> The Legend of Xephers: Adventures in Equestria > by Men10doh_Mike > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Taken From Home > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Prologue= -Taken From Home- =Blazing Sands of The Seruna Desert= -9 AM- In the land of Hytopia, a hero and his friends adventure around the world saving it from evil villains from destroying it or conquering it. Xephers, the legendary hero, is currently walking with his friends in the early hours of the day. They’re trying to cross the border into Terminus, the Northern area of the main continent, from the Central Area, Seruna Desert. “Man this Desert is so hot, I’m running out of sweat,” Xephers says while wiping his forehead with his arm. “Firasha, how much farther until we reach the Terminus border?” Firasha, Xephers’ guardian Micro-Dragon appears in front of Xephers and his friends. “Only 2 miles to go before you can see the border building sir.” Firasha sits on Xephers’ Shoulder and takes out a Raw Meatball. “You know, if you guys had some extra gold,” Firasha breathes fire onto the Meatball cooking it then chomps into it. “You could’ve rented a camel or something to make the trip a lot faster,” “Well, Dragon, you could transform into your full Dragon form to carry us there way faster than camels.” Ceasar, Xephers’ best friend, snaps at the Micro-Dragon. “I swear Xephers, your ‘Guardian Dragon’ is really lazy. I suggest we hurry up and get to Terminus so we can get to an Inn to rest,” “Yeah-” Princess Maryum, Princess of Vernaria, the Southern area of the main continent, sighed. “-I’m starting to think we might not make it out of this sandstorm, a princess shouldn’t be in this situation, but I knew what I signed up for when I joined you and Sam back in the Palace Xephers,” She says while trying to cover her eyes from the sandstorm. “At least in this sandstorm, Monsters aren’t running around too much above ground, though I can feel a couple of Sandworms underground but not very close to the surface Brother,” Groroson Vulcan, the Cheif of the Vulcan Tribe’s Son, adds to the Conversation. Suddenly Firasha jumps up from sitting on Xephers’ Shoulder and looks to the Sky. “Huh? Firasha, what’s wrong buddy?” Xephers looks at Firasha and then also looks to the sky and his eyes widen in terror. “Everyone get ready, a Rouge Dragon is approaching from the Sky it’s pretty high up but I’m certain it has already spotted us.” Firasha disappears to keep his presence unknown. “Oh no...” Xephers if frozen in fear while everyone else is unsheathing their weapons. “We’re doomed...” Xephers falls to his knees still looking at the incoming Dragon. “Xephers what’s wrong, get your sword and shield ready!” Ceasar runs up to Xephers and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Come on man, it’s just a Rouge Dragon right?” Ceasar looks up at the ‘Rouge’ Dragon and his eyes also widen. “Heroes, it is I Rah Krivaan! And your Journey stops here,” The Dragon God of Chaos Rah Krivaan Lands in front of the Heroes dispersing the sandstorm with his gigantic wings. “I have grown bored with your adventure and will be destroying it...” He leans his head down to the ground to look the heroes in the eyes. “Unless you can entertain me in a different way,” “What do you mean ‘in a different way’?” Xephers stands up and brushes sand off his pants. “We’ll do whatever it takes to continue our adventure,” Rah Krivaan laughs maniacally. “I am going to take you ‘Legendary Hero’ to another world, you alone will go and your friends will be frozen in time until you can return,” Rah Krivaan’s eyes glow blood red and a Red aura surrounds Xephers. “I hope you like walking on all fours, Hero,” “What’s happening to me-” Xephers grunts struggling in the magical grip. “-why can’t I move,” Xephers is straining against the red glow around his body unable to move very much at all. “I’ll go but why must you restrict my movement?” Rah Krivaan chuckles. “So you don’t mess up the transformation...” Rah Krivaan reaches a claw to Xephers taping him on the head. “It’s going to be a long trip, get some rest hero,” Xephers’ entire body glows red and he is knocked unconscious and floats onto Rah Kirran’s head. “Now it’s time to freeze this world’s time now, Don’t worry Hytopians, it will feel like your Hero was never gone at all. *Maniacal Laughter*” Rah Krivaan’s eyes glow Lime green and time stops for all of Hytopia. “*Chuckle* This is going to be hilarious to watch,” Rah Krivaan starts flying away from the planet slowly disappearing into the atmosphere. “Just have to make sure no one notices I’m there,” =Meanwhile on Planet Equis= -Just Outside Canterlot- “You gotta really flap ‘em hard,” A blue, rainbow-maned pegasus known as Rainbow Dash is helping a pinkish-purple alicorn known as Twilight Sparkle learn to fly with her newly earned wings. Twilight nods and starts flapping her wings harder but loses control and collides with a tree branch. “Maybe not quite that hard,” Twilight tries again but still isn’t getting the hang of it and crashes to the ground. “Looking good up there Princess Twilight,” An orange Mare with a stetson hat known as Applejack canters up and helps Twilight back onto her hooves. “Applejack, you know you don’t have to call me that,” Twilight said not really liking the Princess title given to her when she earned her wings. “Why do you protest so, you’ve already given up wearing your crown all the time, the least you can do is embrace your new title,” A white Unicorn with a dark purple curled mane known as Rarity Belle interjects. “If other ponies want to address me that way I suppose it’s fine but, not my friends,” Twilight looks around at her friends. “It just doesn’t feel right-” She sighs. “-and neither does this flying business,” She lifts her wings and looks back at them. “The summer sun celebration is only 2 days away, and I’m never going to be ready to perform my part,” “Not if you spend all your time down here you won’t, now get up there and show everypony the big finish,” Rainbow Dash cheers! Twilight then flies into the air with a determined look on her face. All of her friends start cheering her on. “Wahoo!” Twilight cheers then suddenly gasps and hits 3 clouds and starts free-falling back to the ground, she regains her flying but only barely as she starts doing summersaults and screaming then lands unceremoniously in the dirt creating a small trench. Her friends run to her little trench to check if she’s ok. “Wow! That was a big finish!” An entirely Pink Pony known As Pinkie Pie yells enthusiastically, while Twilight just sighs in defeat in the dirt. =Space surrounding Planet Equis= “Finally we’re here,” Rah Krivaan says as he stops short of the planet and his Eyes glow Green stopping time momentarily on Equis. “Ahh Equis, land of fairytales and pretty ponies, Xephers will have a hard time getting used to this place.” Rah Kirran chuckles and teleports Xephers down to Equis a fair distance from the ground in the sky. “Now to turn you into one of them, let’s roll the dice and toss you in,” Rah Kirran summons a small table and a D20. “Let’s see, 1 to 5 Earth Pony, 6 to 10 Unicorn, 11 to 15 Pegasus, 16 to 20 Alicorn.” His eyes glow red for a second and the Die gets tossed on the table and rolls around a bit. “Hmmm... I know this is mostly cosmetic but it will prevent him from using his hands as an advantage, though he will still be able to use his magic no matter what,” The die stops on the number 4 and glows red then disappears with the table. “Earth Pony it is then, this will be very entertaining,” Rah Kirran’s eyes glow orange as he starts laughing and the aura around Xephers turns orange as well, the aura surrounds him shrinking his form and changing it painlessly into an Earth Pony Stallion. “There the deed is done and I shall now retreat to a safer distance and observe his progress from there. I hope he puts on a good show for me,” Rah Kirran chuckles and his eyes glow red then green releasing Xephers from his hold and resuming time on Equis. “Let’s see how he fairs in the world compared to the other,” Rah Kirran slowly glides backward away from Equis but keeping it in his peripheral vision. Though he himself cannot be sensed by anything on the planet, his sudden time-stop magic was by 3 beings. Celestia looked out the windows of the throne room. “What was that power, it felt as though it could eclipse both mine and my sister's Magic.” Celestia stands up from her throne and walks to a side door. “Guards, notify the nobles that due to an unknown surge of magic day court is canceled for today.” Her Guards salute and head out the Main Throne room doors while Celestia heads for her sister’s room. