘I can’t wait to see them.’ ‘I’ll be sure to take you there.’ said the human Rainbow Dash with a smile.
At the same time, Rarity and her human counterpart were exchanging notes of fashion.
‘Oh I must say darling,’ said Rarity when she talked to her human counterpart ‘I simply love your dress, it certainly suits you.’
‘Why thank you,’ said the human Rarity whilst she admired her pony counterpart ‘And I love what you’ve done with your hair, it’s simply divine.’
‘You simply must show me your work, oh, I simply adore it, and they might even look good at my boutique.’ ‘Wait,’ said the human Rarity surprised ‘You have a boutique?!!’
‘Three of them darling,’ said Rarity when she was proud of her achievement ‘One is in Ponyville, my hometown. The second is in Canterlot, near Princess Celestia’s castle. And my third one happens to be in Manehattan, the big city.’
‘Oh my,’ said her counterpart ‘We simply must get started, as soon as we have some free time.’
‘Oh I look forward to it my dear.’
Fluttershy spoke to her human counterpart.
‘Oh my, your mane looks so lovely,’ said the human Fluttershy when she looked at her pony counterpart ‘And your coat really has an amazing shine.’
‘Oh thank you,’ said Fluttershy when she was excited to make a new friend ‘You should see my animal friends’ coats at the sanctuary.’
‘Sanctuary?’
‘Oh, a while ago I had an idea to open a place called “Sweet Feather Sanctuary”, a place where the animals can have a place called home. I can show it to you if you want.’
‘Oh, I would simply love that.’
Applejack and her counterpart were also having their share of a conversation.
‘So y’all do farm work, but y’all make Fizzy Apple Ciders?’ said Applejack when she hears what they do in the human world ‘How do they taste like?’
‘They taste like apples,’ said the human Applejack whilst she thought about it ‘But they also have a wonderful taste of the fizzy bubbly bubbles inside. It kinda tickles and they also can give someone gas.’
‘Say what now?’ said Applejack when she was nearly disgusted.
‘Of the burping, not the uh…other thing.’
‘Oh thank goodness,’ said Applejack when she was relieved ‘Y’all wouldn’t mind if we had some of that stuff too now would ya?’
‘Course not.’
But as for the two Pinkie Pies, both of them were talking so much of their parties. (I wouldn’t go into the details, but they talk so much even I can’t keep up with it. All I could make out were cupcakes and jalapeño red velvet cupcakes.) Whilst in the end they say…
‘You know what we should do?’ said Pinkie Pie with a smile.
‘You mean…?’ said the human Pinkie Pie.
The two of them spoke at the same time ‘A super duper awesome mega super duper dimensional union party?!’, which caused them to screech in excitement.
‘Wow, I didn’t think all of them would bond like this,’ said Sunburst when he looked at them ‘Let alone their counterparts.’
‘You’d be surprised,’ said Starlight when she talked about Twilight ‘There was a time when Princess Twilight wanted to go over there for a visit, but ended up spending little time with her counterpart. Which was weird, but also adorable.’
Tempest on the other hand, walked alongside Invictus, seeing that she didn’t like being in the middle of their conversation. She was quiet for a few moments, until she heard something, which she signaled and made them stop in their tracks.
‘What is it?’ said Invictus when he wondered what she was doing.
‘Do you hear that?’ said Tempest with caution.
To their shock, they heard Eros, which Merlin predicted would happen. ‘You know who that is?’ said Yin Sid in confusion.
‘We sure do,’ said Knight ‘He’s been after both us and father for almost a week now.’ ‘What?’ said Bucky when he was surprised ‘Why didn’t y’all tell us about it?’
‘We didn’t know,’ said Applebuck next ‘He was after us since after we sent Thunder to you lot with news of mother’s fate.’ ‘Come on,’ said Twilight when she snuck towards him ‘Let’s check it out.’
They went over to the nearby bushes and took a peak. To their surprise, they saw not just Eros, but two others who were with him, slightly taller than him. ‘Wait, who are those two?’ said Atreus when he saw them.’
‘Don’t know,’ said Applejack ‘But let’s wait it out and find out.’
But what they were hearing, was that they were having a conversation with someone who stood in front of a large oak tree. ‘Oh what a surprise,’ said a voice to them ‘Must be quite the occasion for the sons of Eros to grace their presence with him too. Tell me, you’re still licking your daddy’s boots to please him?’
‘Sons?’ said Don when he was surprised to hear what he said.
‘Oh this isn’t good.’ said Sunset next.
‘The white Alicorn as well as his sons,’ said Eros to him ‘Tracks shows that they’re now being accompanied by more civilians to their cause.’
‘And why would I know anything about that?’
‘You’re the smartest man alive, aren’t you?’ said the eldest son to the left.
‘Smarter than all the dead ones too.’ said the stranger next, but with the sound of his voice, he doesn’t want to help them.
‘Help us what we want,’ said Eros to him ‘And we can help…’
‘You know very well you cannot free me Eros,’ said the stranger as he spoke back ‘You have nothing to offer me, because your father and brother made sure I would never be released. So take your questions, take your empty threats, take these worthless wankers with you, and piss off!!’
They were surprised the way the stranger spoke to the three of them. ‘Yeesh, language much?’ said the human Pinkie Pie when she heard the fourth being a potty mouth.
Out of frustration, Eros and his sons left, feeling bitter about what the stranger had said to them. All of them had exited from the bushes to see if they were still there, but discovered that they were gone. ‘Who were they talking to?’ said Rarity when she was curious of what was going on.
‘Well, well, well, the very topic of conversation,’ said a mysterious voice as all of them turned around. To their shock, they saw a human male with a beard, two horns of a goat, with markings over his head, whilst half of his body was encased in a tree whilst being wrapped in the thickest of tree roots, whilst his right hand was still free as he also had only one shining eye on his right, whilst on his left he had nothing ‘A pack full of ponies traveling with strangers from another land.’
All of them were cautious of him, not knowing of what they would expect. ‘Dragon, check that path, make sure we aren’t followed.’ said Invictus when he wanted them to see if they were really gone.
‘Got it.’ said Spike as he left to see if the coast were clear.
The human male on the other hand looked at them leaving, whilst looking at Invictus when he had pieced it together ‘They don’t know what you are.’
‘And I preferred to keep it that way.’ said Invictus when he was curious about the stranger ‘Who are you?’
‘Me?’ said the mortal male when he introduced himself ‘I happen to be the ambassador and peace talker between the gods, the giants and all manner of creature in all thirteen realms. I know every language spoken, every war waged and every deal struck. They call me, Caldor; the smartest man alive. And I have the answer to your every question.’
‘Why does the last of the gods and his sons hunt us?’ said Invictus, wanting to know why he was after them.
Caldor was silent for a few moments, for even he didn’t know how to respond to it ‘Okay, so there are a few gaps to my knowledge.’
Rainbow Dash only chuckled whilst she crossed her hooves and whispered to her counterpart ‘So much for being the smartest.’
‘You’ll have to forgive me young one, but I’ve been imprisoned here for what…One thousand winters.’ said Caldor when he explained his imprisonment, surprising them in the process ‘I’m a clever enough lad, I can piece it all together, just…given time.’
Out of nowhere, Spike and his doggy counterpart arrived ‘It’s all clear. Wherever they’ve gone, they’re long gone now.’
The stranger was curious of what they would’ve wanted, until Invictus told him ‘The boys’ mother is dead. She wished for us to…’
Copper interrupted when he told him ‘She wished for us to scatter her ashes on the highest peak, in all the realms.’
‘Oh then you’ve come to the wrong place young one,’ said Caldor, which slowly shocked Invictus’ sons, as well as Twilight and the others ‘The highest peak in all the thirteen realms isn’t in this world or in Equestria. It’s in Adularia, realm of the First Ones.’
‘No!!’ shouted Atreus in frustration, whilst the rest of his brothers feel the same way, for all of them have been traveling for nothing.
‘That could not be what she meant.’ said Invictus when he too had a hard time grasping it.
‘Wait,’ said Sunburst when he was surprised to hear the name ‘The First Ones are real?!’
‘Take a look.’ said Caldor when he used his eye to pierce the veil, showing them the image and partial memory of the First Ones’ homes. To their surprise, it was a giant statue in the middle that nearly resembles to one of the old gods. Whilst near the entrance were the statues of the First Ones, wearing ancient robes and armour, as well as a helmet with weapons that resembles to the old guard. They were shocked to see what the place looked like ‘You see that statue, the one that’s more bigger than any statue on any world, that’s the realm of the First Ones, including the highest peak in the realms, not here.’
‘Then what are we waiting for, said Rainbow Dash whilst she were slowly getting excited ‘Let’s fire up the Rainbow Bridge and get there.’
‘When the First Ones left the realms to return to their own,’ said Caldor when he explained the First Ones ‘They destroyed every entrance to that world except here, with a special kind of Rune that would allow you to open the gateway to that world. If it exist somewhere, only both a First One and an Adularian would know where to find it.’
‘And all of them left a long time ago.’ said Bashful when he wanted to have a chance to speak.
‘True,’ said Caldor when he looked at them ‘But today the winds of fate have picked up a strange vortex of coincidence. Fact is, there’s only one person alive who can get you where you need to go. And luckily for all of you, my schedule is wide open.’
‘Wait,’ said Starlight when she was cautious ‘You wanna come with us?’
‘It’s your only tactical advantage.’
Invictus thought about it long and hard, whilst he thought about the realm of the First Ones. He looked at the spot where the doorway was. He felt Lyon’s hand as he looked at him. ‘We’re gonna do this.’ said Lyon when they were determined to finish their journey.
Invictus thought about it, and made his decision as he looked at Caldor ‘What do we do?’
‘First you need to cut off my head.’
‘Wait, what?’ said Stygian when he and the others were shocked by what he was suggesting.
‘Well when I first got imprisoned here, they ensured that no weapon could ever release me. The trick is, we will also need someone who knows the old magic.’
Merlin looked at the roots and thought to himself ‘No weapon, huh?’. He looked at Yin Sid, whilst Yin Sid looked at one another with a smile ‘You thinking what I’m thinking?’
‘Oh yeah.’ said Yin Sid when he knew what they were thinking.
The two of them stood together and concentrated. To many of their surprise, Merlin’s Cutie Mark, his wings as well as his eyes and horn were glowing, as does Yin Sid’s hands and eyes. The two of them chanted an ancient spell whilst they waved their hands/hooves around. With a great flash, as all of them had covered their eyes, Caldor was released from his tree prison. He stood on his knees and were surprised to see him free from his tree prison, as were the others when they saw.
‘H-how?’ said Caldor when he didn’t have the words to respond.
‘Little something we learned from a certain wolf when she taught us the magic of nature.’ said Yin Sid whilst he cracked his knuckles with a smile.
‘Wow, clever.’ said Flash Magnus when he was impressed by their idea.
‘But didn’t he say that no weapon can break them?’ said Starswirl when he remembered what Caldor had said earlier.
‘Ah, my bearded pony friend,’ said Merlin with a smile ‘Magic can be used as a weapon, yes, but this was a simple release spell. This kind of magic we’ve seen before, we were even taught the full control of that magic.’
‘That’s great and all,’ said Chivalry when he tried to point things out ‘But uh, could someone mind to find him some attire for his uh, ahem…nudeness?’
Some noticed as they looked away feeling embarrassed. ‘Oh dear,’ said Rarity whilst feeling the need to dress him up. ‘Do any of you happen to have…?’
Rarity was cut off when both Chivalry and Duke had tons of cloth and materials to make a proper clothing, which surprised her. ‘What?’ said Duke and Chivalry all together, with Duke saying ‘Do you have any idea how many times my brothers keep tearing their clothes and all?’
‘Oh,’ said Rarity with a smile ‘I might start to like you two.’
‘Oh, mind if I help out darling.’ said human Rarity when she offered her assistance.
A while later, after much designing and trying on outfits, Caldor had been dressed both professionally and stylishly. He wore black boots, long black pants, a grey shirt and a black jacket with shoulder pads on it. He stared at the bridge whilst he smiled and breathed in the fresh watery air. ‘Ah, feels good to be free again.’
‘Oooh,’ said the human Pinkie when she saw the bridge ‘So this is what the bridge looks like.’
‘Weird,’ said Sunset when she looked at the bridge ‘You’d think I’d see this bridge before I came here.’
‘Well if you did,’ said Don with a smile ‘You wouldn’t have that hot rocking body in the first…’
Within an instant, Bucky closed Don’s mouth with his hand, whilst Sunset was partially surprised by what Don nearly said whilst she blushed brightly.
‘I have to say lass,’ said Caldor whilst he admired the attire and spoke to Rarity and her counterpart ‘You’ve really outdone yourself here, I actually like this attire.’
‘Why thank you darling.’ said both Rarity and her counterpart at the same time.
After they used the bridge, they arrived in Equestria. They traveled by road to reach Canterlot the moment it was in their sights.
‘Uh, Twilight?’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she was confused ‘Where are we going?’
‘To Celestia of course, with her insight, and Caldor’s knowledge, we might be able to find what we’re looking for.’
‘Celestia?’ replied Caldor, which in truth made him nervous for some reason ‘Oh boy.’
‘Something wrong there partner?’ said Applejack when she was curious.
‘No, nothing at all.’ he replied, whilst feeling nervous.
After journeying a long voyage to Canterlot, they had reached Celestia and Luna’s throne room, where the leaders of the other kingdoms had just reported in of the places that have been repaired. The Mane 7 entered the hall with the Pillars, gaining their attention in the process.
‘Twilight?’ said Celestia when she was surprised to see her again ‘What are you doing here? Is your journey over already?’
‘Eh,’ said Twilight whilst she felt greatly nervous all over again.
‘Not exactly.’ said Spike, whilst at the same time, Sunset and her friends entered the throne room, which shocked them in the process.
‘Okay, who the heck are they?’ said Ember when she was confused by what she was seeing. Prince Rutherford stood near the human Pinkie and noticed a resemblance ‘You almost look like Pink Pony friend.’
‘That’s because they’re us from another dimension silly.’ said Pinkie whilst she introduced them ‘Every creature beyond Equestria, these are our alternate selves. Alternate selves, meet our creature friends/rulers beyond Equestria’s borders.’
Thorax took a step forward, looking at the Mane 7, as well as the humane Mane 7. ‘You know,’ he replied when he looked at them ‘Come to think of it, I do see a resemblance.’
Human Fluttershy looked at Celestia and Luna, whilst surprised of how beautiful they are. She walked towards them and greeted them ‘Oh, hello there. I’m Fluttershy. It’s very nice to meet you.’
‘Oh, pleasure to meet you too.’ said Luna when she greeted her.
Within a split second, she hugged the two of them, surprising them in the process. She nearly yelped and took a step back, whilst feeling embarrassed of what she did ‘Oh, um, sorry.’
‘Oh, it’s quite alright,’ said Celestia with a smile ‘It’s quite an honor to meet you.’
Slowly, Caldor walked in, feeling sheepish, and for seeing Celestia again. He stood there for a few moments, until Celestia noticed that he stood there. She didn’t show a smile, only showed that she looked mad. ‘You,’ she said snapping at Caldor ‘Approach.’
Caldor took a few steps forward, not knowing what she wanted. He stood close to her whilst he looked like as if he was ashamed, gaining some of their suspicion.
‘Are you well?’ said Celestia coldly.
‘Yes, I am.’ he answered back.
‘Good.’ said Celestia, until to their surprise, she spat against his face, whilst she still looked mad at him.
‘Nice to see you too Celestia.’ said Caldor, knowing that he didn’t like seeing her like that.
‘Hmm,’ said Starswirl when he looked at Celestia’s attitude ‘I sense you know one another.
‘More or less,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘See when she was still a filly and before Luna was born, whilst their mother was still ruler of Equestria, I once came here from another land. Celestia’s mother, Faust, took me in and asked for my aid to help her manage her kingdom. Which I did, with careful diplomatic skills.’
‘Oh, so you’re the reason why Equestria never triggered a war with us.’ said Ember when she remembered dragon history.
‘Indeed. But overtime she wanted me to be Celestia’s tutor. Aye I taught her, and she excelled at her magic better than what any of us could imagine, even after Luna was born, she was gifted with her magic.’
‘Oh,’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she got curious ‘What happened then?’
‘I told him to leave.’ said Celestia when she still was cold ‘He did something that I couldn’t forgive him for.’
‘Pff, what’d he do, sleep with your mother?’ said Knight when he was being sarcastic. However, Celestia and Caldor blushed whilst they looked away from one another, not wanting to talk about that. But slowly to Knight’s shock, that’s exactly what happened. ‘Wait, I was just kidding, you slept with her mother?!!’
Many were shocked when they heard what Caldor did. ‘Wait a minute,’ said the human Applejack ‘So you…and her mom?!!’
‘Okay,’ said Rainbow Dash when she agreed with Applejack’s counterpart ‘Even I know that’s a bit out of line.’
‘We were drunk okay!’ said Caldor, not being proud of that moment ‘We were both under stress of the work we had to do!’. Caldor changed his expression when he thought about his friendship with her ‘Yet no matter what we always faced, she always smiled in troubled times. She reminded all of us of our place in the world. She truly was special.’
Celestia also changed her expression, thinking about her mother, which she agreed with him for once ‘She was.’
Luna changed the subject when she talked to the others ‘Wait, I thought all of you were going to scatter the ashes of your mother?’
‘We were, except we had hit a bit of a snag.’ said Bashful when he felt embarrassed over their journey.
‘Indeed,’ said Stygian when he told them of what he had learnt ‘For it would appear the highest peak they’re looking for is in Adularia, the realm of the First Ones.’
They were surprised by what they had told them. ‘The First Ones are real?’ said Queen Novo when she was shocked to hear it.
‘Yaks thought they were myth.’ said Rutherford when he remembered the tales of the First Ones.
‘The feats of the First Ones were legendary,’ said Ember when she also remembered ‘Even from among the Dragon Lands.’
‘Aye, and from the looks of it,’ said Rockhoof when he remembered something else ‘Eros was still hunting us, as well as with the company of his two sons.’
‘Wait, sons?!’ said Celestia when she was also surprised to hear this kind of news.
‘Indeed your highness,’ said Tempest when she stood near her ‘They were asking Caldor where we were traveling, and from the looks of it, they were trying to find something that would put them on edge.’
‘So what are all of you doing here?’ said Luna when they wondered why they came back.
‘We were on our way to find a special rune to open the portal to the realm of the first ones.’ said Invictus when he reminded some of them of their mission.
‘And I think I know a certain someone that could still help,’ said Caldor when he remembered an old friend ‘And I believe he still resides from within the lake.’
‘The lake?’ said most of them when they were curious.
‘Follow me, and I’ll show you.’
Half an hour later, all of them arrived at the Rainbow Bridge, which surprised most of the leaders when they had no idea what it would look like. They stood at the center of the bridge, with some of them activating a platform as it raised itself until it stopped right next to a type of horn.
‘What is that?’ said Thorax when he was surprised to see it.
‘That dear Changeling,’ said Caldor when he looked at them ‘Is the very thing we need to call an old friend.’
Caldor walked up to the horn and blew on it so hard, it echoed through the mountains. It was silent for a short while, until ‘Oh come on,’ said Ember impatiently ‘That’s it? that’s what was so special about…?’
Suddenly the ground began to shake, with all of them feeling uneasy. ‘Whoa, what the heck is happening?’ said the canine Spike when he kept losing his balance.
Sure enough, from the lake itself, something large, as well as something scaly rose up from the waters as it rose higher than any mountain. It was large, but it had nostrils, large yellow eyes as well as teeth as sharp as a sword. They were extremely shocked to see the creature before them, with some of them shouting ‘What is that?!!’
The creature’s head was now above the sky and slowly yawned from its slumber. Caldor introduced them to it ‘That my friends is Aligarh, a World Serpent if I might add. His kind can speak the same languages as the First Ones because they used to reside there, but overtime they left other worlds so that they could serve as guides to others.’
‘As guides?’ said Luna when she wondered about them herself.
‘Well of course, how else did you expect others to learn the ways of the old magic. Scorpan learned from Aligarh himself.’ ‘Wait, Scorpan learned from it?’ said Starswirl whilst also being surprised about it.
‘Of course, everything Scorpan learned, he learned it from this big fellah.’ said Caldor when he pointed a few things out ‘You want me to ask him how they met?’
‘No,’ said Invictus when he was busy focusing the task at hand ‘Our only concern is Adularia.’
The Serpent saw the strangers and slowly lowered his head to look at them face to face. ‘GO NE NAR NO. SE NAR NO GI BA NAR.’ said the Serpent to the travelers.
‘What is he saying?’ said Rarity whilst wondering about the creature.
‘He wants to know what we want.’ said Caldor when he translated. ‘Alright now wish me luck.’ said Caldor whilst he cleared his throat to speak with the Serpent. The moment he spoke, gained the Serpent’s attention ‘AOOO <Ahem> YOO NOOO AMM MIII MIRR CAA DOOR.’
‘CO DE SAR NAM, YOO SO NEM NUR CAA DOOR.’ said the Serpent whilst slowly bowing his head in respect for Caldor.
‘I still got it lads and ladies, he remembers me,’ said Caldor to them, knowing that he has things under control. ‘WAGOO AG NA NI AR NUR,’ said Caldor to the Serpent, which it suddenly got mad, with Caldor correcting him ‘AGU NA, AGU NA RA MA NIAR NAR MUR.’
The Serpent then changed its expression and spoke back in a calmed manner ‘GO NO NI NOR, GO NI AR NA GORA NIARA GARANU, GOR NO VI NA CAMA RA NOR.’
Caldor looked at them and reassured them ‘He says he knows the pain of your loss. He’ll help ya.’
‘CA RI AR NARA BOO, SI CAN CA NAR NI NAR NUR.’ said the Serpent before parting ways.
‘WACA NOR WACAN TOR.’ said Caldor, then turned his attention towards the others ‘Curious.’
‘What did the beastie say?’ said Rockhoof out of curiosity.
‘Oh nothing that needs to be of any concern.’
The Serpent then used its magic to point the direction of where they need to go, whilst it granted them a special map so that they could find their way to where they need to go. After it was done, it returned back to its slumber ‘What did it do?’ said Sunset when she was surprised.
‘He’s helping us to make sure we’d be going in the right direction,’ said Caldor whilst he placed the map away in his coat pocket ‘Alright now, before we could open the rune gate, here’s what we need to do. First; we will need to find a very special chisel that could help us find a way. Second, we will need to form the chisel into the very rune that could allow us to cross to that world.’
‘You mean like the rune we saw earlier back home?’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she wanted to know if they were on track.
‘Precisely.’ said Caldor when he looked at them.
‘It looked kinda mad for a moment there.’ said Yin Sid when he noticed the creature nearly went hostile.
‘Oh that,’ said Caldor whilst he cleared his throat ‘He thought I said we were friends of Eros. You’ll have to forgive me, I never spoke the language sober before.’
‘Okay, so we got the map,’ said Rainbow Dash when she flew next to Caldor ‘Now what?’
‘Well first things first, we’ll need to triangulate our position to where we need to go first. Any of you have a proper map to this place?’
‘As a matter of fact…’ said Twilight when she had something in mind.
‘Hold it now!’ shouted Brock the Dwarf, gaining their attention. Some of the creatures were surprised to see the two Dwarves walking by, as well as Sunset and the others. Brock looked at them with crossed arms and said ‘And just where do you think you’re going?’
‘What do you think we’re gonna do?’ said the human Rainbow Dash ‘We’re gonna go with them.’
‘Not dressed like that you’re not.’ said Brock, which surprised them by what they had said.
‘What’s wrong with the way we dress?’ said the human Rarity whilst she felt insulted that Brock has no fashion sense whatsoever.
‘What he means is,’ said Driskle when he pointed things out ‘The places you might go to could be dangerous. We felt like we needed to give you some proper attire for travel, especially with some weapons you could use.’
‘You have something in mind?’ said Princess Celestia when she wondered what they were planning.
Half an hour later, after the creatures left to warn their fellow creatures of the gods’ plans and what they were doing, Sunset and the rest of the EG Mane 7 were dressed in their style of pants and boots, as well as shirts, but wear the armour of what almost resembles to the Valkyries of Valhalla. Each of their armour was different. For their colors nearly match the ones they have in their somewhat “Super Forms”. They were amazed of how the armour fitted them perfectly.
‘Whoa, okay,’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she liked her outfit ‘Now this I like.’
‘Oh my, so beautiful, and stylish.’ said the human Rarity when she loved her outfit.
‘And it’s also very light.’ said Fluttershy when she liked it.
The two dwarves then instructed them, with Driskle saying ‘Now remember, all of you are now equipped with shields on your left arms so all of you should be safe, as well as the swords we’ve given you. They both extremely light, and also very powerful.’
‘But in order to spice things up,’ said Brock with a smile as he had some other weapons with him ‘You’re gonna need these. They’ll help you lot in any situations.’
Driskle offered human Fluttershy with a flute ‘This flute has the ability to summon spirit animals to aid you. Any note you play on it, any animal you can think of will come to your aid to help you.’
‘Oooh.’ said the human Fluttershy when she accepted the flute.
‘I heard you’re pretty skilled with a bow.’ said Brock to the human Rainbow Dash.
‘Heck yeah I am.’ said human Rainbow Dash whilst she remembered her skills with a bow during the Friendship Games.
Brock granted her a powerful bow, but when human RD wondered why there were no arrows, he explained it to her ‘This bow, with the power of this gauntlet, will allow you to shoot any kind of arrow. Any arrow you can think of, the bow will produce one, allowing you to shoot with it.
‘Whoa, awesome.’ said human RD when she accepted the bow with glee.
‘I got just the one for you.’ said Driskle to human Twilight when he offered her two pens.
She accepted them with confusion whilst she looked at them ‘What am I supposed to do with these?’
‘Press them.’ said Driskle with excitement. Twilight decided to humor him as she pressed the top of the pens, causing them to turn into dual swords, which surprised her in the process, whilst he explained it to them ‘Those pens immediately form into two dual swords. They are very powerful when they work together. The jewels on the top, will allow you to form a shield when you clash them together, whilst one sword can turn into fire, and the other into ice.’
‘Amazing.’ said human Twilight when she admired them whilst it turned back into pens.
Brock handed human Applejack a lasso ‘This here lasso was forged by the dwarves’ most powerful hunters. When you use it, you can ensnare them, and the rope will never break. It’s so powerful with magic it can make your enemies surrender as well as tell the truth in case they might lie.’
‘Now that’s mah favorite kind of lasso.’ said human Applejack whilst she accepted it.
‘As for you,’ says Driskle when he talked to the human Pinkie Pie ‘How skilled are you with a staff?’
‘Oh very skilled,’ said the human Pinkie Pie with a smile ‘I so happen to be the champion spinner of it.’
‘Good enough,’ said Driskle whilst he offered her the bo-staff ‘This staff is the most indestructible, and can be used to knock enemies back. And it’s tips can turn into powerful explosive attacks with your abilities.’
‘Ooh, handy.’ said the human Pinkie when she accepted it, whilst offering her a cake from her satchel ‘Cake?’
‘Oh,’ said Driskle when he saw it was a strawberry cake, his favorite as he accepted it ‘Don’t mind if I do.’
‘And as for you,’ said Brock when he stood near the human Rarity with special gauntlets and jewels on top ‘These are special kinds of jewels on top of them. When you clash them together, they can create a powerful shield. They can even turn into wrist blades so you won’t be defenseless when they do.’
‘Ooh,’ said the human Rarity when she found them fascinated.
‘Oh, and this is for you.’ said Driskle to Sunset Shimmer as he offered her a spell book and an axe, which was not heavy, and just right for her ‘This is a book about Dwarven magic. Very powerful, very efficient. There are even a few pages of Elvin magic, should you wish to change the battlefield.’
‘Wow, thanks.’ said Sunset when she was surprised by the gifts he offered them.
‘Good, you’re all set.’ said Brock whilst he and Driskle were proud of them.
‘Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll remain here and see what else we can dig up.’ said Driskle next whilst he quickly caught up with Brock after he left.
‘Alright then,’ said Caldor whilst he talked to Twilight ‘Shall we be off to this map of yours?’
‘Of course,’ said Twilight with a smile ‘Right this way.’
All of them traveled back to Ponyville, hoping that they will find any clues to where they need to go.
After a long walk, all of them were in Ponyville, whilst the inhabitants were greatly surprised to see creatures they have never seen before. ‘Aw, this place and everyone here is so cute.’ said the human Fluttershy when she admired the place.
‘Oh don’t worry,’ said Fluttershy to her counterpart with a smile ‘After when we’re done here, we can show you around, you’d love it here.’
‘Speaking of here.’ said Celestia when they arrived at Twilight’s castle, with the rest of the EG Mane 7 surprised to see what the place looked like.
‘Oh, my, gosh.’ said human Rarity when she was surprised ‘This castle is amazing.’
‘Whoa,’ said Merlin when he looked at it ‘Nice castle.’
‘Thanks.’ said Twilight with a smile ‘There’s enough room here for nearly over fifty ponies to stay here.’
A while later, all of them were inside the castle and got the tour of the place. But their final stop was at the Friendship Map. They were surprised to see what it looked like. Caldor took a few steps forward and were amazed by the map whilst he whistled ‘Impressive.’
Whilst he observed the map with the ones the Serpent gave him, human Twilight asked her counterpart about the map ‘So what’s so special about this map?’
‘Oh it’s very special,’ said Twilight whilst she explained it to her Canterlot High friends ‘See, after we got the Castle, the map came along with it. It shows a map of all of Equestria and beyond. Whenever there’s a pony or any creature in trouble and in need of guidance and teach the meaning of friends, the map picked me and my friends to go on a quest to help solve the problem.’
‘Whoa,’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she looked at it ‘So all of you go on adventures?’
‘Not all of us,’ said Rainbow Dash when she spoke to her counterpart ‘See every now and again, the map picks either one or two of us to go on the quest. Last time when we first started, Pinkie Pie and I were sent to help the griffons, Applejack and Fluttershy were picked to go to help the Kirin, whilst Twilight and Rarity helped at Manehattan.’
‘But what happens if it picks all of you?’ asked human Applejack when she was curious about the map’s capabilities.
‘Oh, it’s rare,’ said Starlight when she explained ‘All of them were picked to try and help me. I was uh…uncooperative, but I eventually came around. But overtime, the map began to call different ponies to help. Last time the map picked me to help solve a problem between Celestia and Luna.’ she whispered over to them as they heard ‘They weren't getting along because each of them thought one had it easy than the other, so I kinda made them switch places,’ she then stopped whispering as she continued ‘But they eventually came through.’
‘Yeah,’ said Sunburst when he explained to them ‘The map called me and Starlight together last time.’
‘Even mah sister and her friends.’ said Applejack when she explained that the map called them over.
‘It even called me to help solve a problem.’ said Spike when he was proud of the one day.
‘That you nearly caused.’ said Merlin with a cocky smile, with Spike being embarrassed as he didn’t want to be reminded of the time he nearly botched up the ambassador thing between both Thorax and Ember.
‘Ah, got it,’ said Caldor whilst he pointed the way ‘The spot where we need to go would be…right there.’
They saw Caldor pointing to what appears to be Northwest of the Crystal Mountain, but to Twilight and the others’ surprise, the Crystal Empire was near their location. ‘Wait, that’s near the Crystal Empire.’ said Twilight when she pointed at it.
‘You know of that place?’ said Caldor when he was surprised that Twilight knew about the place.
‘Oh of course,’ said Mistmane when she remembered the place too ‘Twilight’s brother Shining Armour guards the place with Princess Cadance.’
‘Cadance?’ said human Twilight when she was surprised to hear the name, with her pony counterparts looking at her. ‘Oh, on my world Cadance is a school principle.’
‘Oh darling,’ said Rarity to human Twilight ‘Our Cadance is a Princess here, and she also happens to be married to Twilight’s brother Shining Armour.’
‘Wait,’ said human Twilight when she was surprised to hear it ‘Shining Armour and Cadance are married in this world?!!’
‘Oh, not just that,’ said Sunburst whilst he adjusted his glasses ‘They also have a foal named Flurry Heart.’
The EG Mane 7 were greatly surprised by the news. With human Twilight saying ‘Wait, I’m also an aunt here?’
‘You sure are.’ said Merlin ‘And it just so happens, she’s the first pony to be born as an Alicorn.’
‘The first?’ said Sunset Shimmer when she was surprised by what Flurry Heart was ‘What do you mean?’
‘You see,’ said Princess Celestia when she walked over to them when she overheard their conversation ‘When a pony performs a deed of great worth for the good of Equestria, they are granted Alicorn wings, as well as the title of Princess. When I first raised the sun and my sister Luna raised the moon, we were given the titles of both sun and moon. When Cadance performed a princess worthy deed, she became the Princess of Love, helping those unite with open hooves. And when Twilight became a Princess by finishing one of Starswirl’s spells, and overtime the Princess of Friendship.’
‘Indeed,’ said Luna when she stood near her sister ‘But it is the first time in Equestrian history that a foal was born an Alicorn, for it is beyond even our understanding. Even our mother, Princess Faust never explained to us of how things came to be.’
‘Aye that she didn’t,’ said Caldor when he remembered ‘Even she didn’t know. We both knew that there were many Alicorns in Equestria once upon a time, but for some reason, all of them except for the royal line disappeared.’
‘How do we get to the Crystal Empire?’ said Invictus when he looked at the map.
‘We can always take the train there.’ said Fluttershy when she suggested it.
‘Oh, good idea,’ said Twilight when she agreed ‘Spike, write a letter to Shining Armour and Cadance, tell them to expect us the moment we arrive there.’
‘Got it.’ said Spike whilst he wrote it down.
Awhile later, all of them took a train to the Crystal Empire. The EG Mane 7 as well as Spike the dog, were amazed when they saw the many sights of the place, with human Fluttershy going ‘Aw, the train is so cute.’
‘So what’s the Crystal Empire like?’ said Sunset when she wondered about it ‘I was there for a short time when…’
‘When you stole Twilight’s crown because you were a tyrannical power hungry lunatic?’ said Yin Sid when he remembered something of her past.
Sunset ended up sighing when she still felt embarrassed about it, with Don nudging against Yen Sid’s shoulder hard, for it was a bad time to bring something like that up.
‘You too huh?’ said Starlight when she spoke to Sunset, with her nodding over her question whilst she felt the same way when others kept reminding her of her past ‘Join the club.’
Twilight explained to her to try and keep her mind distracted ‘Well see, long ago the Crystal Empire was ruled by an evil unicorn named Sombra. He would’ve conquered all of Equestria, but he was defeated by Celestia and Luna. But strange enough though, the Crystal Empire, along with its inhabitants disappeared without a trace. But a thousand years later, all of them resurfaced, so Cadance and Shining Armour took responsibility and helped them back into shape. Pretty soon they became the rulers of the Crystal Empire and the ponies there were greatly happy.’
‘Not just that,’ said Spike ‘They also have a Crystal Heart there, when they channel their love and happiness into it, the power of the heart intensifies, generating more magic to protect the Crystal Empire not just from dark magic, but also the cold winter from the north.’
‘Really, why?’ said the human Rarity when she wondered why.
‘No one knows,’ said Rarity to her counterpart ‘We’ve never figured out why the cold snow of the north were like this.’
‘I do.’ said Caldor, whilst they were surprised when he gained their attention. ‘But you lot would never believe it. Probably better if I’d show you.’