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 1: Free-falling Stallion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 2= -Free Falling Stallion- =Canterlot Castle= -Outside Luna’s Bed Chamber- Celestia knocks on her sister’s chamber door. “Luna, are you awake?” Celestia puts her ear to the door to listen if her sister, Luna responds. “Sister? Come in,” Luna opens the door and lets Celestia in. “I trust you’re here because you also felt that strange surge of magic?” Luna stands next to Celestia looking at her with worry in her eyes. “Yes Luna, I felt the surge, but I can’t figure out what it was, it was there for only a moment then it vanished entirely,” Celestia canters over to Luna’s Balcony and looks in the direction of the Magical Surge. “I fear we may either be in terrible trouble, or it was just a strange occurrence, but there is no way to tell unless it were to happen again,” “Tia, do you think Discord is the cause of this magic?” Luna looked in the same direction as Celestia. “Maybe we investigate after the Summer sun celebration to not entice any panic in our subjects,” “I think you’re right Sister, we will wait until after the celebration to investigate this matter for now I think you should sleep so you can be ready for your nightly duties,” Celestia looked toward Luna. “Alright sister, I shall go back to sleep, let’s hope that magical surge doesn’t happen again,” Luna cantered over to her bed while Celestia went for the Door. “Have a beautiful rest sister,” Celestia said in a motherly tone before she left and closed the door. “I only hope whatever that was isn’t malicious,” =Canterlot Throne Room= -Seconds Later- Twilight and her friends are in the castle admiring the Stained glass portrait of Twilight being Crowned a Princess! “You look amazing Darling, they’ve really captured your reality,” Rarity says with her Hoove over her heart. Twilight lowers her head a little. “I suppose,” Twilight adds, Rarity then waves a hoove at Twilight. “Oh don’t be so modest, it’s everypony’s dream to someday wear a crown and have their coronation ceremony preserved in stained glass for all to see,” Rarity says with a lot of enthusiasm. “I don’t know if it’s everypony’s dream,” Rainbow says floating in the air next to Rarity and Twilight. Pinkie then jumps in front of everypony excited. “Most of my dreams are about frosting!” She then licks her lips and starts drooling a little. A Pink maned Yellow Pegasus known as Fluttershy moves forward a little to get everypony’s attention. “We better get going, we don’t want to miss our train,” she then turns around and starts cantering away. “Fluttershy’s right, don’t know about ya’ll but I’ve still got bushels to do to get ready,” Applejack says and turns toward Fluttershy. “The official celebration may be here in Canterlot, but Hoowee has the mayor put us in charge of one heck of a party back home,” Twilight lowers her head and her ears droop down, Applejack turns back towards her and raises her head with a Hoof. “Aww don’t look like that sugar cube, you get to be right there with the other princesses when Celestia raises the sun,” “And I’m honored, really I am-” Twilight sighs. “-It’s just the summer sun celebration is what first brought us all together,” Twilight’s other friends canter up to her. “It just doesn’t feel right not getting to spend such a special day with my Ponyville friends,” “It doesn’t feel right to us either darling if the mayor wasn’t so desperate for our assistance we’d most certainly stay here in Canterlot, and of course we do understand that your royal duties must come first,” Rarity says to try to cheer up Twilight. “The summer sun celebration may have brought us together but it’s something much bigger that’ll keep us all connected,” Applejack says then goes over to the Stained Glass of them all defeating Nightmare Moon with the elements of harmony. “Exhibit A: the six of us are united by the elements of Harmony, no amount of royal duties is gonna change that,” She looks to the others. “Right everypony?” the others sans Pinkie nod in agreement, Applejack turns to Pinkie. “Right Pinkie Pie?” “Creamy, Creamy Frosting,” Pinkie says still drooling about frosting, Fluttershy runs up to clean her up a bit. “You should take that as a yes,” Fluttershy looks back to the others. =Above Ponyville In The Sky= -9 AM- Xephers is still high in the sky falling to the ground above Ponyville. He has yet to wake up and no one seems to see him in the sky yet. A train is heard in the distance but not loud enough to wake Xephers up. At the train station, Twilight’s friends exit the train and head to the town square. “I really hope Twilight won’t miss us too much,” Rarity said while walking with the others. “She’ll be fine, she has Spike to help her out and keep her company,” Rainbow adds flying upside down above rarity for a moment. They arrive at the Town square and look around for the mayor. “Huh?” Xephers finally wakes up but can’t move very well due to the body change. “Where am I?” he turns his head to only see a vast ocean of clouds above him so he tries to turn around to look behind him. “Woah! AHHHHH!” He finally notices he’s falling from really high up and starts screaming his head off. “Rah Krivaan, why didn’t you place me on the ground!?” He shouted, some of the townsfolk heard him and looked up. “Oh my Celestia, what’s that Earth pony doing in the Sky!?” An earth pony mare screamed getting Rainbow’s attention. “Somepony needs to do something before it’s too late!” She screamed. “What in the world?” Rainbow said to herself then flew ultra fast to save the Earth Pony. “Got ya!” She effortlessly catches him in the nick of time and takes him to her friends. Xephers opens his eyes as he heard someone say ‘got ya’ and sees Rainbow Dash bringing him to the ground safely. “Thanks for the save,” Xephers breathes a sigh of relief as they reach the ground and Rainbow almost immediately starts interrogating him. “Alright mister, how and why were you, an Earth Pony, 90 feet in the air without any Pegasus or Unicorn anywhere near you huh?” Rainbow gets up into his personal space. “I don’t know how I got in the sky. wait, did you just talk?” Xephers tilts his head with a confused look on his face. Rainbow backs away from the stallion with a look of confusion on her face too, then she snaps out of it and gets back in Xephers’ face. “What do you mean you don’t know and yes I just talked, everypony can, what did you hit your head on a bird or something during your fall?” Rainbow lands in front of him and pokes his chest. “I mean what I said, I don’t know how I ended up in the sky, also where I’m from horses can’t speak,” Xephers poked her back with a slightly annoyed look on his face. At the word, ‘Horse’ Rainbow got really mad and tackled Xephers to the ground. “What the heck did you just call me punk!?” She had pure rage in her eyes as she looked and the stallion that called her a horse. “Depending on your