Invictus kept staring out the windows of the train, seeing the sights go by as if time itself was moving forward. He only sighed whilst watching both the green and the mountains that passed by. ‘Excuse me, Invictus?’ said a calming voice, which gained Invictus’ attention, revealing to be Twilight ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ said Invictus when he kept staring out in the open space.
‘No you’re not.’ said Twilight when she was worried about him ‘Why are you always so angry?’
‘It’s just the way I am.’ he replied.
Twilight couldn’t help but try to help him, whilst she sat across him as they looked at one another ‘Why?’
Invictus sighed, whilst he looked outside ‘From where I came from, we didn’t have any trains like this. Things were…much simpler from where I was from.’
‘Oh?’ said Twilight when she was curious of Invictus’ home ‘What’s it like?’
‘I do not know,’ he said trying to think of his home ‘I’ve been gone for so long, I do not know what it looks like anymore.’ ‘Why did you leave?’
‘There’s nothing there for me anymore.’ he replied. He looked at Twilight and kept most of the truth to himself, but told some parts to avoid suspicion ‘From where I was from, I was tasked into protecting my home from an impending invasion. But when we were overrun by enemy forces, I ended up making a mistake that costed me greatly, even though we’ve won the battle.’
‘What?’
‘He sighed as he didn’t want to think about them ‘My family. They were all slaughtered.’
Twilight was shocked to hear of what happened ‘You’re family?’
‘It was before I had the boys,’ he said when he told her of the times before Merlin and his brothers were born, as were Yin Sid and the others ‘I had a family, even a wife and daughter, their half sister.’
‘And they didn’t even know her?’
‘No.’ said Invictus, whilst continuing his tale ‘But overtime my mistake caught up with me. My home was invaded and I went to save them, but instead I was betrayed…and my kind and kingdom…turned to ash.’. Twilight couldn’t believe what he was sharing as he looked at her ‘You might say I’m the last of my kind.’
‘How horrible.’ said Twilight whilst she was shocked to hear their fate.
‘I’ve learned to live with it, but my hatred and pain never ceased, even after my sons were born, I didn’t change, nor could I.’
‘But don’t you have any friends to support you?’ said Twilight whilst she really got worried about him.
Invictus stood up and looked at Twilight again ‘I don’t need friends.’
Twilight was shocked over what he said ‘What? Why?’
He noticed that they were approaching the train station, whilst he walked towards the doors to it, which left her really worried when he said ‘It’s better this way.’
A while later, all of them arrived at the train station. When they climbed off the platform, they were surprised to see the Crystal Empire, as well as the rainbow light glistening all over the sky. ‘Whoa,’ said human Applejack when she looked at it ‘That looks amazing.’
‘Amazing?!’ said human Rarity when she admired the place ‘Try absolutely stunning!!’
‘Come on, let’s go.’ said Rainbow Dash when she wanted to get a head start, until she looked at her human counterpart with a smile ‘Hey you, race you to the palace?’
‘Oh, it, is, on.’ said human Rainbow Dash whilst the two of them darted with the speed of light.
After a long walk, all of them arrived at the Crystal Empire. many of the ponies were surprised to see humans among them, which left them somewhat nervous. ‘Okay, why are they staring at us?’ said Sunset Shimmer when she felt nervous.
‘Remember, it’s their first time seeing humans.’ said Applebuck whilst he explained it to them ‘They would think all of you are stranger creatures from another land.’
At the same time, they saw Cadance and Shining Armour waiting for them with a smile. ‘Twilight.’ said Cadance when she was happy to see her.
‘Cadance.’ said Twilight when she ran over whilst they gave one another a hug.
They ended up doing a special dance ‘Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake.’
Their counterparts were surprised to see the special shake they did for one another, with human Twilight going ‘Aw, that’s so cute.’
Cadance was greatly surprised to see a human Twilight. She kept looking at the two of them and noticed something ‘You look, familiar.’
‘Oh, right, you didn’t know.’ said Twilight whilst she introduced her counterpart ‘See when I first traveled to another world, I met counterparts of my friends. I even met her when I went to see what was going on. To be honest it felt strange seeing your other counterpart.’
Cadance felt fascinated when she saw another Twilight, with Shining Armour standing next to Cadance whilst holding Flurry Heart ‘Huh, you know I can actually see a resemblance.’
‘Oh my gosh, you must be Shining Armour,’ said human Twilight whilst she held onto Shining Armour ‘Fascinating, I’ve never known that my brother’s counterpart would be a soldier.’
‘Oh yeah,’ said Shining Armour whilst he rolled his eyes with a smile ‘You’re definitely Twiley’s counterpart.’. He leaned and saw her friends at the same time and asked them ‘Does she also get Twiley nanas?’
Human Rainbow Dash giggled whilst the others did the same ‘Oh you have no idea.’
Sunset noticed Flurry Heart in Shining Armour’s arms, noticing a baby. She took a few steps forward and knelt close to it.
She saw Flurry Heart was staring at her. Sunset looked at Shining Armour with a smile ‘She’s so beautiful.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Shining Armour whilst he held onto her ‘She really is.’
Flurry felt so fascinated that she giggled and flew up right into Sunset’s arms, which surprised her in the process. She held onto Flurry Heart as she looked at her, with Sunset replying with a smile ‘Oh, you’re so adorable.’, with Flurry kissing her cheek.
‘Aw.’ said the girls when they saw how Flurry Heart looked adorable with Sunset when she held onto her.
Caldor walked up to Cadance and Shining Armour, whilst bowing to them in respect ‘Greetings your highness,’ said Caldor showing his respect ‘I beg your pardon for the intrusion, but we really must discuss something on a personal matter.’
‘Oh uh, of course.’ said Cadance whilst she was surprised to see a different creature with them.
‘Uh, who are you?’ said Shining Armour whilst he was also confused about it.
‘Oh, this happens to be Caldor your highness,’ said Sunburst when he introduced them to him ‘He happens to know every language as well as every realm and its creatures. He’s also an ambassador and claims to be the smartest man alive.’
‘I see.’ said Shining Armour whilst he looked at Caldor ‘So uh, what happened to your other eye?’
‘Long story short,’ said Caldor when he gave them the short version ‘Got my eye pulled out of its socket like I was a lifeless statue.’
Cadance walked over and asked what they wanted ‘So Twilight, what are you doing in the Crystal Empire. Not that it’s great to see you or anything.’
‘Oh, we came here because we were looking for a type of artifact near here, but in the snowy mountains,’ said Twilight whilst putting her up to speed ‘Caldor even claims he knows why the storms keep acting violent near the Crystal Empire.’
‘Really?’ said Cadance whilst she was surprised by the information.
‘Indeed your highness,’ said Caldor whilst bowing ‘But we’ll have to go there now to show you.’
A while later, after Cadance and Shining Armour were able to put Flurry Heart to sleep on her bed and slept soundly, they left with Invictus and the others, journeying towards their destination. Shining Armour and Cadance spoke to Merlin, seeing that he was the reasonable one as well as a pony they somewhat like, but didn’t tell anyone.
‘So uh, why are you lot here?’ said Shining Armour when he was curious ‘I thought all of you were going to scatter the ashes of your mother.’
‘That was the plan,’ said Merlin when he explained it to them ‘But as it turns out, from what Caldor told us, the highest peak we’re looking for isn’t in Equestria or from the other world, it’s in Adularia, realm of the First Ones.’
‘Wait, the First Ones are real?’ said Cadance when she was surprised.
‘Yep, we wanted to use the Rainbow Bridge, but they destroyed all other bridges to cross that world except for the one in the one we know of. But the only way to access it is with a special chisel, which he claims we could find from around here.’
‘And how do these Chisels work?’ said Cadance when her curiosity for magic nearly matched like the one when their old friend Nahmat told them.
‘How do I explain this? Say you’re in front of a Rosetta stone shaped door, and you use the special chisel to open a doorway to any part of the world you wish, or dimension if you will. So say if you want to visit Twilight without taking a train or chariot or hot air balloon, you could use that to travel there instantly.’
‘Wow, that really impressive. You must’ve studied this a lot.’
‘Sure did, you could say I’m twice the Egghead Twilight is.’
‘We’re almost there.’ said Caldor as they walked uphill.
‘Wait,’ said Celestia as all of them stopped ‘We are forbidden to go over there.’
‘What, why?’ said Copper Plume when he was curious.
‘Our grandmother had forbidden any to cross over there many moons ago.’ said Luna when she remembered. ‘Then she is a fool,’ said Invictus as it shocked them ‘They only told such lies to hide you from the real truth. They hid the truth from you that humans used to live in this world once.’
‘Wait, what?’ said human Twilight when she and her friends were surprised by the information.’
‘Yeah, kind of a long story,’ said Yin Sid as he told them ‘Humans used to live on this world long ago, until the sun on this world got snuffed out. The unicorns of old used all of their magic to create a new sun for them so that the planet could live, until the humans could absorb the sun’s energy, turning them into living weapons and ended up killing each other. Until their bodies couldn’t bear them anymore, so they exploded one by one, until a handful of survivors fled to another world so that they could be safe. Until in time, no human was left, only pony kind and other creatures.’
The EG Mane 6, especially Sunset, were shocked to hear this kind of information. ‘So we’re gonna be affected too?’ said human Rainbow Dash when she got worried.
‘Nope,’ said Atreus when he reassured them ‘It only works on the humans who used to live here, all of you are from another world so all of you are in the clear.’
‘Oh, that’s a relief.’ said human Applejack whilst they sighed in relief.
‘Well if we’re done hollering and stuff,’ said Applebuck when he got tired of being delayed ‘Can we please get a move on here?
‘Y’all said it brother.’ said Bucky whilst he agreed.
After much needed walking up the hill, Caldor, Invictus and his sons were the first ones to stand up the top as he said ‘Aright, we’re here.’
The moment all of them arrived up top, all of them were in great shock at what they saw.
‘You wanted to know the cause of the wild winters near the Crystal Empire?’ said Caldor whilst he looked at them, then pointed towards where it was coming from ‘There it is.’
For very far away, happened to be a dead frost giant on the mountain, body still the same as well as the energy aura creating the storms exiting from his mouth, whilst all around it were a type of Norse city, as they were in both partial ruin and covered with ice. ‘What the heck is that?!’ shouted Twilight when she couldn’t believe her eyes.
‘Follow me,’ said Caldor whilst he led them towards the dead giant. During their walk, he told them the origin story ‘Long ago after half of this world’s humans were destroyed, the Frost Giants came and wanted to take over these lands. Naturally one of them, the one that’s dead over there, happens to be Gogra, the Chieftain of the Frost Giants. They came to this land to claim it as their own, but the remaining humans as well as the gods here, retaliated and fought them to a standstill, until This big feller over there ended up being betrayed by his own son, and was stabbed through the head with a chisel.’
‘Wait,’ said Shining Armour when he saw the size of it ‘That’s a chisel?!!’
‘Yep,’ said Caldor as he continued ‘As Gogra was slain, he collapsed next to this village, and with its last gasping breath, he froze the entire city as well as the occupants living there, thus creating this storm that now plagues the Crystal Empire, which is why the Frost Giants were forced to leave and never come back.’
The ponies of Equestria were greatly surprised when they found the source of the magic they tried to fight when the Crystal Heart got damaged. They looked at him as Starlight asked ‘So how do we stop this?’
‘My guess,’ said Caldor as he thought ‘We would have to discard of the body and burn it so that it could no longer curse these lands with its magic.’
‘One problem at a time,’ said Invictus whilst he wanted to hurry things up ‘So how do we find the chisel?’
‘Oh, what we’re looking for is right below there,’ said Caldor as he showed them through the thin ice ‘See the tip of that chisel, the huge orange, that’s what we’ll need. We grab a piece of it, and we would be able to travel to any realm we could desire.’
‘And with it, we could make copies of it if we could.’ said Merlin when he thought of a way.
‘But how are we going to break through?’ said Sunburst whilst he looked at the ice ‘It would take a great force to break through it.’
Invictus looked around to find a solution. And in the end, he saw a perfect solution. ‘What of that?’ said Invictus as he pointed at a large hammer, still in place and ready to be tipped over, gaining their attention in the progress, but also surprised.
‘Whoa, that’s a big hammer,’ said Rockhoof whilst he was surprised to see the size of it.
‘Interesting,’ said Starswirl whilst he observed it ‘Imagine how much metal can be used if one were to melt it down.’
‘Oh far more as you can imagine.’ said a voice. When they looked to their left, to their surprise, it was Driskle.
Tempest slowly walked towards Driskle, which nearly made him nervous, but spoke to him with nerve ‘And just how did you get here so fast?’
‘Oh, it’s an ancient trick my people had developed.’ said Driskle as he disappeared behind a rock that he walked, and suddenly appeared right behind Celestia ‘My people have the ability to travel to different realms, even going to tough spots to avoid conflict. That’s how we always avoid to use our weapons unless absolutely necessary.’
‘Wow, sounds very useful.’ said Stygian when he found it fascinating.
‘Now then,’ said Driskle whilst he pointed at the hammer ‘In order to make the hammer move, it would require a massive amount of strength to make it move, so I would suggest that you would select a handful of your strongest group to try and give it a push.’
‘Thank you kindly Driskle,’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she was grateful for the assist ‘Much obliged.’
‘Why are you really here?’ said Invictus when he was curious of why Driskle was here far from his forge.
‘Oh, right.’ said Driskle and cleared his throat ‘I came to warn all of you to be careful, Eros’ sons, Tamar and Sera, happens to prowl around here, I think they might still be looking for you.’
They were shocked by the news ‘They’re on their way here?’ said Fluttershy out of fright.
‘Well we did kinda make a noise when we summoned that big serpent thing.’ said Copper Plume when he pointed out the obvious.
‘Then we’d better hurry, fast.’ said Caldor when he was worried of facing them.
After Driskle left, most of them waited on the ground about a few feet away, Invictus, Applebuck, Applejack, Bucky, human Applejack, Rockhoof and Tempest stood at the top of the mountain, standing right next to the mountain. They grabbed it with their hooves and hands, with Invictus counting ‘One…two…three.’
The strongest ones were able to lift it up and raised it in the air, and were able to give one big push to the side. With their combined strength, they were able to push it with all their might, allowing the hammer to fall over, whilst the tip of the hammer slammed the ground so hard, the ice began crack clean through, clearing them a path in the process.
‘Hmm, impressive.’ said Luna when she admired the great feat of strength they displayed to tip the hammer over.
Invictus and the others flew down and rejoined the others. ‘Well done lads,’ said Caldor when he stood near them ‘Now we will soon have what we need to create our way to the portal.’
‘So do he have to bring the whole thing with us?’ said Tempest when she wanted to be frustrated of the ridiculous work load.
‘Not at all,’ said Caldor when he reassured them ‘We just need to chip away the tip of the chisel until it’s the size of a unicorn’s horn.’
They were able to find a way down together and saw the glow of the tip of the chisel ‘See what I mean there?’ said Caldor when he showed them.
‘Amazing, it has more magic than anything in Equestria.’ said Twilight when she felt the power of it from a distance.
‘Indeed Twilight Sparkle,’ said Luna when she could feel it too ‘This magic is far more powerful than that of our enemies in Equestria.’
Both Rainbow Knight and Atreus went ahead to the chisel as they followed. ‘Come on hurry up,’ said Knight when he was eager to get their hands on the chisel ‘The sooner we get that chisel the sooner we can…’
But from out of nowhere, as if they were cursed, a large beast, a Manticor specifically, crashed onto the ground as a twelve foot tall humanoid fought it. But after a punch to the head, he snapped the neck of the Manticor. But within a split second, it looked up, seeing them in the process. Shocking half of them as they were scared, some stood their ground, whilst some took out their weapons and armed themselves in battle. The humanoid was a tall blond haired man named Tamar, with brown boots, green pants and no shirt with marks under his eyes. He slowly walked towards them as he stood near Invictus.
‘Oh no.’ said Caldor, realizing that they were now in trouble.
‘Surrender now,’ said Tamar to the ponies and humans ‘Our father demands it.’
‘No.’ replied Invictus, knowing all too well that he would never back down from a fight, neither would his sons.
With a smile, Tamar took out his large sword as lightning began to surge through it. Whilst gripping it at the same time, and replied with ‘Good.’
But from out of nowhere, another showed up. This time ten feet tall, brown hair and beard, green pants and wearing a bear skin named Sera. ‘Well, look what we have here. A pack of horses, and me without my chariot. Tell me, does your mothers know that you whore around in areas like this?’
The girls felt greatly insulted when Sera talked to them like that, until Atreus spoke with a cocky smile ‘That’s pretty big talk coming from a pig who spent his time sucking on a teat of a boar than his own mother’s.’
‘Why you insolent little…!!!’ shouted Sera as he attacked, until Atreus jumped, stood on one hand and kicked him below the belt, causing Sera to bent over, and Bucky to run up to him and gave him a powerful uppercut. As it was launched in the air, Knight flew down and knocked him down with a powerful buck.
‘Ha,’ shouted Knight as he saw Sera crash onto the ground like a test dummy ‘Bet you never expected a move like that!’
Sera stood up as his thunder mace charged up ‘Alright, no more mister nice guy. Shall we brother?’
‘With pleasure.’ said Tamar as the two of them charged together, with the others attacking at the same time.
However, at the same time, back at the castle of the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart woke up from her nap with a big yawn. She looked around and wondered where her parents were. She started to feel concern for their safety. She teleported from room to room, not knowing where to find them. As she got worried, she saw flashes from the other side of the hills. She thought they were pretty with a giggle, so she teleported to where it was coming from. When she got there, she only saw the fighting.
Invictus, Celestia, Luna and Cadance fired all their horn magic, but Sera kept deflecting it and tried to struck at them back. Human Applejack, Rockhoof, Bucky, Applebuck and Applejack used all their strength to punch Tamar, but he proved a powerful opponent. Sunset and Don tried what they could, but they ended up being thrown against both human Twilight and Yin Sid. Atreus and human Rainbow Dash jumped over and shot a few arrows at Sera, but with little effect. Twilight and Shining Armour paired up, but even their magic was no match, whilst they threw them against Spike, Merlin and Sunburst. Somnambula and Flash Magnus distracted Sera, whilst Mistmane and Starswirl used their magic to hold him down, with Mage Meadowbrook trying to contain him, but easily broke free. Those who have been injured, Fluttershy, Rarity, their human counterparts, along with Bashful and Lyon, made sure all of them were well cared for. Pinkie Pie shot her party cannon at Sera’s face, with Pinkie throwing him off guard with her explosive confetti. Starlight, Chivalry and Duke had their chance to put Tamar down, whilst Rainbow Dash, Tempest and Knight punched him from all sides.
‘Brother, together.’ said Tamar to Sera.
The two brothers came together and clashed their weapons whilst displaying a blinding smoke ‘Solder, molder, blinder!!’ The heavy mist blocked their eye sights, but luckily for them, Barry and Copper had an idea. The two of them used a mist machine to blow the smoke away. Some of them looked at Copper surprised. ‘What,’ said Copper whilst he smiled ‘Pinkie’s not the only one who can break the fourth wall here.’
But at the same time, Flurry Heart got distracted when she saw a butterfly flying by her. She became fixated and tried to catch it. But at the same time, Sera shot Atreus with lightning, but was able to block it. However, Invictus saw the lighting, and saw Flurry heart in the process, shocking him in the process as he yelled ‘The Alicorn infant!!’
Shining Armour, Cadance, Celestia, Luna and the Mane 7 looked at what Invictus was pointing at. All of them reacted too late and saw the lightning struck Flurry Heart, causing her to collapse in the process. Many were shocked by what they saw, with Shining Armour and Cadance running towards her yelling ‘Flurry Heart!!’
The two of them caught her in time, only for them to see her injured with a scar, and coughing, making them realize that the powerful lightning that struck her made her sick, badly, for the Alicorn magic protecting her took most of the impact whilst the rest of her body was injured, leaving them and Twilight distraught of what happened.
‘Aw, the little baby is hurt?’ said Sera as he walked towards them ‘Well don’t worry, I’m going to put that thing out of its misery!!’
Cadance and Shining Armour covered Flurry Heart to protect her, until something blocked Sera. When they looked, they saw Invictus using his wing to hold it. Then he did the unexpected. He transformed into a twelve feet tall human, wearing black boots, black pants with fur around his waist, brown sash like harness and fingerless gloves, whilst his skin was as white as the purest snow, with a red line tattoo covering some parts of his torso, right arm as well as over his bald head and right eye, with a black beard as he grinned his teeth in rage. Many were shocked to see what he looked like, even the Princesses.
‘You!!’ shouted Sera as he recognized him.
Invictus gripped his right hand and punched Sera so hard, he was flung against the chisel, allowing it to break down in a couple of them in the right size. Tamar looked at Invictus shocked, whilst Invictus began to growl whilst red electricity began to surge through him as if he was a living conductoid. He then gripped his hands, and yelled in the air with rage as his shoulder, his elbows, wrists and hands were set aflame whilst his body was partially red, shocking them again when they saw his power.
He looked at Tamar and walked towards him. Tamar attacked, only for Invictus to knock Tamar’s sword away as it shattered to pieces, with Tamar looking at it shocked. With a powerful right hook, Invictus punched Tamar in the gut, making him cough blood in the process as he dropped his broken sword and stood wobbly.
‘Father!!’ shouted Don, tossing him an axe. But to the Mane 7 and the Pillars’ shock, it was the same axe they saw before as it was accompanied by two swords.
Invictus grabbed the axe and swung it against Tamar’s chest, then swung at his shoulder, making him drop on his knees on the ground. And with one huge swing from above and yelling in rage, he struck at the center of Tamar’s head, killing him in the process, shocking the others too, as well as Sera, when he saw his brother dropping on the ground dead ‘Tamar!! No!!’.
He looked at Invictus angry and yelled ‘You’re going to pay!!’, allowing him to shoot his lightning in full blast. But it didn’t stop there, Invictus’ anger grew greater, and walked towards the foolhardy Sera.
‘Stay back!!’ he shouted in fear as Invictus had walked closer and closer. Sera swung his weapon, with Invictus grabbing it and tossed aside, allowing him to punch Sera extremely hard as he was flung against the wall, whilst Invictus yelled in rage whilst looking at Sera, standing up in fear. ‘This…this isn’t…’ said Sera, until a hole was shot through his chest, shocking him in the process, whilst he dropped on the ground as if he was nothing.
And from atop the hill, there stood a tall stallion, with Invictus’ sons calling out ‘Big Brother!!’
They were surprised to have met Invictus’ elder son. He slowly walked down to rejoin his father. ‘You’re late.’ said Invictus when he was annoyed of Invictus taking his time.
‘Apologies father, I was simply…occupied.’ said Thunder. But the moment he walked into the light, he showed his face. He was a black Stallion, with a scar over his right eye and a broken horn. Many were shocked to see it, especially Tempest, making her realize that she wasn’t alone.
‘Dude, where have you been?’ said Knight when he hovered next to Thunder ‘Do you have any idea how much trouble we kept getting ourselves into?’
‘I tried, but Eros hasn’t been making it easy.’
‘Brother, the child.’ said Caldor as he walked over to Flurry Heart to see if she was alright.
‘Merlin,’ said Invictus to his son ‘You and Yin Sid gather the shards and forge them to what we need.’
‘Yes father.’ said Merlin as he and Yin Sid were off.
Invictus and many others gathered near Flurry Heart to see if she was alright. Invictus stood next to Caldor whilst he was investigating Flurry Heart with his one eye. ‘How bad is her condition?’ said Invictus when he tried to get a good look of her.
‘Very bad,’ said Caldor when he filled in her parents ‘Her Alicorn magic may have taken most of the impact, but we need to treat her fast, otherwise she might not make it.’
Twilight thought of an idea and tried to come up with a solution ‘Maybe we can take her back to the Crystal Empire, maybe we can…’
‘No can do,’ said Caldor when he looked at Twilight ‘Equestrian magic has no effect, nor could it completely cure her.’
‘But there’s got to be another way.’ said Shining Armour.
‘Well,’ said Merlin when he thought of an idea ‘You may not like it, but I think we know who can help us.’
‘No,’ said Invictus when he disagreed ‘We don’t need help.’
‘Dad come on,’ said Yin Sid trying to persuade him ‘You of all people should know…’
‘No.’
‘That she can help.’
Invictus was silent for a few moments, as were the others. He sighed and got mad at the same time. ‘Fine, but we’d better hurry.’
As he walked away, they followed him, with Shining Armour talking to Yin Sid ‘Hey, you sure this being can help?’
‘Yeah, she can,’ said Yin Sid when he thought about it ‘Question is will she?’
‘Terrific.’ said Knight when he agreed with him.
And together, they set on a quick journey, to try and find someone who could help Flurry Heart. With her life hanging in the balance, they rushed with all their might as most thought about saving Flurry Heart at all costs.
They rushed with great haste, but most were puzzled over why they had to take the Rainbow Bridge and go back to Canterlot City. They took a shortcut through the wood, trying to find a way to where they wanted to go. Eventually they reached a cottage. Invictus yelled at the person living there ‘Woman, open the door!’
‘I’m still a god,’ said the woman in reply ‘Go away.’ with the EG Mane 7 having a strange feeling that the voice sounded familiar.
‘We have an injured Alicorn!’
The moment she opened the door, she was surprised to see an injured Flurry Heart, but shocked the EG Mane 7, for it was none other than Singe ‘You?!’
‘Oh, it’s you.’ she said with a small grudge, but sighed when she thought of the injured child ‘Bring her inside.’
They brought her in her cottage. But when they were inside, they saw that the cottage was bigger on the inside, with books and magical artifacts that they’ve never seen before. ‘Put her on the table.’ said Singe as Invictus placed her on the table, with both Cadance and Shining Armour standing next to her with extreme worrying in their eyes. The Mane 7 walked over to the EG Mane 7, wondering what was going on.
‘Uh, I take it you lot have some history with her.’ said Starlight when she was confused by what was going on.
‘Try grudge,’ said the human Rainbow Dash ‘She manipulated Twilight into stealing Equestrian magic from the pedestal Princess Twilight came through, including ours.’
‘Wait, what?’ said Twilight when she was surprised to hear it.
‘Oh, that ain’t even the half of it.’ said human Applejack when she remembered what Singe nearly did.
‘She even corrupted Twilight and nearly turned her into a monster and nearly destroyed both our worlds.’ said human Rarity when she remembered nearly falling into a portal to another dimension.
Yin Sid stepped forward and revealed another truth ‘And because of it, it ended up creating a crack, a portal between worlds if you will.’
‘A portal?’ said Starswirl when he was surprised.
‘Yeah,’ said Merlin when he explained ‘And because of it, Equestrian magic kept leaking into this world, nearly creating imbalance wherever everyone goes.’
‘And gave us this in the process.’ said Sunset when she and the others showed them the Geodes.
‘Fascinating.’ said Stygian when he observed it ‘These specific geodes must’ve chosen all of you to be this world’s protectors. What power did you gain from them?’
‘Well,’ said human Pinkie Pie when she explained ‘Sunset is able to read minds through touch. Rainbow Dash got super speed. Applejack got super strength. Rarity can create diamond aura shields. Fluttershy can communicate with animals. Twilight has telekinesis. And I ended up creating explody things with anything I can touch an concentrate. But at the same time, most of us gain pony ears and a tail, even wings.’
‘Anything else in particular?’ said Starswirl when he wanted to know more, whilst Twilight took notes.
‘Well,’ said Sunset Shimmer when she remembered that very specific day ‘When Rainbow Dash used her geode and super speed way to many times, our geodes ended up getting supercharged. I could read minds and hear others thoughts without touching them. Twilight’s magic got out of control, same with Pinkie’s. Fluttershy could attract animals, Applejack’s could barely control her strength and Rarity also had some bad luck with it.’
‘I see.’ said Starswirl when he was fascinated by the geodes’ power.
After which they went over to see how Flurry Heart was doing, with Twilight asking ‘How bad is she?’
‘This is not good.’ said Singe when she lifted her charms away from the child ‘When she took a full impact from the hammer, it also infected her with corrupted magic. Nothing can fix this, but there might be a way.’
‘What is it?’ said Shining Armour when he was worried.
‘The bridge of the damned.’
They were surprised by what she was asking, with Invictus saying ‘The bridge of the damned.’
‘The realm of the dead, do you know it?’
‘Not this one.’ said Invictus whilst the others were surprised, for the way he spoke of it, he had been there before.
‘It is a land of unyielding cold. So cold in fact no flame could be set ablaze as frost demons roam those lands. Your axe would be useless there.’
Invictus realized what she was going to ask him, whilst he looked at his wrists and clenched his hands. ‘There is actually such a place?’ said Celestia when she was surprised to hear it.
‘Aye,’ said Caldor whilst he knew all too well about the realm of the dead ‘There are many paths that lead to the realm of the dead, but unfortunately most of them were sealed, except for one.’
‘Where?’ said Sunset Shimmer next.
‘Tartarus.’ said the Pillars at the same time, with Stygian saying ‘He’s talking about Tartarus.’
Many were shocked to hear where it were. ‘You know of it?’ said Luna when she was surprised.
‘We do.’ said Starswirl when he remembered all too well ‘We went to that bridge when…when Princess Luna was on her deathbed.’
Many were shocked to hear what happened. ‘What?’ replied Luna softly when she was surprised to hear the news, with Celestia was just as surprised.
‘You see Celestia and Luna. After we defeated the sirens, Luna was attacked by a sleeping parasite in her sleep. She fell in a coma and nearly died too. We had the ingredients, but we needed to retrieve her soul in order to do it. But her soul was so far deep, we had to go there ourselves.’
‘Aye, tis been a harrowing experience.’ said Rockhoof when he remembered that experience ‘We were able to retrieve her soul and saved her. But…it left us nearly traumatized by this.’
‘Then you’ll accompany me?’ said Invictus when he looked at the Pillars.
‘Of course,’ said Mage Meadowbrook whilst fixing up her saddle bag ‘But what do we need when we’re there.’
‘The gatekeeper to the bridge,’ said Singe when she instructed them ‘I need its heart.’
They were surprised by what she was asking, but when they heard and saw Flurry Heart crying of the pain when her conditioned worsened, they had no other choice. ‘Fine we’ll do it,’ said Cadance when she was desperate to save her daughter ‘But please hurry.’
‘Atreus.’ said Invictus to one of his sons ‘Bring me the swords.’
‘Yes father.’ said Atreus as he did what he was told.
Whilst Atreus quickly retrieved what he was asked to do, Singe didn’t like to speak to Sunset and the others. ‘So, you’re a goddess, huh?’ said human Rainbow Dash with her arms crossed.
‘I used to be.’ said Singe when she didn’t want to talk to them.
‘Okay, I don’t get it,’ said Sunset when she was puzzled ‘If you were a goddess from a long time ago, why did you try to take the Equestrian magic for yourself?’
She was silent for a few moments, then she stood against a table with a handful of potions ‘I was trying to restore what was taken from me.’
‘Oh, by manipulating Twilight into doing it, oh yeah, brilliant plan there.’ said human Applejack when she didn’t want to believe her.
‘Look, I’m sorry for what I did, but I was trying to restore what was taken from me so that I could fix my mistakes.’
‘That’s the biggest load of bull I ever heard,’ said Caldor when he knows better ‘Why fix the problems when you’re the one who caused it.’
‘Be silent Caldor.’
‘Or what, you’re mortal. You may know the old healing magic, but you’re not as powerful as you were anymore.’
‘Because my husband locked me away, stripped me of my power and banished me here, because I was trying to prove him wrong.’
‘Don’t you get if you fucking whore?!!’ shouted Caldor at her whilst he stood close to her.
They were shocked by what Caldor called her, with Rainbow Knight saying ‘Whoa.’
‘The humans and ponies of this world were innocent and beautiful,’ said Caldor when he reminded her of what she had done ‘But you, you couldn’t stand that your husband had loved and cared about them, more than he loved and cared about you. So you crossed the line and committed atrocities that were forbidden since we came to be, you even turned your son into something he never wanted in his life in the first place.’
‘You better watch your mouth Caldor.’ said Singe when she tried to threaten him.
‘Galahad had seen, just how evil you were. The moment you plunged the world in darkness, you forced the unicorns of old to sacrifice their magic to create a light, that would eventually snuff out the humans into extinction, so he did what he could to save them both. He saw that you were like a cancer. And that the only way to cure it, was to cut out the disease, and that’s why he banished and stripped of both your power and godhood. But by then it was too late. And guess what, it’s too late for you now.’
Singe didn’t say a word, only that she returned to helping Flurry Heart, with the others surprised by what she had done in the past.
But at the same time, sitting outside a few feet away from the house, Thunder kept a watchful eye over the terrain and the woods, trying to find any enemies coming towards them. However, he wasn’t alone, for standing a few paces away from him, stood Tempest. For some reason she looked nervous. She slowly walked over and sat right next to him. She felt nervous, with him not noticing.
‘So um,’ said Tempest whilst she tried to remain positive ‘How did you lose your horn and have the scar over your eye?’
‘Manticor and Hydra,’ replied Thunder as he looked at her slightly ‘You?’
‘Ursa Minor.’ said Tempest nervously ‘I was trying to help a friend.’
The two of them kept sitting closely, but didn’t say anything. ‘My name is Tempest,’ said Tempest when she introduced herself ‘But my real name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist.’
‘Why didn’t you keep your name?’
‘I…well…’ she said when she didn’t want to think of what she nearly did.
‘Let me guess, you worked for an evil dictator, he lied to you, you were forgiven and you tried to redeem yourself.’
Tempest was surprised by what he said as she looked at him. ‘Um…’
‘And you do that by being cold and cruel to others who try to be your friend?’ said Thunder whilst he looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.
Tempest ended up looking away, whilst he felt ashamed by what she did. ‘I…I just didn’t know…’
‘I know,’ said Thunder whilst looking at the sky ‘I felt the same way after I lost my horn. I felt lost and would’ve lost myself in despair, but I chose to move on, even if my horn was broken, I use it to fight monsters rather than trying to be reconstructive about it.’
‘But,’ said Tempest when she looked at him ‘Didn’t you try to find a way to fix your horn?’
‘My father once told me that if I was nothing without the horn, then I shouldn’t have it. I carried that burden with me, but like I said, I chose my path and I chose to help others, no matter what they thought. I chose to help my brothers and my father. What do you choose?’
Tempest didn’t know how to answer that question, for he did have a point. Somepony like her felt like an outcast because of the loss of her horn, but she didn’t know what to do with her life. But if somepony like Thunder could find a way to move on and help others because of a loss, then she could do the same too. Just when she wanted to say something, she saw a part of the sky had turned red over their location.
‘Is that normal?’ she said when she was concerned about the state of the weather.
‘That’s not good.’ said Thunder as he grabbed her hoof, surprising her in the process as he pulled her ‘Come on let’s go.’
They quickly ran back to the house where Twilight and the others were, with them standing by the door, with Tempest saying ‘Twilight, we’ve got trouble.’
All of them ran outside and saw the sky had turned red, but at the same time, creatures began to burst out of the ground, some made of wood, some made of ice, as all of them looked like humanoid goblins bearing swords, many were surprised by what they had seen. ‘Oh boy, this is bad.’ said human Twilight when she realized that they were cornered. However, unknown to them, Invictus stood at the back of Singe’s house, with Atreus arriving with the large cloth. ‘Father, I’ve brought them.’
‘Good, go help Twilight and the others, I’ll be there shortly.’
As Atreus left, Invictus walked over a large hill to be left alone, however, he slowly grunted when he felt this kind of rage before. The moment he looked up he stopped, seeing a ghost, who appears to be a woman, wearing a type of robe and her hair folded, whilst she looked at Invictus. He only grunted and said ‘Aya,’ whilst he looked up again in anger ‘Get out of my head.’, which is what she did as she vanished into thin air.
He was able to find a good spot to place the large cloth on the ground. However, he slowly looked at both his wrists, whilst they were covered with what appeared to be bandages. He grasped both of his hands and ignored what he was seeing. Slowly but surely, he opened the cloth, revealing two swords. On the left was a sword, bearing a scabbard that had demon wings on it. On the right was a twin sword identical to the other, but its scabbard was different, as it had partial angel wings, both of them that have chains connected to them. He slowly stroked against them, as if it had been ages since he used them. He looked at his wrists again and ignored what he was thinking about. He took the chains and began to wrap them around his wrists. However, the woman of whom he called Aya, appeared a few inches away from him as she looked at him.
‘There’s nowhere you can hide, Phalanxian,’ said Aya whilst she appeared to be taunting him ‘Put as much distance as much as you like, it changes nothing. Become and pretend everything you are not. Teacher. Husband. Father. Friend.’. Invictus paused for a moment, but continued to wrap the chains around his wrists. ‘But there is one unavoidable truth you will never escape from; you cannot change.’. Eventually, he was done wrapping the chains around his wrists, whilst grabbing his sword as she said ‘You will always be…a monster.’
He lifted both his swords up as he firmly grasped them. The sword to his left, the one with the demon wings, began to glow red as it was set aflame with black fire. Whilst the other one with the angel wings, glowed blue as it was set aflame with white fire. ‘I know,’ he replied, but also began to stand up at the same time, but also got angry as he slowly looked at her ‘But I am your monster no longer.’
He walked towards her with the swords still aflame. But the moment he did that, she evaporated, as if she had never existed, whilst walking back to The ponies and their counterparts.
At the same time, there were over at least fifty of them surrounding them, even after they’ve dealt with a bunch, they couldn’t keep it up for much longer. ‘How the heck are we supposed to beat them?!’ shouted Rainbow Dash when she nearly panicked.
They heard rustling bushes from behind. When they looked, they could see Invictus coming. ‘Invictus, we’re surrounded ‘shouted Twilight ‘We need a plan before…!!’
However, the moment he stepped into the light he revealed to be holding two swords whilst he looked at the enemy with a grin. But the Mane 7, even the Princesses were shocked to see the swords, for they saw them back at Canterlot High, with Celestia saying ‘He had the swords?’
Invictus then began to run towards the enemy. He jumped up high in the air whilst he raised his swords above his head. When all of a sudden, Rainbow Dash had a certain flashback from recently, remembering the scary being she saw earlier when she was trying to clear the clouds. With a mighty thrust, he thrusted the swords into the ground, evaporating the first ten creatures. However, Rainbow Dash pointed out in shock as she shouted ‘That’s the creature!! That’s the creature I saw yesterday!!!’
They looked at Rainbow Dash surprised, then back to Invictus, with the creatures surrounding him as he wielded the two swords whilst gripping on them tightly and focused on the enemy. They attacked full force, until Invictus swung them around as if they were rope darts, slicing and dicing them as the swords were aflame with full fierce might, until he slammed them on the ground, knocking them away as some of them were burnt alive. Invictus swung them around rapidly as the flames look like it turned into a shield, then combined them together, and with one massive swing, he incinerated all ten of them. He used his chain sword and grabbed the nearby, pulling it towards him and used his shield to bash it into pieces, whilst he grabbed another and tore it apart with his bare hands, shocking them when they saw just how strong he was, whilst they saw him grab another one, pinned it on the ground and stomped its head into pieces and tossed it away.
Until he heard a large roar. When he looked behind, he saw a large creature with boar tusks attack with its stone club, shocking the girls. The creature began to raise his club, until with all of his willpower, he gripped his hands, and yelled in the air with rage as his shoulder, his elbows, wrists and hands were set aflame whilst his body was partially red. When the creature swung his club, Invictus punched it, causing it to shatter to pieces. When the creature was disoriented, he concentrated his power through his swords, igniting them brighter. And with a great swing from the swords, he sliced the creature in half, splitting it in two as it collapsed. When the way was clear, he stood straight as he breathed, whilst he placed his swords back on his back. He looked behind as the Mane 7, EG Mane 7, Sunburst, Spike, Tempest, EG Spike, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armour and Cadance when they saw his power.
‘Thunder,’ said Invictus when he looked at him ‘You and your brothers stay here with the ponies whilst the Pillars come with me to Tartarus. If Eros sent any more of his pack dogs, you know what to do.’
‘Yes father.’ said Thunder whilst he agreed.
‘Caldor, you’ll come with us too, we’ll need someone to help keep an eye out for us.’
‘Very well,’ said Caldor when he had no choice ‘Anything to help the Alicorn.
He joined with Invictus and stood next to him. Slowly, Invictus partially looked at the Pillars and said ‘You coming or what?’
‘Oh, right.’ said Starswirl when he snapped out of it, allowing himself and the Pillars to accompany them ‘I’ll teleport us there now.’
‘No wait,’ said Twilight when she tried to stop them to leave.
But it was too late, Starswirl had already transported them away, leaving their questions unanswered. ‘Oh great,’ said Rainbow Dash when she got annoyed ‘Now what do we do?’
‘The only thing we can do,’ said Knight whilst he sat down ‘We wait.’
So all of them stayed behind, and chose to wait, hoping that as soon as they get back, Invictus would explain himself.
Within an instant, Invictus and his group were able to transport themselves to the Rainbow Bridge. They saw the temple and walked straight towards there.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Stygian whilst he was confused ‘If what we’re looking or is Tartarus, why don’t we go to the gates there?’
‘We can’t access what we’re looking for from there,’ said Caldor when he told them of the place ‘Taking the bridge is the only way.’
‘Why is that?’ said Mistmane when she was partially confused by what he meant.
‘The bridge keeper that Singe was looking for, it resides in a part of Tartarus that guards the bridge between the living and the dead. It’s like an underworld, only cold and terrifying.’
‘As in a realm beyond the grave,’ said Rockhoof when he was shocked over what he found out about Tartarus ‘Where the dead roam?’
‘Precisely.’
They arrived within a sanctum and activated the rainbow tree, allowing it to plot a course to Tartarus. After they arrived, they went outside, only for the bridge outside to be partially covered in thick ice and snow.
‘Oh dear,’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she was surprised to see the place ‘This place sure looked a lot different from the last time we were around.’
‘Aye, that be true,’ said Caldor when he took in on the scenery ‘But a thousand years can change a lot if one’s not careful.’
‘Especially with Tirek.’ said Rockhoof when he reminded them of who else was locked in Tartarus.
‘Who is this…Tirek?’ asked Invictus when he partially looked at them.
Starswirl stood next to him and explained ‘A long time ago, about a thousand years ago before the Pony of Shadows came to be, there were two ancient creatures from a distant land. One was a mysterious creature named Scorpan, whilst the other was his brother, a Minotaur named Tirek. When they both came to Equestria, they both sought power and dominion over the land itself. But whilst they were there, Scorpan realized the beauty and kindness of pony kind, even from what I taught him. Scorpan tried to convince Tirek to turn away from his path of darkness, but refused, for power was all that he craved. So Scorpan warned Celestia and Luna about Tirek’s plan, causing them to retaliate and imprison him here in Tartarus, whilst Scorpan returned home to teach what he had learnt here.’
‘Why did you not just simply execute him?’ said Invictus when he was curious.
They were surprised at first for suggesting it. ‘We don’t do that,’ said Mistmane with concern ‘If we ended up killing them, then we’d be no different.’
‘Then how many times did Tirek, Chrysalis, Sombra and Storm King tried to take over Equestria?’ said Caldor when he agreed with Invictus.
They wanted to say something, but somehow realized that they did have a point. With Invictus saying ‘We will be what we choose to be, not from what others expected us to do. Who you were, is not who you will be. You must be better.’
They continued with their journey, climbing over ice, crawling under, with Rockhoof complaining about the cold when he was on the icy ground, with Flash Magnus feeling the same when his wings kept touching the ice. They continued to walk, until Mage Meadowbrook yelped when she saw a dead spirit walking by. ‘What is that?’ said Meadowbrook when she saw so many of them walk by.
‘They happen to be the dead.’ said Caldor when he looked at them.
‘The dead?’ said Mistmane when she was surprised to see the spirits.
‘Aye,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘See Tartarus was more than just a prison here, it was also a realm that were meant for the dead to come when they have perished. If they’re pure and innocent, then they go straight for the heavens, a kingdom where angels and spirits roam. If not, they end up here, wandering the dead wastelands for all eternity. Such is the nature of this place.’
‘But for how long?’ said Somnambula when she looked at the place ‘If this place had existed we would’ve known about it.’
‘That’s because all knowledge of this place and the realms have been lost throughout time. The only ones that knew about this place were the humans. And all of you know of their fate.’
They remembered from their earlier conversations, which left them disturbed the fact that the humans were all destroyed because of the magic the original unicorns had casted to save Equestria. ‘Oh…um…’ said Stygian when he wanted to change the subject ‘Anything else we need to know about this place?’
‘Aye,’ said Caldor when he told them the curse of the realm ‘If you tend to roam here for too long, you’ll be haunted by a piece of your past.’
‘Piece of our past?’ said Starswirl when he was surprised to hear that.
‘See, if you have ever committed a sin, did something unforgivable and also a great atrocity, this place will display a image of you lot made of smoke, and show you what you have done, tormenting you for all eternity. If you lot had sent Tirek here, he would’ve been tortured for so long, he’d lose his sanity.’
‘Aye, he’s right.’ said Rockhoof when he felt the same disturbance ‘I can feel this weary magic from within this plain. It’s hard to ignore something like this.’
‘Look,’ said Flash Magnus when he pointed a passage way above ‘There’s a way for us to go through.
They climbed up the wall until they were able to reach the passage way. They followed the pathway until it had reached an opening. But when they got there, they saw the bridge with the dead walking through it, whilst all of them were being watched by the bridge keeper. Over twenty feet tall, carrying what appeared to be a stone made battering ram, whilst it had tusks that almost looks like an elephant’s tusks. Many except for Caldor and Invictus were shocked to see what the creature was.
‘Oh my.’ said Mistmane when she saw how huge it was.
‘So that’s the bridge keeper.’ said Flash Magnus next.
‘It…looks a lot like the creature from the book called “Lore of Monsters”.’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she saw how big it is.
‘They say we need the heart of the Bridge keeper,’ said Somnambula when she couldn’t make sense of what Singe was asking ‘Why do we need its heart?’
‘The bridge keeper’s heart contains a powerful and old magic,’ said Caldor when he explained ‘With its heart you could use it and create a spell out of it to save everyone’s lives. With that magic it can help Flurry Heart and it would also save her from death if we’re gonna make it in time.’
‘Then we’d better make haste,’ said Invictus whilst he pulled out his two swords ‘Time is of the essence.’
He jumped off the ledge and slowly walked towards the beast. The Pillars wanted to join in, until Caldor stopped them ‘Bad idea Pillars.’
‘What, why?’ said Stygian when he wanted to help too.
‘We can’t take that thing, but he can.’
Invictus walked over to the bridge keeper as it slowly guided the dead souls to the other side of the bridge. Invictus thought of how to get the bridge keeper’s attention. He raised his fists in the air, smashed the ground, grabbed a piece of the boulder and tossed it against its head. The bridge keeper stopped, slowly looked at the direction it had been thrown and immediately saw Invictus. The creature snarled as it got angry, roared with anger and jumped from the spot it used to guide souls. It roared a couple of times and held onto its stone made weapon, whilst slowly, Invictus pulled out his two swords as they set themselves ablaze, whilst standing in position to attack. The bridge keeper swung its weapon, but he dodge it as he was able to cut the side of its leg, with the bridge keeper roaring. It swung its weapon again, this time able to land a hit, with Invictus using his swords to block its attack, landing against the side of the wall. He jumped off the wall and used his chain swords to strike against the beast, knocking it backwards a few feet.
Invictus swung his swords around whilst they were lit aflame, spinning them so fast they almost looked like a fire shield, then he combined it together to form into one massive chain sword. He swung it so hard, it cut the bridge keeper’s chest, causing it to roar in pain. Now angry, it attacked again, only for them to see Invictus catching it with his bare hands, whilst his feet were firmly planted onto the ground. ‘He really is strong,’ said Rockhoof when he was surprised ‘Dare I say it, he’s stronger than me.’
Invictus saw an opportunity to attack, only for him to be knocked aside as if he was nothing, and crashed against the wall, which shocked the others in the process. ‘Oh hell.’ said Caldor when he saw Invictus on the ground.
Invictus looked at the bridge keeper in rage as he gripped his hands ‘Not done yet.’
The bridge keeper attacked again as he raised his weapon in the air, until he got bashed in the head by Flash Sentry by using his shield. He flew close to the bridge keeper whilst pounding his shield as he taunted ‘You looking for me ya ugly mug?! Come and get me!!’
The bridge keeper roared as it tried to attack whilst swinging its stone pillar around, but Flash Sentry kept dodging it as he tried to get the creature’s attention. ‘Stay out of this,’ shouted Invictus when he didn’t want them to intervene ‘This is my fight!’
Both Starswirl and Stygian used their magic to restrain the bridge keeper’s arms as it struggled to escape.
‘Never mind us!!’ shouted Stygian whilst he struggled to remain focused.
‘We’ll hold it for as long as we can!!’ shouted Starswirl whilst trying to gain a hoof hold on the ground.
Mistmane jumped up and used the crystals to encase its shins with thick ice, with Mage Meadowbrook using her potion to harden the crystals so that it doesn’t break free. Somnambula kept bucking the back of the creature’s head whilst trying to distract it, with Rockhoof using all of his strength to throw it off balance. Caldor ran up to Invictus and helped energize him ‘Brother, this will give you the power you need to finish it off.’
And with great concentration, Invictus summoned his inner energy, and glowed red whilst his fists were aflame as he yelled in rage. He attacked head on as he sprinted towards the bridge keeper. He punched the bridge keeper’s gut hard, making it grunt as it bent over, whilst at the same time, delivered an uppercut as it had been pushed backwards. The bridge keeper began to be disoriented, whilst Invictus charged again, delivering another but powerful uppercut, launching the creature in the air, whilst Invictus used his swords to grab the stone pillar, whilst pulling it so hard, the stone pillar crushed the bridge keeper’s head, killing it the moment it landed on impact.
Invictus landed on both his legs, whilst he panted loudly of the exhaustion that had just kicked in. The Pillars felt the same way as they felt they had exhausted themselves after facing a creature like that. ‘Holy Celestia that was horrible, that creature was more dangerous that we could’ve imagined.’ said Somnambula when she had also collapsed on the ground, with Flash Magnus catching her. She looked at him and noticed that he looked handsome, which made her smile and suddenly stroked the side of his face, which left him surprised, but also blushed, making his heart skip beats for her.
‘Agreed,’ said Rockhoof whilst he sat down holding his shovel ‘That thing was more tougher than an Ursa Major on the coldest nights.’
Stygian and Mage Meadowbrook helped Starswirl and Mistmane stand, trying to help them balance themselves. ‘So what now?’ said Stygian when he was able to help Starswirl stand.
‘Now we just need the heart,’ said Caldor to the Pillars, then looked at Invictus ‘Alright brother, you know what to do.’ Invictus grunted whilst he walked towards the dead bridge keeper. He grabbed the side and climbed up until he was able to get a steady feet. He walked over to the center of the bridge keeper’s chest whilst the others watched. Invictus raised his swords in the air, preparing to strike. And with great thrust, he pierced through the keeper’s chest, which disgusted the Pillars when they saw what he was doing. He pulled the blades to his direction whilst cutting the chest as if he was cutting a rib eyed steak. He pulled them out again, and thrusted it down its chest again. But this time, he was able to open the keeper’s chest wide open. He placed both his blades away whilst he plunged his right hand right into the keeper’s chest. With great struggle, he pulled it out. But to the pillars’ surprise, its heart was different, for it appeared to have been made of stone whilst generating its own special aura and energy.
‘That’s a heart?’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she looked at it.
‘It looks nothing like a heart.’ said Flash Magnus when he looked at it.
‘It appears to be a stone with jewels on some sides.’ said Mistmane when she used her crystal magic knowledge.
‘Aye, that may be,’ said Caldor when he pointed things out ‘But you must remember, not all creatures have the same hearts. Most of their hearts were made of jewels like this, and they were only made for creatures like them.’
‘I see,’ said Starswirl when he observed it ‘So every creature’s constitution, as well as their own physiology, are more different than ours.’
Invictus was able to place the heart inside a special container behind his back, whilst climbing off of it as he asked Caldor ‘I have the heart, I need nothing more?’
‘You’re all set,’ said Caldor when he walked over to Invictus to see if he’s going to be okay ‘So let’s try not to linger here any longer before we could set out on our journey.’
However, just when Invictus stepped off of the now dead bridge keeper, he saw something afar the horizon. The darkest clouds slowly began to form a stern human face with a thick beard, staring at them angrily for some reason, whilst his eyes generated lightning. ‘Invictus.’ said the mysterious being to Invictus.
‘Zion.’ replied Invictus when he was surprised from the inside when he saw the face and heard the voice.
The Pillars overheard him as they stood there looking at him, both puzzled and confused. ‘Zion?’ replied Somnambula when she wondered what he was talking about.
Invictus stood there for a few moments as he kept staring at the face, until he said the words ‘My father.’
The Pillars were shocked when they found out what he had said, with Rockhoof yelling out loud ‘Yer father was Zion?!!!’
‘That would explain a lot.’ said Mistmane when she was also surprised by the discovery.
Invictus instantly grabbed Caldor by his shirt collar and said ‘What is that place?’
‘Never, go there. Understand?’ Caldor when he was able to calm Invictus down.
Invictus looked at the cold horizon, wondering how Zion could possibly in Tartarus. He looked away from the horizon and said ‘How he here, that is not possible.’
‘It’s not brother,’ said Caldor when he reminded him of the domain they were in ‘Tartarus is known for torturing their prisoners with torments with their own past.’
‘Moments of their own past?’ said Stygian when he began to worry.
‘Then we must leave at once.’ said Starswirl when he was worried that the domain would affect them too.
‘Now that, I couldn’t agree more.’ said Caldor when he looked at the large wooden door ‘And that door happens to be our only way out.’
With great strength, both Rockhoof and Invictus used all of their strength to open a door to the other side. When they opened it, the dead were able to continue on their journey without delay, but they also had to go through large sections of ice by crouch walking.
‘Forgive us for speaking Invictus,’ said Somnambula when she looked at him ‘But is it true, your father is truly Zion?’
‘Not right now,’ said Caldor when he quickly looked at them ‘Let’s just focus on getting out of here, and then we can worry about that later.’
‘You don’t have to tell me twice,’ said Flash Magnus when he agreed ‘We need to leave before we all freeze to death.’
After crawling through more and more ice barriers and so on. Until eventually they were able to see the rainbow bridge. ‘Oh thank goodness,’ said Mage Meadowbrook as she was relieved ‘Now we can finally get out of this infernal storms.’
They made their way to the Rainbow Bridge as they entered the temple and to the mighty tree. ‘Now come brother,’ said Caldor when he and Invictus had reached the pedestal ‘Let’s get back to the other world to give the Alicorn Infant what she needs.’
After when Invictus activated the Rainbow Bridge’s power, the Pillars were still reeling over of who he was. ‘Your father was Zion,’ said Stygian when he was surprised beyond belief ‘I finally understand. We’re standing in the presence of the Spectre of Phalanxia.’
‘Do not, call me that.’ grumbled Invictus, seeing that he hates being called that more than anyone.
‘Oh, don’t get us wrong stranger.’ said Flash Magnus when he remembered the old stories ‘From what all of us had heard, the pantheon there had it coming.’
‘But still,’ said Starswirl when he too was surprised ‘I can’t believe we’re standing in the presence of a legend itself.’
‘And we heard that you hated the gods,’ said Mistmane when she too was surprised ‘But you really cannot stay away from them, can you?
‘You must not tell the others,’ said Invictus when he talked about Twilight and the others ‘They must never know.’
‘Bullocks brother,’ said Caldor when he spoke to him ‘Respectfully bullocks. They have to know, for they’ll never trust you if you’re not open to them.’
‘Hmph.’ said Invictus when he grunted.
‘Look, I get it,’ said Caldor when he tried to prove a point ‘You hate the gods, all gods. It’s no accident that that includes yourself, and your sons as well. I can see why you chose and found a way to remove their godhood and immortality so that they wouldn’t go through the same thing like you did. But you cannot always carry a burden like that. Don’t you see, it’s all connected man.’
‘You. Will say. Nothing.’ said Invictus angrily when he didn’t want them to talk about it.
‘Alright, fine.’ said Caldor when he couldn’t change his mind.
‘Was I once like that?’ said Starswirl when he was curious.
‘You have no idea.’ said the Pillars when they told him the truth.
The bridge eventually reached their destination, allowing them to exit the temple and returned to the world of where Sunset and the others reside. ‘Now come on,’ said Caldor when he was the first to exit ‘We’re almost there.’ So all of them hastened to Flurry Heart, hoping to cure her.
After all of them returned safely to the world where Sunset and her friends live, Invictus, Caldor and the Pillars rushed back to the others with full speed whilst making sure they weren't seen by the world’s populace. They eventually found their path and headed straight for Singe’s place. ‘We’re almost there,’ said Caldor when he led them back ‘Just a little more.’ At the same time, the Mane 7 and the others were waiting for them just outside of Singe’s hut, hoping that they would get there in time. Pinkie saw something up ahead. When she got a good look, she got excited and yelled ‘They’re here, they made it!!’
Both Invictus and Caldor burst into the room, where Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armour were trying to help Singe to make sure that Flurry Heart would be stable. ‘Do you have the heart?’ said Singe when she walked towards Invictus, which made him give it to her, allowing her to accept it as she walked over to her cauldron to perform her spell. The ponies and their counterparts walked in and looked as Singe tried to do her work. She placed the heart inside the cauldron, allowing it to disperse from within the potion, allowing it to bubble as it turned purple. She picked up part of the cauldron and began to use her enchantment to help her. She placed her hands near the cauldron, causing the purple concoction to turn into a purple mist, allowing her to carry the mist from within her hands and then dispersed them over Flurry Heart. Whilst the magic did its work, Singe watched the little Alicorn, so young and also so frail. ‘Such a wee thing.’ said Singe when she looked at Flurry Heart, causing Shining Armour and Cadance to notice the look in her eye, the look of what any mother would have.
‘You really did have a son, didn’t you?’ said Cadance when she wondered what Singe was thinking of.
‘I did.’ she replied when she told them the story ‘When I married Galahad we gave birth to my son. You see, he was such a wee thing, I wanted to do everything in my power to protect him, so I gave him the power to be immune to pain, even death. But I realized his resentment too late by the time he was old enough to make his own decisions.’
‘Wait,’ said Shining Armour when he realized something ‘So you tried to help your son to be immune to pain, like an Alicorn or something?’
‘They would be immune to things like the Alicorns, but you wouldn’t be able to feel anything else.’ said Singe when she told them ‘I married Galahad to save my people, but when the humans came to be, I…ended up making the worst mistakes I’ve ever created. So he banished me forward in time to a place where our kind were no more. After that, I chose to teach and became a principle. I left my old life behind me. But when I recognized the magic Twilight had in her, I would’ve done anything to restore what I lost to go home again.’
‘I see.’ said Cadance when she realized any mistake a mother would make ‘But why not use the old magic to go back.’
‘I cannot, the spell my husband placed on me ensures that I could never go back, no matter how hard I tried.’ said Singe when she later held onto Cadance’s hoof ‘Please don’t make the same mistakes I did. Let your daughter make her own choices, let her be better.’
The mist that was dispersed over Flurry Heart disappeared, and instantly, she was healed. Slowly, Flurry Heart woke up and yawned as if she had a nap. She saw her parents and giggled, causing her to jump into her mother’s hooves as the lot of them were happy that she was alright. ‘Thank you.’ said Shining Armour when he was thankful that Flurry Heart was alright.
‘You are welcome.’ said Singe when she was glad that she was healed.
After they left, some waved to her goodbye, with the EG Mane 7 feeling guilty about how they treated her, but they also knew that what she did to Twilight was wrong, so it was right in between.
‘Alright then,’ said Caldor when he looked at the others ‘Shall we continue on our journey before anything else happens?’
‘Hold it,’ said Twilight as she gained their attention ‘First of all, why do you have those swords and axe, we left it back at Canterlot Castle.’
‘Yeah,’ said Rainbow Dash when she also wanted answers ‘And why were you fighting those creatures earlier, what do they have to do with any of this?’
‘And furthermore,’ said Twilight when she stomped her hoof on the ground ‘We want the truth, and we want the truth, right now.’
‘The truth.’ said Invictus when he realized that Twilight of all ponies would never let this go ‘The truth.’. He was silent for a few moments, not wanting to say a word. But in a way, Caldor was right. There was no point in hiding for what he was.
‘Brother, please.’ said Caldor whilst he placed his hand on Invictus’ right shoulder.
Having no choice, he had to tell them. He only let out a soft sigh, partially looked at them and told them ‘I am a god. From another realm entirely.’. They were shocked by what he revealed, not knowing on how to respond. ‘When I came to this realm, I tried to live my life as a mortal man. But the truth is…you can’t escape your past or what you are, no matter how hard you try.’
Many were shocked when they didn’t know what to say. ‘Yer…yer a god?’ said Applejack when she was the first to respond.
‘Like that Eros feller?’ said human Applejack when she was cautious of him.
‘A god, yes,’ said Caldor when he filled in the blanks ‘But like Eros and his kind, no.’
‘His kind?’ said Luna when she was surprised.
‘What do you mean not his kind?’ said Celestia next.
‘See, in a world where humans come from, there were many kingdoms, each of them worshipping their own gods.’
‘There are more gods on other realms?’ said Rarity when she was partially confused when he mentioned about the other gods.
‘Oh yes plenty,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘There are the Greek gods, Egyptian gods, Roman gods, Trojan gods, Persian gods, Celtic gods, Norse gods and so on.’
‘And, which of the gods does he serve?’ said Sunset Shimmer when she wondered which deity Invictus were.
‘Its…complicated.’ said Caldor when he didn’t want to tell further details of Invictus’ background.
Some of them wondered about his sons as Fluttershy asked ‘Are they gods too?’
‘No,’ said Thunder when he looked at them ‘We removed our godhood and immortality a long time ago.’
‘He’s right,’ said Merlin when he looked at them ‘Because all of us would rather live our lives to the fullest, rather than outlive them.’
Whilst Invictus and the others walked on ahead, Knight told them ‘We all have a choice.’ as he left with them.
Seeing that he helped saved their lives, even went great lengths to help Flurry Heart, and because the Mane 6 and the EG Mane 7 really like his sons, they chose to trust him for now.
‘Wait,’ said Twilight as they looked at them ‘We’ll go with you.’. She stood near them and said to Invictus ‘But if you end up lying to us, you won’t get a second chance.’
‘And if you get in my way or jeopardize our journey, or even deriving us from our mission,’ said Invictus, whilst he sharply raised his sword at Twilight whilst pointing his sword at her, making her very nervous as he spoke with anger in his voice ‘I won’t be hesitant into killing you.’. She swallowed as she was afraid, but he ended up lowering it as he said to her ‘But because of my son Merlin’s admiration for you, I will stay my blade.’
As he walked away, she ended up looking at Merlin surprised, whilst he blushed and tried to look away, making her realize that he likes her, a lot. She chose to let that slide, seeing that she likes him too. After their much needed conversation, they chose to continue, but first they needed to make a stop first, and that was at the Rainbow Bridge.
Whilst Shining Armour and Princess Cadance went back to the Crystal Empire, Twilight and company continued their journey with Invictus and his sons, but they didn’t know what to do. First things first though, before they would continue, they would get something to eat first. All of them had a picnic as Applebuck and Bucky chose to cook for them, as they cooked veggie stew, that both sides would like, seeing that its mostly vegetables.
‘Since when did y’all learn to cook?’ said Applejack when she saw them cooking.
‘Well, see it’s like this,’ said Applebuck when he explained ‘Our father may have taught us on how to fight and be warriors, but our mother taught us how to cook. If you had the right ingredients that is.’
Fluttershy leaned closely as she sniffed the stew, which made her admire the aroma with a smile ‘Hmm, they smell lovely.’
‘Like it?’ said Bucky when he had a spoonful ‘Well have some.’
Bucky fed her a bit to give her a taste sample, which surprised her when she never realized on how delicious it was. She suddenly got excited and jumped a bit ‘Do you happen to have a recipe for it?’
‘Of course, got a list right here.’ said Applebuck when he showed them the list.
A while later, all of them were having stew, as all of them began to enjoy it. At the same time, Applebuck served seconds, whilst serving both Celestia and Luna first. ‘My this is truly exquisite.’ said Luna when she admired it.
‘I aim to please your highness.’ said Applebuck when he served Celestia next.
‘You simply must cook for us.’ said Celestia when she thought of something ‘We were thinking of organizing another ball and we would be delighted if you would serve this.’
‘Of course, I am honored.’
At the same time, Knight looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile ‘I bet I can eat this faster than you can.’
‘You’re on.’ said Rainbow Dash with a smile as the two of them gulped down the food to see who would win.
Pinkie and Copper made pigs out of themselves when they ate so much food, especially when she offered cupcakes and cakes for desert. The EG Mane 7 were having a great time with Don and the others around the fire when they traded stories. Chivalry offered a nice spot near the flowers for Rarity to sit next to, to which she enjoyed. Thunder was busy having a heart to heart talk to Tempest, who decided to use her name Fizzlepop Berrytwist. At the same time, Twilight chose to talk to Invictus, with Merlin sitting right next to her.
‘So, those weapons you have,’ said Twilight when she wondered about them ‘What’s so special about them?’
Merlin used his magic to lift the axe and showed it to her ‘This axe is made with very special runes. Both Brock and Driskle made it for my mother. She was quite the gifted warrior. But before she died, she handed the axe to my father, allowing him to control it as well.’
Twilight observed the axe and saw the runes on it ‘Wow, they look amazing. I’ve never seen great craftsmanship on them.’
‘Dwarves are known for their creativity,’ said Merlin when he explained to her of the feats of the Dwarves ‘They’re known for being great miners. Any mountain, cave or mine they dig in, they can find any hint of gold, jewels or whatever. But they’re also skilled craftsman. Any element you give them, they can create almost any weapon they desire, as long as they have the right minerals, resources and tools for them.’
‘I see.’ said Twilight when she began to take notes of this information. ‘And what about the swords?’
‘Well uh…’ said Merlin when he was nervous to answer.
‘I never wanted these swords.’ said Invictus when he muttered, gaining Twilight’s attention ‘They were given to me…and in turn, scarred me in ways no one could ever imagine.’
Twilight pointed at his wrists when she got curious ‘May I?’
Invictus grunted, but held his left arm out in order for her to perform a proper investigation. She noticed that his wrist was bandaged, as were the other one, but focused only on the left one. When she partially removed the bandages, she could see the burning scars of chains on his wrist, which surprised her when she saw of how much damage was. She looked at the chains of his swords, and figured that it had something to do with them. ‘Did the swords do…this much damage?’
‘When I first had them they were burnt onto my wrists to show my loyalty.’ said Invictus when he tried to hide as much of the truth as he could ‘But after when I challenged a warrior to a fight, he stripped them from me, ripped the chains from my wrists.’
Twilight was shocked when she didn’t know that others beside him were that cruel. But whilst they continued their conversation, Celestia and Luna decided to speak to Caldor, now that Celestia had gotten over her grudge with him.
‘So where do we go next?’ said Luna after she had wiped her mouth from the good food ‘Now that we have the chisel, where to next?’
‘We head straight back to the Rainbow Bridge.’ said Caldor whilst he placed his bowl away.
‘Back to the Rainbow Bridge?’ said Celestia when he was curious about it ‘Do we have to travel to another world?’
‘Not really.’ said Caldor when he leaned forward ‘There is a secret room underneath the temple of the Rainbow Bridge. Galahad, one of the gods like Eros, created a secret room below, storing vast amounts of treasure there. From there we can find a special tool to help us create the special key we needed to cross to Adularia.’
‘What else does the vault contain?’ said Luna when she was curious.
‘Mostly weapons that were once wielded by many warriors from different realms, but other times they also contain many other trinkets and artifacts that represented them too.’
‘When should we depart?’ said Starlight Glimmer when she and Sunburst overheard their conversation.
‘We rest up after the meal and then we’ll set off back to the Rainbow Bridge.’ said Caldor whilst he finished the last of his stew.
Sure enough, after they were all rested up, they headed straight back to the Rainbow Bridge. All of them continued following the pathway, until Caldor said ‘This way now, it’s not far.’ whilst he led them to a staircase that leads right down. They continued to follow the walkway after the stairs and a few more steps ahead to the left, was a large door. ‘Ah, we’re here.’
Invictus was able to open the door, allowing them to enter. But when they arrived, they noticed that there was nothing, only a pedestal.
‘Uh, you sure this is the right place?’ said Sunburst when he looked around.
Thunder noticed something about the pedestal and used the magic from his horn. But he looked at Fizzlepop and signaled her to join him, which she did. The two of them focused their magic together and were able to activate the pedestal. Which in turn, ended up activating the entire platform they were standing on. The platform ended up lowering them as it slowly descended. But along the way, they ended up seeing painted hieroglyphs of folks from the past.
‘Who is that?’ said human Rarity when she looked at the paintings.
‘Aye,’ said Caldor when he saw ‘Now that happens to be Galahad, he’s a different kind of god. He’s the god of war, but also of peace and justice. It’s his task to influence those to engage in war, and later finds a solution that would bring them peace and help find justice to those that have lost their lives.’
‘Wait,’ said Applejack when she wondered about something ‘So this feller’s job is to create a war, then stops it?’
‘Uh, that’s a little twisted.’ said the human Rainbow Dash when she crossed her arms.
‘That’s just their responsibilities.’ said Caldor when he continued ‘See many gods have different responsibilities. There are those that controls the ocean, the undead world, the sky, even the sun and the moon.’
‘Wait,’ said Celestia when she looked at Caldor ‘There were other gods that could control the sun and the moon?’
‘Of course,’ said Caldor when he looked at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ‘There are plenty of gods and goddesses that can control the sun and moon. This world’s gods, both Apollo and his sister Athena can control the sun and moon, until Eros killed the two of them that is.’
‘How much longer,’ said Rainbow Dash when she got impatient ‘I can’t stand waiting around here any longer. This is more boring than the time Applejack dared me into waiting in line without losing my cool.’
Human Rainbow Dash whispered to Princess Twilight ‘Has the other me always been this impatient, or grumpy?’
‘You have no idea.’ said Twilight whilst she rolled her eyes.
Atreus felt the lift slowing down and let the others began to know ‘The lift’s slowing down. I think we’re almost there.’ Sure enough, they ended up landing on the ground floor. But to their surprise, they saw many traps that could even crush a termite if need be. ‘This…is going to be harder than we thought.’ said Don when he looked at the traps.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Sunset, trying to sound confident ‘I’m sure we’ll be able to find a way through here. We just need to find a way to cross and time it just right.’
‘Or we could just find the off switch.’ said Copper Plume when he pointed the obvious.