answer you might get out of this situation with more than just dirt in your coat!” Xephers looked at Rainbow with horror in his eyes and held up his hands... Hooves in defense... HOOVES!? Xephers stopped looking at Rainbow and looked between his front hooves moving them around like he didn’t believe they were his. Rainbow is getting impatient and yells “Answer me punk!” He looked at Rainbow again with a look of urgency on his face. “What happened to me?” He said then looked back at his hooves. Rainbow punched the area right next to his head. “I said answer the question, what did you just call me?” Her eyes were full of rage her teeth clenched she was ready to end this stallion. “I said Horses where I’m from can’t talk, and then you tackled me, but somethings strange about me,” He looks at his chest and notices he can see his nose more than before. “What happened to me?” “You got knocked out that’s what happened!” Rainbow then decided to knock the Stallion out by hitting him in the face. “Rainbow! You didn’t have to hurt him that bad!,” Rarity galloped up with the others. “Why hurt him more after he was just falling from that high up?” “He called me a Whorse, kind of seemed he was off his rocker too, kept saying stuff like ‘what happened to me’ and ‘Whorses don’t talk where I’m from’ serves him right” Rainbow kicked his hoove as she got off his chest. Fluttershy walked up to him and check if he was breathing. “Good news is he’s still breathing, but we may need to get him to the Ponyville hospital before his broken nose gets infected,” Fluttershy attempted to pick him up but Applejack cantered up to her and slung him over her back. “I got this sugar cube you all tell the mayor what happened I’ll head to the hospital and get this here varment some help, Celestia knows he’ll need it,” Applejack shakes her head and gallops off in the direction of the Hospital. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 2: Bramble Blast > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 2= -Bramble Blast- =Ponyville General Hospital= -11 AM- Xephers is awoken fully healed by a vine breaking into his hospital room through the window. Xephers opens his eyes and sits up. “Huh? *yawn* Where am I?” Xephers looks around and sees the Vine and broken window. “What the...” He is cut off by the vine slapping him across the face. “OW! Son of a... That hurt!” He gets off the bed and hits the ground forgetting he isn’t on 2 legs anymore. “Welp, now I remember why I was here. Better get out of here and ask some locals to find out what the heck is goin’ on,” He gets up and races out the door but is stopped by Doctors and Nurses, ‘Well this is gonna take some explaining.’ He thinks to himself. =Ponyville Town Square= -Moments After Xephers Woke Up- Twilight and her friends summon Discord, God of Chaos, to have him explain himself. He is summoned and spawns in front of them... While taking a shower. “♪ Winter wrap up, winter wrap up ♪, oh-” He Chuckles. “-Now Twilight, you know Princess Celestia told you to give me a heads up before you summon me with that little spell she gave you. In case you haven’t noticed I was in the middle of a particularly invigorating shower” He wipes his back with a towel directly in front of Twilight. “Enough!” She pushes him with her forehooves, she starts walking towards him while he backs up. “Release Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and stop the Everfree Forest from invading,” She commands with an angry expression on her face. A ‘Vine’ coils around her neck but transforms into discord. “Why, whatever are you talking about?” He says in a sarcastic tone. “Don’t you play dumb with us Discord, we know you’re the one behind all of this!” She yells at him. He slithers off Twilight and teleports to a building. “Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely lo~ve what you’ve done with the place,” He takes out a camera and takes photos of the Chaos. He then floats over to Fluttershy. “But I couldn’t possibly take responsibility, I’m reformed, don’t you remember?” He bumps Fluttershy with his elbow. Rainbow flies up to him. “Yeah right!” She shouts then points a hoof at him. “This has got your Cloven Hoofprints all over it,” Discord puts his claw on his chest. “I’ll have you know that I only have one cloven hoof,” His hoof seemingly climbs up his body, and then it kicks Rainbow’s flank. Discord then teleports back to the ground and starts walking away. “Such accusations, and here I thought we were friends,” He tries to play innocent but even Pinkie knows better. “Drop the act buster!” She yells, she squints her eyes looking at Discord suspiciously. “We’re on to you,” Discord then shuts her up by putting his finger over her mouth in a shush gesture. “Ladies, ladies, I’m innocent, would I lie to you?” he tries to look inconspicuous but fails miserably. The girls except for Fluttershy all say yes with an annoyed look on their faces while Fluttershy nervously says maybe. “Well then, it seems we’ve reached an impasse, I’m telling the truth, but you think I’m lying,” He bends over and leans toward Twilight. “What do friends like us do in a situation like this, Princess Twilight?” He pokes Twilight then hugs her with one arm and pokes her nose. “Congrats on the promotion, by the way, you totally deserve it,” “I say we blast him back to stone!” Rainbow buts in yelling. Applejack and Rarity agree and start to use the elements. But Fluttershy flies in front of them to stop them. “Wait, we can’t do that, what if he really is telling the truth,” She gestures toward Discord and he makes a halo appear above his head and puts his paw and claw together in mock prayer. “Well finally, Somepony willing to give me the benefit of the doubt, the rest of you could learn a lot about friendship from my dear friend Shutterfly,” He then grabs Rainbow, who looks annoyed, in a hug. “Umm, it’s Fluttershy,” She says while flying towards him. He then realized he grabbed the wrong pony and tosses Rainbow away and hugs Fluttershy. “Oh, right, whatever,” he says with a slightly annoyed look. “If you’re not the one responsible then help us figure out who is,” Twilight asks forcefully to him. He drops Fluttershy and turns his back on them. “I suppose I could, But after all the Hoof pointing and besmirching of my good name, I just don’t know if I’m up to it,” He grabs a vine and starts to crochet it. Twilight Grunts with anger and Discord speaks up again, “Why don’t you ask your Zebra friend if she knows anything?” Said Zebra, known as Zecora then arrives in Ponyville carrying a ton of her belongings. “Zecora!” Twilight smiles then the girls all run to help her and ask her for help. =Outside Ponyville General Hospital= Xephers finally left the hospital after being held back to check if he was really fine to leave. He then spots Discord crocheting the Vine and approaches him. “You there, Chimera, What are these Vines and why do they seem to have a mind of their own?” Xephers asks, Discord stops and starts squinting at the Hero. “I shall ask again beast, what are these vines and... Why are you doing that with them?” He points at the crocheted Vine. “My, my, how rude. If you didn’t know my name is Discord, God of chaos!” Dramatic Pause! “And for your information, I’m a Draconequus, NOT a Chimera or a Beast!” Discord spits out with venom in his words. “These vines are none of your business and those ponies over there, where my crocheted Vine is pointing, if you were paying attention, are going to fix the issue, so just go away and leave me be good sir!” He turns around crossing his arms, but the vine stays in place still crocheting itself. “Wait, you’re the God of Chaos? If that’s true then that must mean you’re responsible for this mess, it has Chaos written all over it,” Xephers looks at Discord with slight anger evident in his voice. “I can’t let an injustice like this go unpunished, come at me Discord, it’s time for you to get your punishment!” Xephers gets into a fighting stance. “Leaf Blade!” Xephers glows leafy green for half a second and leaves begin to swirl around him forming a Leaf sword, he grabs it with his mouth. Discord’s eyes widen at the sight of an Earth Pony using elemental magic. “How did you do that?!” Discord yells, he has never before seen such magic, especially from any Earth Ponies. “Is this guy the one responsible for that magic I felt yesterday?” He thinks to himself. “How can you use magic without a horn, Earth Pony, if that’s even what you really are,” He summons a toy Lightsaber. “Alright, I didn’t want to do this today, but let’s do thi...” His ear perks up, and he looks toward the girls. “Oh poo... Hang on I’ll be right back, got to take care of some business real quick,” He snaps his fingers and disappears leaving a cardboard cut out of himself holding the toy. “Damn it, I should’ve just rushed him, I’m too kind for my own good.” He sits on his haunches. “Even villains can talk to me without interruptions, if he really even is the ‘God of Chaos’ that is,” Xephers stabs his sword into the ground and a vine grows around it. “Well seems you can’t get away from these things for too long. Might as well take care of some of these.” He stands up and pulls his sword out of the ground cutting the Vine in the process. “Alright, here goes nothing,” He runs around cutting vines as much as he can but they’re growing faster each time he cuts them. “Damn *Sigh* This isn’t working, must be something in that forest causing this.” He looks toward the Everfree Forest where the vines are coming from. “I’m gonna have to try and help, better start from the supposed source,” He gallops straight into the forest cutting any Vines blocking his path. After the girls start traveling into the Forest as well, Discord teleports back to his Cardboard cut-out. “Alright I’m back, sorry about that-” He Chuckled “-I just had to watch the Purple one freak out and mumble while under the influence of that potion,” Discord makes the cut-out vanish and he grabs the toy Lightsaber and looks to where Xephers was standing only moments ago. “Ok, let’s... What the? Where did he go?” He looks around the area a bit. “I guess he realized I was more powerful than him,” He makes the Lightsaber vanish and growls in frustration. “ He insults me by calling me a Chimera and a Beast and then runs off, good riddance,” He lounges back in mid-air putting on sunglasses and taking a nap. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 3: The Hero Arrives! Then gets shown up... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 3= -The Hero Arrives! Then Gets Shown Up...- =Deep In The Everfree Forest= “Are we there yet?” asks a bored Green, Baby Dragon, known as Spike. “I don’t know where we are, we’re lost!” Twilight says as she looks around, she sits down and sighs, “ I knew I should’ve never left my friends,” Spike hops off Twilight's back. “We can’t just give up,” He moves to a tall tree, “Maybe if I get up there I’ll be able to spot ‘em,” He climbs the tree and gets on a very high branch, he moves some leaves out of his view and spots the others going down some stairs. “Well, what do ya know, Twilight!” He bounces back to tell Twilight he found them when he sees her being attacked by Evil Sentient Vines and gasps. “I gotta get the others fast!” He races off to get the others as fast as he can. “What is this stuff...” Twilight Says coughing between each word. She falls to the ground coughing and falling asleep due to the gas the vines are spewing at her. In the distance, she hears a battle grunt as if somepony is cutting down Vines or something. “Help! Help!” She shouts, coughing between words with as much strength she can. “Someone’s in trouble, out here of all places?” The stranger shouts confused. “I’m coming madam, just hang in there!” Hoofsteps were getting louder and the sound of Vines hitting the ground was now audible. “Get back Weeds this woman doesn’t want your perfume!” He shouts as he Jumps into the open area and cuts one of the vines down. He looks and sees Twilight on the ground barely hanging on to consciousness and gets ready to cut more Vines. “I’ve had enough of this Forsaken Forest, Leaf Tornado!” A Cascade of multicolored leaves surround the Stallion and start decimating the Vines, tearing them apart but leaving Twilight alone. Xephers gallops over to Twilight to help her up. “Come on miss, you need to get up so we can get away from these beasts,” Just as they were about to get up a vine sneak attacks the Stallion from behind hitting him a few feet away from Twilight. Just as it was about to chomp on Twilight a vine seemingly tied itself around its maw slamming it shut then wrapping around it some more. “Listen here you rabid Rhododendrons, you mess with one of us!” Applejack announces and the others run into the opening. “Ya mess with all of us!” Pinkie blows a party streamer noisemaker, for some reason. The Vines that weren’t torn to shreds by the Leaf Tornado hiss and start rushing towards their new ‘prey’, only to be outrun and clumsily tied into a big knot defeating them all, except for one. Twilight blasts a beam of magic at it making it explode without damaging the others and stands up slowly with the aid of Spike. “I sure am glad you came lookin’ for us,” Applejack says with a little worry in her voice. Twilight puts a hoof on her chest. “Not as glad as I am that you found me,” Twilight says with relief. Meanwhile, the mystery Stallion begins to get up after being hit really hard in the back of the head. Rubbing the back of his head with a forehoof he shakes his head to clear the stars in his vision. “My head, is that lady alright?” He said with a groan then turned around to see the main 6 and Spike talking to each other, he waited until they hugged to interrupt them, “Umm, excuse me but do any of you know where we are and what is causing these vines to sprout and cause Chaos?” He canters over to his sword lodged in a tree, pulls it out with his mouth, puts it on the ground, and puts a hoof on the blade. “Disperse,” He says and the sword turns back into normal leaves and flitters away with the wind. The main 6 just look at him with wide eyes. “Hey, that was cool,” Spike says with enthusiasm, then looks at him in confusion, “But, where did you come from?” Twilight snaps out of her confusion and speaks up. “You’re the Stallion that helped me, right?” She slowly walks up to him and stays a decent distance away getting to know his features and looking for a horn. “Yes mam, I was lost in this wretched Forest until I heard you yell for help and I came running and slicing, those Vines are tough but nothing my leaf blade can’t handle.” He closes his eyes and poses to look proud of his ability. “Though I’m still wondering what you all are doing out here, are you also looking for the source of these monstrosities?” “Actually we know what’s causing it and are trying to get there, but those monsters just showed up out of nowhere,” Twilight keeps inspecting him while the others snap out of their trances and move closer to him. “Anyway, thank you for helping distract them so my friends could arrive and finish them off but somethings wrong here.” Twilight gets a little closer and stares at his forehead. Then Rainbow realizes who they’re looking at and flies into his personal space and is face to face with him staring right into his eyes with rage in hers. “I knew you looked familiar! You’re that stallion that called me a Whorse!” She snorts like a bull ready to charge. And Twilight grabs her with magic and pulls her away from the Stallion. “What are you doing Twilight this guy’s a bad guy!” She argues. Twilight looks closer at the