‘Oh please,’ said Caldor when he told them otherwise ‘This place has been designed to be impenetrable, there’s no way that there is going to be an…’
‘Found it.’ said Blue Barry as he pressed a random button.
When all of a sudden, the machine shut themselves down and ended up disabling the traps. Many were shocked to see that there really is an off switch. ‘Huh, what do you know,’ said Caldor when he couldn’t believe his eyes ‘I guess there really is an off switch.’
All of them continued onward with their journey, trying to uncover what Galahad might be hiding from underneath the Rainbow Bridge.
‘Are all these traps really necessary?’ said Fizzlepop when she saw so many traps all around them.
‘It is,’ said Thunder as he walked next to her ‘Many times there are those who wish to steal treasures from other races, so protecting it in this manner is necessary, like a dragon protecting its gems.’
‘He’s not wrong there.’ said Spike whilst he flew by to accompany Twilight.
They walked for at least five minutes down the hall, until they eventually had reached a door. ‘Stand back now,’ said Caldor as he took a step forward ‘Luckily for me Galahad taught me on how to open this.’
Caldor concentrated his magic through the tip of his right pointing finger. He placed it against the top center of the door and stroked it down with it, allowing the door to glow as if it were highlighting its way around. Slowly but surely, the doors began to open, revealing darkness from within. Caldor took a step forward and said ‘Flam moss.’, allowing the room to instantly lit up every torch within. But the moment the room was lit, all of them were in awe when they saw many tables, containing tons of treasures and artifacts.
‘Whoa.’ said both Rainbow Dash and her human counterpart at the same time ‘This is awesome!!!’
All of them except for Celestia, Luna, Invictus and Caldor, ran around the place when they wanted to get a closer look at the treasures from within. ‘Amazing,’ said Luna when she saw all of this treasure ‘This is from every realm?’
‘From every gods, yes.’ said Caldor when he pointed at the treasure.
Rainbow Dash flew up to Caldor and showed him a helmet that nearly looked like her Cutie Mark, with feather wings on both sides ‘Whoa, check this one out, this helmet almost looks like my Cutie Mark.’
‘Ah,’ said Caldor when he pointed at it and explained to her ‘That happens to be the helmet of Hermes. He was from the Greek Gods, as well as both a messenger and also the fastest. Not as fast as you, but they did have a Pegasus that’s equally fast as you.’
‘Whoa, awesome.’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she flew back.
‘Amazing,’ said Rockhoof when he looked at a specific artifact that was a replica of Thor’s hammer with ancient runes on the side that he recognized ‘These nearly resemble to the Mighty Helm, my old village.’
‘That happens to be the replica of Thor’s Hammer, the god of thunder and also from the realm of the Norse gods of both Asgard and Valhalla.’
‘Oh my,’ said the human Fluttershy when she looked at the flute she was holding ‘This flute is beautiful.’
‘That would be from Pan,’ said Caldor ‘He was known as the god of the forests and a caretaker of nature.’
‘Oh my,’ said Rarity when she was holding Egyptian jewelry ‘These artifacts are amazing.’
‘Even if some of them are a bit tacky.’ said human Rarity whilst holding a helmet of Egyptian origin.
‘Those treasures are from a great desert land,’ said Caldor when he told Rarity and her counterpart ‘There the most powerful god there is Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun.’. He looked at Celestia after he was able to gain her attention ‘You would’ve liked him, he’s an excellent conversationalist.’
Pinkie Pie and her counterpart kept on jumping from one treasure to the next, until they bumped into a large ring and were surprised by it. ‘Oooh,’ said Pinkie Pie when she looked at it ‘That ring must belong to one of the giants.’
Twilight founded something and brought it to Caldor ‘Excuse me, Caldor, I think this belongs to you.’
‘By the beards of the ancient fathers,’ said Caldor when he accepted it ‘That’s my old journal, I used to catalog this about the other worlds when I first set out on my journey.’
He ended up turning a page and saw a picture. He ended up smiling and signaled Celestia and Luna to look at it. When they did, it was a picture of Caldor when he first started out as a scholar, with Celestia’s mother, Princess Faust, and their father Mighty Wing. Then there was Celestia when she was a filly, then Luna when she was just a foal. ‘Its…us.’ said Luna when she smiled and shed a tear.
‘That was…so long ago.’ said Celestia when she felt the same way.
‘Aye,’ said Caldor when he agreed ‘I miss the old days.’
Celestia then thought of something, and made her decision under careful consideration. ‘Caldor,’ said Celestia when she asked a favor from him ‘Do you think you could come visit us again? It would be nice to talk about our parents again.’
Caldor ended up smiling as he closed his book ‘I would like that very much.’
But whilst they were enjoying looking through the treasures, Invictus ended up spotting one large table that gained his attention as he walked towards it. For as he made his way to the table, he recognized the treasures on it, for they were treasures from his home of Phalanxia. Among them was a spear, containing a sword from within, a large shield nearly half his size with lightning bolts on both sides, as well as a helmet with blue feathers on top. The helmet appears to be what you would expect from the Knights of the Medieval era. He began to think of during his time, when he was one of them, leading them to victory against those who would dare to threaten the peace of their homeland and its neighboring countries. Right next to it was a standard Phalanxian longsword, favored among the Phalanx, whilst deciding to keep it with him for old times’ sake.
But he also saw a large amphora that almost looks like a 1.5 Liter bottle. He opened the amphora as he removed the cork, whilst taking a whiff of its contents. He closed his eyes as he remembered where he had smelled it. He hadn’t smelled the scent for who knows how long, for he could never forget it during his days as a young warrior. He opened his eyes and closed the amphora, taking it with him as well. But when he looked to his left, he saw a large vase. He walked over to it and recognized the picture. He kept staring at it, whilst bringing painful memories of his past. He nearly wanted to grip on the vase, but tried to contain both his anger and strength.
At the same time, Copper had a helmet of a Celtic Warrior over his head whilst standing next to Invictus. ‘Father?’ he replied.
Invictus, not wanting them to see it, ended up tossing it aside, breaking it in the process, but slowly gained their attention in the progress. ‘Uh, Invictus?’ said Sunset Shimmer when she was curious about something ‘Are you alright?’
‘I’m fine.’ he replied, trying to keep calm from within, whilst walking away to help search for what they were looking for. Whilst he searched, the Mane 7 and their counterparts, as well as Sunburst and Spike, wondered what he was hiding.
‘What kind of a vase is it?’ said Spike when he wondered what it was.
‘I think this is a vase of something from a long time ago, similar to what the Crystal Empire keeps on doing.’ said Sunburst when he looked at it.
‘Let me see here.’ said Twilight as she used her magic to put it together.
When Twilight had placed them together, they were surprised who they saw. They saw a man wearing a type of Roman kilt wrapped around his waist, wearing roman sandals and two cuffs around his wrists. It had a red tattoo line from his right arm and over his right eye, looking like he was screaming in rage, whilst holding two swords that were identical to the one Invictus was wielding.
‘Whoa, that’s…Invictus.’ said Sunset Shimmer when she got a good look at it.
Twilight looked at Invictus and saw him still looking around. She kept wondering why there was a vase painting of him, and why he didn’t want any friends. She remembered that he told her that he hated the gods, which he couldn’t explain. Eros she understood, but the others, not so much. ‘Why don’t you want any friends?’ said Twilight within her thoughts, thinking of why someone like him wouldn’t want any friends.
At the same time, whilst he was exploring, Invictus had found a special kind of blade lying near artifacts which he recognized of what his wife told him; the “Adularian god killer”, specifically designed to kill any god, no matter what realm they were from. He kept it with him as he placed it in his pouch. At the same time, Knight flew nearby and showed his father an ancient rune.
‘Father, is this it?’ he said as he showed it to him.
Invictus took it and observed it. But to make sure, he tossed it to Caldor, allowing him to catch it. He recognized it when he got a better look at it. ‘Excellent,’ said Caldor when he looked at it ‘Whilst we travel there, I will use it to combine its magic with the chisel. It’ll be ready in no time.’
They left and headed straight for the elevator. But not before Rarity used a spell to take a huge amount of treasures with her, and shrunk it down in a bag as she placed it inside her side saddle. All of them eventually reached the platform, but it also produced seats so that all of them could sit down.
‘Oh boy, mah feet are killing me.’ said human Applejack whilst she took off her boots and rubbed her feet a bit.
‘Y’all feet, mah hooves.’ said Applejack whilst she rubbed her aching hind hooves.
But at the same time, Invictus took out the large amphora whilst he looked at it. Twilight noticed as she sat forward. ‘Oh, what’s that you’re holding there?’
Invictus removed the cork of the amphora and looked at Twilight ‘Aegeanian wine. From the island of Aegean, near the place of my birth.’
Twilight took a whiff at it and nearly felt disgusted by the smell ‘Smells like rotten eggs.’
‘They have that effect.’ said Invictus ‘I would offer, but I do not know if it’s enough…’
‘Oh, no problem.’ said Twilight whilst she used a spell to duplicate them. Noticing, the others gathered around and wondered what they were doing. Twilight each handed them an amphora and returned the original to Invictus. She handed each of them an amphora as all of them accepted it.
Invictus raised his amphora a bit and said ‘To the close end of our journey.’
‘Is it any good?’ said Rarity out of curiosity. She took a sip of it, but was surprised of how tasty it was. ‘Oh my, that is excellent.’
Each of them took a sip of their amphorae and also liked it. ‘I must say, this is excellent.’ said Luna when she agreed. However, Twilight turned the wine back to the way it was made, which also turned into seeds, making Invictus realize that she wants to put it at a local vineyard so that they could make more of those. Invictus on the other hand downed his as he drank the wine with so many glugs as he could. He then tossed it aside as he sighed of relief, something he hadn’t felt in years. He looked up and realized that they were nearly topside, allowing him to stand up as a result.
‘Invictus,’ said Celestia when she wondered something ‘If I may ask. Why did you leave your homelands? Was there a reason you couldn’t go back, because of the gods there?’
Invictus only grunted when he didn’t want to give them an answer, for it was something he wasn’t comfortable to talk about. ‘It’s just,’ said Luna next when she wanted to know the same thing ‘We’ve seen your hatred of the gods. But Galahad had proven that some gods can be good, even you. But do you only kill those deserving?’
He slightly looked at them, not wanting to make eye contact of what had happened. He only replied ‘Yes.’
‘Aye,’ said Caldor when he asked a difficult question ‘But who is worthy enough to judge?’
However, just when they had reached the surface as the platform stopped, they were met with unexpected faces. ‘Applejack?’ said a familiar face.
When they looked, to half of their shock, they saw human Apple Bloom, human Sweetie Belle and human Scootaloo. The EG Mane 7 were just as shocked to see them. ‘Apple Bloom?’ said human Applejack as she walked over and gave her sister a hug. She held onto Apple Bloom’s shoulder as she looked at her with both concern and worry ‘What in tarnation are y’all doing here?’
‘We were busy having a walk out in the woods,’ said human Sweetie Belle when she spoke next ‘But then we saw that big bridge over there. We didn’t know that there was a bridge out there.’
‘Girls,’ said human Rarity when she spoke to them ‘It’s too dangerous to be out here.’
‘Why?’ said human Scootaloo when she was curious.
‘We’ve come across some bad people,’ said human Rainbow Dash to the kids ‘And they really mean business, and not the good kind.’
‘They are, but where are they?’ said human Sweetie Belle when she looked around.
‘We were able to lose their trail,’ said human Rarity whilst she held onto her little sister’s shoulders ‘But we do not know for how much longer.’
Human Apple Bloom felt her backpack’s string nearly got loose as she tried to tie it again, whilst replying with ‘Dang it.’
‘What’s wrong Apple Bloom?’ said human Applejack when she saw her struggling.
‘Mah backpack’s string got broken when it got caught in a tree branch. Ah’ve been trying to fix it, but it just keeps breaking.’
Bucky noticed and walked on over. ‘Hang on there little miss,’ he said as he gained human Apple Bloom’s attention ‘Let me see if ah can’t help there.’
He pulled out what looked like an arrow, but it was coated in green as if it were made of emeralds, but ended up snapping the tip of the arrow whilst throwing the rest away and kept the tip and partial wood of the arrow. ‘Whoa, what’s that?’ said human Apple Bloom when she looked at it.
‘This here’s a mistletoe arrow. Made by the finest Elves of Alfheim, the finest hunters and bowman there ever was. It says to bring you good luck,’ said Bucky as he used it to tie the string together, but strongly. ‘So you will be lucky to have this tied with you.’
After he was done, human Apple Bloom tested it, and it worked, which left her surprised ‘Wow, thanks mister.’
‘Please, call me Bucky.’ said Bucky when he was trying to be a gentleman. He ended up looking at Apple Bloom as he tilted his head whilst he was thinking. He dug in his backpack and pulled out a type of cowboy hat for her. ‘Got something for you. Figured you might need something with your unique charisma.’
Human Apple Bloom was surprised that she got a new hat whilst she accepted it. She placed it on her head and it was a perfect fit. She instantly hugged Bucky with a smile, whilst he hugged her back too. After that she ran off and waved to them with her friends joining her ‘Ah’ll see y’all later Applejack!!’ she yelled and later disappeared.
Atreus ended up bumping him against Bucky’s shoulder with his elbow as he said ‘You big softy.’
‘Come,’ said Invictus ‘We must continue our journey.’
As all of them left one by one, Bucky was about to follow, until Human Applejack stopped him. Instead she was smiling ‘That was a generous gift you gave her.’
‘Figured she was due to have one of her own.’ said Bucky as he tilted his hat backwards ‘Besides she already looks up to her sister, figured she could also have a signature hat of her own.’
Human Applejack ended up kissing him by his left cheek, which left him surprised. ‘Ah appreciate it.’
She walked off ahead as Bucky looked at her surprised. After a few steps, she signaled him to come with her, which he did as he accompanied her. That said, with the Chisel and what they needed finally in their possession, they now have the means to create a special chisel to open a portal to Adularia, the realm of the First Ones
They kept walking for the next ten minutes whilst they followed a path the dwarves have given them. Whilst they traveled ahead, Caldor was busy trying to create the special Chisel that would allow them to open the gateway to Adularia, the realm of the First Ones.
Everypony and everyone traveled together and made sure they weren't seen, for it would probably cause a panic if the humans there found out there is another world full of talking ponies. Tempest, aka Fizzlepop, chose to travel alongside Thunder. It didn’t show, but they look like they were growing more and more closer together. At the same time, whilst everyone and everypony enjoyed one another’s company, Celestia and Luna observed him when they saw him work on the Chisel.
‘What are you working on Caldor?’ said Luna when she was curious.
‘Right now, I’m busy using this artifact to re-forge the chisel into something better,’ said Caldor when was almost done ‘With this we can use it to go through any gateway to any realm. This case, the one between this world and Equestria, you know, minus the human/pony transformations and all. I still can’t believe you didn’t get rid of that mirror in the first place.’
‘It…I wanted to keep it when Sunset decided to come back one day.’ said Celestia when she thought about her past.
‘Technically Starswirl forbade you into stepping through the mirror because of your overuse whilst you were busy visiting as kids on this world would say; your hubby.’
Celestia blushed a bit when she thought about her love affection with the alternate Sombra. ‘Wait,’ said Luna when she thought about something ‘How do you know about all that happened?’
‘See when I was younger,’ said Caldor when he explained the origins of his eyes ‘Galahad blessed my eyes with special abilities. When I use both my eyes they could help us open portals to new worlds. Handy, yes, but each of them have their one abilities. My uh, ahem, current right eye has the ability to open veils and see all the comings and goings of the world without being seen. But as for my missing eye, it can see the future. And my guess is, Eros removed my other eye and tried to destroy it so that I couldn’t tell them on how to defeat him. And I was this close too. But I was mostly heartbroken when I once saw how Luna became corrupted.’
‘Wait,’ said Celestia when she looked at Caldor again ‘You knew she became Nightmare Moon?’
‘Of course I did.’ said Caldor when he had almost finished. But he stopped and looked at the two of them, as they did him whilst the others stopped to have a break. ‘You see Celestia, a long time ago after you were born, your mother Faust was terrified that you would be corrupted by dark magic. So she asked me to place a spell on you so you would be protected. But…after when Luna was born, just when I was going to do the same for her…you sent me away.’
Celestia was surprised by that bit of news. She was so little, but she remembered of that day ‘You were…trying to help my sister?’
‘Of course, why did you think your mother begged me to help her. I could’ve saved Luna, and also her from her fate.’
Celestia was shocked when she realized something. She slowly looked at Caldor in shock ‘I…I did this to her?’
‘Hey now, you didn’t know,’ said Caldor calmly ‘You had no idea that any of this would happen. Although Nahmat did have a good point when she asked why you had ignored Luna’s suffering in her time of need. I know you were tasked into managing a kingdom. But look, I may not know all the royal responsibilities, but I do know about folks like you, and you needed balance in your life. That’s what you two have been depriving of yourself the whole time.’ The two of them felt down whilst Caldor continued.
‘And you two, back when Starlight was sent to help, you nearly ended up going through like you did a thousand years ago. So let me make it clear for you; you two are the only family you have left and you deserve one another’s respect. And you’re not mad at each other. You’re angry at yourselves because the two of you felt just as guilty about the whole situation than you realize, but your mother, the Princess Faust I knew, wouldn’t stand for either of you wallowing in guilt or beating at each other’s throats. What would she say if she could see you two right now?’
The two of them remembered, and were guilt written over what their mother would say. Celestia couldn’t help but smile whilst she looked at Caldor. ‘Even after all these years, you never stop becoming the voice of reason.’ ‘I only do what’s right.’ said Caldor when he looked at the two of them with a gentle stare. ‘We could…barely remember our mother.’ said Luna when she thought about the past ‘But I do remember that you once helped her become what she needed to be.’
‘Then may I offer some guidance to the two of you,’ said Caldor when he told them what he wanted them to do ‘At least an entire weekend once a month, let both Cadance and Twilight help look after Equestria for you. Whilst you two take a break, see and explore Equestria, even take a trip to your favorite spot up at the mountains with the garden and waterfall. I’m sure Equestria wouldn’t mind to let you two have something to do with your lives.’
The two sisters looked at one another when he made them that offer. They ended up looking at him with a smile. ‘I think that is a wise and sound plan.’ says Luna when she liked the idea.’
‘On one condition,’ said Celestia when she smiled and was gentle with him for once ‘We would like for you to come back to the castle. It would be wonderful to have someone who knew our mother, as well as one who was like family to us, reunite with us after all these years.’
Caldor was surprised that Celestia made him that offer. He ended up smiling gently. ‘I’d be honored.’ said Caldor when he accepted their deal.
They continued on to their destination through a different section of the forest, until they were able to finally arrive at dual pillars standing close to one another as if it was a door itself. ‘Ah, we’re here.’ said Caldor when he looked at it. Rainbow Dash and her counterpart ended up flying and running around trying to find the door, but couldn’t see anything. ‘Are you sure it’s here?’ said Rainbow Dash when she couldn’t find it.
‘See those pillars,’ said Caldor when he pointed at it ‘The one with a special seal to the left, that happens to be the gateway to the realm of the First Ones.’
‘That’s the gate?’ said Rarity when she looked at it ‘Although I was expecting something far more impressive.’
‘Looks can be very deceiving Rarity,’ said Caldor when he explained ‘See when the gateways were created, the creators ensured that they would disguise the gates so that no one would be able to recognize them. For if any world like this one, what with its modern technology, they would tamper with them and would unleash untold chaos upon a world like this.’ ‘Hmm,’ said Starswirl when he thought about something ‘Are there more like this out there somewhere?’
‘Plenty, like the quicksand from that island that leads straight to Equestria, there are plenty of concealed entrances to other worlds,’ said Caldor when he explained the gates to them ‘But if you’re asking me if there are other portals like this one that leads straight to Adularia, then I’m afraid not. They didn’t trust the other worlds to contain their secrets, so they decided to only create this one, seeing that they would somehow know that this world’s historical society would preserve a place like this.’
‘Thus having it protected,’ said Twilight when she thought about it ‘So that no one would remain curious.’
‘Wow, that’s pretty ingenious.’ said human Twilight when she agreed.
Caldor did some tweaks, and finally finished with the chisel ‘Ah, there we go, all finished.’ and handed it over to Invictus. Invictus held onto it whilst he looked at it, then to Caldor ‘Now what do I do with this?’
‘See that special stone slab against one of the pillars,’ said Caldor as he pointed at it ‘Move it around, and it will burn bright. The moment it does that, tap it against the slab as hard as you can. Once that is done, the rest will unfold itself.’
Invictus walked over and held the chisel over the stone slab. As he moved around, the tip of the chisel shone, allowing him to tap it as hard as he could. After tapping it on four corners and then the center, the energy instantly flowed through the pillar, allowing it to activate the pillars as it opened a gateway to another world, to the world of Adularia, the Realm of the First Ones. Many had gathered around and stood near the gateway, making them realize that they had finally done it. ‘There it is,’ said Knight when he smiled with joy ‘We’re so close.’
Thunder stood there nodding, for he agreed with his little brother. But just as he took a step forward, Invictus instantly saw something and quickly pushed him out of the way as he said ‘Boy, watch it!!!’
At the same time, he was grabbed by the neck and thrusted against one of the pillars as he was raised in the air, struggling to move. Many were shocked to see Eros again, this time wearing different attire to make him fit in more often. ‘So, I finally caught up with you.’ said Eros with a sneer as Invictus struggled to get lose.
‘But how?!’ said Yin Sid when he saw Eros ‘We had spells all around us, there’s no way you could’ve found us!!’
‘You forgot about one of you.’ said Eros when he pointed at Thunder, which made them realize that they had forgotten to place a barrier around them ‘So should I just go through the portal or finish all of you off for intervening with my plans for the last time?’
‘Enough of this Eros,’ said Caldor when he tried to reason with him ‘You have no other purpose or nothing else to fight for, why would you…?’
And just like that, Eros back handed Caldor as he was smacked in the face and launched against a rock, which shocked Celestia as she shouted ‘Caldor!!’, allowing her and Luna to run towards him to see if he was alright.
‘Alright, that does it!!’ said Rainbow Dash when she darted towards Eros, only for her to be grabbed by the throat and tossed aside, but she was able to regain momentum whilst she was in the air.
‘Rainbow Dash, stay out of this!!’ shouted Invictus whilst he tried to get lose.
‘No way, I want some payback after what he did to me back at the monastery!!’
She flew towards him again and was grabbed again as he said ‘You really are dumb, aren’t you?’
Eros threw Rainbow Dash against Invictus hard, destroying the pillar and closing the portal to Adularia, which shocked many as their journey had now been in vain. At the same time, not only was Knight angry at Eros for hurting Rainbow Dash, but for ruining their only chance to fulfill their mother’s wish. ‘You’re gonna pay for that!!!’
Eros ended up swatting Knight and grabbed Atreus and tossed him against his siblings. But to many of their shock, they saw Eros grabbing Yin Sid and Merlin by the throats, which shocked them when they saw what was going on. ‘Merlin!!’ shouted Twilight in shock.
‘Yin Sid!!’ said human Twilight when she felt the same way.
‘Seeing that they’re the brains around here and also the only ones that ever studied in the ancient arts,’ said Eros whilst he stood there smiling ‘You two will help me get what I want.’
At an instant, a large mindless dragon like creature came flying down as Eros jumped on it for a ride. But unknown to him, Invictus jumped up and grabbed on, but whilst he also shouted out at Twilight ‘Princess Twilight, you know my aura, use your magic to teleport to my location!!!’
They all watched as Eros and Invictus disappeared beyond the horizon. Invictus, whilst holding onto the dragon as he was able to climb onto its back. He saw Eros and pulled out his swords. He used it to pull Eros towards him. The two of them stood close to one another, prepared for combat. ‘Oh, so you finally got some new weapons. No matter. No matter how hard you try, I will always be on top.’
‘Let go of my sons.’ said Invictus as he gripped onto his swords, whilst their fires grew madly on them as his rage had now returned.
‘Then by all means,’ said Eros when he taunted him ‘Come and get them!!!’
Invictus attacked head on as he screamed in rage. The two of them began to clash as punches and kicks were exchanged, along with a few head butting and also some heavy muscle. Invictus swung his chain swords plenty of times, but so far nothing he tried was working. They fought long and hard at one another, until Eros kicked him off the creature. When he landed, he realized that he was at the center of the bridge, that led straight to the Rainbow Bridge. He stood up slowly as he tried to stand on both his feet, until Twilight and many of the others appeared and quickly gathered near him.
‘Are you hurt?’ said Mistmane when she quickly used her magic to help him stand up.
‘Where are your sons?’ said Somnambula next when she helped him.
‘They went in there.’ said Invictus as he showed them the Rainbow Bridge.
They looked at it and saw the Rainbow Bridge, with Applejack asking ‘Why in tarnation would they come here?’
When all of a sudden, the Rainbow Bridge began to activate itself, shocking Rockhoof when he realized something ‘They’re gonna travel using the Rainbow Bridge!!’
‘Quickly, we must stop them before it’s too late!!’ shouted Starswirl when he made haste.
Invictus, his sons, Sunset Shimmer and friends, along with every pony around him, ran towards the entrance of the temple with what speed their legs could carry. They barged into the door and ran inside.
‘Hey,’ shouted Brock when he and his brother Driskle stood near their table ‘Who activated the Rainbow Bridge?’
They kept running with Driskle asking ‘What’s going on?!’
Knight shouted ‘Eros is activating the bridge, we gotta stop him!!’
They barged into the room and saw Eros still holding them down, with Invictus charging head on and pinned him down, allowing both Merlin and Yin Sid to get loose. ‘All of you have lost,’ said Eros as he struggled to get loose ‘Soon my world will be opened, and with the secrets of the Adularians at my disposal, my kind will rise again!!’
Caldor overheard and was surprised to hear what he had said, until Rainbow Dash flew towards the pedestal and tried to stop it ‘Don’t worry, I got this!!!’
Merlin saw what she did as he shouted ‘No, no, no, don’t!!!!’
Because of the wrong thing she had tampered, the pedestal ended up malfunctioning and opened a random portal, sucking all of them in as Starswirl shouted ‘Brace yourselves!!!’
All of them ended up getting sucked into the void, teleporting them straight to the clod depths of Tartarus. All of them got deeper and deeper into the cold, not knowing when to stop. Eros still held onto Merlin, until Invictus punched him away as they were separated. Eventually, all of them had found a large bit of rock that would be a good place for them to land, but it was a rough landing as all of them crashed.
After they landed, all of them were groaning and moaning of the pain they’ve experienced, for they had never been hurt this bad before.
‘Is…everypony alright?’ said Twilight when she got up.
‘I…I think so.’ said human Twilight when she and her friends got up.
However, all of their attention was focused on Rainbow Dash, for it had been twice that she had put them in danger.
‘Rainbow Dash,’ yelled Applejack ‘What in tarnation were y’all thinking?!”
‘Yeah,’ said Starlight when she also got angry ‘You nearly got us all killed!!’
‘Hey,’ said Rainbow Dash when she told them why she did it ‘I was only trying to help, so I…!!!’
And within a split second, Invictus punched her in the face, grabbed her mane and picked her up as she struggled and groaned in pain, which shocked the others in the process ‘You will listen to me and not speak a word!!’ said Invictus with a sneer as he looked at her angry, whilst she struggled to look at him ‘I didn’t want you here, and you are not in your right mind. You are too quick to temper, you are rash, arrogant, impulsive, insubordinate, and out of control. This will not stand. You will aid and honor the boys’ mother, and abandon this ego you have. And it is not too late…
‘Dad, come on.’ said Knight when he gained his father’s attention, which he remembered that he was also like that once.
At the same time, Invictus threw her hard onto the ground, causing her to look at him whilst she was holding her ribcage in pain, whilst he looked at her angrily as he said ‘This discussion is far from over. We are in this mess because of you bitch, do not forget that.’
Invictus left as he was now angrier. Rainbow on the other hand was hurt, with Knight helping her out. ‘Sorry about that, you get used to it.’
‘Why?’ said Rainbow Dash when she was slightly angry ‘Did he lash at all of you too?’
Knight was silent for a few moments as he looked at another direction, as did his brothers, which shocked them in the process. ‘Wait,’ said human Fluttershy when she was surprised ‘He was like that with all of you too?’
Thunder spoke out loud as he looked at them ‘Who do you think broke my horn?’
They were shocked by what he had said, with Fizzlepop remembering it differently ‘But you said…’
‘Half of it was a Manticor and Hydra, the other part was dad when he was training me. Mother…didn’t got over of what he did.’
‘Don’t remind me.’ said Don when he remembered ‘That explosion nearly got half of us killed.’
‘Alright, enough now.’ said Caldor when he got their attention ‘We can talk about this later, right now we need to leave this place. The longer we delay here, the more we’ll likely doom ourselves in this place.’
‘He is right,’ said Luna when she had the shivers of this place as the fear was slowly consuming her, for now she partially remembers of what happened so many years ago ‘This place feels…terrifying.’
‘Then let us leave immediately.’ said Celestia when she agreed.
All of them quickly left their spot together, or it will soon consume them, before all is too late.
All of them tried to find a way to leave the spot they were, but from every corner they turned, the cold was getting worst. ‘I knew Tartarus was cold,’ said Twilight when she rubbed her wings as they were nearly stiff of the flying ‘But I never knew it was this cold.’
‘Tartarus is cursed with a cold like this,’ said Caldor when he tried to guide them ‘If death itself doesn’t kill you, this place will because of the cold.’
They suddenly heard a voice saying ‘It was the only way to save Equestria.’
They looked at Twilight surprised ‘Y’all say something Sugarcube?’ said Applejack when she looked at her. ‘I didn’t say anything.’ said Twilight.
‘Me neither.’ said human Twilight too.
‘Um, guys?’ said Spike as he pointed at what he saw was scary.
He pointed to what he saw, and to their shock, they saw smoke copies of both Twilight and Pinkie Pie. The smoke Pinkie Pie yelled at Twilight ‘You never wanted us to show her the best time ever. You just wanted us to distract her!!’
They were shocked to see what was going on. ‘What…’ said Twilight when she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
‘I never would’ve done it,’ said smoke like Twilight as she yelled at Pinkie Pie ‘But this isn’t Equestria!! We can’t just dance around con artists, make Rainbooms in the skies and expect everything to work out!! It’s not enough!! We are not enough!!
‘No Twilight!! We stuck together!! We were going to get the help we needed!! The only one that stopped us, was you.’
‘Well I’m doing the best I can! It’s all on me. I’m the one Tempest wants. I’m the last princess.’
‘You’re also, the only one who doesn’t trust her own friends!!’
‘Well maybe I would’ve been better off without friends like you!!!’
They were surprised to see the argument going down between them, which left the other one heartbroken, with the one was surprised by what she had said. Smoke Pinkie left with her head lowered as smoke Twilight said ‘Pinkie…I…’
‘I’m sorry Twilight.’ said smoke Pinkie ‘I just can’t talk to you right now.’
At an instant, the smoke Pinkie and Twilight disappeared. They were shocked by what they had just witnessed, with Twilight remembering that part of her past. She shed tears as she yelled ‘What is all this?!!’
‘That my friends,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘Is the power of Tartarus. If you wander here for too long, this place will torment you with a piece of your recent past, haunting you for all eternity until you kill yourself.’
‘How…how do you stop it.’ said Celestia when she looked at Caldor.
‘Escape as quick as you can.’
Sunset looked at Twilight ‘Twilight, what happened there?’
‘Well…uh…’ she replied, not knowing what to say.
I’ll tell them.’ said Caldor, seeing that he knows how it happened ‘When Equestria was last invaded by the Storm King, real piece of work, they set out to the kingdom of the Hippogriffs for help. But Twilight asked her friends to convince the queen to help, except she used them to distract her so that she could steal the pearl, outraging the queen and Twilight thinking that her friends’ attempts were brainless and stupid.’
Sunset and her friends were surprised by what Twilight had done, with human Rainbow Dash saying ‘Wow, that’s a new low, even for you.’
‘Seriously,’ said human Applejack next ‘What were y’all thinking?’
‘I was under pressure, okay?!!’ she yelled.
‘And still thought that friendship was a waste of time.’
Twilight looked at Caldor mad ‘I didn’t…’
‘But you did.’ said Merlin as he spoke on everyone’s behalf ‘Look, we get it, you were the only princess left. But as a Princess of Friendship, you were supposed to find a diplomatic solution. You can’t just go and barge in like that like a clueless filly and cause another war in an instant. And from the looks of it, you weren't that bright in that situation.’ They were surprised by what he said, with Twilight saying ‘Excuse me?’
‘You went to the Hippogriffs, why didn’t you just, I don’t know, go to the Yaks, or the Changelings, or even the Dragons, they could’ve helped you out.’ ‘How would…’
‘Because Dragons are impervious/immune to magic, everypony knows that.’
She was surprised by the last part ‘They…are?’
Merlin ended up slapping his forehead when he couldn’t believe what he had heard. But he breathed a bit and spoke to her normally ‘Look, you’re a fully grown mare, you can’t keep letting anxiety get the better of you. A true Princess is supposed to be calm and collected, is suppose to plan, is suppose to think of a diplomatic solution. They can’t just barge in and ended up nearly getting everypony killed. You are a princess, aren’t you?’
Twilight slowly answered ‘Well…of course I am.’
‘So, grow up and act like one.’ said Merlin when he wanted her to be better. ‘Not just for everypony else’s sake, but for your own too.’
As he walked by, she looked at him, and knew he was right, but the way he spoke to her as her voice of reason and calm, as well as trying to help her. She realized she also has feelings for him, whilst her heart had beaten for him six times that day.
But at the same time, as they tried to find a way out, everyone and everypony began to see themselves through the smoke as they haunted them as if they were ghosts, tormented by their past. Celestia and Luna were haunted by Nightmare Moon, Sunset Shimmer with her being evil, Twilight for being corrupted, all of Sunset’s friends when they were really guilt written for turning on her like that on both times before Christmas and also when their memories of her were erased. As for the ponies, Rarity was haunted by when she and Sweetie Belle were at odds with one another, as was Fluttershy for being abusive. Rarity and Rainbow Dash when they argued about not them liking the same things, Applejack when she yelled at Twilight for using magic, as well as her being in conflict with Rainbow Dash when they nearly endangered their students, as well as when Pinkie ended up taking things too far. The Pillars when they turned their backs on Stygian when they didn’t even give him a chance to explain, when Starlight enslaved a village, nearly robbing Twilight and the others of their freedom, whilst also nearly destroying the timeline in the process, whilst also showing Fizzlepop Berrytwist becoming evil and nearly taking over Equestria because of the Storm King.
‘I…’ said Pinkie when she was feeling discouraged ‘I really don’t like this place.’
‘Keep calm there,’ said Copper Plume when he held onto Pinkie whilst it surprised her ‘We’ll make it out, we have to.’ They heard strange voices, until they quickly took a peak, where they saw Eros, staring at his past, along with, to their surprise, Singe.
‘I don’t want this ability,’ said smoke Eros to smoke Singe ‘You have no right to give that to me.’
‘I have every right,’ said smoke Singe ‘I am your mother.’
They were shocked by what she had said, for the very god that had been trying to kill them for some time, was Singe’s son. ‘But the feasting, drinking, the pleasure, It’s all gone.’
‘But you’ll never feel pain again, are you saying that you want to die?’
‘Than to never feel again? Yes, I would.’