Stallion squinting at him. “Look I’m sorry I didn’t know that was a bad thing to say, where I’m from it’s really common to call you that unless you’re not full-grown then you’re a Pony but still you look full-grown to me,” He says apologetically then looks at Twilight and tilts his head. “What miss, is there something on my face,” He brushes his face with a forehoof. “It’s not what’s there,” She pauses and uses magic to move his mane on his head. “It’s what’s not there, how are you able to use magic without a horn?” She lets go of his mane and backs up with a look of confusion. “I’ve never heard anything about an Earth Pony using Magic to make a sword construct,” Rarity looks at his now messy mane and gasps. “Darling look what you did to his mane, it looks absolutely dreadful!” She gallops up to him, teleports her beauty supplies, and starts messing with the Stallion’s mane and tail. “Wait,” Pinkie says then puts a hoof to her chin staring at the Stallion, after about 30 seconds of silence she gasps, “A new Pony I’ve never met before!” she bounces all over the place laughing. She stops in front of him and starts asking questions nonstop, not even to breathe. “HiMyNameIsPinkiePieWhat’sYours, DoYouLikeParties, DoYouLikeCake, What’sYourFavoriteFlavorOfCupcake, IsYourDragonGoingToIntroduceHimselfToo?” Xephers looks at her wide-eyed lost in thought trying to understand what was just spoken to him. Twilight grabs her too and pulls her back. “Pinkie you’re confusing him speaking so fast,” She says, after about 10 seconds she speaks up again, “Wait what was that about a dragon?” She looks at Pinkie then back at the Stallion. “Alright Explain yourself, you are fully suspicious for being only an Earth Pony,” The Stallion, Who’s mane is now styled like Rarity’s stands firm and answers Twilight confidently. “Alright, Hello, My name Is Xephers Strike, Legendary Hero of Hytopia, master Grass Mage and Expert Swordsman, it’s nice to meet you all,” He salutes then regains his relaxed stance. “I hope you understand when we first met Rainbow Pegasus, I didn’t mean anything by what I said, I was just confused is all. But now I’m used to you all talking, what with the doctors and nurses, I’m over that whole thing.” Rainbow calms down a little but stays on guard. “Alright good, we know who you are, but that still doesn’t answer my question, how are you able to use magic without a horn?” Twilight lets Rainbow go and she lands near the others. “It’s like you have some control over Nature itself, specifically the Wind and Leaves.” Twilight thinks for a moment, then is interrupted by a Vine wrapping around a rear hoof, “But right now that’s not important!” She pulls her hoof out of the Vine’s grasp and stomps on it. “We need to stop these Vines from spreading anymore, Come on to the Tree of Harmony!” She shouts turning toward the old castle of the two Pony sisters and galloping away. Spike couldn’t catch up to her so he hops on Applejack and the others start galloping after Twilight leaving Xephers and Rainbow alone. “I’ve got my eyes on you,” She says threateningly gesturing to her eyes then to him, then flies away following her friends. Xephers looks down and thinks. “I’ve gotta see what I can do to help, I gotta go after them just in case,” He then starts galloping in the direction the others went. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 4: Tree of Harmony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 4= -Tree of Harmony- =Everfree Forest Trench= The Mane 6, Spike, and Xephers arrive at the Tree of Harmony, but it’s covered in Black Vines strangling it and oozing green goop from it. “Holy... That looks really bad.” Xephers canters toward the tree, and a vine shoots toward him and grabs his forehoof. “Shit!” He mentally curses, and struggles as the Vine squeezes tighter. “This hurts so Much, Leaf Blade!” Leaves form a sword for Xephers and he cuts the Vine but also himself a little. “Mister Xephers, are you okay?” Fluttershy slowly approaches him while he backs away from the tree. “Oh... My... you’re bleeding,” She grabs his bleeding forehoof. “We need to get this treated before it gets infected.” Xephers nods his head. “I can teleport my first aid kit here,” Rarity adds while her horn lights up, “I’ll get it now,” A first aid kit popped out of nowhere in front of Fluttershy. “Here you go dear, now Twilight see what you can do to help the tree,” Rarity turns to Twilight who nods and flies over to the tree. “Alright let’s get this taken care of,” Fluttershy opens the First aid kit and works on Xephers’ wound. Twilight goes to touch the center of the Tree but a Vine grabs her forehoof and starts squeezing just like before. She tries to pull away but it doesn’t work so she shoots a Magic beam at the Vine and destroys it. The other Vines wrap around the center of the tree. Twilight thinks and remembers something she heard from Celestia. “Even without these Elements, the Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic, as long as that magic remains it will continue to control and contain all that grows here,” Twilight flies back to her friends and lands in front of them. “I know how we can save the Tree, We have to give it the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight says with a determined look. “Woah Woah Woah,” Rainbow says then lands directly in front of Twilight. “How are we supposed to protect Equestria?” Rarity canters forward. “How are we meant to reign Discord in if we can’t use the elements to turn him back to stone?” Rarity adds looking a little scared at losing the elements. Applejack canters next to Twilight. “Twilight, the Elements of Harmony, they’re what keeps us connected no matter what,” She closes her eyes. “You’re right about one thing, Applejack,” Twilight says, Applejack opens her eyes and looks at Twilight. “The Elements of Harmony did bring us together, but it isn’t the elements that will keep us connected,” Twilight adds with an assured look. “It’s our friendship, and it’s more important and powerful than any magic,” She hangs her head a bit. “My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities,” She raises her head and puts a hoof on Applejack’s chest. “And our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken.” All of her friends smile, “There’s no time to lose, everypony ready?” with that She flies up into the air, and all her friends shout ready! Twilight uses her magic to take all the Elements from their necklaces and her crown, she moves them toward the tree and inserts them into their respective slots on the tree. The Vines attempt to stop her but fail as the last one is inserted the tree starts to glow bright white. The Glow expands and Destroys all of the Vines near it and destroys the rest of them like Fuses, Clearing the Everfree Forest and Ponyville entirely of Vines. The Glow shrinks back around the tree and gives it back its shiny color. It then clears the two giant masses of Vines holding the Princesses. The glow dissipates and they canter over to Twilight and her friends. Twilight gallops over to Celestia and hugs her. “We know how difficult it must have been to give up the elements, it took great courage to relinquish them,” Everyone smiles, and then the tree glows again, Twilight canters over to the tree as it uses the colors of the elements to make a strange flower appear out of one of its roots. Twilight touches it and it opens revealing a Diamond chest with 6 keyholes on it. “What’s inside it?” Twilight asks Celestia, who puts a hoof to her chin in thought. “How am I supposed to open it?” Luna speaks up. “Six locks, Six Keys,” They look back towards Celestia, she shakes her head. “I do not know where they are, but I do know it is a mystery you will not be solving on your own,” she canters out from in front of Twilight’s friends. Twilight