They saw that the two of them argued, it got heated, and smoke Eros ended up leaving with anger, until his actual self started to yell and swing his arms at the smoke image of her, saying that he hated her for what she did, that she made him immune to pain, even when he never asked for any of that. He then collapsed on his knees and ended up crying. Some couldn’t help but feel pity for him, until they were forced to leave in order to escape.
‘So let me get this straight,’ said human Rainbow Dash when she had a hard time comprehending what just happened ‘That guy, that’s been trying to kill us and kill both Twilights’ boyfriends…’
Both Princess Twilight and Science-Twilight were shocked by what she had just said ‘He’s not my…’ but were cut off when they realized that they really did have feelings for them and they couldn’t deny it, no matter what their hearts have told them.
‘Was Singe’s son?’ said human Rainbow Dash when she had just finished her conversation.
‘Aye, that he is.’ said Caldor when he corrected her.
‘Wait,’ said Starlight when she looked at Caldor ‘You knew about this?’
‘I do, but you lot didn’t ask. But if you really want to know. When Eros was a younger man, Singe placed a spell on him so that he couldn’t die, but he ended up being immune to a lot of things, pain, getting drunk, feeling, and so on. He didn’t like that and he ended up hating his mother. And because of that, she turned to her husband for comfort. Unfortunately she lost it when Galahad didn’t give her much attention, and you can guess what happened next.’
‘So,’ said Sunburst when he figured things out ‘She ended up nearly destroying ponies and humans because her own son resented her?’
‘Yes, mothers tend to make mistakes and not know it,’ said Caldor as he looked at Princess Twilight ‘Isn’t that right your highness?’
Twilight blushed when she didn’t like to think about that day when Sombra nearly came back and nearly lost Spike in the process. ‘Uh, what’s going on?’ said human Twilight when she was confused.
Spike walked up and confessed to them when he told them the truth of his birth as well as the a few uncomfortable details ‘See, when Twilight was a filly, she was trying to get accepted into Princess Celestia’s school, and because of her magic, she ended up hatching me, as was her test and all. And most dragon parents tend to mark their children with special magic. Twilight’s magic ended up coursing through me and…well…whilst she was studying….she, well…’ he ended up looking at them as he slowly smiled ‘She raised me.’
They were surprised by what Spike had said. ‘So,’ said human Fluttershy in the process ‘She became your mother and you became her son.’
‘Yeah…and you know what…’ said Spike whilst he looked at Twilight, then back to Sunset and her friends ‘I wouldn’t trade that for any gem or anything in the world.’
The girls were touched by what he said, as did Twilight whilst she shed a tear. Merlin stood next to her as he smiled ‘You should be proud, as any parent should be; mommy.’
Twilight ended up scoffing with a smile as she nudged him with her elbow. She ended up blushing and whispered to him ‘And pretty soon, one day, he’s gonna have a daddy.’
Merlin ended up blushing as he didn’t know what to say, with Twilight ended up kissing him as the two of them walked together. ‘So, how do we defeat Eros?’ said Starswirl when he spoke to Caldor.
‘That I’m afraid I don’t know,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘See, I learnt that there was a powerful magic that could be used to dispel the magic that’s protecting Eros, even making him mortal and removing his immortality except for his powers, but I’m afraid I don’t know what it is. I’ve been studying for years and I still couldn’t figure out how to kill him.’
‘If there is a way to kill him,’ said Stygian when he stood close to Caldor ‘Then we must find a way to vanquish him.’ ‘Look, up ahead.’ said Invictus when he spotted something.
To their surprise, it looked like an old sailing ship, which would be the perfect way for them to escape. ‘Ah, perfect.’ said Yin Sid when he looked at it ‘This’ll do nicely.’
‘Uh, how is that any good news?’ said human Rainbow Dash when she wondered how the ship will help them.
‘Leave that to us,’ said Atreus when he stood next to her with his arm wrapped around her, which made her blush instantly ‘We’ll improvise whilst we’re at it.
All of them headed straight for the ship as they climbed down the stone stairs, then headed straight for the ship. However, just when they were about to board the ship, a terrifying voice echoed loudly, as it made them nearly jump of fright. ‘So much destruction,’ said a voice as all of them had heard it, but from the sound of this voice, it sounded like an important being with the highest authority ‘I will have much to do after I kill you.’
‘No.’ said Invictus to himself when he recognized it, whilst Twilight and the others were curious of what it was.
‘What was that?’ said Fluttershy scared when she heard it too.
‘Let’s just keep moving.’ said Invictus when they moved on.
All of them were able to board the ship, whilst all the stallion unicorns, as well as Starlight and Twilight, all of them were able to get the ship moving as they were able to cut the lines tying up the ship, whilst Celestia and Luna were able to lift the sails and allowed it to move. ‘Cast off!!’ shouted Pinkie, her human counterpart, Copper and Barry, acting as sailors of the ship.
As the ship had sailed towards its destination, Caldor leaned against the side of the ship, staring out of the open, but also saw Tirek’s prison very far off from their position. ‘Is something wrong Caldor?’ said Celestia when she and Luna stood next to him.
‘You know, after all this time, I don’t know why Tirek was kept alive and all.’ said Caldor when he remembered Tirek’s history ‘Oh sure, he was able to see the light, aye, but why did he end up seeking power in the first place? Scorpan had learnt to appreciate life, why didn’t he?’
‘Most are too consumed with lust for power to see the error of their ways.’ said Luna when she remembered Scorpan and Tirek.
‘You two can relate?’ said Caldor when he remembered ‘Your need for those to love your night ended up going too far.’ Luna felt ashamed of her past ‘A time I wished it didn’t happen.’
‘But tell me something,’ said Caldor as he looked at Luna ‘Why were you obsessed of others wanting to like the night. It’s your duty to raise and set the moon, aye, but I don’t think it’s about wanting to like the moon, I think it’s more about them wanting to love you too.’
Luna looked at him surprised, as did Celestia ‘Uh, what?’
Caldor stood up straight, walked a bit to the left as he was able to look at the two of them ‘I know that since the two of you were young, you had family and friends that you loved. But ever since you two became Alicorns, and ended up outliving them, you wanted to try and fill the void, even though you know you’ll never replace that, for what you had was special.’
The two of them never realized it, with Celestia being the first to admit it ‘Well…maybe we did.’
‘Do you also know that feeling?’ said Luna when she and Celestia looked at him.
‘Aye, I did.’ said Caldor when he thought about their mother ‘Your mother and others I knew were the only friends I ever had, but since all of them passed, I’ve never known what it was like to love again. But if I could have a choice to do it all over again, I would’ve rather to remove my immortality than outlive everything for the rest of my life.’. He walked back to the side of the ship and watched the view whilst he was next to Celestia and Luna. ‘You two could also step down from being immortal if you wanted to, find a pony to wed and have children of your own.’
The two of them were surprised of what he asked, but then again he did have a good point about what he said. ‘I’ve…never thought about it that way.’ said Celestia when she realized that Caldor had a good point.
‘Neither have I sister.’ said Luna when she agreed.
They looked out of the horizon and thought about what he had said. ‘Well…’ said Celestia when she thought about it ‘Maybe…when all of this is over. Maybe I could honor that request.’
Both Copper and Barry shouted from above the mast ‘Waterfall up ahead!!’
They looked ahead and realized that they were cornered, seeing that there is now an obstacle in their way. ‘Great,’ said Rainbow Dash whilst he didn’t like being stuck in a rut ‘Now how are we supposed to get up there?’
Knight looked around and saw that there were a few positions on the ship that could be used to create a type of bonfire, as well as looking at the sails. He had an idea as he let loose a few robes of the sail, whilst he looked at his father and said ‘Dad, try to use your swords to create a bonfire there.’
Invictus pulled out both of his swords and swung them, allowing them to be set ablaze. As the bonfires were lit, the fires ended up lifted the sails in an upward direction, creating their own zeppelin. ‘Turning a ship into a homemade zeppelin?’ said Twilight when she was surprised ‘That’s ingenious.’
‘Didn’t think it was gonna work at first.’ said Knight when he landed.
‘Then…how do did you know that it will?’ said Rainbow Dash when she stood near him. ‘Sometimes you just gotta have a little faith Dashie.’
As he walked away, Rainbow ended up blushing, for he had just given her a pet name. And she didn’t mind, for she liked it. They continued to fly up the waterfall, hoping that they could reach the top safely. ‘If we can follow our present course,’ said Lyon whilst he looked ahead ‘We should be able to see the temple up ahead.’
‘Can’t we just use wind magic?’ said Sunset whilst trying to focus ahead.
‘No can do,’ said Don when he stood next to her ‘No magic can work down here, why do you think so many sorcerers were banished here, because their magic is useless here.’
‘Plus they can’t fly either,’ said Atreus when he stood next to human Rainbow Dash ‘You’ll end up freezing to death the moment you try.’
‘Hard to starboard!!!’ shouted Barry and Copper Plume, for they were heading straight for a stoned bridge, causing them to be stuck against it the moment they collided, causing them to be stuck against it like fly on flypaper. ‘Oh, curse it all!!’ shouted Rockhoof when he looked at it ‘Now we’re stuck!!’
‘There must be a way to remove that obstacle out of the way.’ said Somnambula when she also took a good look at it. ‘I have a way.’ said Invictus as he walked straight towards the stone bridge that was holding their ship down. ‘I require the strongest to come help me.’
One by one, Applejack, Applebuck, Rockhoof, human Applejack and human Bucky joined together as all of them stood next to one another. All of them bent over and got their hands in place, whilst the ponies got their hind legs ready for also even greater force. ‘One,’ said Bucky when he first started.
‘Two.’ said human Applejack next when she was also ready.
‘Three!!’ said the strongest group as all of them used all of their super strength to lift up the stone bridge that was blocking them. Using all of their strength, as well as all of their wills, the stone bridge began to crack, allowing them to be able to lift up the bridge out of the way, allowing them to move it out of their way.
As they were finally able to clear the obstacle out of the way, the ship was now cleared to sail again. They continued on the path with their temporary ship again, until they heard a really familiar voice ‘Face me father, it is time to end this!!’ ‘Yes. It is time.’ said the other authority voice as he spoke back.
‘Wait, that was you.’ said the human Twilight when she was surprised to hear it.
‘Ignore it,’ said Invictus ‘We cannot be distracted for a mere moment.’
Twilight began to be even more worried for Invictus, for he was hiding something, a past that he was not proud of, and what nearly destroyed him in the process. They continued on their current flight path until ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, Icebergs, both sides!!’ shouted Mage Meadowbrook as they kept colliding against it, until a handful of ice demons arrived and boarded their ship.
‘We have incoming monsters!!’ shouted human Rarity when she nearly panicked.
‘Then let’s drive them off the ship!!’ shouted Duke when he got both his spear and shield ready.
Duke attacked head on as he jumped in the air and plunged its spear into the neck of the ice demons. Human Rarity watched as Duke stood his ground whilst surrounded by more ice demons. He swung his shield at one to his right, then jabbed the one to his left, then uppercut the one in the middle. He jabbed another one, then used it to jump on it, allowing it to kill the one next to him with the jab of his spear. He jabbed his spear at another, until he raised it up and slammed it hard on the ground, until the tip of the spear broke, allowing Duke to use the broken spear point and sliced the next demon’s chest, which allowed Duke to kick it off the ship. He threw the broken tip of the spear at the next demon, whilst pulling out his sword. Human Rarity saw a demon was about to kill him with its axe, and out of instinct, she ran towards him ‘Look out!!’
Grabbed him whilst she tackled him out of the way, causing the two of them to roll on deck. When they stopped, she was on top of him. But when she looked at him, she suddenly blushed, as did he, for the two of them this close, they felt a slight attraction to one another. ‘Um…thank you.’ replied Duke.
‘Um…you’re welcome.’ replied human Rarity when she replied the same way.
Both human Pinkie and human Fluttershy were cornered when a ten foot tall demon tried to attack, until both Barry and Lyon stood in front of them, wielding their shield, sword, and dual swords. The two of them looked at one another, nodded, and attacked as the two of them were synced as they were fighting together. Human Pinkie and human Fluttershy watched in awe when they saw the two of them moving with such grace and skills. They pierced what appeared to be the piece of the armour, until the demon exploded, sending the two of them hurtling towards the two. Both Barry and Lyon were groggy, but when they came to, to their shock, they were resting on both human Pinkie and human Fluttershy’s lap, which made them blush too.
‘Sorry.’ said Barry and Lyon when they made a major error.
‘Um…no problem.’ said human Fluttershy when she felt embarrassed.
Human Pinkie giggled when she liked that Barry was resting his head.
Don noticed that Sunset was cornered and nearly pushed off the edge of the boat, causing him to run and defend her. He skid on the ground and cut the demon on and made it crash on the ground, then sliced the next two at ease with his sword, then kicked two off the ship. Sunset tried to stand up, until she nearly fell over, whilst Don quickly caught her. She ended up looking at him and blushed, for it had been her first time that she liked a boy up close to her.
‘You okay there?’ said Don when he wanted to make sure she was alright.
‘Uh, yeah.’ said Sunset when she was able to stand, until she pulled out her weapon and looked at him ‘Can you show me?’ ‘Yeah, okay, sure.’ said Don when he agreed to help her.
Human Rainbow Dash tried to show off as usual, trying to contain the situation, until she lost her balance and nearly fell off. She was suddenly caught by Atreus, which surprised her when she saw him. ‘You okay?’
‘Uh, yeah sure.’ said human Rainbow Dash when she was nearly speechless of the very sight of Atreus.
Atreus then placed human RD on the ground and attacked head on. He pulled out his bow and arrow, and skid on the ground, whilst firing three arrows at the incoming demons, then stood up, used his arrow to kill a demon, then used it again as he fired at another. He ran towards a demon and jumped up, allowing him to jump on the demon as he was able to gain momentum by shooting three more arrows at the incoming enemy, leaving human RD star strucked, as well as blushing.
The others on the other hand try their best. Starlight and Sunburst stood on both sides of the ship, trying to fend off any flying demons trying to attack, Pinkie used her party cannon to distract them whilst Copper Plume jumped up and bucked it right in the face. Rarity and Chivalry used their magic to make a demon trip, whilst Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Knight flew all around trying to distract them as Twilight and Merlin flew around and used their magic to shatter the ice demons. Celestia, Luna and Starswirl tried their best to counter the worst of the snow storm, but it grew too much for them as they were forced to land. Rockhoof and Mage did what they could, as did Stygian and Mistmane when they tried to fend them off. Somnambula and Flash Magnus flew around and also did what they could against the flying ice demons, whilst Thunder and Fizzlepop used all of their magic to drive the demons away. Bashful tried to protect Fluttershy, as did Spike with dog Spike, whilst Applejack and Applebuck bucked all the demons overboard trying to protect the ship, whilst both Fizzlepop and Thunder unleashed the full power of their magic from their broken horns. Invictus on the other hand focused on the worst demons using his chained swords, as well as using them to keep the bonfires alit to ensure they would continue to travel. But after the last demon had been driven away, a large pillar crashed on the front of the deck, cracking the tip of the ship. Invictus ran towards it and held onto the cracked part of the ship. He lifted it up with all his might, allowing the tip to be torn off as it fell down. And right ahead, was the Rainbow Bridge, causing Caldor and a handful of others to see.
‘I see it up ahead!!’ shouted Caldor when he was excited to be getting away from the cold depths of Tartarus.
And just when he moved part of the debris out of his way and continued its course toward the Rainbow Bridge, the heavy thick clouds began to cover the ship they were on, causing the familiar voice to speak again as it said ‘It is time my son. Look around at what you have done.’
They saw the mist forming around their feet and hooves. However, closest to the Alicorns, the mist formed a humanoid type body, revealing a tall human, wearing a royal robe whilst he gasped for air a bit as he stood wobbly on the ground, surprising them in the process. ‘Who is that?’ said Luna when she didn’t recognize it.
They continued to stare until the human Applejack pointed at the opposite direction of the royal human ‘Um, girls?’
From the opposite was another, but instead, he was wielding two swords, resembling a lot to the ones Invictus was holding whilst looking straight at the royal human. But to their shock, when they took a closer look at the person, they instantly recognized him, with Spike saying ‘Is that Invictus?’
But he was different. He was enraged, he was angry, and he looked slightly different, a little younger even, as if he was ten years younger. He looked at both his swords in anger, but at the same time, tossed both of them away as if they were nothing. Invictus charged in anger as he tackled the man against a solid rock wall. When Invictus stood in position, he raised his fist in the air as his rage had no equal. He punched the royal humanoid left right, down, up, southeast, then grabbed his head as he kneed against the humanoid’s head, whilst continuing to punch him.
Many were shocked when they saw Invictus mercilessly punched him over and over again and again and again, for his rage had no bounds whatsoever. Invictus kept punching him until he was on the ground, however, his senior teenage son Copper Plume, saw something and ran over to him, whilst holding Invictus’ hands as he gained his attention.
‘Come on, we have to go!’ said Copper as he gained his father’s attention.
‘All of you saw…’ he replied as he saw himself beating up his father whilst he was on his knees.
‘There’s no time, look!’ said Copper whilst he tried to show his father what was going on.
Invictus turned around and saw that the ship was flying towards the statue and bashed against it, but also failed to notice that their ship was on fire too. ‘I got an idea!!’ shouted Knight as he looked at them ‘Jump!!’
All of them were able to jump off the ship before it got worst, but not without crash landing through the roof of the Rainbow Bridge. All of them groaned when they felt partial pain whilst getting up, whilst looking at the ship was on fire and crashing somewhere else.
‘That was yer plan?! shouted Caldor when he got frustrated over their crazy shenanigans ‘Yer all cracked!!’
‘Hey, at least we got out in time!!’ shouted Knight when they discovered they were no longer in the rainbow bridge’s chamber.
‘Whoa,’ said Sunset Shimmer when she looked around ‘Where are we?’
‘From the looks of this place,’ said Caldor when he looked around ‘I’d say we happen to be in the private study of Pelagius.’
‘Pale what?’ said Rarity when she was confused by the name whilst she tried to shake her head when she felt like she was having a headache after jumping off of the ship.
‘Pelagius my dear,’ said Caldor when he told about him ‘Is the god of war on this world, but also the god of peace, wisdom and Justice. He was the one who helped maintain peace within the thirteen realms. He used this place as his private study to find ways to bring peace.’
‘Then why didn’t he bring peace?’ said Starlight when she wondered about something. ‘Because he was killed.’ said Caldor.
Many were surprised as they looked at him. ‘What happened?’ said Luna when she was curious.
‘It’s like this,’ said Caldor when he told them of his fate ‘He taught us that every race, gods, mortals, ponies and many others are equal and that they should be given a chance to work together. But it never came to be because both Eros and his brother Apollo were damned by his teachings. And for that, they excommunicated and killed him.’
‘And you hated them ever since?’ said Invictus when he noticed something ‘Why do you care for Pelagius?’
Caldor was silent for a few moments, and dropped a bombshell by saying ‘He’s my brother.’
Many were surprised by what Caldor revealed, for it would explain why he hated Eros so much. ‘Oh dear,’ replied Mistmane ‘We had no idea.’
‘We mustn’t linger here,’ said Stygian when he gained their attention ‘The longer we remain here the more likely we would be spotted by Eros if he managed to escape.’
At the same time, Merlin charged up his magic ‘In that case hold still.’ He ended up using his magic at full force, and casted a powerful spell around them when he said ‘Praesidium Maxima’, causing all of them to have a spell over them.
‘Whoa,’ said Sunset when she noticed ‘What did you do?’
‘I casted a protection spell on all of us to keep the likes of Eros from tracking us, but this time, the magic won’t wear off, and I’ve made sure all of us have the spell on us.’
‘That’s good,’ said Don when he sighed in relief ‘I don’t want to get pummeled by that guy again.’
‘So where do we go from here?’ said Fizzlepop when she looked around.
‘We’ll take that passage,’ said Caldor when he pointed at the bronze door to their left ‘If I remember correctly, that passage leads straight towards the Rainbow Bridge.’
‘Then let us be on our way.’ said Invictus as he was able to open a door for them.
But as they walked, Twilight and the others felt nervous for some reason. ‘Uh,’ said human Applejack when she felt nervous ‘Are we gonna talk about what just happened back there?’
‘Y’all mean about Invictus beating up that other feller?’ said Applejack when she remembered.
‘You know,’ said Starlight when she didn’t want to investigate more about Invictus, for he was getting more scarier by the day ‘I don’t think we should talk about it. Otherwise it’ll lead to nothing but trouble.’
As they continued to walk down the hallway, Caldor suddenly spotted something. ‘Wait,’ he said as he and the others looked to their right.
They saw a large stone slab that was leaning against the wall. ‘What is it?’
Caldor used his eye to help make it clearer. To their surprise, the stone slab revealed a man standing at the center of a bridge, with symbols showing all over the slab on every corner. ‘That’s my brother…so that’s how he did it.’
‘Did what Caldor?’ said Luna when she stood next to him.
‘My brother found a way to travel to other worlds to other realms without using the Rainbow Bridge and talk to the other gods.’
‘Other gods?’ replied Pinkie Pie when she was curious of what they meant.
‘The other gods of war.’ replied Invictus when he looked at the slab.
‘How do you know?’ said Twilight when she looked at the slab.
Invictus looked at one of the symbols, recognizing it from his realm ‘It is something I am far too familiar with.’
They noticed him gripping his fists, making them realize that there was a time that he was a different person, until the gods of his realm changed him, and ended up becoming a man full of cruelty and rage, making them realize that when the time is right, they will ask him. Caldor took a closer look whilst he studied the map using his hand. ‘Curious,’ he replied, until he used his eye, causing the map to be highlighted as it revealed a special stone, with special towers and special rune magic ‘Very curious.’
‘Whoa,’ said human Twilight when she looked at the map ‘What is that?’
‘I don’t believe it,’ said Caldor whilst he looked at the map ‘My brother learned from the First Ones in Adularia. There was a special key that could help unlock the doorway there.’
‘Another doorway?’ said Twilight when she looked at the map ‘Is that possible?’
‘Aye, it…’ said Caldor whilst he was cut off when he saw something. To his shock, it was ancient textures his brother left behind. ‘By the beards of the ancients, that’s why Eros wanted this.’
‘Wait,’ said Celestia when she was curious ‘Wanted what?’
‘Don’t you see your highness?’ said Caldor when he explained ‘The First Ones studied ancient magic for years. Among them is a spell about resurrection, even resurrecting a god if need be.’
They were shocked by what he said whilst Merlin figured it out ‘That’s why he was after us, he was trying to find a way to resurrect his kind.’
‘This is bad,’ said Sunset when she could hardly believe it ‘We can’t let him know on how to resurrect gods like Eros.’
‘No kidding, if he finds a way to Adularia,’ said human Twilight when she calculated the risk ‘And ends up resurrecting his pantheon and unleashes them all in an apocalyptic nightmare?’
Pinkie and her human counterpart gasped loudly when they realized it too and both ended up saying ‘Armageddon City.’
‘Then we must move.’ said Invictus as he guided them to another door. When they walked through, they realized that they were now standing on what appears to be a lift of sorts. Don pulled the lever, allowing them to slowly ascend.
‘Hey look,’ said Rainbow Dash when she pointed at what she saw ‘We’re back at the Temple’s tree.’
After they climbed off, they were heading towards the Dwarves’ forge. When they arrived, Driskle was happy to see a lot of familiar faces. ‘Oh thank the heavens, we were worried.’
‘My brother was,’ said Brock when he pointed his flagon of mead as he was now on his lunch break ‘I knew you lot would get out of there eventually.’
Celestia looked at Caldor ‘Caldor, if I may ask, how long will it take Caldor to break out of there?’
‘I’d say about a week your highness.’ said Caldor when he began to assure them.
‘Then we’ll meet back here by Friday.’ said Invictus when he made the arrangements.
‘At Friday?’ said Luna when she was confused by that arrangement ‘Why Friday?’
‘My sons, as well as Sunset and the others, still needs to attend to school.’
They were actually surprised that Invictus had said something like that. ‘That is, not what I expected a guy like him to say.’ said Spike when he whispered to Twilight.
‘Well he’s right, I mean we’ve been gone for almost an entire Weekend.’ said human Twilight when she realized the date today.
‘Alright then, it’s agreed,’ said Yen Sid when he agreed ‘We’ll meet back here on Friday.’
‘Agreed.’ said all of them together.
And as such, all of them went their separate ways. The EG Mane 7, as well as Yen Sid, Atreus, Duke, Barry, Lyon, Bucky and Don, went back to Canterlot City at Canterlot High to continue their education, whilst the Mane 7, along with Merlin, Knight, Chivalry, Copper, Bashful, Applebuck and Thunder, went back to Equestria. The Princesses went back to Canterlot with Caldor as they have much catching up to do, whilst Invictus stayed behind with the Dwarves, hoping to upgrade his weapons to ensure that when Eros shows his face again, they’ll be ready.
For the past week, everypony and everybody had gone about their business until the coming weekend had arrived. Invictus had been busy, upgrading both his and his sons’ weapons to ensure that they would stand up in a battlefield. Celestia and Luna introduced the Canterlot Royal Court to Caldor, as he had much to teach them. Somnambula left her homeland to visit Flash Magnus, as they took their dates seriously, until the day came he proposed to her, which left her surprised, as well as speechless. Stygian chose to help Mage Meadowbrook out at her home, which she appreciated the company, as well as the two of them growing closer together through healing and helping others. Rockhoof was busy looking for his villagers, seeing that Merlin was very helpful into finding them when they last moved. Starswirl asked Mistmane to help him with his magic, until he accidentally casted a spell that restored her youth and beauty, which left the two of them surprised. At one of the largest mountaintops of Equestria, Thunder chose to train so that he could try to find himself. Until he heard a noise. For standing close by, was none other than Fizzlepop.
‘Oh,’ said Thunder when he saw it was her ‘Surprised to see you here.’
‘Just dropping by to see what you were doing?’ said Fizzlepop when she stood nearby without making a facial expression.
‘Training, same as usual.’ said Thunder as he took a barrel of water and poured it over himself, trying to wash off the sweat. But Fizzlepop on the other hand, blushed when she saw how wet he was as the water had been dripping down all over his body.
‘Do you uh,’ said Fizzlepop whilst she looked away and rubbed the back of her head, trying to think clearly ‘Do you need company?’
‘You sure?’ said Thunder after he wiped his face with his towel whilst he slowly tried to dry himself off ‘Folks aren’t usually comfortable if you have a horn that could destroy half a town.’
‘Join the club.’ said Fizzlepop when she also knows how he feels, given the fact that her horn was broken like that her whole life.
Thunder began to sit down near the edge as he was watching the sight of the countryside. ‘I…wouldn’t mind the company.’ said Thunder as he partially looked at her.
Sure enough, in a slow pace, she walked towards him and sat right next to him. The two of them watched the countryside whilst the sun began to set. ‘I always loved the sunset.’ said Thunder as he admired the view ‘Gives you a reason to look forward to something.’
‘I…mostly don’t understand looking at sunsets.’ said Fizzlepop, trying to make a good conversation.
‘Probably because you turned the Alicorns that could control them into stone?’
She blushed when she felt embarrassed, for it was a day that she wasn’t proud of. ‘I…was a different pony back then.’
‘And still trying to adjust. You’ve been angry your whole life.’
‘I…I wished I’d never run away. I wished…I never went into that stupid cave and lost my horn.’
‘If you didn't, your friend could’ve been killed.’
Fizzlepop remembered them too well ‘I…I should’ve been more considerate of the situation. I should’ve stayed. I…wished I’d never push them away.’
‘So does everypony who stood in the same spot you did. But through our actions, only we can decided what to do with the gifts that time itself has given to us.’
Fizzlepop looked at Thunder and was curious. ‘Who told you that?’
‘My mother.’ said Thunder as he looked at Fizzlepop ‘She truly was a wise woman. She taught most of us what we know. Without her I don’t know where I’d be.’
‘I never knew my mother.’ said Fizzlepop as she looked at the horizon ‘I’ve been gone for so long, I hardly remember what she looks like anymore. Like…I’m not meant to live with others. That I’m…all alone.’
Thunder slowly placed his hoof on top of hers, which caused them to look at one another. ‘You don’t have to be alone anymore.’ said Thunder as he looked at her.
They kept staring at one another as the sun began to set. The moment when it did, they slowly approached one another, and their eyes were so deeply entrenched, they locked their lips with one another as they had their eyes closed. Their hooves were caressing each other’s bodies, not caring about what one feels for the other.
As the stars began to shine, they spent the night in Thunder’s tent. The lantern shined as Fizzlepop was on top of him whilst she gasped as she lifted her head in the air. Their hooves caressed one another as their armour and clothing had been removed as they continued to embrace one another with their kiss, whilst Fizzlepop’s hooves were holding Thunder’s back, whilst Thunder’s hooves were holding Fizzlepop’s flank tightly. The two of them began to glow brightly as their auras became stronger, as well as the tip of their broken horns as they glowed even brighter. They bodies began to glow through the night as their tent had been alit.
But at Ponyville, romance was in the air. Fluttershy shared her cottage with Bashful, whilst the two of them were shy of making love, but eventually gave in to one another’s feelings. Pinkie on the other hand began to go overboard as she had pinned Copper against the wall whilst they kissed passionately as he held onto her flank and she holding his shoulder, then pinned at another part of the wall until they fell through Pinkie’s secret party planning cave as their love continued. Rarity was sitting on top of Chivalry as they made out on the drama couch (Rarity felt like what they’re about to do would be more drama than any other). Applejack invited Applebuck over had her barn, for whilst her grandmother and siblings were asleep, she ended up riding Applebuck all the way, even as he lifted her up with her flank. Rainbow Dash and Knight were at Rainbow’s place and they ended up being rough at one another with love as they were more in heat than any mammal on the planet. As For Twilight, she ended up inviting Merlin over to her room, causing the two of them to make out and do one another by following the book. Starlight decided to visit Sunburst, and from the looks of things, they were going to have a great night.
But back at Sunset and the others, love had been in the air for them too when they founded the time. Human Applejack also kissed Bucky as they slowly began to strip each other with vigor in both their spines. Lyon kissed human Fluttershy when they came over their fear. At human Rarity’s shop, she made out with Duke, but ended up being naked as well whilst they were deep in clothing to hide their nudeness. At the school, whilst it was closed and still opened for those who wanted to study, human Rainbow Dash passionately kissed Atreus as he lifted her up whilst she slowly removed her clothes, whilst at the Library’s private sections, human Twilight ended up jumping on Yin Sid when she had a feeling that she hadn’t felt before. However, back at Sunset’s place, she and Don had bonded over video games. But slowly, they ended up making out with one another, stripped each other and went straight to bed when they continued to make love with one another to the next level.
Invictus on the other hand, he chose to remain behind the rainbow bridge. He, with the help of the dwarves, chose to improve the weapons with powerful runes to improve their ability to fight. He sharpened arrows, swords and other various weapons to help them be better. He tested the bows with spells as each performed perfectly and admirably. He tested the shields for improvement, and each of them were stronger than ever. The swords were twice as sharp and twice as strong. He tested the strings on the bows, and all of them were well and sturdy. He tested the string on the lasso, and realized that it was sturdier than any weapon ever made. The bow staffs were extremely hardened and toughened so that they would be easier to use. The gauntlets were greatly enhanced and the axe was now twice as lethal. He tested his axe numerous times and it proved exceptional. He took his swords whilst they were aflame, making him spin, swung and slice it as he went great lengths to ensure that they would work properly. After he had tested his swords, he sat down and placed them behind his backs.
‘Uh, here you go.’ said Driskle as he gave Invictus some boar.
Whilst he ate some, Brock walked over and spoke to him. ‘Son, are you still sure you want to go through with this?’
Invictus swallowed his meat as he placed it down on his plate ‘The sooner we finish our journey, the better.’
‘No I mean that once it’s over you’ll…you know.’
Invictus sighed, and not in a sad way. ‘You know of my past. You know what I had done on my old homeland. There’s nothing left for me there. Once they pass their test, they’ll be ready to live on their own, and as for me…’
‘We know that,’ said Driskle when he overheard them ‘Isn’t this a bit rash. You can still find a way to live in peace among us.’
‘You know I can no longer live another minute with that torment.’
‘We know.’ said Brock whilst he stood up ‘But just know that if anything happens to you, we’d be happy to look after your boys too.’
‘Yeah we’ve uh…grown very fond of them. As well as the ponies of this world, and their counterparts.’
They heard a sound coming from the Rainbow Bridge, which inclined that Sunset and her friends have come back, with Don and the rest of his brothers with them. ‘Hmm,’ said Invictus when he looked at the bridge ‘Looks like they arrived'.
Within a while, Caldor was the first to arrive, but this time, carrying what appeared to be a staff. ‘Sorry it took so long. The Princesses sends their apologies. They’re busy sorting out matters back at Canterlot. They wish us luck on our journey.’ Twilight was the next to arrive. ‘Hello there,’ she waved whilst she slowly ascended whilst she began to land ‘Sorry we’re late, we got a little…hung up.’
Within a short while, the rest of the Mane Six arrived, with Knight, Chivalry, Merlin Bronzetail, Copper Plume, Bashful and Applebuck in tow. Starlight and Sunburst, along with the Pillars, arrived last. Sunset and her friends also arrived, along with Don and his brothers. ‘We’re ready to continue from where we left off.’ said Human Rainbow Dash when she got excited to continue their journey.
Invictus stood up as he handed his sons their weapons, along with the Dwarves’ help. ‘Are you ready to continue our journey?’
‘Sure are,’ said Merlin when he accepted his things ‘And whilst we were waiting for a week, Twilight and I were busy brainstorming.’
‘Right,’ said Twilight when she sat next to him ‘Whilst we were busy researching, we discovered that there happens to be another secret room somewhere.’
‘Another secret room?’ said Caldor when he overheard them.
‘Right,’ said Merlin ‘Seeing that we found Pelagius’ secret study, we discovered that there was another room above the rainbow tree, which is the rainbow roots, the source of the Rainbow Bridge’s power. We theorized that there happens to be another room that could hold the answer on how to get to the realm of the First Ones.’
Don looked at the temple with a cocked eyebrow ‘Then we’d better see where it might be buried.’
But before they went on, they heard rustling. To their relief, it had only been Thunder and Fizzlepop. But to their shock, they saw their horns were both fixed and restored. With Fizzlepop saying ‘What?’
‘You’re horns.’ said Copper Plume when he pointed at them.
Rarity created a mirror for them whilst placing it in front of them. Both Thunder and Fizzlepop were shocked to see their horns were restored back to the way they were. ‘My…my horn.’ said Fizzlepop when she was slowly shedding tears over what she could hardly believe.
Invictus nearly smiled when he was glad to see Thunder’s horn had been restored, but chose to stay quiet about it. ‘Come,’ he said when he looked at them ‘We must continue with our journey.’
As he walked ahead, the others followed him. But as they walked past the dwarves, Rarity was still bugged about Brock’s skin being blue. ‘Excuse me, Merlin,’ said Rarity when she wondered if Merlin might know ‘Why is that fellow there’s skin blue?
‘See, it’s like this,’ said Merlin when he explained ‘Whenever there’s a weapon to forge, every Dwarf uses tools and protection so that their skin wouldn’t be burnt when they use their metalwork. Brock on the other hand has a special talent. Whenever he feels the metal, he can feel their energy surging, meaning if he were to hear that, then it would imply that the weapon is near perfection. Unfortunately he ended up doing that so many times, his skin was affected, causing it to turn blue. And also unfortunate, it lasts forever on him.’