looks at the chest then back to her friends with a smile. Celestia notices Xephers as she’s cantering away from the others. “Who is that, I’ve never seen him before.” She analyzes him while not looking suspicious but notices something very off about him. “Why doesn’t he have a cutiemark? He looks like an adult, so where is his Cutiemark?” She stops just before getting too far away from him. “Sir,” She said in a motherly tone, Xephers looked at her. “Could we have a chat in private really quick, I wish to thank you for helping Twilight and her friends,” He nods and canters toward Celestia. She puts up a sound and visual Barrier around her and him. “Alright, Discord,” She says in an angry tone. “Enough games, what are you doing here?” She steps closer to Xephers. “Discord? Do you mean that Chimera I saw in town earlier?” He tilts his head in confusion. “Yes you, what are you doing here, did you create that magical surge?!” her tone was getting louder and angrier. “Wait, what Magical Surge did you mean when I summoned my weapon?” He grabs it, sits it on the ground, and puts a hoof on it. “Disperse,” the sword turns into ordinary leaves and flies away. “Enough, show your true form Discord, I know it’s you!” She says with Venom in her words, she’s almost at the Royal Canterlot voice in loudness. “Wait, you think I’m Discord?” Xephers Laughed. “No madam, I’m not that beast, My name Is Xephers Strike, Legendary Hero from Hytopia, Master Grass Mage, and Expert Swordsman, It’s nice to meet you, Miss.” He salutes. Celestia looks closer at him for a moment. “Even though I can tell you aren’t lying to me, that story you just said sounds very unbelievable,” She then relaxes a little and returns to her motherly tone. “At ease soldier,” She said with a giggle, he stopped saluting. “You said you were from Hytopia? I’ve never heard of such a place, and I’ve been around for a thousand years.” “Hytopia is what the planet is called where I’m from,” He explains, “I was taken from my world by an ancient Dragon called Rah Krivaan, I’m here to help with any dangers you all have.” Celestia thinks for a moment. “That would explain some things, but for right now I see that you’re not a threat to my little ponies so my sister and I will be going back to the Palace in Canterlot to discuss some things,” The Barrier around them dissipates. “I bid you Farewell Sir Strike,” With that, she takes off flying towards Canterlot with her Sister following close behind. Twilight and her friends canter up to him. “What did she want to talk about?” Twilight asked looking like she really wanted to know. He looks at her and simply shrugs. “Ok, would you like to come back to Ponyville with us?” He nods. “I don’t want to get lost again, so I’ll go with you guys.” He nervously smiles while looking at Rainbow. She does the hoof gesture again. “Just lead the way, Miss... Uh... What’s your name actually?” He looks at Twilight and tilts his head. “Oh right, we never really introduced ourselves,” Pinkie then jumped up and down repeating ‘I did’ over and over till Rainbow stopped her. “Well, My name is Twilight Sparkle, this is Rarity,” She points a wing at Rarity who twirls her hair and just says ‘Charmed’, “This is Applejack,” She points to her and she says ‘Howdy’ tipping her hat and smiling, “This is Spike, my number one assistant,” He poses proudly. “The one that helped you with your cut is Fluttershy,” She hides behind her mane and whispers ‘Hi’. “You already know Pinkie, and last but not least...” She gets cut off as Rainbow gets in Xephers’ face again. “The name’s Rainbow Dash, Fastest flyer in Equestria, and Future Wonderbolt!” She backs off a bit. “And I got my eyes on you buddy, you hurt my friends, you better be ready to run.” She flies back behind the others away from him. “Ok... Let’s go then Twilight, I think it would be best if we get back before dark,” He says a little scared at what Rainbow said. Twilight nods and they all start walking back to Ponyville. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 5: Return to Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 5= -Return To Ponyville- =Just Outside The Everfree Forest= Everyone but Celestia and Luna finally exits the Everfree forest. Discord blows on a Party horn and appears with banners with everyone except Spike and Xephers’ faces on them. “Bravo ladies, bravo!” He gets right up in Rainbow’s face. “However did you save the day this time?” He gets in a mocking stance and wiggles his talons and fingers, “Blast the beasty with your magic necklaces I presume?” He teleports onto Applejack’s back while suddenly wearing a cowboy outfit. “Where are those little trinkets of yours, you know the ones you use to send me back to my extremely uncomfortable stone prison?” He fakes shivering. “Gone” Applejack laments, as Discord Teleports a little ways away smiling from ear to ear, almost literally. “Gone?” He chuckles and looks up like he’s plotting something. “Gone?” He twiddles his fingers. Fluttershy flies up to him and he looks at her somewhat surprised that She approached him. “And our friendship remains.” She states plainly making Discord look down a little. “And if you wanna remain friends, you’ll stop thinking whatever it is you’re thinking and help us clean up,” Discord shrinks then teleports in front of the girls in a french maid outfit. “Fine,” He states in a sassy tone, “But I don’t do windows.” He walks off with a sway in his walk. Applejack slightly shakes her head as they follow Discord back to Ponyville. “One thing I don’t get, why’d all this happen now?” She puts up a good point. Discord interjects, “I have no idea, those seeds I planted should have sprouted up ages ago.” Discord puts his paw to his chin thinking. Twilight looks angry and yells, “What did you say?!” Discord mocks in shock and turns toward the angry alicorn. “Why should I explain it when you can just see for yourself,” He teleports the Time liquid to his claw and passes it to Twilight who drinks it. While the girls and Discord are busy, Spike strikes up a conversation with Xephers. “So uh...” He looks at the ground for a second then continues, “What did Celestia want to speak with you about?” Xephers looks at the Baby dragon and smiles, “Ah, curious are you? Well, I’ll tell you young drake, Celestia thought I was that Chimera talking with Twilight and the others and almost had your friends turn me to stone.” Xephers paused and Spike gulped. “But thanks to me explaining myself and the fact that she can tell if you’re lying or not, I was considered a non-threat and maybe even an ally, I hope...” Spike looked over at the girls who were heading toward the train station. “Oh hey, it looks like we’re leaving now, would you like to come with us to see the summer sun celebration?” Spike asks. Xephers thinks for a moment then nods his head. “Great let’s catch up with the others.” Spike runs ahead of Xephers hoping to catch up with the girls, Xephers chuckles and picks up speed also trying to catch up with them. =Canterlot Square= It is now time for the Summer Sun Celebration, Twilight and her friends, plus Xephers, are here and Twilight is ready to perform her part of the Summer Sun Celebration, Celestia and Luna canter to the front of a stage with Twilight behind them, and Flair out their wings. “Citizens of Equestria, it is no longer with a heavy heart but, with great joy that I raise the summer sun, for this celebration now represents, not the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but the return of my sister, Princess Luna,” The Crown Cheers for Luna with Pinkie going a little overboard. Luna flies into the air just in front of a Crescent Moon statue and her horn ignites with the Moon slowly lowering in the background. Celestia’s horn ignites and she flies into the air in front of a Sun statue with the