‘Just,’ said Chivalry when he decided to point things out ‘Don’t mention that in front of him. He’s rather sensitive on that subject.’
As they entered the room, they stood a few feet away from the Rainbow Bridge’s control pedestal. ‘Alright,’ said Invictus when he looked at both Twilight and Merlin ‘Where to next?’
Both Twilight and Merlin looked at the map that they were able to get thanks to Caldor’s knowledge of it.
‘Well, according to the map.’ said Merlin when he first looked at it.’
‘We’ll need to find a control module of some sorts to access the roots to the top floor,’ said Twilight next. ‘Now, if I were a control module, where would I be?’
‘Maybe this funny looking button in the middle of the floor?’ said the two Pinkie Pies as they ended up pressing it together, causing the floor to shake.
‘Pinkie Pie!!’ said Applejack and her human counterpart whilst they tried to remain on their feet.
The floor began to sink, but revealed a circular formation that they were standing on. ‘Ah,’ said Caldor when he looked at it ‘So this is where the secret compartment is. My brother told me of this place, but he never shared any of that information with me.’
They continued to ascent to the bottom, and eventually arrived below the doorway of the Rainbow Bridge. To their surprise, they saw two giant statues, which appeared they were struggling to pull something.
‘Whoa, what are they?’ said Rockhoof when he was stunned by what they look like.
‘That would be Salazar and Malabar,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘They used to be gatekeepers of the Rainbow Bridge, but when the gods battled the humans, they stayed here to protect it. Unfortunately they gave their lives to protect this place.’
Mistmane and Somnambula noticed that the statues were holding chains. ‘Oh, I do believe that they appear to be holding something down.’ said Mistmane when she pointed at the first chain.
‘As well as another.’ said Somnambula when she looked at the chains on the right.
Rainbow Dash and Knight flew in opposite directions when they followed the chains. They came back to tell what they’ve found. ‘From the looks of it, those chains are tied a floor below us.’ said Knight when he told them.
‘Shouldn’t be a problem,’ said Rainbow Dash with her cocky smile ‘We’ll just need the strongest to go down there and break them.’
Twilight began to think, then gave an idea as she told them. ‘Alright, here’s what we’ll do. Applebuck, Applejack and Rockhoof, you guys go to the left side chain and try to smash it to release it. Bucky and CHS Applejack will do the same to the right.’
‘I’ll accompany them,’ said Invictus ‘The sooner we finish the mission, the better.’
Rainbow Dash, Knight and Flash Magnus carried Applejack, Applebuck and Rockhoof down to the chain to the left, with CHS Rainbow Dash and Atreus doing the same thing when they used their flying abilities. Both sides stood in position. ‘One,’ said Invictus when he counted down ‘Two, three!!!’. At the same time, they smashed the objects holding the chains, causing them to be released whilst the chains from above fell out of the statues’ hands. After all of them got back, they realized nothing happened. ‘So now what?’ said Pinkie Pie when she was curious.
‘That’s a good question.’ said Copper Plume when he thought about their next move.
Human Pinkie had an idea when she took a good look at the temple, and whispered to Invictus of what he should be doing. He wondered what she meant, but decided to give it a try. He walked over to the side of the temple and started to bend his knees and grabbed hold of a part of the temple below. The others noticed what he was doing. ‘Uh, Invictus?’ said human Twilight when she looked at him ‘What are you doing?’
And to their shock, he began to lift the side of the temple as if it were nothing. He lifted it over his head and began to push. He focused all his strength whilst he concentrated. And with great force, he pushed the temple so hard, it began to flip, allowing the temple to be upside down. ‘Okay, what the heck?’ said Twilight when she wondered.
‘It’s obvious silly,’ said human Pinkie Pie when she told them ‘If what they’re looking for is above the Rainbow Bridge, why not walk on it upside down.’
Caldor didn’t know how to respond to that, except by being impressed ‘You know what lass, I’m beginning to like you even more.’
With the help of the flyers, they were able to take them up towards the door that was no upside down. As they climbed in, they discovered that the tree was now upside down, with some of them laughing, thinking that it was funny.
‘Well,’ said Atreus when he looked at the upside down tree ‘I heard of toppy survey, but this is ridiculous.’
‘Don’t sweat it,’ said human Rainbow Dash with a smile ‘I’ll protect you.’
‘No you won’t.’ said Atreus with a smile.
‘Huh, why not?’ said human Rainbow Dash out of curiosity.
‘Because of this.’ said Atreus whilst he instantly wrapped his arm around her and kissed her by the cheek.
‘Alright charmer, that’ll do.’ said human Rainbow Dash with a nervous smile when she blushed at the same time. Rarity noticed something when she looked around her, and to her surprise, they were crystals, but in different colors. ‘Excuse me, Caldor, what are those crystals?’
‘Ah,’ said Caldor when he was glad Rarity asked him about that ‘See, whilst the tree itself creates enough energy to travel between realms, the crystal on top allows them to draw most of the Rainbow energy and help them open a portal to any of the thirteen realms.’
‘Wait,’ said Chivalry when he looked around ‘There’s a crystal missing there.’
‘Aye,’ said Caldor when he saw the missing crystal ‘That there missing crystal was supposed to help you go to Adularia, but since my brother destroyed the crystal, travel there would be impossible.’
All of them continued to look around, to see what they have missed. However, Invictus had spotted something, causing him to walk towards the center. From within the small ball of light, there was a type of stone, with a special ring wrapped around it. Some of them began to notice as they came together. ‘Oooh, what is it?’ said Pinkie Pie when she looked at it.
Human Twilight adjusted her glasses whilst she began to observe it too ‘Strange, I’ve never seen this before.’
‘Neither have I,’ said Starswirl when he looked at it ‘But the energy does seem familiar.’
‘Alright, what are all of you…’ said Caldor until he was cut off. When he saw what they were staring at, to his shock, he recognized it. He quickly walked over and grabbed the stone as he looked at it. ‘Great Cowman’s udders, that’s a Stone of Unity.’
‘You know of it?’ said Invictus when he looked at Caldor.
‘I didn’t think it existed.’
‘Wait, what kind of stone is this?’ said Sunburst when he was curious.
‘The Stone of Unity my good man,’ said Caldor to Sunburst when he told them ‘This stone’s powerful properties allows any wielder who posses this stone, to travel to any number of worlds they wish. With this stone…’
‘We can travel to Adularia.’ said Merlin when he realized what it all meant.
‘Exactly,’ said Caldor when he smiled ‘We can combine the stone’s power with the key of this place, which will allow us to travel to any world we wish.’
‘But darling, there’s a problem,’ said human Rarity when she reminded them of their dilemma ‘Even if this stone will work, there isn’t a gem to help unlock that portal.’
‘Uh, there might be another solution,’ said Caldor when he thought about something ‘I can absorb the power of that stone, which will allow me to open a portal to Adularia, but I will need both of my eyes in order for me to do that.’
‘Oh right, we almost forgot about your other eye.’ said Pinkie Pie when she looked at his missing eye.
‘So how do we uh,’ said Rarity when she partially felt queasy about asking about someone else’s remains ‘Find your other eye?’
‘Hmm,’ said Chivalry when he thought of something ‘I think we should ask Brock and Driskle.’
‘Oh yeah, I remember,’ said Duke when he remembered ‘Both of them use to be blacksmiths for the old gods. Maybe they’ll know something.’
‘Alright then, let’s hope they’ll have the answer.’ said Caldor as all of them left the Rainbow Bridge to speak to the two dwarves.
All of them walked out of the Rainbow Bridge room, whilst they headed towards the dwarves’ workshop, which was luckily near the door as they spotted them.
‘Well, well, look who finally showed up.’ said Brock when he saw them again ‘Left in such a big hurry and didn’t even bother to stop by and ask how they were doing.’
‘Sorry about that Mr. Brock.’ said Fluttershy when she apologized to him.
Fizzlepop decided to ask them more directly. ‘Excuse me, if I may ask. Did any of you two know what happened to Caldor’s other eye.’
‘Oh, se well…’ said Driskle, until he gagged a bit. But every now and then, he ended up gagging whenever he tried to talk ‘A while ago Apollo asked me to…<gag>…to make a…<gag>…box that we could put in the…<gag>…naturally I refused to make the box to put in the…<gag>’. He suddenly had enough ‘Excuse me.’
Suddenly, Driskle ran around the corner and threw up, which left them disgusted. ‘Well that was a waste of time.’ said Caldor when he saw that they made a mistake by asking him.
‘Now that, I can agree on.’ said Rainbow Dash when she finally agreed with Caldor on something.
‘You know,’ said Brock when he gained their attention ‘It was around the same time that Apollo once asked me to create a type of box to contain Caldor’s eye. And seeing that it wasn’t a weapon or anything, of which I am a master of making, I too saw fit to decline.’
‘A type of box?’ said Starswirl when he wondered what it was ‘What was its purpose?’
‘See its like this beardy, the box itself can contain even the most volatile energies, in which case the eye. Cause the last time someone ripped Caldor here’s eye out, he ended up getting blown to hell.’
‘So…where is this box?’ asked Sunset when she was curious.
‘Oh it’s in the head of Orion’s statue. Only problem was, the world serpent ate it a long time ago.’
‘Wait,’ said Merlin when he was surprised ‘Ate it? What do you mean ate it?’
‘See, long ago Orion was known as the hunter of the world serpents, that was until Galahad had to slay him for his reckless behavior. And seeing that the serpents hate Orion for what he did, they eat whatever statue of Orion that has ever been made. So my guess that leftover chunk you lot saw a while ago, that happens to be the spot where the statue used to be.’
At the same time, Driskle appeared and was relieved of his stomach being more cleared ‘Ah, there we go, much better.’ ‘So,’ said Bashful whilst he realized something ‘How do we get it from inside the snake?’
‘Inside…?’ said Driskle in partial shock, whilst he quickly ran around the corner and puked again.
‘Oh, brother.’ said Brock when he got tired of his brothers’ constant stomach churns.
‘Well from the sound of it,’ said Caldor when he looked at them ‘Looks like we’re gonna have to summon the serpent to see if he’ll agree to it.’
‘Very well,’ said Invictus whilst he decided to walk ahead ‘We’ll summon the serpent. If it gets us to Adularia, the better.’
‘Twilight,’ said Merlin when he looked at her ‘Go to Princess Celestia, tell her we’ve found another way to Adularia, but also warn her that Eros might still be out there.’
‘Got it.’ she replied.
However, before she left, Merlin held onto her hoof, surprising her in the process as she looked at him. He ended up using both his hooves to hold onto hers. ‘And please…be careful out there. I’ll see you soon.’
Twilight couldn’t help but smile, and slowly kissed him. ‘You too.’
As she left, one by one, they greeted one another to be careful.
‘Y’all be safe out there.’ said Applejack.
‘For you my bright apple, any day.’ said Applebuck which caused her to smile as she left.
‘You be…uh…’ said Fluttershy when she felt too shy to say anything.
‘You too.’ said Bashful when he felt the same.
‘Get back soon so that we could throw a party afterwards.’ said Pinkie Pie with a smile.
‘We’ll party like no other.’ said Copper Plume with a smile.
Chivalry kissed Rarity’s hoof with a smile ‘Safety and peace be with you milady.’
‘You too my gentle stallion.’ said Rarity with a smile as she left.
‘You know, just well…you know.’ said Rainbow Dash when she didn’t have the words to say it.
Knight ended up grabbing her and kissed her passionately. He looked at her with a smile as he said ‘You too hot stuff.’ whilst he flew away, which made her blush in the end.
‘You’ll be safe?’ said Sunset Shimmer to Don.
‘You know it.’ said Don before he left.
‘Go a few rounds of soccer with you next time?’ said human Rainbow Dash when she wanted him to go on a soccer date with her.
‘Try to keep up if you do.’ said Atreus as he held onto her.
‘Say, when this is over, would you and your sister like to go through a normal hike with me sometime. I would really like to know both you and her, and maybe your brother when he agrees to be calm and all.’ said Bucky when he asked her out. ‘Y’all can count on it.’ said human Applejack when she agreed.
‘Do you uh, wanna go study with me at my place sometime?’ said human Twilight when she got nervous.
‘You kidding of course I do,’ said Yen Sid when he agreed ‘I’ll gladly bring over some books too.’
‘Till we met milady.’ said Duke as he greeted her with a kiss, which made human Rarity blush.
‘Uh, see you.’ said Lyon when he greeted Fluttershy.
‘Yeah, um, you too.’ said human Fluttershy when she smiled nervously.
‘When you’re done, would you come to Sugarcube Corner with me?’ said human Pinkie nervously.
‘Oh you bet I will.’ said Barry when he agreed.
Thunder greeted Fizzlepop as their horns intertwined, causing to have a tingly feeling for one another. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.’ said Fizzlepop when they separated their horns from one another.
‘We will.’ said Thunder as he greeted her. ‘I’ll see you soon.’
‘You too.’ said Fizzlepop.
All of them left to call upon the World Serpent whilst the others went back to Canterlot to warn Celestia and Luna. Within mere moments, Caldor blew on the horn, with Invictus and his sons waiting patiently. The World Serpent appeared as it was close by them. ‘Alright, here we go.’ said Caldor as he cleared his throat to translate. ‘MAA NO DI AR, NOR ID DI A MO MIR!!’
The serpent replied as he said ‘DI CON DI AR NOR, SI DA MI MA DA DI AR SAR MAR NOR DI RA.’
Caldor looked at them as he said ‘He says we can go in, but unfortunately we have to be careful, he’s not too keen on anyone traveling inside his own innards.’
‘Good,’ said Merlin as he stood near him ‘Tell him that after we’re inside, he should get somewhere safe, for it isn’t safe for anyone out here.’
Caldor did just that, which caused the serpent to understand. They were able to get to a boat and rowed inside its mouth. Thanks to the Unicorns of the group, they were able to light their way as they rowed. Some covered their mouths when they couldn’t believe how horrible it all smelled. ‘Damn, this place is worst than Atreus’ sweat socks.’
‘Hey, they don’t stink that bad.’ said Atreus when he didn’t like someone talking about his laundry like that.
They continued to travel inside, until they were able to find a piece of Orion’s statue as Knight said ‘There it is!!’
‘Quick, retrieve it little ones,’ said Caldor when he pointed at the eye ‘The sooner we get that out of there the better.’
‘You don’t have to tell me twice.’ said Atreus whilst he and Knight quickly flew up to get it.
With careful precision, Atreus was able to smash the statue’s head open. When Knight peaked inside, he saw the box, allowing him to take it out of the statue and fly towards Caldor and presented to him ‘One eyeball, hold the box.’
Caldor opened the box and sees his missing eye. ‘Oh thank goodness,’ said Caldor whilst he was sticking it back inside ‘I thought I’d never get my other eye back again.’
‘Are we good to go?’ asked Don whilst trying to keep himself balanced.
‘We’re good,’ said Caldor whilst he was satisfied as he sat down ‘Now we can…’
When all of a sudden, things were shaking up pretty badly, causing their boat to be rocked. ‘Whoa, what the hell is happening?’ said Bucky as he tried to stay in the boat.
At the same time, back at Canterlot, the Mane 7 and EG Mane 7, along with Spike, the Pillars and Sunburst, were walking alongside Celestia and Luna whilst they told them of their alternate way of going to Adularia.
‘This is an amazing discovery Twilight,’ said Celestia smiling ‘I’m sure that we’ll be able to learn more about that world.’ ‘Indeed,’ said Luna when she felt curious too ‘I too wonder what awaits us…’
They heard a loud thunder rumble. ‘Whoa,’ said Rainbow Dash whilst she could feel the quake whilst she was flying ‘What the heck was…?’
They saw something covering the land in shadow. When they looked up, to their shock, they saw the World Serpent, howling in pain as its head was in the air. But it gained the attention of every creature around Equestria and beyond. But at the same time, whilst the snake collapsed, its teeth suddenly opened a portal to Canterlot High, which surprised the students there when they were hosting a get together, even the teachers, along with Principle Celestia and Vice Principle Luna.
Twilight and many others went over to see what was going on. ‘Oh my,’ said Fluttershy when she saw the serpent falling over earlier ‘Do you think the Serpent’s alright?’
‘Don’t know,’ said Applejack ‘But from the looks of it, that thing landed near that dead giant we saw earlier.
Twilight remembered the spell Invictus taught her, which allowed her to open a quick portal to where he was. But when they arrived, they saw a portal had been opened, with many of the students and teachers from Canterlot High coming through it. They were shocked to see one another, with Twilight nearly panicking when she said ‘Oh boy, this isn’t good.’
At the same time, right in front of the princesses, both Caldor and Invictus stood up, moaning over the pain. Celestia and Luna quickly hastened with all speed to pick him up, with the Pillars trying to help Invictus up. But at the same time, the Mane 7, EG Mane 7 and Fizzlepop ran over to help the rest of their sons as they tried to get up. ‘What happened back there?’ said Celestia when she was not only concerned with what happened, but also a fact that a portal to Canterlot High had just been opened.
They saw many of the students had just walked through, whilst to their shock, all of them saw one another. ‘Oh dear, this isn’t good.’ said Caldor when he saw.
‘Not good? It’s a disaster!!’ said Twilight when she nearly panicked.
However, Principle Celestia saw both Twilight and her human counterpart, causing her to run towards her, as did Principle Cadance, Shining Armour and Twilight’s old Crystal Prep friends. ‘Twilight,’ said Principle Celestia when she stopped near her ‘What’s going on, where are we?’
‘To put it simply,’ said Caldor as he gained her attention ‘You’re in another world, and that portal is the cause of it all.’
She was surprised by what he had said, until he saw Princess Celestia. She was shocked to see her, for she instantly recognized her. ‘Wait, I’m a pony here?’ she said, trying to reel things in ‘I’m a Princess?’
‘Um, yes you are.’ said Princess Celestia when she was surprised to meet her human counterpart.
‘Whoa,’ said Tree Hugger when he saw a giant ‘Is that a dead giant?’
They heard a bird cry, which some looked up, for it had been a giant eagle. When it landed, it transformed into Singe, which shocked some of them, until human Rainbow Dash stood next to them at said ‘Uh, yeah, long story short, the former Crystal Prep Principle happens to be a former immortal goddess from a different realm.’
‘What are you doing here?’ said Caldor when he finally stood up straight.
‘I felt a portal opened nearby, so I came to see what was going on.’
‘Is that right?’ said Thunder when he stood near her.
‘What are you…?’ said Singe when she wondered why he was going on like that.
‘You can cut the crap Singe,’ said Yen Sid angrily ‘We know Eros is your son.’
‘He’s right,’ said Merlin when he felt the same way, the mists of Tartarus really have a good habit of showing a past they’re not proud of.'
Singe didn’t say anything, for she figured that there would be no point in hiding things. But just before she could say anything, Don immediately pulled out his bow, whilst he said ‘Uh, guys.’
When they looked, they saw Eros, coming out of the water, which caused the rest to quickly surround him just in case things would go south. ‘I had a feeling that hurting the big snake would bring you lot out eventually,’ he said, walking with a sinister look, scaring some of the students, but the creatures were prepared for battle, as were the Young Six when they also came to see what happened ‘Do you have any idea, any idea, what you lot have costed me?’
‘You’re not getting anything from out of us Eros!!’ said Atreus whilst he held his spear and shield ready . ‘Yeah,’ said Bucky whilst he held his rope dart to the ready ‘Y’all will never get to Adularia.’
‘Yeah,’ said Applebuck whilst he stood his stance ‘You’ll resurrect them and what, you’ll wipe us out like you lot tried to do last time?’
‘Oh, I intend to do more than that.’ said Eros as he stood still, enraged and gripping his fists.
Out of nowhere, Singe took a few steps, having no idea how much she had missed him as she replied only ‘Eros.’
Eros looked slightly to his left, but was not surprised to see her. He only replied ‘Mother?’
‘I’m here Eros,’ said Singe when she didn’t want to lose him again ‘Please…don’t run away.’
Eros was quiet, but his anger towards her only intensified ‘Oh, I’m not going anywhere mother.’
‘I know you’re still angry. I know that you feel…?’
‘How I feel? How I…’ he replied, whilst chuckling a bit. He looked at her angrily and felt like he wanted to strangle her, but had other ideas. ‘I have spent the past one thousand years, dreaming, of this moment. I have rehearsed, everything, I wanted to say to you, every word, to make you understand, exactly what you stole from me.’. Twilight and the others could see he had so much anger towards his mother, with most of the Crystal Prep, including Principle Cadance, having no idea that not only was Singe a former god, but that she had a son. ‘But now,’ he continued whilst he slowly walked towards her ‘Now I realize, I don’t need you to understand anything, I don’t need you, at all.’
Invictus walked towards Eros, with Singe saying ‘No Invictus wait…’
But Invictus only pushed her out of the way and said it directly to him ‘This path you walk; Vengeance. You will find no peace. I know.’
Eros, slightly looked at Eros angrily, but replied ‘You. I’ll deal with later. But right now; family first.’
Invictus’ sons were standing all around him, with Knight saying ‘That’s not going to happen.’
Eros ended up sighing, for enough was now enough. ‘Oh, this again?’
And within a split second, Eros backhanded both Merlin and Yen Sid, causing them to crash against large rocks in different directions. Many were shocked to see that kind of power he had, which caused Invictus and the others to engage in battle. That was however, until Singe intervened when she used her powers to ensnare some of them. ‘You will not do this!!’ shouted Singe.
‘Oh, you just can’t help yourself can you?’ said Eros when he got mad. ‘But no matter, I’m not gonna go down without a fight either.’ He looked at Bucky, whilst he still tried to get loose ‘Starting with you.’. When all of a sudden, human Apple Bloom stood in the way, which shocked human Applejack by what she was doing. ‘Move aside little girl, don’t want things to get messy around here.’
‘No,’ said human Apple Bloom when she defended a boy that Applejack really likes, even her ‘Ah won’t let you hurt him.’
Eros then sighed, not wanting to hurt a child, but went for it anyway. ‘Fine then.’ he replied, causing him to charge towards her and punched her in the chest, shocking human Applejack and Bucky when he finally got loose. The two of them quickly grabbed Apple Bloom to make sure she was alright.
‘Apple Bloom no.’ said human Applejack whilst she shed a few tears ‘Y’all are bleeding.’
‘Breathe kid, breathe.’ said Bucky when he tried to help.
Apple Bloom was able to breathe a bit, for it appeared that she was miraculously stabilized. She responded with ‘Not my blood.’
They looked at Eros, and noticed that a broken Mistletoe arrow, from what Bucky had given her earlier to help hold her backpack, had pierced through his hand, but instead began to glow. ‘What’s this?’ he replied, causing the rest of his body to glow. But he was slowly shocked when it meant one thing ‘I…I can feel again.’
‘Nooooo!!!!’ shouted Singe when she knew what had happened.
So did Caldor, for when he looked at it, he realized something as he shouted ‘Of course!!! Mistletoe magic, that’s the answer!!’
‘Mistletoe Magic?’ responded Celestia and Luna when they looked at Caldor.
‘Don’t you see, Mistletoe Magic contain so much raw and unimaginable power, they end up dispelling and break any spell that had ever been made, including the ones that can break and destroy immortality and invulnerability, even their godhood.’
‘Wait,’ said Thunder when he realized what it meant ‘So that means he can be killed?’
‘Like a helpless wounded animal in the woods.’
Atreus then got ready with a smile, as he said ‘Oh, it’s on now.’ whilst the rest of his siblings were ready to fight.
‘No!!’ shouted Singe as she got angry ‘I won’t let you do this.’
And to her shock, she reanimated the dead frost giant to live, making it move and shocking every creature when they saw the monstrosity. The dead giant then grabbed Invictus and his sons, causing them to be carried off, as well as Eros when his mother suddenly vanished where she could be controlling the monster. But thankfully, Invictus and his sons were able to free themselves, causing them to land at least ten feet away. But as for Twilight and her friends and allies, all of them watched as they began to fight.
Invictus attacked with his axe first, making a few swings whilst Eros kept dodging it, then punched him away, with his fists, until Knight flew in at great speed and punched Eros in the face, with Applebuck coming from under and bucked him in the air, whilst Barry, with the help of both Atreus and Yin Sid, boosted him up as he whacked him aside with the mace. Copper grabbed him and tossed him aide, whilst Thunder, Merlin and Chivalry using all the power from their horns to shoot him as the blast knocked him backwards. Bashful ended up tripping Eros, whilst Lyon whacked Eros with a hammer, with Bucky using his axe. Duke attacked from behind with his sword, but was slapped aside, then charged towards both Atreus and Yin Sid, but blocked him with their shields, then used their spear and sword to push Eros backwards, until Don energized the bow and arrow with all his magic, aimed at Eros, and shot it with full force, causing it to explode on impact. Eros then came out of it, but he was surely limping, knowing that he can now feel pain.
‘Enough of this!!’ shouted Singe as she used the giant’s hand to smash the ground using the large chisel.
But as she raised the chisel, Eros shouted ‘Mother!!’, causing him to grab onto the chisel to take a lift.
Having no other choice, they quickly chose to chase after him, with Knight, Chivalry and Merlin quickly flying up trying to catch up with Eros, whilst Yen Sid used teleporting magic to teleport them all towards Eros’ location. Once they landed, Eros attacked Invictus head on, and ended up pinning him on the ground. The moment Invictus was on the ground, he was able to block most of Eros’ attacks, until Copper Plume ended up surprising him with a bomb, causing him to be knocked back, with Bucky delivering a powerful uppercut. Invictus was able to punch Eros off of the giant’s arm, which caused Don to jump after him and shot a couple of arrows, whilst Knight used a Sonic Rainboom to punch Eros hard onto the ground. Eros then got up, only for Invictus and his sons to surround him. However, Eros used a shockwave to knock them back, and ended up grabbing Invictus by the throat and pinned him against the wall. The Mane 7 and all of their friends and leaders of other creatures arrived and saw how Eros had Invictus pinned against the wall.
‘I should really thank you for what you did,’ said Eros when he was happy in his own twisted way ‘You did what no one else could do in the past. Cause thanks to you, I’ve never felt more alive. It’s kind of ironic now that you think about it.’
Invictus ended up getting angry as his eyes had flared up, Invictus began to growl whilst red electricity began to surge through him as if he was a living conductoid. He then gripped his hands, and yelled in the air with rage as his shoulder, his elbows, wrists and hands were set aflame whilst his body was partially red, shocking every creature when they first witnessed it. He kicked Eros aside, plunged his hands onto the ground, lifted a large rock and threw it against him. Invictus then charged and mercilessly punched Eros over and over and over again and again and again, he eventually grabbed Eros and slammed him around as if he were a pillow. Whilst Eros was slowly standing up, Invictus pulled out his swords, whilst he focused his flames through the swords, causing him to swing them around using their chains, until it almost looked like he made a shield for them, until he combined it and with one great swing, he swung the swords at Eros, allowing him to be shot straight to the sky, with Knight, Merlin, Atreus and Yen Sid to attack from atop a mountain as they were able to knock him aside and onto the mountain.
As Eros stood up again, Invictus and his sons attacked all at one. Atreus swung his shield to the left, Yen Sid swung his shield to the right, Don whacked him with his bow, Chivalry bucked to the left, Applebuck bucked him to the right, Bashful flew and punched him from the left, Lyon struck from behind with his hammer, Thunder bucked him in the face as he jumped over, Invictus punched from the right, Knight punched him from the left, Copper punched him in the gut, Barry struck below Eros’ face with his mace, Bucky kicked him in the face, Duke struck from the back, and Merlin shot him at full power with his magic.
Invictus grabbed Eros and slammed him onto the ground, had him pinned down, and ended up beating him up savagely none stop. Eros’ face began to show much damage, until Singe summoned the frost giant and breathed heavily upon them, causing them to try to block its freezing attack. The Mane 7 and their counterparts didn’t know what to do. That was, until both Fluttershy and her human counterpart ended up having the same idea, and ended up shouting ‘OOG NIRAAG BAROOM!!!!’
At the same time, to their shock, the Serpent was much fine condition, and ended up attacking from the side, biting the head of the giant, which made them all jump from the top of the mountain. As they landed, Singe ended up falling down the hill when she finally appeared, whilst at the same time, the Serpent began to eat the entire giant’s body until there was nothing left.
As some noticed that the snow were melting, Invictus grabbed Eros and pinned him on the ground, all whilst strangling him. Eros was pinned and couldn’t be freed, and instead he wanted Invictus to end his life when he said ‘Come on, do it, do it.’
‘Stop, please.’ said Singe whilst she tried to stand up.
Thunder walked over to Invictus as he said ‘Father, it’s over. He’s beaten.’
Every creature and human had gathered near them, whilst they saw Invictus strangling Eros. He pulled Eros close to him and said to him in rage ‘You will not follow us again, you will not have what you want, and you will not hurt her again.’
‘I don’t need your protection.’ said Singe when she tried to stand up.
Invictus released his grasp on Eros, and slowly walked away, with his sons taking a few steps back, whilst keeping an eye on him. Eros slowly stood up to face his mother whilst he said ‘You just can’t help yourself, can you mother? No matter what you do, no matter what I say, you’ll never stop, interfering with my life.’
‘I was just trying to protect you. I was…’ she replied, but stopped, for she now realized the error of her ways as the others watched ‘I’ve made mistakes, I know. But you’re free now. You have what you wanted. Try to find forgiveness in your heart. So that we could build something new.
‘No, I won’t…’ said Eros to Singe, which surprised Twilight and the others, for like Gralo, there was no inch of forgiveness within him, for his thoughts have only been clouded by vengeance ‘Because I will never forgive you. You, still need to pay, for the lifetime that you stole from me.’
‘I have paid,’ replied Singe when she tried to remind him of her already paying the price for a few mistakes she made with him and the other gods a long time ago ‘I have paid. But if seeing me dead will make you whole. If it’ll mean for you to set things right. I will not stand in your way.’
Eros took a few steps forward, and finally stood close to his mother, whilst slowly reaching out to her ‘I know.’ and at that moment, he grabbed her throat as he strangled her, which shocked the others by what he was doing. ‘No,’ said human Twilight ‘Let her go!!’
Singe ended up standing on her knees, whilst she wept tears for her son, whom she had lost long ago, saying ‘I love you…’ before her life had come to an end.
However, right before her life was finished, and right before Twilight and the others could do anything, Eros was suddenly interrupted whilst he was grabbed from behind and was held in a sleeper hold with all of its strength. To many of their surprise, they saw Invictus, holding Eros tightly, not making a move as every creature began to watch, even their counterparts. ‘Why?!’ said Eros as his voice was strained, trying to get himself loose from Invictus’ grasp ‘Why do you even care?! You, you could’ve, walked away!!’
‘The cycle ends here,’ said Invictus to Eros as he whispered it in his ear, whilst the last god of Equestria slowly widened his eyes in shock, knowing that what he had intended to do, had caused him his demise ‘We must be better than this.’
And within an instant, Invictus grabbed Eros’ head, and snapped his neck as he grunted, shocking every creature who witnessed Eros’ demise. Eros fell sideways onto the ground whilst he slowly gasped for air, trying to breathe, until a speck of snow fell on his cheek, surprising him when he could feel snow for the first time, whilst he said ‘Snow.’, his life was ended in an instant, no longer breathing, no longer talking, just now a lifeless shell, whom had now been slain. The fallen Singe, who saw what happened, ended up crawling over to Eros quickly and tried to see if he was okay as he held onto his body ‘No, no, no, no, no, my boy. My dear sweet boy.’
But the fallen god no longer breathed, he no longer spoke, for his life had come to an end whilst her head leaned over his body. Invictus walked up and said to her ‘Singe. He chose this path.’
‘I will rain, every unimaginable agony upon you,’ said Singe as she slowly got angry and looked at him in rage ‘I will parade your cold dead body, on every corner, of every realm, and feed your soul to the vilest filth of death, that is my promise!!!’ ‘He just saved your life.’ said Flash Magnus to a grieving Singe
‘He robbed me of everything!!’ she shouted back, whilst slowly lowering her head as she held onto the side of her dead son’s face ‘Everything.’.
Sunset and the others couldn’t help but pity her, for even though she used Twilight and was cruel, she had just lost her son. Singe ended up looking at Invictus in tears ‘You’re just an animal. Passing on your cruelty and rage, you will never change.’
Invictus ended up looking sideways, not looking at her at all ‘Then you do not know me.’
‘I know enough,’ she replied, whilst looking at Twilight and the others, knowing that they haven’t been told the truth ‘Do they?’
Invictus realized that she was right, for he had kept them in the dark for too long. He only took one deep sigh, and confessed to them the truth. ‘Girls,’ he replied as he gained their attention ‘Listen close'.
Invictus took a moment to prepare himself. After taking a deep breath to calm down, he revealed what he should've told them all along. ' I am from a land called Phalanxia. I made a deal with a god that costed me my soul. I killed many who were deserving.’ said Invictus with gripped fists, but loosened them when he remembered those whom he hurt ‘And many who were not.’. He slowly turned around and faced the Mane 7. He finally confessed to them with a straight face as he said ‘I killed my father.’, which shocked Twilight and the others, with Twilight taking a few steps back out of fright, knowing what Invictus had done in his past.
‘That was your father in Tartarus.’ said Duke when they remembered what happened, which made Celestia and the others realize that the man Invictus had beaten up before was his father.
‘Is this why you didn’t want us to be gods?’ said Don when he had a hard time grasping the truth ‘Is this how it always ends? Sons killing their mothers…their fathers?’
‘No,’ said Invictus as he assured them of the truth ‘We will be who we will choose to be, not like those who have been or came before us. Who I was, is not who you will become or be. We must be better.’
At the same time, Singe walked by, carrying her now dead son. She looked at them for a few moments, not saying a word. For she cannot do anything, for her powers except her strength are gone. At the same time, she walked away as every creature and human began to watch. Caldor stood next to Invictus as he watched her leave ‘Well. I guess we’re all the bad guys now.’
‘In her eyes yes,’ said Invictus when he agreed ‘But she could never make that choice.’. He looked at his sons and slowly stood up. ‘We must go, while I still have strength.’
However, the other creatures were weary because of what Invictus had done and revealed, with the ponies shocked by what Invictus was. ‘Why in tarnation would y’all…?’ replied Applejack when she had a hard time grasping for what Invictus had done.
Invictus looked at Stygian and signaled him to tell them. He noticed and looked at the others, telling them the truth ‘His father is Zion.’
Some were surprised to hear that name, especially the Young Six, whilst Silverstream were shocked to realize something ‘But if Zion is his father. Then that means you’re…you’re…’
Invictus was able to finish her sentence, admitting his identity ‘I am the Spectre of Phalanxia.’
Every creature was shocked to meet the slayer of gods that everyone had heard of, including the Mane 7 and their human counterparts.
Shortly after the shocking revelation, everyone had went back to the Rainbow Bridge when they wanted answers. Near the bridge of the Rainbow Bridge, after Caldor had handed them an artifact that would help them travel to Adularia, thanks to his eyes, Invictus stood near them whilst he stood on his one knee, trying to look stern. ‘All of you have done well on your journey,’ said Invictus when he looked at them with pride ‘Once this is over, all of you will know what to do with your lives.’
His sons were nearly teary eyed, leaving some of the creatures wondering what they were talking about. ‘I just wish…there had been another way.’ said Merlin, trying to swallow his tears.
‘You know my decision,’ said Invictus ‘Let your hearts continue to be your guide.’