real one slowly rising in the background. Twilight’s horn lights up and she intersects the celestial bodies and makes an explosion of magic in the form of her cutiemark like a firework. The crown shares their oos and awws, with Xephers smiling greatly witnessing this event for the first time. “It’s beautiful, I wish we had this event on Hytopia.” He says quietly basking in the glorious summer sunlight. His Guardian Dragon appearing on his back suddenly spooking Xephers a little. “Woah, Firasha what are you doing here?” He telepathically says to the Micro-Drake. “Just popping in, also before you ask I have a stealth spell active so no one can see me... Or no PONY in this case.” Firasha stretches and sprawls out on Xephers’ back, “So Xeph, I’ve seen what Rah Kirran did to you, and what you’ve done so far since you got here and I gotta say...” He pauses for a second, “Did you really get lost in a forest when there’s a much larger one you got through back on Hytopia?” “Hey, I’ll have you know the Vines didn’t help my navigation any,” Xephers shot back with a look of slight annoyance which some ponies in the crowd saw and looked at him with curious looks. “Sorry just thinking about something, nothing to worry about.” The ponies shrug and look back to Celestia and Luna as they land back on the stage with Twilight landing directly after. “Thank you everypony for coming to this celebration we hope you have a wonderous rest of the day, we shall be returning to our duties, Goodbye,” Celestia and Luna Flair their wings and fly back to Canterlot castle as the crowd cheers more. After a while, the crowd disperses and Twilight meets up with her friends and Xephers. “You did great Twilight, that was very beautiful,” Rarity says as they all gather for a group hug minus Xephers. He smiles at their unbreakable friendship, and Spike hugs Rarity mainly. They finish hugging and look toward Xephers. “So Xephers, did you enjoy the summer sun celebration?” Twilight asks, Xephers thinks for a second making Twilight gulp, then he nods his head and the girls cheer excitedly, Spike smiles at Xephres. “Great, now we need to...” Before she can finish Spike burps up a Letter from Celestia, she grabs it in her magic, opens it, and reads it. “Dear Princess Twilight, Due to certain circumstances, the Pony known as Xephers Strike...” She looks from the letter to Him, he tilts his head in confusion, she looks back at the letter. “Will be staying at the Golden Oaks Library with you and Spike until he can find his own home in Ponyville,” The girls and Spike look at Xephers in confusion, Twilight continues reading, “He has stated in our personal talk that he is new to Equestria and currently doesn’t have a home to call his own so I am trusting you to accommodate him, maybe you can help him find friends or even become friends with him. Your fellow Princess, Celestia,” Twilight finished then saw a P.S. “Keep an eye on him, we shall talk later in private about him,” She rolled up the letter then teleported it to who knows where. “Wait, so Celestia told you to let this punk stay at the Library with you in Ponyville?!” Rainbow angrily said while getting in Xephers’ face. Twilight used her magic to pull Rainbow away from him, she in turn steps up to Xephers with an apologetic look. “Yes, she did,” Once Rainbow is calmed down she smiles at Xephers and clears her throat, “So Xephers, would you like to come with us back to Ponyville?” Xephers thinks for a bit, and Firasha talks to him secretly. “I saw the letter there was a P.S., Celestia wants her to keep an eye on you, I suggest just going with it,” With that said, Firasha disappears into Xephers’ Body again. Xephers looks at Twilight with a smile. “Sure, I’ll go, I’ll also not argue with Celestia so it’s up to you Princess if you want me in your home with you,” He nods as he says this and Twilight smiles even bigger. “Alright then, everypony let’s get back to Ponyville,” She turns to her friends, they all nod and start heading to the train station with Xephers just behind them. =Ponyville Train Station= -A Very Long Train Ride Later- They arrive at the Ponyville Train Station with Pinkie shooting off, faster than Rainbow Dash could ever dream of, towards Sugarcube corner, Xephers tilts his head in confusion then Applejack taps him on the back. “It’s best not to think about it, it’s just Pinkie being Pinkie, I’ve gotta get back to the farm, don’t want Big Mac getting hurt again. See y’all later,” She says then trots off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow floats face to face with Xephers. “I’m watching you bub, any damage to Ponyville or my friends and you’re gonna be in a world of hurt, capiche!” He nods, and she shoots off to her Sky mansion leaving a trail of rainbow behind her. Rarity steps out of the Train next. “I’ve got a few orders to fill today so I have to rush to my boutique, sorry but tata for now!” Rarity trots for her home and Boutique in no real rush, Fluttershy flutters out of the train and starts heading for her home. “I have animal friends to check on, see you later, Twilight, Spike, and Xephers,” She flies off at a moderate pace. Leaving Twilight, Spike, and Xephers at the train station. Twilight starts trotting away, Xephers and Spike catch up with Spike jumping on her Back. “Alright then, Xephers when we get to the Library would you be willing to answer some questions I have for you?” She looks at him expecting a no. “I don’t want to overload you but since you’re new to Equestria you can ask me questions in return,” She waits for His answer with pleading eyes. “Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do as of right now so why not.” She jumps for joy while Spike hangs his head and sighs. “Just nothing too personal.” Firasha reappears on Xephers’ head still Cloaked to others. “Hey, you think I should introduce myself at the Library?” Firasha asks, Xephers nods but no one notices but Firasha. “Alright, I’ll come out when I feel the time is right.” He disappears again. “I hope this goes well,” Both Twilight and Xephers think. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 6: Questions And Answers > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 6= -Questions And Answers- =Golden Oaks Library= “Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library!” Twilight announces while opening the door for Xephers to walk in, she walks in after him with Spike still riding on her back. “Please, make yourself at home, I’ve got tons of books you can read and an extra bedroom you can use until you get your own home here in Ponyville.” Spike hops off Twilight and heads for the Kitchen. “Would you like some tea before we start with the questions?” She asks stopping just before the Kitchen. “No thanks, I’d kinda like to get these questions over with as soon as possible, if you don’t mind of course.” He finds a table and sits in a seat. “I’m getting kind of tired from the long train ride here.” He looks to Twilight and she smiles and giggles. “Ok then, let’s get these questions underway,” She walks over and sits at the table too. “Ok, first things first, How are you able to use magic without a horn?” She tilts her head, Spike comes out of the Kitchen with a half-eaten Sapphire and joins them at the table. “Well, you see, where I’m from when we get old enough we visit the Elemental Monistary in our home country to discover our elemental magic,” He explains, “There are 13 types of Elemental magic known to us, Null Basic Magic that has no real strengths or weaknesses, Fire Magic able to start campfires or blaze through enemy forces, Water Magic able to purify water or heal wounded efficiently, Electric Magic able to power homes and able to paralyze monsters with ease, Grass Magic able to control the wind and leaves for camoflouge or make potions to cure diseases, Ice