He handed them over the large bag containing their mother’s ashes, with Merlin accepting it. In a split second, all of them hugged their father tightly, with them shedding a few tears, leaving some to worry. ‘Come on,’ said Thunder when he guided them ‘We’ve got a long day ahead of us.’
Invictus watched them leave as they were heading to the Rainbow Bridge. He sighed and partially looked at them ‘I suppose all of you want an explanation?’
‘Heck yeah we do.’ said Rainbow Dash when she couldn’t believe that he is the one from their stories ‘The Spectre of Phalanxia, the slayer of gods.’
‘Before I answer you, answer me this.’ said Invictus as he turned around and looked at them ‘How do all of you know me?’
‘Who doesn’t know you?’ said Prince Rutherford when he first answered ‘Many have heard stories of you.’
‘Your feats are legendary,’ said Ember when she confirmed it ‘Even among the Dragon Lands.’
‘All of them have heard of him because I told the stories about you’ said Starswirl when he took a step forward, ‘Whereas I learnt it from Scorpan.’
‘Scorpan the Wandering Knowledge Seeker?’ said Invictus when he looked away when he thought about him.
‘Wait,’ said Twilight when she was surprised he knew about Scorpan ‘How do you know Scorpan?’
Invictus answered ‘Because I tried to kill him,’, whilst within that split second, he thought back of the time he cornered Scorpan on the ground many years ago, begging for mercy, with Invictus looking at him with rage and holding a spear, but he now focused on the present instead of the past ‘But I spared him that day.’
They were surprised that he knew Scorpan, but were shocked when he told them that he wanted to kill him in the past.
Fluttershy was the first one to ask by saying ‘What happened to you?’
Invictus sighed, knowing that the time had come for him to reveal his full past to them. ‘It’s a long story.’ he replied.
‘Well clearly we have time.’ said Luna when she was just as anxious and curious about how much they wanted to know. Invictus walked over and stared at the lake, collected his thoughts. After that, he told them the truth. ‘To tell of you of how it all happened, is to tell you of how I came to this path.’ he said, whilst he looked up and thought of his past ‘It was long ago…so long ago now.’
He took a large piece of wood and drew what appeared to be a land, and from each part of it he poked, showed cities all around, whilst they watched and he explained ‘I once came from a land, much like Equestria’s, but much larger. From each kingdom, were warriors who thrived unlike any had ever seen before. Many of us had prayed for many gods. There were those of wisdom, of the ocean, of the skies, of nature, of fire, of the sun, of the moon, and so on. Many kingdoms had prayed and worship each god all around them.’
‘Which one did you pray?’ said Sunburst when he was curious about what Invictus had tried to teach them.
‘War,’ he replied, which they were surprised by what he said ‘But I wasn’t given a choice. I was stolen from my home when I was only an infant.’
The last part shocked them the most. ‘Stolen?’ said Fluttershy when she was surprised that someone would be taken from their family on that age.
He took out a stone as he was about to show them. ‘It would be better if I showed you.’
He placed the stone onto the ground, allowing it to create a simulated past, where he showed them what happened. They saw a kingdom that were busy training warriors, muscular soldiers that looked scary whilst he explained. ‘I was taken to be trained as a soldier. I was taken to the city of Phalanxia, to be trained as a Phalanx. The Phalanx were all great warriors, all of them fighting those who would wish harm on their kingdom. Discipline, Balance, Battle, Death, the four rules we were forced to obey, for life was grim, and we greeted it grimly. War, had always been our way.’
They saw Invictus as a teenager, struggling to stand up, until the ones around him ended up giving him a beating, which surprised them. ‘Why are they doing this?’ said Thorax when he saw all that transpired.
‘In battle like this,’ said Invictus when he started ‘We are trained to fight stronger enemies around us, giving our all, and harden ourselves in battle.’
‘To train for what?’ said Luna when she looked at them fighting.
‘You’re resolve.’
And in that instant, they saw young Invictus enraged, grabbed a piece of sand and a rock, tossed the sand against one’s face, and struck another by the head. He grabbed the third one and snapped his neck, whilst he punched the lights out of the fourth, until he grabbed a rock and smashed his head with it. They saw young Invictus enraged with blood on his face, shocking them of what they had seen.
‘They hardened me into a killing machine.’ he said afterwards ‘But the real test would soon come.’
They saw him, a thirteen year old boy, out in the icy wilderness, carrying his spear and wearing what appeared to be a tunic. The snow fell as the wind blew, whilst they all saw him walking down the path. ‘After that,’ said Invictus as he began ‘They sent me out into the wilderness to prove my worth. Every warrior who was tested before me failed, but they would find that I would not go down without a fight so easy.’
They saw him slowing his paces, treading carefully whilst holding his wooden spear. But from right behind him, was a mighty wolf, whose eyes were as yellow as a diamond, its teeth were as sharp as a saw, and its fur was as black as coal.
They saw how terrifying the wolf was, whilst young Invictus quickly turned around, standing prepared to fight. ‘During my trial, a great wolf hunted me through the wilderness. I thought I was done for, but I simply followed my instincts and knew there was a small opening from the back.’
Young Invictus slowly moved backwards when he noticed the small opening from within the mountain. And with another step, the wolf attacked. Young Invictus ran towards the opening and jumped through it, but not before he had wounded the wolf by the beak, whilst it ended up being stuck in between. They saw him stand up, holding his spear again, walking towards the terrifying wolf. Holding it tightly, and with great thrust, he jabbed the spear through the wolf’s face. ‘I had passed my test that day when I had slain the mighty wolf that killed many of our young before.’
‘And after that?’ said Ember when she was curious.
They then saw that the moment Young Invictus had returned with the wolf’s pelt covering his body as a trophy. And before they realized anything, the Phalanxians bowed to Young Invictus as their heads were lowered and a sword of Phalanxia had been given to him. ‘It turned out the wolf was of a greater test. That if any warrior were to have slain the mighty wolf, they would be granted the title of king.’
They looked at him surprised again. ‘Whoa,’ said Smolder when she was surprised ‘So you became King?’
‘Yes,’ said Invictus when he thought about the past whilst it continued to show them ‘Afterwards, I found my family and brought them back to my new kingdom. I ruled with honor and just, but I also made sure that the Phalanxians were warriors not to be crossed with. But fifteen years later, our peace would not last long.’
‘Why, what happened?’ said Starlight when she got curious.
Invictus showed them that at least a thousand yards away, were a shore, and upon the shore, were hundreds of boats approaching, carrying warriors with armour that they have never seen before (For those that don’t know, they almost resemble to the Mongols’ armour). Their warriors began to unload supplies and other materials to wage war. ‘Upon my kingdom’s shores, a Barbarian army, led by a Barbarian King, who grew annoyed of our country’s sense of freedom, had sent a large army to bring all of us to heel.’
However, they heard a noise up on the hill, and from atop, was young Invictus, attacking with what only appears to be a hundred soldiers, carrying swords, shields, spears, axes, hammers and maces. ‘I heard they were coming to invade the kingdoms, so I gathered a hundred of the most elite Phalanxians my kingdom has ever known.’. They saw Invictus attacking, leaving the Barbarian army surprised when they were unprepared, causing them to try to launch a counter attack. ‘When we engaged in combat, I showed them the true meaning of Phalanxian shock combat.’
They saw Young Invictus and his Phalanxian forces plough through them. One Phalanxian tackled a Barbarian over, then stabbed him onto the ground, the other tackling them over, with another bashing their shields against the Barbarians’ heads. Another striking them down with their axe, then another using his hammer. They saw how fluent young Invictus were with his sword and shield. He blocked one, then stabbed another, he dodged and cut them from their backs, he jabbed another, lifted it up, and smashed it onto the ground. They continued to press on the attack, showing them that they no longer fear the likes of them. They saw Invictus engaged in combat, until he stopped and saw the Barbarian King from afar, with his estranged son standing right beside him.
‘The Barbarian King wanted to take everything from us,’ said Invictus when they saw his younger self staring at the enemy king, slowly approaching from the ocean using his ship. ‘Like hell I was going to let that happen. So I did what I had to do.’
Young Invictus saw a bow and an arrow on the ground, giving him the perfect opportunity to strike back. He picked it up, and felt the wind blowing towards the king’s direction. He placed the bow next to his arrow and pulled it whilst attached to the bow’s string. He pulled the string until it could no longer be pulled. He aimed it at the king, and when he saw the mark, he released the arrow, allowing him to shoot.
The arrow flew straight and true thanks to the wind. And with great accuracy, the arrow struck through the heart of the Barbarian King, killing him in an instant, making his son hold his dead father in his arms. The two looked at one another, with rage in the son’s eyes, but to the eyes of Young Invictus, showing no fear, showing them that no enemy will force Phalanxia to submit no matter who would be threatening them.
‘I know what you are thinking,’ said Invictus ‘How could I have done such a thing. As king, it is my responsibility to ensure that our people would be protected. I did what I felt was right. For the needs of my people came first, and they wanted protection from threats like this.’
‘It’s alright,’ said Dragon Lord Ember when she could relate ‘It’s a feeling…we all know too well.’ ‘So,’ said Thorax when she was just as curious ‘What happened afterwards.’
‘After we drove off the Barbarian army, the prince became the new king and he swore vengeance to avenge his father. He was able to convince the other Barbarian tribes to join him to wage war against not just Phalanxia, but the rest of the neighboring kingdoms as well. As many of the other kingdoms prepared for war, I went to gather my armies as well, but the cowardly council had other ideas.’
From within the government building, they saw Young Invictus arguing with the Phalanxian government because of a woman that was claimed to be their prophet. They saw him arguing when he said ‘All this talk about the Delphi, the Delphi, I do not care what she says!!’
‘Enough!!’ shouted one of the councilman ‘Time and again you try our patience. Phalanxia will not go to war. The Delphi has spoken.’
‘The Delphi says, what you want her to say.’ said Young Invictus to the lead councilman ‘When you know very well, the price of what would happen, if we asked the gods for help.’
‘Price?’ said Starlight Glimmer when she looked at Invictus.
‘It was forbidden by ancient law to call upon the gods for aid.’ said Invictus when he explained the country’s customs ‘If we were to gain the aids of the gods, it would gain a terrible price.’
‘Like,’ said Spike when he realized something when he remembered what he told them ‘Your soul?’
‘Yes.’ he replied, not wanting to think about the hardships of the past.
‘Oh mighty Invictus,’ said the councilman when he tried to talk him down ‘The age of heroes have already passed. Your actions have nearly written our doom, so what will happen, if we open you up so that your blood might spill on the ground, before it disappears through the cracks.’
Young Invictus pulled out his spear whilst he pointed it at the council ‘You’re more than willing to find out.’
Suddenly, the Delphi came to Young Invictus and stroked at his spear. ‘Do not fight Invictus, the Barbarian Prince will bring eternal peace. Through him we can…’
And just like that, Young Invictus grabbed the Delphi and stabbed her with his spear, surprising and shocking most of those who witnessed it. The Delphi collapsed on the ground, now dead and lifeless. ‘What have you…’ said the councilman when he was horrified to see what he had done ‘Do you have any idea what you have just done?! You’ve doomed us all!!’ ‘My brother then came and showed them.’ said Invictus when they saw his brother walking in, which they were surprised to see that he had a brother.
‘Was that before or after you were bribed with their gold?’ said Young Invictus’ brother when he tossed the gold at their feet, which shocked the council when they were discovered ‘Arrest them.’
At the same time, the guards arrested the council, with Young Invictus talking to them one last time ‘As long as I am king, Phalanxia will not answer to you or anyone else.’
Twilight and the others were surprised to see how he commanded respect, which she never realized that was possible. ‘Wow.’ said Spike when he was surprised.
Young Invictus then stormed out in anger, with his trusted Lieutenant at his side as he said ‘Gather the men.’
‘My king?’ said the Lieutenant when he was curious of what Young Invictus had planned.
‘If the Barbarian bastard thinks he can have our kingdom, he’ll have to go through me.’
The crystal then showed them both Young Invictus and his brother, watching over the walls of Phalanxia, and sees a massive army, over ten thousand Barbarians, ready to the attack. ‘Have you ever thought about spending time with your son?’ said Young Invictus to his brother, but in a more gentler tone, which surprised them, when they had no idea he was so gentle, especially when he was talking about family.
‘More times than I can count,’ he replied ‘But we both knew that life as a Phalanx would come at a price. But maybe someday, we’ll make it right.’
‘I would’ve liked to spend some time with my family.’ said Young Invictus whilst looking out on the field.
Young Invictus’ brother placed his hand on his older brother’s shoulders ‘There will be time for that once the Barbarian threat is removed. Until then, your men need you down there.’
‘Very well,’ said Young Invictus whilst he placed his helmet on ‘Then you know the plan?’
‘Of course,’ said his brother ‘You hold back the ones trying to breach the gates, whilst I command the archers and catapults to dwindle their numbers.’
The two brothers looked at one another, then grabbed each other’s wrist as a way of showing brotherhood kinship, whilst they said at the same time ‘May the glory of Phalanxia guide us through our path.’, then went their separate ways to their assigned duties.
The Barbarian armies approached the city of Phalanxia. But as they stopped, they were only two miles, with the Colonel of the army shouting ‘Phalanxia!! Lay down your weapons!!!’
There was not a single respond, until Young Invictus’ brother armed himself with a massive crossbow weapon, and fired at the Colonel, allowing the arrow to strike him down, causing him to collapse on the ground. ‘Barbarian dogs!!’ shouted Young Invictus’ brother when he showed them ‘Come and get them!!!’
They saw Young Invictus walking among the Phalanx, whilst also trying to make way for their king. As the Barbarian army charged from a large distance, Young Invictus said to his fellow Phalanx ‘Phalanx!! Every breath you have taken, has brought you here. Every drop of blood, sweat and tear, has led you all to this moment. The Barbarians, came to make slaves of us all. I have a better idea. I say, we shall drown them all, in their own blood!!’. Twilight and the others were shocked by the last part of what he had said. ‘What say you my fellow Phalanx?!!’
‘Ah-Oh!!’ grunted the three hundred Phalanx when they shook their spear, which surprised Twilight and the others when they saw how much discipline the Phalanx were, even Dragon Lord Ember and the leaders of other creatures were impressed by their commitment.
‘For our sons!!’
‘Ah-Oh!!’
‘For our Daughters!!’
‘Ah-Oh!!’
‘For our families!!’
‘Ah-Oh!!’
‘For our comrades!!’
‘Ah-Oh!!’
‘For all of Phalanxia!!’
‘Ah-Oh!! Ah-Oh!! Ah-Oh!!’
Young Invictus turned around to face the endless army coming. The Barbarian army were at least five hundred yards away. At the same time, Young Invictus’ brother had signaled the catapults to fire, which they did, allowing either rock or explosive barrel, decimate portions of Barbarians attacking. But at the same time, Young Invictus’ brother signaled the archers to fire, which they did by releasing their arrows and killing most of the Barbarians coming. But those who survived kept attacking, whilst the Lieutenant shouted ‘Phalanx formation!!’, causing them to plant their feet when they made their stance, held their shields in front of them, and held their spears tightly, whilst they were ready to jab the Barbarians with their spears.
‘Give them nothing!!’ shouted Young Invictus when they saw the ever growing Barbarians were nearing them ‘But take form them, everything!!!’
They saw the Barbarian army clashing with them as the Phalanx engaged in combat. They ploughed their way through the Barbarian armies trying to do him in. As they saw the battle raged on, with the Phalanx meeting little resistance, but for Young Invictus, he continued to fight as if the enemy is nothing to him. He jabbed to his left, blocked to his right, then tossed his shield against another, then jabbed the one nearby, then grabbed the nearest one’s neck and snapped it, he jabbed another with his spear, grabbed another’s hand to block it, then used his sword to kill him. The battle continued to rage on, as he kept on fighting, which surprised the leaders when they saw how fierce he was in battle. After a long hard battle that lasted half a day, the remaining Barbarian forces were defeated and retreated. Young Invictus saw that it was far from over, whilst his brother rejoined him.
‘Invictus, what now?’ said his brother when he stood next to him.
‘Now Atreus,’ said Young Invictus, which surprised Twilight and the others when he realized that he named one of his sons after him ‘We go over that hill and finish them.’
‘But Invictus, we can still…’
‘As long as that Barbarian bastard and his allies still live, they’ll keep coming back at us until there’s nothing left. Plus the neighboring kingdoms will be in danger if we don’t try.’
Having no other choice, seeing that Young Invictus was right, he called out to a handful of guards ‘Gather the horses!!’, allowing the guards to run back. He looked at Young Invictus, saying ‘At least take a hundred of the elite guards with you. You’ll stand a much better chance when you do.’
‘Very well.’ said Young Invictus when he picked up his shield.
An hour later, his three hundred Phalanx, along with the elite guards, were now mounted on horses, which surprised Twilight and the others when they saw that the horses were still in their primitive states and not like them. Young Invictus mounted his horse and spoke to his brother before he rode to the center ‘Atreus, I’m leaving you in charge of this city and its defenses until I get back.’
‘Yes brother, I’ll wait for you here.’
‘Forward my brothers!!’ shouted Young Invictus as he led his three hundred Phalanx.
All of them rode towards the hill where they had been originating. When they got over the hill, they saw the Barbarian Prince and his elite guardsman waiting for them. They led the attack towards the Barbarian army. ‘We rode straight towards them, to finish them once and for all. But we never expected what happened next.’
‘What happened?’ asked dog Spike when he looked at Invictus.
They saw that the three hundred Phalanx fought against the Barbarian Elite guardsman, however, they saw many of the Phalanx being slaughtered. ‘Though we had discipline, the training, even the bravery and courage to overcome great enemies, we were no match against their brutality. Even I barely survived, with the Barbarian Prince having me cornered on the ground.’
They saw Young Invictus being cornered, as the Barbarian Prince was about to raise his axe. ‘But what happened?’ said Sunset when she was curious.
‘When I was pinned on the ground, and my life nearly an end, my thoughts kept racing about my family at Phalanxia. All I ever wanted was to protect them, to keep them safe. So for their sake, I did the one thing I never thought I would.’
‘What?’ said Celestia when she looked at Young Invictus.
Invictus sighed as he told them ‘I broke our ancient law.’
And in that split second, Young Invictus called out to the god of war by saying ‘Terra!! Destroy my enemies, and my life is yours!!’
All of them heard loud rumbling, which caused the Barbarian Prince to look up, even Twilight and the others when they looked. To their surprise, the skies began to lit up red, as did the clouds. And ascending from the heavens, a giant taller than a skyscraper, appeared, wearing sandals, a kilt that appeared to be roman made, titanium chest with three lions up front, metallic shoulders, wrist gauntlets and a red cape. It landed in the midst of the battlefield and looked at Young Invictus. But he had flaming red eyes, and orange hair and beard, with a look of rage on his face. Twilight and the others were shocked and scared when they saw what Terra looked like. ‘That would be Terra, the god of war from Mount Gaia. When humans are at war with one another, he feeds on their misery and rage, fueling him with power beyond imagine.’ As the Barbarian Prince was too distracted to look behind himself, Young Invictus bowed to the god of war in respect, then stood on his knees as he said ‘As I told you lord Terra. My life is yours.’
And in response, they saw how Terra unleashed his rage on the battlefield. He used his powers to burn, impale, decapitate and destroy the Barbarian armies trying to destroy the remaining Phalanx soldiers, horrifying them when they saw how terrifying the gods’ powers can be. Afterwards, Terra then sent down what appeared to be a harpy, carrying what appeared to be flaming chains. And from below the chains, were two twin swords, which shocked them when they saw the same swords that Invictus now carries. ‘Those swords.’ said Twilight when she looked at them ‘So Terra gave those to you?’
‘Yes,’ he replied ‘He forged those swords deep from within the core of the Multiverse, but none knew where he found the materials to forge or create them, only to know that the moment when he grants them weapons, it is a sign that they would be more powerful than any he would choose to serve him. And…you will know the rest.’
They saw that the chains automatically wrapped around Young Invictus’ wrists, causing them to burn whilst they seared his skin, making Young Invictus scream in pain. Afterwards, Terra disappeared, whilst the Barbarian Prince realizes that his army has been destroyed. But when he looked at Young Invictus, he saw him holding those swords, then slowly looked at him in rage, which shocked the Barbarian Prince. And with great strike, Young Invictus unleashed the blade’s power, slaying the Prince and freeing his lands from the Barbarian horde.
‘After he was slain,’ said Invictus whilst he continued the story ‘I knew the Barbarian army still had their generals and all of them were still terrorizing the neighboring kingdoms, so I told my brother to watch over our family and Phalanxia, whilst I took most of the Phalanx with me. From kingdom to kingdom, with the power of the blades, I fought, freed and liberated the kingdoms whilst I slew the generals and the soldiers protecting him, following the god Terra’s will. That was when I realized too late that I had made a grave mistake.’
He showed them of his younger self, leading the Phalanx to a small fortress town ‘We went to a small town fortress, where the last of the Barbarian supporters were hiding, knowing full well I would come.’
‘This place is an atrocity to our lord Terra!!’ shouted Young Invictus ‘The Barbarian horde now hides here like the cowards they are, too afraid to fight against real warriors.’. Invictus pulled out his swords as he commanded them ‘Slaughter the Barbarian forces!! Burn them all!!’.
Using his twin blades, he destroyed the gates that allowed them to enter as they charged. As the Phalanx continued to fight and slaughter the remaining Barbarian forces, Young Invictus walked towards a temple where the Barbarian general was still hiding, until he was stopped by an elder, holding onto her staff as she told him ‘If you enter this temple you will end up sealing your doom.’
‘I fear none.’ said Young Invictus. But before he could pass, the elder ended up blinding him with a type of potion, making him grunt, but could still sense anything around him just fine. He broke the door opened and pulled out his swords as he yelled ‘Barbarian dogs, your end has come!!’
They saw Young Invictus slaughtering the Barbarians inside, but even they couldn’t see what he was fighting. The last of them were eventually slaughtered, with Invictus revealing a horrific fate ‘When they were defeated, I thought I ended the Barbarian threat. But instead…’
They saw the moment when Young Invictus’ eyes had finally been cleared, he could see, but ended up being horrified. For it turned out the ones he had slaughtered, were his entire family, including his wife and daughter, shocking them in the process. He saw his brother was breathing, causing Invictus to hold him as Atreus spoke his final words by saying ‘Brother…the god of war…he teleported us here, blinded us, making you think you were the Barbarian Prince, poisoned your eyes and made you think you were killing Barbarians. The gods…have betrayed us. The gods…used us.’
And after his last breath, Atreus died from his injuries, which horrified the ponies and the other creatures, for Terra, the god of war, had used Invictus. When Young Invictus walked out, the elder woman laughed at him when she had seen what he had done.
‘Now you see what your anger has caused?’ said the elder whilst she spoke to him ‘Because of your actions, without thinking of the consequences, you shall forever be cursed, and be a ghost to those around you when they see you. From this day forward, you will forever be known as, “The Spectre of Phalanxia”.’
They then saw Young Invictus’ entire family get turned to ash and dust as all it flew straight towards Young Invictus. And afterwards, the ash and dust merged with his skin, turning it pure white like snow. He ended up standing there, alone, with nothing in the world.
The others looked at Invictus horrified, with Twilight saying ‘So, your skin isn’t actually this color? It’s that way because…’
‘Because they are the remains of my dead family,’ said Invictus when he looked at his skin again whilst placing his left hand on his right wrist ‘To remind me of my shame and what I have done.’
And out of nowhere, Caldor arrived and said to them ‘Now you see why he hates the gods more than anything?’
‘Caldor?’ said Starlight when she was surprised to see him ‘What are you doing here? I thought you went and helped…’
‘I opened the gateway for them,’ said Caldor when he reassured them ‘The rest will be up to them, no need to worry.’
Invictus continued from where he left off ‘After what happened, I sought vengeance on the god of war for what he made me do. So I set on my journey, finding old temples and relics that would help me on my future missions. When I faced him, I could not defeat him, so I went to find the Casket of the Ancients.’
‘Casket of the ancients?’ asked human Twilight when she was confused by the name.
‘The Casket is a relic of ancient power,’ said Caldor when he filled in the blanks ‘They contain the power of the gods from within. Unfortunately it was the same box that a woman named Euphoria had unleashed.’
‘Really,’ said Cadance when she looked at Caldor ‘Why?’
‘The gods there gave her the box as a gift, but was told never to open it. Unfortunately her own curiosity got the better of her, so she opened it. And as a result, the sins of that world, such as greed, sorrow, suffering and so on were released, plaguing most of their kind there.’
‘But why would they give her a box if they knew it was going to be dangerous?’ said Applejack when she was confused.
‘In a twisted way, they were testing the human will, to see if they can resist temptation and curiosity. You lot can imagine how idiotic that sounds.’
Invictus showed them that how he opened the box, granting him the power of the gods, making him the same size as Terra. ‘When I opened the box, it gave me unlimited power as it coursed through me. In turn, it made me into a giant as I grew the same size as him.’
They saw Young Invictus fighting Terra using a powerful sword he had obtained. After a much hardened battle, Young Invictus stabbed the god of war with that sword, killing Terra in the process as he collapsed onto the ground.
‘After I killed Terra,’ said Invictus as he showed them of what he did in the past ‘I wanted to end my own life so that I could be with my family, to be free of my torment and pain. So I went to the highest mountain of my land, and jumped from there. Only for me to be saved by the gods, as they told me that because of my actions, I would be commended. Before I knew it, they made me the new god of war.’
They were surprised to see what they have given him. ‘Aye, they did,’ said Caldor when he told them the rest ‘But even after that, the images and memory of his past continued to haunt him. He asked them to remove that memory from him, but they didn’t, so he went on his own quest to find what he was trying to do. But the more he did the more frustrated the rest of the gods were of his actions. But eventually…that time had soon come.’
‘Like what?’ said Luna when she was curious.
‘When I continued my duties as the god of war,’ said Invictus whilst he showed them what happened in his past ‘I heard the cry of my people at Phalanxia. Apparently, the rest of the Barbarian armies attacked and nearly overran the city, so they kept pleading me to help. I went there to answer their call, but one of the gods, Aya, the goddess of wisdom, told me not to go, but I refused to let my kingdom suffer, so I left. In turn, whilst I helped them, it angered the gods, and they stole part of my power and reduced me to normal size. I fought my way, and I saved whom I could. But when I got at the center, my father Zion, before I knew he was my father, arrived. to straighten me out.’
They saw Zion arriving, standing with authority as he appeared and stood next to the sword of Mount Gaia, whilst Young Invictus was still wounded in battle after fighting the invaders of his kingdom.
‘You.’ he replied whilst standing there, staring at Zion in anger.
‘Yes,’ replied Zion when he stood next to the sword ‘ I am forced to attend to the matter myself. Aya refused to undo her mistake. Imagine caring for a creature such as yourself.’
‘Why?’ said Young Invictus when he stood before him ‘Why would you betray me? I only fulfilled my task as what the gods demanded me to do.’
‘It is you who betrayed me.’ said the boastful Zion ‘Am I to just stand idly by whilst Mount Gaia is threatened?’. Zion grabbed the sword of Mount Gaia and held its hilt tightly, whilst preparing for combat. ‘Your hands are already stained by the blood of a god. I will not let Terra’s fate be my own.’
‘The gods are petty and pathetic,’ replied Young Invictus when he pointed at Zion ‘And your rule is weak.’
They saw how Invictus stood up to the king of the gods of Mount Gaia, with Zion continuing to display his authority ‘I grow tired of this insolence. I am the god of Mount Gaia.’ said Zion whilst he pointed the sword at Young Invictus’ neck ‘And it is my way that is the way of the gods. You must vow to forever serve me.’
But instead of obeying, Young Invictus pushed the sword away as he said ‘I serve no one.’
‘Then you leave me no choice.’ said Zion as he held the sword’s hilt tightly, preparing to attack.
Young Invictus tried to strike, but Zion struck first, wounding him more, then ended up being grabbed by the throat and tossed him onto the ground. Zion then walked up to Invictus whilst he struggled to get back up, and with great strength, Zion had plunged the sword of Mount Gaia through Invictus’ chest, shocking the others in the process when they witnessed what had happened.
‘It did not have to be this way my son.’ said Zion whilst holding his sword tightly with both his hands ‘This path, is of your own choosing.’
They saw Invictus’ younger self gasping, trying to breathe, but spoke back to him in anger ‘A choice…from the gods…is as useless…as the gods themselves.’
‘Even now, as you draw your last breath,’ said Zion as he plunged his sword deeper, which shocked Twilight and the others ‘You continue to defy me?!!’. They saw Zion whispering to Invictus, but thankfully could hear ‘Everything you had ever known Invictus, will now suffer, because of your own sacrilege. You will never rule Mount Gaia, the cycle ends here.’
They saw Zion pulling out his sword, but ended up charging his sword and plunging it into the ground, causing a massive shockwave to appear, turning every building in the city to rubble, whilst the people themselves were turned to skeletons as all of them collapsed onto the ground. Every creature were shocked when they saw what Zion had done to his people.
Invictus’ younger self was just as shocked from what he saw. He slowly looked at Zion whilst he was bleeding out, swearing vengeance upon him as he said ‘You will pay for this Zion. Be certain of that.’
Invictus’ younger self ended up coughing blood, and as Zion left him for dead, Young Invictus ended up collapsing onto the ground, dead, and no longer filled with life. Many were surprised to see that Zion had killed his own son, until Spike remembered something. He remembered back when Invictus killed Eros, he said the exact same words like he did. Spike looked at Invictus and asked ‘What did he mean by Cycle?’
‘He thought I was going to kill him.’ he responded.
‘What? Why?’ said Twilight when she was surprised to hear about this.
Caldor then explained to them ‘Because a long time ago, before the gods of Mount Gaia took over, Zion’s father was the king of the Titans, until his father betrayed them, and Zeus killed him. And Zion’s father did the same thing with his father as well.’
‘Then why did he tried to kill Invictus?’ said Starlight when she too was curious.
‘Because of the box that Invictus opened to give him the powers of a god, the one I told you that female once opened, turned out there were still some left over paranoia energy inside. When he opened it, the other gods were affected by it. And because of that box, they were paranoid of him as well.’
Sunset then changed the subject when she spoke to Invictus ‘Then how did you ended up coming back?’
Invictus showed them of how his younger self was pulled inside a black pit that led straight to the underworld ‘After I supposedly died, I was dragged down to the realm of the dead. I heard a voice calling out. Turned out it was the Mother Earth, an original Titan that was banished to the cold depths of a land of no return when she and the other Titans were defeated. She told me that my vengeance was far from over, so she granted me the power to escape.’
They saw his wounds were healed. And within a split second, Young Invictus yelled in rage as he pulled himself free from the arms of the dead, whilst he used his swords to cut them, and climb up the walls of the underworld. He climbed and climbed and climbed until he had reached the surface. climbed up and stood upon solid ground whilst gripping his fists in anger.
‘After I escaped.’ said Invictus when he showed them ‘My vengeance, grew greater than before.’
Young Invictus yelled in rage, and created a fire so bad, it ended up destroying half of Phalanxia. For the kingdom and family he was sworn to protect, was gone forever, because the gods took all of that away from him. And after the flames died down, only he remained. This time, his body was engulfed with flame, the same flames he had used before when he fought Eros and his sons. Invictus looked out onto the horizon and remembered what she told him, so he ventured towards the large spire mountain.
‘So uh…’ said human Rainbow Dash when she looked at Invictus ‘Where were you going?’
‘The spire of Fates.’ he responded.
‘Fates?’ said the others when they were surprised to hear what he had to say.
‘The fates,’ said Caldor when he filled them in ‘Are ancient beings that decide the fate of current and future generations of those who would become either a forgotten memory, an influential scholar, or a legend. They were the ones who thought they could control his fate. And they thought wrong.’
The imagery showed them how Young Invictus entered the mountain temple and ended up meeting the fates, large creatures who would have the ability to see the future of others. But they were wearing hoods and armour that some don’t recognize.
‘Hold intruder,’ said one of the fates as she raised her hand ‘This is sacred grounds of the gods, who are you to…?’
But she was immediately cut off when Young Invictus swung his sword, killing her in the process. The other two fates looked at Young Invictus shocked as he only replied ‘To hell with the gods.’, then Young Invictus killed the two of them without any second thoughts.
‘After I killed the fates,’ said Invictus when he told them the story further ‘I used their special hourglass to turn the sands of time, taking be back to the day that Zion betrayed me.’
They saw him use the sands of time, revealing past events that were no longer of any concern. After turning the hourglass the fifteenth time, the hourglass itself opened a portal, leading back to the moment Zion killed him. Young Invictus pulled out his swords and walked through the portal, readying himself for a second match. When he walked through the portal, he stood there whilst he watched Zion stabbed the sword into Young Invictus’ chest.
‘It did not have to be this way my son. This path, is of your own choosing.’ said Zion, until he saw Young Invictus stand there, holding his swords, whilst his past self disappeared without a trace, whilst he replied by saying ‘What?’
‘The only one who put me on this path, is you!!’ shouted Young Invictus whilst he struck his blades at Zion, launching him up towards a mountain. Young Invictus used ancient wings, which surprised Twilight, to launch himself after Zion.
Zion crashed on the top of a mountain, whilst Young Invictus landed across him. Zion stood up, holding the sword of Mount Gaia ‘I do not know how you survived, but rest assured, I will make sure you are buried beneath this mountain.’
‘You are more than welcome to try.’ said Young Invictus, before he screamed in rage and attacked like a madman.
They saw how Young Invictus fought against Zion as they fought with blades and fists, fire and lightning. Both sides kept on clashing at one another, trying to overpower one with the other. Young Invictus knocked the sword of Mount Gaia out of Zion’s hand, allowing him to catch it and attacked him head on. But instead of jabbing the sword through Zion, he jabbed it through Aya instead, who tried to stop the fight. ‘Run.’ she replied to Zion, allowing him to do so. Young Invictus placed her on the ground.
‘Why?’ he responded when he held onto her. ‘I couldn’t let you kill your father.’
‘My father?’ he responded in shock.
‘Yes, but his own fear began to consume him, and if you continued to resist. You will not survive.’
In that instant, Aya died as she was now dead on the ground and slowly turned to ashes, with him looking at the heavens as Young Invictus said ‘If all of Mount Gaia dare to resist and deny me my vengeance. Then they will all die.’
‘After I killed Aya,’ said Invictus when he continued to tell the story, with the others having a hard time bearing and believing of what happened right in front of them ‘I went back to the temple and used the hourglass to travel back to the age of the titans, before Zion destroyed them. I brought all of them to the present so that they could help me destroy him.’ The next bit of the past showed them the Titans were busy climbing the mountain as they attempted to reach Mount Gaia. Many of the gods were present, as each were using their powers to drive them back, even though many of them struggled to make them move. They were almost in awe when they saw the Titans fighting against the gods, which they had no idea such a war was waged, whilst Pinkie Pie and her human counterpart took out some popcorn to watch the show.
They saw one of the gods attack with the full might of the oceans, but Twilight was curious about something and decided to ask Caldor. ‘Excuse me Caldor? Cloud you please tell me of the other gods? I know Zion is the king of the gods as well as the god of the sky, but what of the others?’
‘Glad you asked.’ said Caldor as he told her. ‘The full pantheon of gods there were also rulers of the gods, each with an important role and such. Alongside him are his brothers, namely Aqua, the god of the sea, as well as Therum, the god of the Underworld. But there were also other gods present as well. Such as Illos, the god of fire and blacksmith of the gods. Glomar, the messenger of the gods as well as the god of speed and commerce. Nepheron, the god of the sun. Mateo, the queen of the gods, as well as the god of nature, even Zion’s other son and Invictus’ half brother, Rostock, a demigod.’
‘There were that many?’
‘As I said, each god plays a vital role of the worlds they create. Just as Celestia and Luna have responsibilities throughout Equestria, as do you and Cadance.’
They saw Aqua attack the titans with his power whilst taking a massive water form. He even tried to wipe Young Invictus from one of the Titans’ backs. But he used his swords to go from rock to rock, and eventually reached a height he could face the god of water head on, then eventually launched himself towards Aqua, then was able to pull him out of his water like body, before it dissolved, and collapsed from the mountain, whilst Aqua was tossed against a wall and collapsed onto the ground. Young Invictus stood halfway from Aqua, staring at the fallen god of the oceans.
‘To think,’ said Aqua when he tried to stand up ‘You were our most promising ally. You betrayed us all.’
‘Like you betrayed me when I tried to save my family and home.’ said Young Invictus, not caring for the god of the oceans.
‘No matter how many of us falls,’ said Aqua as he was able to stand on one knee and his right foot ‘There will always be another to stand against you.’
‘Then they will fall as well.’ Young Invictus replied whilst he moved forward towards the god of the sea.
‘The death of Mount Gaia, is the death of us all.’
‘Then prepare for your death then, king of the sea.’
Young Invictus grabbed Aqua and head butted him in the head hard, cracking his skull, whilst Young Invictus pinned him against the wall and punched him a handful of times against his face until he collapsed onto the ground. Young Invictus kneed Aqua’s head against the wall, then kicked it again. Young Invictus grabbed him by the throat, and jabbed his head against solid rock, only for him to grab Aqua again and banged his head against the solid rock, then head butted him a couple of times, then tossed him aside against a boulder as he collapsed. Aqua watched with blurry eyes as Young Invictus was approaching him. Young Invictus picked up Aqua’s triton as he continued. He grabbed Aqua as he picked him up, punched him as he turned around, and pierced the triton against his back, ending Aqua’s life. They were shocked to see what Young Invictus had done, whilst he pushed Aqua off the cliff. However, they saw that while he was falling, he was suddenly encased in his own water bubble. They were surprised to see what was happening to him.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ said Sunburst when he saw what was happening to Aqua.
‘Watch.’ said Caldor when he showed them.
The moment they all saw Aqua fell into the ocean, something happened. He exploded, causing the ocean levels to raise as many of the lands were wiped out by tsunamis and floods, drowning most of life in the process. ‘What was that?’ said Fluttershy scared.
‘You see young ones,’ said Caldor when he showed them ‘When the gods came to be, they were the ones who created and controlled everything around them. But if you were able to kill one of them, it comes at a very high price. When Invictus killed Aqua, the oceans rose out of control, leaving nothing behind as a result.'
After the oceans had rose and turned the mountains into islands, Young Invictus continued with his journey towards Mount Gaia. Instantly, the moment he had reached up top, with the help of one of the Titans, his father had been waiting for them at the top of the summit.
They saw Invictus climbing off one of the Titans’ hands and stood across Zion face to face. ‘What will you do now father?’ said young Invictus when he looked at his father with rage ‘You can no longer hide behind the skirts of Aya.’
‘Aya is dead,’ said Zion when he lectured him ‘Because of the rage you carry in you Invictus. What more will you destroy?’
‘The hands of death could not hold me. The fates could not control me. And you won’t live, to see the end of this day.’. Within a split second, he pulled out his swords and yelled ‘I will have my revenge!!!’
‘Insolent child!!’ shouted Zion, as his rage had now intensified ‘I will tolerate your Insolence no more!!!’
Zion flew in the air and unleashed his full power, releasing the lightning as a result, which blew Young Invictus off the mountain, but was able to survive whilst he landed close to a cavern. ‘Wow, ego much?’ said Rainbow Dash when she saw how Zion reacted.
‘Sounds familiar.’ said Applejack with a smirk smile.
‘After I survived the fall,’ said Invictus when he continued his story ‘I later encountered Therum. He nearly took my soul, but I was able to beat him by draining his soul from his body, killing him.’
‘And ended up releasing all of the souls that were dead for years.’ said Caldor when they saw what happened when he killed the god of the Underworld.
Later on, after that, they saw that Young Invictus killed Illos, causing all of the fires to die out as a result. Young Invictus continued with his journey as he made his way towards part of the summit, where he had kept being under attack by Nepheron, until Young Invictus used the Bow of Aya and shot him down, causing him to crash whilst he landed nearby.
Young Invictus approached Nepheron as the two of them were head to head with one another.
‘Wait, Invictus,’ said Nepheron, trying to bargain with Young Invictus ‘I have not forgotten of how you helped me long ago. Spare me, and I will repay the debt in full.’
Young Invictus spoke in anger ‘No amount of debt can ever be repaid for what your kind had done.’
‘Like what?’ replied Nepheron ‘Protecting our people and our future?’
‘Of what the gods betrayed me and my family, even when I offered my soul, you had betrayed me. You shall feel no mercy for me, for I had received none from the likes of you.’
Nepheron then got angry as he yelled ‘Feel the power, of the sun!!’
Nepheron then used his power to engulf their surrounding with a blinding light, with some wanting to cover their eyes, but were not affected. They saw Young Invictus resisted the light and walked towards him as if this was nothing. They were shocked to see what happened next. Young Invictus kicked Nepheron in the face, leaving him flat on his back. Young Invictus ended up standing over Nepheron and stomped on his head over and over and over and over again and again and again.
Nepheron stopped glowing, but to his shock, he saw Young Invictus pulling out the sword of Mount Gaia as he pleaded ‘No, wait!!’
But it was too late, Young Invictus ended up beheading him and picked up his head, whilst it automatically screamed as if it were a harpy, causing Young Invictus to crush it to pieces. He suddenly saw the sun had begun to change. The sun began to glow unnaturally, whilst it was slowly covered by raging thunder clouds, leaving nothing but darkness in the air. Caldor then looked at Celestia as he said to her ‘That, your highness, is what would’ve happened if you had perished.’ Even Celestia was shocked to see what would’ve happened if both she and Luna were to perish by the hands of evil.
‘After his demise, and after I had killed Rostock,’ said Invictus when he showed them ‘I ended up being taunted by Glomar, the messenger of the gods.’
‘Hmph,’ said Invictus when he thought about him ‘He always was a nuisance.’
They saw he was at a different part of Mount Gaia whilst he looked around. He was suddenly attacked at top speed. They then saw Glomar, taunting him as he said ‘So the high and mighty Spectre of Phalanxia arrives on Mount Gaia. Tell me “great warrior”, do you enjoy being a brute to the so called “mortals”?’
‘Do not try and test my patience messenger,’ said Young Invictus to the messenger ‘Or do you wish to perish like your son before he met his demise?’
‘You should not have harm my son Invictus, he was only a child trying to prove his worth to the gods.’
‘Then you and your ilk should not have lied to me and made me kill the only family I had. We were loyal to the gods, and you betrayed our trust.’
‘Funny,’ said Glomar when he stood up ‘I don’t recall us trusting you ever since that stupid whore opened the box that doomed your kind in the first place. But you, you have your own sense of honor now, don’t you? Well what has that so called honour brought you? Nothing but nightmares of your own failure.’
Glomar automatically collapsed onto the ground and stood on his hands again ‘You may kill me with all of your might, Invictus, but in the end…in the end you will end up betraying only yourself.’
Instead of letting him talk like that, Young Invictus walked up to him and pulled out his sword. He lifted Glomar up using his leg, and ended up cutting it off, which shocked them in the process. Young Invictus did the same with the other leg, and later on, Invictus killed him at last. However, instead of just laying down, his body ended up exploding, releasing a plague onto the earth, causing plague and famine to spread all around. Young Invictus looked at the boots that were left behind, the ones that helped him gain his speed. He ended up placing the boots on, granting him speed beyond measure. They saw him destroying Mateo next, which resulted nature dying all around them.
Afterwards, he walked towards the large doors and kicked it opened, revealing to be Zion, standing out in the open with his arms crossed. ‘Such chaos and destruction,’ said Zion as he looked at the ruined kingdoms that young Invictus had just battled ‘I will have much to do after I kill you.’
They remembered that what he said was the exact words he said, for it really felt familiar when they had said all of that. ‘Face me father,’ said young Invictus back to his father ‘It is time to end this.’
‘Yes, replied Zion with a wicked smile as he looked at his former son ‘It is time my son.’
They saw that the two of them attacked one another head on. Fists were thrown, kicks were launched, powers were unleashed. Yet no matter how hard they tried, they were still evenly matched. However, the two of them were stopped by one of the Titans, who swallowed them whole. But when they were inside, they were close to the heart. Zion was the first to stand up, now holding the sword of Mount Gaia.
‘Time and time again Invictus,’ said Zion as he stood over his son, whilst he also tried to stand up ‘I have given you every single chance to repent, to join my side, yet no matter how many times we’ve spoken, you dared to refuse me and you dared not bowing to me.’
‘Because I wanted nothing to do with you,’ said Young Invictus to Zion angrily ‘I was happy where I was, I never knew your existence. I only called for Terra’s help because I was trying to protect my family. And you took that away from me.’
‘I only took them away to keep mortals like you from rising up against us.’
‘But you had me!!!’ yelled young Invictus when he was able to stand up ‘Was I not enough?!!! Did I not try to please you after everything I had done?!!’
‘Until you have outlived your usefulness.’ said Zion. The others were shocked when they saw how easily Zion discarded his own family. ‘I will finish you like I should have twenty years ago.’
Young Invictus yelled in rage as he attacked head on, tackling his father against the heart. He noticed his father had dropped the sword, so he used it to pierce through him, but in doing so, he also pierced the titan’s heart, causing it to turn to dust as it collapsed on the remaining pedestal of Mount Gaia. From the ashes, young Invictus stood up and dusted himself, whilst he saw the dead body of Zion. However, as he walked away, Zion used his spirit to depart from his body, and attacked young Invictus whilst he electrocuted him. Young Invictus blacked out whilst he also said ‘I’m so sorry.’ He suddenly had a vision of his wife and daughter. The others were surprised when they saw how they appeared in front of him. ‘It’s alright Invictus,’ said Invictus’ wife with a smile ‘We forgive you, but please try to forgive yourself.’ ‘You’ll never be alone,’ said the daughter with a smile too ‘And we’ll always be there for you.’
He saw many of his family members all around him, feeling the same way, whilst he also said aloud ‘I forgive myself.’
And in that moment, Young Invictus woke up, whilst his hands were aflame with blue, allowing him to break free of the spirit. He looked at his hands and saw that his hands and wrists were on fire, but with blue and it didn’t hurt. He looked at Zion, who wanted to fight back, but young Invictus used his swords to fight the spirit, weakening him, causing him to retreat back to his body. His body stood up and he was disoriented. Then they had a complete déjà vu from what they saw back at Tartarus.
Zion stood there, wobbly and doozy, whilst young Invictus stood there in rage, looked at his blades and tossed them away. He attacked Zion head on and pinned him against the boulder. He savagely began to beat up Zion. Punches thrown left, right, uppercut, below, head butted, kneed him, and the punches continued to go on and on and on. They saw how savagely he beat up his father, for there was now no end to his brutality.
In the end, Invictus ended up wiping the sweat from his face, looking at the dead Zion, no longer drawing breath, as he now had succumbed to his wounds. However, something else happened. Zion ended up sparkling with electricity whilst he floated in the air. It began to grow so violent, he ended up exploding into a bright light. When young Invictus looked around, he saw everything was destroyed all around him. Many were shocked to see not just the state of Mount Gaia, but also the kingdom that Invictus had come from.
They saw the ghost of Aya appearing in front of him, which surprised them as he explained. ‘After I killed Zion,’ said Invictus when he showed them ‘Aya demanded that I returned the power within the box I opened, for she refused it was empty. Until she realized that the moment I opened the box, the evil began to infect the rest of the gods whilst I was embedded with the power of hope. She claimed that she knew how to fix everything, if I returned the power to her.’
‘And what did you do?’ said Spike when he was frightened.
‘The only way I know how.’ said Invictus as he showed them.
They saw young Invictus holding the sword of Mount Gaia, as he said to Aya ‘My vengeance…has come to an end.’
They saw him charge up the sword with full power. But to their shock, he used the sword to jab the sword through him, causing the power of hope to scatter all over the kingdoms, so that they would repair themselves. Disgusted, Aya left as she told him that he has disappointed her whilst she pulled the sword of Mount Gaia out of his chest, causing her to disappear. That said, young Invictus suddenly stood up and left, disappearing without a trace, as all was left was destruction.
Afterwards, the stone ended the simulated past, allowing him to pick it up. Many looked at him shocked when they saw what had happened in his past. He turned around, not facing them, whilst he only replied ‘I haven’t been there since.’
Many could hardly come over of what he was and what he had done in the past, but given the fact the gods betrayed him, even when he swore to serve them, he ended up losing everything. Gallus took a step forward and asked ‘But…how did you end up here anyway?’
‘After the fall of Mount Gaia,’ said Invictus when he filled in the last gap ‘I left my realm, wandering for so very long. Eventually I arrived in Equestria, only to discover there weren't humans like me, only ponies. I continued to wander until I eventually met Alloy, the boys’ mother. She knew of my nature, and somehow were able to temper my heart after I chose to settle down. We chose to live in the wilderness, and we ended up raising my sons. But a month ago, she had fallen ill. Before she died, she asked that my sons would take and scatter her ashes. But I chose to accompany them, to ensure they would know how to make it through their journey. Thus, we met all of you.’
‘Aye he did.’ said Caldor when he looked at them as he gained their attention ‘Now you see why he hates the gods more than anything on this world?’
‘And I thought my time as Nightmare Moon was horrific.’ said Luna when she had a hard time grasping over what happened.
‘But Invictus,’ said Sunset when she wondered something ‘What will you do now that…?’
She was immediately cut off, for all of them saw Invictus taking out what appeared to be a blade. It was the very same blade he took with him from the temple. He charged it up with energy, and slowly looked at it, knowing what he would do, they couldn’t handle what was about to happen.
‘My journey,’ said Invictus as he looked at the special blade ‘And my life…has come to an end.’
Some were surprised by what he had said, ‘End?’ said Fluttershy when she wondered what he had meant ‘What do you mean by…?’
That’s when he did the unthinkable. Invictus took the blade and stabbed himself through the gut, horrifying many when they saw what he did. When all of a sudden, the aura, the power, and everything he had began to depower whilst he no longer had the strength to stand, and ended up standing on his knees. As he panted and barely could breathe, the Mane 7 and their human counterparts ran over to help him, with Twilight standing in front of him as she replied ‘Why?’
He slowly looked at them as he had his one eye opened. ‘It was the only way.’ he replied. He slowly handed his weapons over to them as each of them accepted it ‘Take my weapons, use them to disperse their power throughout this world. With their power, you no longer will need magic to control the sun, moon, stars and nature. For they will be restored as they will run their course, as life intended.’
‘But, you didn’t had to do this.’ said Sunset when she tried to reason with him.
‘She’s right,’ said Starlight next ‘You could’ve…’
‘No.’ said Invictus as he looked at them and revealed his final truth. ‘I had lived with this torment for over ten thousand years,’ he said again, which shockened them when they realized how long he had lived ‘And I can no longer live in it anymore. I have tried my best to give my sons the life they deserved. They still have a life ahead of them. It’s far too late for me.’
Many were slowly distraught, even some creatures as they witnessed it, ‘But…’ replied Twilight when she tried to reason with him.
‘Twilight,’ said Invictus as he held onto her shoulders ‘This is why Celestia’s mother had forbidden anyone else from becoming like her, because she didn’t want them to outlive them like she did. You still have so much to do.’ Invictus ended up using a rune he had learnt from Caldor and casted on her, as well as Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Spike and Flurry Heart, making them glow whilst it eventually faded away.
‘There,’ replied Invictus as he looked at her ‘You’re still an Alicorn, but your immortality has been removed, as is Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Spike and Flurry Heart’s.’. Twilight was shocked by what he had said, with him continuing ‘You deserve to live a normal life, live your life rather than outlive it. Otherwise you would learn, that death is far more better, than bondage.’ He held onto her shoulders as he made her promise ‘Promise me, you will live life to the fullest with your friends. Promise me.’
Twilight didn’t know how to respond. But she just ended up holding his hands ‘I…I promise.’ He slowly smiled, as that was all what he wanted to hear ‘Thank you.’
And slowly, Invictus ended up rigid when he faced head up, as the energy from within ended up shooting out of his eyes and mouth, casting it in the air whilst they dispersed around their world. Just when he was about to fall over, Twilight grabbed him whilst trying to make sure he was alright, with the others gathering near him. But when they looked at him, they saw he was pale, he was old, and he could hardly see whilst they had grown blind. But in his final moments, he muttered ‘Earth. Mother of all…I welcome thee.’
And in that final moment, he closed his eyes as his life had left him, leaving his body behind and is no longer shackled to the world of the living. Caldor ended up sighing as he muttered ‘Rest in peace, brother.’
Slowly in tears, Twilight slowly began to weep whilst she rested her head on his shoulder. The others soon joined in as all of them stood around Invictus, the Spectre of Phalanxia. The EG Mane 7, Sunburst, Spike, the EG Mane 7, dog Spike, the Pillars, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armour, Cadance and all the leaders of every creature beyond Equestria’s borders, all were saddened of his own self made demise.
The next day, everypony and every creature came together as all of them began to bury Invictus on the tallest mountain, where anyone could see the view of all of Equestria. The Unicorn guard carried the coffin containing Invictus straight towards what appears to be a statue of him, with the Mane 7 and many others attending there as all of them chose to be there for him. They all watched as Invictus was now being buried deep beneath the planet’s surface.
But sure enough, they fulfilled Invictus’ wish. They took his Axe and dual chain swords and placed them on a large magical burial site. After casting a powerful spell, the axe and the chain swords were dissolved and the magic combined, began to disperse itself towards the skies, thus engulfing their world with the magic. And sure enough, to their surprise, the sun and the moon began to move on their own as it followed time itself, with the clouds forming on their own accord and nature didn’t outgrow, but merely made sure that they would grow normally like any other tree. Invictus had been right, for his weapons truly did restore balance to the world, as he predicted.
At had been a few days since they held a funeral for Invictus, with many creature still couldn’t reel over of what they had just witnessed. Meanwhile, within Twilight’s castle, the EG Mane 7 and Mane 7, along with the Pillars and Sunburst, were sitting alone in one room, trying to cope with what happened. At the same time, Thunder and Fizzlepop walked in the room when they wanted to make sure they were okay.
‘We tried to help him,’ said Twilight when she felt like she failed Invictus ‘We tried to save him, help him find a better path. But instead, he…’
Thunder placed his hoof on her shoulder as he explained something to her ‘We know. But my brothers and I knew from the very beginning that he didn’t want to be saved. Sometimes vengeance can darken one’s soul your highness. For you see, all our lives, my brothers and I were afraid we would become that we fight against. We walked to that edge of the abyss every day and night. But we haven’t fallen in, and I thank heaven for that.’. He walked and sat in front of Twilight as he held both his hoofs on both her shoulders, gaining her attention as she looked at him ‘But our father fell into that very pit years ago ever since that ill fated day. And no one, not even all of you, could’ve pulled him back.’
‘Did,’ replied Applejack when she looked at Thunder ‘Did y’all knew about this?’
‘We did.’ replied Thunder as he looked at her ‘Merlin had a vision about it, and we tried to talk him out of it, but both he and my mother told us that we can’t decide for those who don’t want to be saved. Sometimes we gotta handle things on our own.’
‘He’s right you know,’ said Knight as he and his brothers walked in when they had heard their conversation ‘We may not like the decisions, but if it means that we would be able to live to see another day for the sake of our family and friends, then we must think of them rather than ourselves.’
‘And what about you?’ said Merlin when he spoke to Twilight ‘Will you be okay, now that the immortality bit’s been removed from you, Cadance and Flurry Heart?’
‘I think so.’ said Twilight when she felt that the immortal bit had been removed ‘But Equestria needs an Alicorn to guide them.’
‘No they don’t,’ said Chivalry when he spoke to her ‘They need a leader to look after them. The title of princess is supposed to be passed down, not kept as a curse for all time.’
‘Yeah there is something called a royal line,’ said Copper Plume when he popped right next to Twilight ‘I mean just because you’re a princess doesn’t mean you have to live for all eternity.’
‘Strangely they have a point,’ said Fizzlepop when she walked and stood in front of Twilight. ‘Look Twilight, you saw how easily both Celestia and Luna were defeated when powerful enemies came after them for their power. It nearly put us in jeopardy and they became overconfident. You and your friends only became powerful because the elements were passed down to you. And when the time comes, your foals will do the same. Surely you of all ponies should know about that.’
‘Yeah and is still kinda weird,’ said Atreus when he crossed his arms and thought about something else ‘I mean, the Princesses left you Equestria, and now with your friends, you’re running the country.’
‘He’s right,’ said Yen Sid when he pointed things out ‘And maybe we won’t make it as far as you and your friends, even Sunset and her friends from Canterlot High Twilight. Cause back then both your worlds needed protectors and they chose you lot. But even if all of you are protectors, that doesn’t mean that we can’t be there for you.’
‘And what happens if things don’t run as perfectly as they should be?’ said Twilight when she got worried.
‘A wise person once said that the thing about perfection is that its unknowable. It’s impossible, but it’s also right in front of us all the time.’ said Duke when he tried to be wise.
‘And you’re not alone either.’ said Barry when he smiled.
‘You have all of us to help all of you.’ said Bucky when he tilted his hat backwards.
‘Indeed they do.’ said another voice, revealing to be Caldor as he walked in.
‘Oh, Caldor,’ said Somnambula when she saw him ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Oh, just thinking about what I might do next, now that the last of the gods of this world are no more.’
‘Wait,’ said Mage Meadowbrook when she stood up ‘You’re not staying?’
‘I’m not sure yet,’ said Caldor when he told him of his plans ‘I’ve been imprisoned in that tree for a long time. Both Equestria and the world Sunset and her friends are from have changed a lot since I last saw it. I was thinking I might explore a bit and see how much it has changed. After that, I was planning to ask both Celestia and Luna to come along with me to the magic dimension, see creatures from every world together as they use their magic for the greater good. After that, we’ll see.’
‘Wow, that’s quite a goal.’ said human Twilight when she adjusted her glasses.
‘And Starswirl?’ said Caldor when he looked at him and his fellow pillars ‘I was hoping if you’d come with us this time. It would get us a chance to know one another, and I would like it if you were to journey with Celestia and Luna for old time’s sake.’
‘We would be honored.’ said Starswirl when he and his fellow pillars stood up.
‘Speaking of which,’ said Sunset as she and her friends stood up whilst they walked over to Twilight and greeted her ‘It was…really great to see you again Twilight.’
‘Likewise,’ said Twilight as she smiled whilst she shook Sunset’s hand ‘Seeing all of you together again has certainly brought back a lot of great memories. We should get together more often.’
‘Heck yeah we should.’ said human Rainbow Dash when she got excited ‘Of all the adventures we had in the past, this one was the best one we ever had.’
‘Not to mention,’ said Rainbow Dash when she got excited too ‘We’ll be able to visit one another. And I’m sure both Brock and Driskle wouldn’t mind if we explored a bit.’
‘You know,’ said Starlight when she thought about the portal ‘Since we’ve pretty much taught friendship all over Equestria and others, why don’t we also try to explore the other worlds too, maybe teaching friendship to them too.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ said Sunset when she thought of the same way ‘And in return, maybe they can also teach us a thing or two that Equestria can benefit from.’
‘That sounds amazing.’ said Twilight when she agreed ‘Then what do the rest of you say?’
‘Heck yeah we would.’ said Pinkie when she agreed with them too.
All of them agreed as all of them got excited, leaving smiles on Merlin and the others’ faces, for this could be a perfect beginning, the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.
‘Then let’s make it official.’ said Merlin as he gathered his brothers, as well as Twilight, Sunset and their friends, whilst they placed their hands/hooves on top of one another, with Merlin making what appears to be a spell of binding. ‘No matter how far apart we are, we’ll always be together. And let’s say that every year, we’ll make an annual visit on one location or another, and we’ll be able to see each other more often, now that I found a way to make a portal that we can travel anywhere we want to.’
‘You know what?’ said Twilight when she agreed ‘I think we all can live with that.’
‘And also another promise,’ said Yen Sid ‘That we’ll always protect our worlds and each other, no matter what.’ Twilight smiled as she looked at her friends ‘Friends forever?’
‘Friends forever.’ said everyone/everypony else as they raised their hands/hooves in the air.
And so it went. After the pact they made, Sunset and the others went back home with Atreus and his human brothers, as friends from both worlds began to live their lives.
Caldor began to journey through different worlds to see how much it has changed. But he is not alone. For Celestia and Luna chose to accompany him as they went to explore the thirteen realms, along with the Pillars. Celestia and Luna were amazed of the sun and moon from different worlds as many had worshipped them. Rockhoof enjoyed the Viking like dwarves as they shared his enthusiasm. Starswirl learned from many of the scholars and magic users as he too wishes to learn. Mage Meadowbrook began to learn more about medicine that she took pride in from the High Elves, whilst they were also gracious enough to restore Mistmane’s youth, as well as Starswirl’s believe it or not. Stygian began to learn more about advance magic, whilst Flash Magnus proposed to Somnambula, which left her overjoyed as the two of them got hitched.
Back on Equestria, things couldn’t be better. Starlight and Sunburst continued to manage the School of Friendship, teaching ponies and other creatures the importance of friendship, with Gallus, Yona, Silverstream, Sandbar, Smolder and Ocellus graduating from it four months later, whilst Thunder and Fizzlepop chose to travel together as they enjoyed one another’s company.
Back at the Castle of Friendship, when Twilight decided it would be better to rule from there, ended up having Merlin Bronzetail as her trusted advisor, with the help of Spike of course, managing the needs of ponies and creatures around them, and soon, began to grow closer together. Rainbow Dash introduced the Wonderbolts to Knight, who also wanted to try out. Within a week, he became a full-fledged Wonderbolt. Soon after, he and Rainbow Dash rose up the ranks, and became in charge of the Wonderbolt Academy, after Spitfire chose to open another branch near Canterlot, with Knight and RD leading side by side. Applejack introduced Applebuck to the rest of the Apple family, which left him nervous. But pretty soon, everyone enjoyed having him around, as he helped them harvested the apples, whilst he and Applejack would spend more time together after breaks.
Bashful chose to have a home close to Fluttershy’s. They began to run Sweet Feather Sanctuary together, taking care of the animals and raising them, even making sure all of them would return to the wild safely, with Fluttershy enjoying the fact that Bashful hangs out with her. Chivalry worked with Rarity as her assistant whilst they began to design more fashion and clothing for not just ponies, but for every creature throughout Equestria and beyond. But every now and then, whenever they take a break, they enjoy each other’s company, as well as wanting to be close to one another. Copper Plume worked with Pinkie Pie as they organized and threw more and more parties for those who would want to have a happy day, birthday or otherwise. But every now and then, Pinkie Pie tackles Copper right into a large cake, which made them laughing, and enjoyed making out as they mixed the chocolate and vanilla flavors.
Back at the human world, Sunset and her friends continued to go to school, with Don and his brothers joining them. They enjoyed every activity and education together, as well as enjoying one another’s company. Sure enough, they all graduated from high school, as their future begins now. Sunset and Don decided to live together in the same apartment until they could get a bigger house of their own. Don opened a repair shop for cars, bikes and so on, with Sunset becoming a novelist, writing books to help those on how to make friends at high school, as well as writing down her own experiences. It even later became a best seller on the market. And every now and then, on the apartment’s balcony, they sat and stared at the night sky whilst having some fizzy apple ciders, as the two of them held onto one another, smiling. Human Twilight and Yen Sid opened an academy so that they could teach students who had just graduated from high school, where it would focus on science, with Spike the dog as the Academy’s mascot. With Twilight and Yen Sid managing its large libraries, as well as overseeing the students progressing with their scientific knowledge, but slowly, they enjoyed each other’s company, as well as their love for one another. Human Rainbow Dash and Atreus opened a sports camp, where every sport that those who would want to try out different careers would enjoy the sporting activities that had been given to them. Though every now and then they tend to sneak off and make out with one another a lot. Human Applejack and Bucky ended up making her farm bigger as they planted trees, seeing that she was inspired by her pony counterpart. The two of them successfully opened an Apple Farming business, whilst also donating most of them to orphanages and shelters.
Human Fluttershy and Lyon opened a larger animal shelter, where they would focus on taking care of injured animals, as well as raising them when they helped breed them. They even let folks come in for miles around to adopt any animals they want, as well as being given proper instructions on how to look after them. But every now and then, they ended up enjoying being around one another, as well as nearly wanted to kiss, but they had to keep it professional, that and they don’t like it when other people and animals are staring at them. Human Rarity was able to open a fashion business, designing clothes for those who would want some style in their lives, as well as those who want to look amazing. Duke on the other hand chose to be her assistant, helping not only assisting Human Rarity in designing, but also helping her managing her business. They took a great liking to one another, as well as making sure they support one another. Though every now and then whenever they claim to accidentally fall in the clothes, they enjoy resting and cuddling one another. Human Pinkie Pie and Barry decided to work and Sugarcube Corner. But as the Cakes were about to retire, they gave the business to them, where they were able to make it bigger and bake as many fined goods as possible, especially bread for those who would want it.
A short time later, the Mane 7 married the ponies they fell in love with. Twilight with Merlin, Rainbow Dash with Knight, Rarity with Chivalry, Pinkie Pie with Copper Plume, Fluttershy to Bashful, Applejack to Applebuck, and Starlight to Sunburst. But they weren't the only ones. For on that same year, the human Mane 7 married their loves ones too. Human Twilight with Yen Sid, human Rainbow Dash with Atreus, human Rarity with Duke, human Pinkie Pie with Barry, human Fluttershy to Lyon, human Applejack to Bucky and Sunset Shimmer with Don. Less than a year later, they had foals and kids of their own, each of them having two kids, which they enjoyed raising and became better parents than they could’ve imagined, with Twilight and Merlin’s kids being important roles in royalty, as they would be next in line for the throne. But shortly after, Celestia and Luna also wedded their special someponies, and later had foals of their own as well.
Twenty years have then passed, and all of them had aged gracefully, as their kids were now the same age as they once were all those years ago. Twilight may have the body of an Alicorn and resemble a lot like Princess Celestia, but she can still feel her age over her. Even though she may not be immortal, she is living life to the fullest and keeping her promise to Invictus. Applejack and Big Mac are now in charge of Sweet Apple Acres, now that Granny Smith had passed away ten years ago. Pinkie Pie and Copper Plume enjoyed making others smile, Fluttershy and Bashful continued to look after animals old and new, Rainbow Dash and Knight trained many Wonderbolts, with them now training their kids to be the next best Wonderbolts of Equestria. Rarity opened a few special boutiques at Yakyakistan and other places, with Yona and Sandbar running some of her business. Gallus became the first non pony to be a royal guard to princess Twilight, whilst Silverstream, Ocellus and Smolder choosing to teach at the School of Friendship, as did Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, with Starlight and Sunburst running the school and Trixie being the school guidance councilor.
Don and Sunset’s business flourished as Don opened more garages all over the country, as well as Sunset becoming a successful novelist. Human Twilight and Yen Sid’s academy grew larger as more and more students began to learn there, as well as teachers working there, with Human Twilight and Yen Sid now co-principles of the school. Human Rainbow Dash and Atreus’ sports camps became so successful, they ended up being opened all over the country. Human Applejack and Bucky’s farm became a huge successful fruit business. Human Fluttershy and Lyon’s animal shelter business inspired many people all over their world to rescue, save and look after animals and opened more animal shelters as a result. Human Rarity’s became a fashion queen, with Duke by her side whilst managing the fashion empire together. Human Pinkie Pie and Barry’s business at Sugarcube Corner got more bigger as they continued to make more baked goods that brought smiles to everyone’s faces.
Though every now and again, all of them would come together and teach the magic of friendship together all over the Thirteen Realms, as well as using Knowledge of Adularia to bring more happiness to others’ lives. But now on the twentieth year, all of them would come together to the tallest mountain. The Mane 6 and their human counterparts, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst, Spike and his elderly dog counterpart, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armour, Cadance, Flurry Heart, the Pillars, the Young Six, Caldor and Invictus’ sons, would come together to Invictus’ grave, whilst placing flowers on his grave, in front of the large statue of him holding his dual swords. Whilst on the pedestal, it said “Here lies Invictus. Hero of Phalanxia and Equestria. Beloved husband, father, and a great friend.”. They would stare at the statue, thinking about what he went through, and everything he sacrificed for the greater good.
‘Happy birthday father.’ said Thunder after he placed flowers near the grave too.
‘Hard to believe it’s been this long ago, huh?’ said Knight when he looked at the statue.
‘Yeah.’ said Rainbow Dash when she looked at the statue after she agreed with Knight.
‘I hope he’s still proud of us living our lives.’ said Twilight when she remembered Invictus’ promise.
‘He is Twilight.’ said Merlin when he placed his hoof on her shoulder ‘He is.’
‘You know,’ said Starlight when she thought about something ‘I think Invictus was the one who taught us an important lesson, even if he was a bit of a jerk.’
‘Oh, and what’s that?’ said Sunburst when he was curious.
Starlight then told all of them of the lesson ‘Whatever in life comes our way, when they offer immortality, or anything else of power, we turn them down because we wish to live our lives rather than outlive it. That life is very precious, and connections like the ones we form are extremely rare and can never be replaced. We live our lives as best we can, and we always try to find the right decisions and keep moving forward.’
‘Wow,’ said Applejack when she like what she said ‘Now those are words to live by.’
‘I quite concur darling.’ said Rarity when she agreed.
‘And you know,’ said Twilight when she looked at Invictus’ grave ‘I think what he did was the best thing he ever did for me.’
‘Really,’ said Pinkie Pie when she looked at Twilight ‘Like what Twilight?’
Twilight explained as she looked at the statue ‘When I first became a princess, I didn’t know what would happen. I was excited and all at first by helping others, but I hadn’t considered about the whole “Immortality” thing. What he did for me, by removing it so that I could live my life. That is something I will forever and always will be grateful for.’
‘Heck yeah,’ said Rainbow Dash when she hovered next to Twilight ‘I can’t imagine living a full life without any of you either.’
‘Same here,’ said Fluttershy when she agreed ‘I can’t imagine my life without all of you either.’
‘I’m just happy to live a life with my family.’ said Cadance when she agreed.
‘Now that, I can fully agree.’ said Shining Armour when he stood next to Cadance. After standing there for a long time, Twilight turned around and said to them ‘Come on guys, we’ve got a long work ahead of us. Let’s go home, and continue to live our lives, for him.’
‘Now that is something I can live with.’ said Sunset when she agreed.
And soon, all of them went back to Ponyville to have a feast and later continue with the lives they have been given. For even though that Friendship was not meant to be outlived or forgotten, they can transcend and transform into something new. What friendships we have, is more rare than what others want to have. We can never replace the friendships we once had, but we can try to live and enjoy life as best we can with the time that has been given to us. And thanks to Invictus, they now have that chance, for Friendship is Magic, as is the bond that drives us together until the bitter end.
And there you have it, I hope that it is good enough. And thank you all for giving it a chance to read it.