Magic able to cool the Hottest lava and allow the user walk on shallow water with ease, Poison Magic mainly used to protect settlements from monster attacks but some evil doers use it for nefarious perposes, Psychic Magic that can help the old recover memories they have lost to time and levetate great objects in the air, Spirit Natural Magic in all of us that we can strengthen to be able to use special abilities, Draconic Magic almost exclusively used by Dragons but some have been able to master it,” Spike stopped eating his gem and looked at Xephers with excitement. Dark Magic that can be used to sneak up on villains to get an upper hand, Light Magic that can Heal or below life onto recently passed individuals, and finally Chaos Magic only used by Demented Deities wishing to Kill or hurt the populous,” Xephers shuddered at the thought of Chaos Magic. “Everyone is born with innate Spirit and Elemental Magic, but you are only able to discover your elemental Magic after the age of 10, but there are a few that can be born with Chaos magic,” Xephers looks deadly serious. “Those born with Chaos magic are destined to bring Chaos to all the land, Killing and maiming without mercy.” Twilight Gasps and Spike looks like he might pass out. “Sadly, a Child born with Chaotic magic must be...” He hesitated to finish the sentence. “Killed immediately after it is known to stop the spread of Chaos.” Twilight starts tearing up, Spike collapses dropping the Sapphire, and Xephers closes his eyes, “We’ve tried to train them to use it for good but, The power corrupts their Spirit and drives them criminally insane or worse, a Demon will possess them and go on a rampage.” “Oh, my Celestia... That sounds terrible,” She grabs a tissue with her magic and wipes away her tears. “I’ve never heard of Elemental Magic before, is it anything like my Alicorn magic?” Her horn lights up and envelops Xephers to give him a feel of her magic, Twilight also checks what kind of Magic Xephers has. Xephers thinks for a moment. “I have never felt this kind of Magic before,” The magic around him disappears and Xephers opens his eyes, “What Twilight?” Twilight has a look of horror on her face. “I just tested how much magic you had and I can’t feel any Pony magic on you!” She stands up and starts backing away from Xephers slowly, “What’s worse is I can feel Draconian Magic in you as if you were a dragon in disguise.” Xephers tilts his head and then realizes what that means. “She must have felt Firasha’s Magic, shit!” Xephers smiles at Twilight, “You’re right Twilight, I do have Draconian Magic in me,” Her Horn ignites grabbing the nearest broom to protect herself from Xephers, “But it’s not mine,” Twilight drops the broom and looks confused. “It’s my Guardian-Dragon’s Magic,” Firasha Appears with a flash of Black Fire, (Draconic Magic is Black Fire essentially in Hytopia) “Twilight, meet Firasha, Firasha, meet Twilight,” Firasha lands on the ground and walks over to Twilight and bends down on one knee. “A pleasure to meet you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I am Firasha, Guardian-Dragon to Sir Xephers Strike,” Twilight looks between Spike, who is still passed out, and Firasha. Firasha stands back up to his full height, a head shorter than Spike... “I know I may be small but I can change my size at will but this is my real height and I prefer it honestly,” He Backflips onto the table Xephers is still sitting at and sits on the edge facing Twilight. “Uh... Nice... To meet you... Firasha...” Twilight slowly returns to the table and tries to wake up Spike, “Spike, wake up Xephers’ is done talking about his magic,” Spike slowly opens his eyes and groans, “Spike come on, there’s someone here to meet you,” Spike raises his head and spies the tiny Dragon on the edge of the table and he gets up. “Spike, meet Firasha, Xephers’ ‘Guardian-Dragon’ he’s been hiding from us until now,” “Correction, I have been resting until now,” Firasha Lies matter of factly, “I was weakened when we arrived by... An Unknown force,” He lies with a fake smile. “It’s not important now, Hello Spike, I’m Firasha a Micro Dragon Guardian!” Firasha stands up and Poses. “And if I’m correct it’s Xephers’ turn to ask a question,” Twilight opens her mouth to question the tiny drake but he puts up a claw, “Before you ask, Yes while I was resting I could hear everything Xephers heard and said, I just couldn’t see anything,” He lied masterfully at the end. “Alright,” Twilight and Spike sit down at the table again, “Firasha is right, Xephers do you have anything to ask me?” She Smiles, spike keeps looking at Firasha with a fascinated face. Xephers puts a hoof to his chin and thinks for a moment. “Ok then, Who rules Equestria, I know your Princesses but who are the King and Queen?” Firasha teleports onto Xephers’ head and sits down. “Yeah, who runs this place, where we’re from we got multiple kings and queens... And a Dog...” Firasha teleports Spike’s Sapphire off the floor, cleans it, and hands it back to Spike. “Het hi bo goraan Dovah, You dropped this.” Spike perfectly understands Firasha and grabs his Sapphire, Twilight looks at Firasha curiously. “What did you just say?” She looks at Spike, “I’ve never heard that language before, Spike do you know what he said?” Spike looks at her and laughs, “What are you laughing at Spike?” “You really don’t know what he said?” Spike calms down and bites into his Sapphire making Xephers and Firasha tilt their heads. “He said ‘Here you go young Dragon, you dropped this,’ didn’t you just hear him?” He stops at both Xephers and Twilights’ silence. “Ah, you mean Dovah Tinvaak, it’s our native language, and all Dovah or Dragons, in your language, are born with the natural ability to understand it, but we must learn to speak it just like every other being in the multiverse when we are young,” Firasha explains. Twilight shakes her head in confusion but recovers and looks at Xephers with a smile. “Well, that’s enough about that, now to answer your question, We don’t have a King or Queen, we just have Princesses,” She flairs her wings out and poses slightly, she regains her casual posture, “Now back to me, where are you two from?” Xephers answers her question without hesitation. “I am from Vernaria Village on Hytopia, He is from the Dragon Realm on Hytopia, a mirror dimension home to only Dragons,” Xephers explains, but Firasha interjects. “That’s a common misconception, our realm is not an exact Mirror of yours,” He stands up and materializes Glasses and a lab coat on himself. “Our realms are mirrored but, our realm is full of Lava instead of water and it never rains, volcanoes erupt Magma into the sky to make Clouds and it falls back down eventually,” He makes the glasses and Coat disappear and sits back down, “Just had to clear that up, sorry for interrupting you Xephers.” Xephers shakes his head slowly as to not throw off Firasha. “You didn’t really interrupt I was done talking, and thanks for the lesson on your Realm buddy,” Xephers smiles. “Alright, my turn, Spike, Dragons can eat Gems here?” Spike looks at Xephers and finishes his Sapphire. “Yeah, doesn’t Firasha eat Gems?” Spike asks to which Firasha just says maybe, and spawns a Gem and Chomps down on it. “Well, how does it taste Firasha?” Firasha pauses mid-chew and then tosses the whole thing in his mouth and sloppily eats the thing drooling on Xephers’ head, “Gross, Firasha get off!” Xephers tilts his head forward and Firasha falls onto the table with a thud and holds his enlarged belly picking at his teeth with a toothpick. “Twilight can we call this the end for today I’m getting really tired.” He grabs a Tissue and starts wiping the drool from his head. “Oh, of course, your room is upstairs, first door on the right, good night!” She says with a smile, Xephers says ‘night’ and heads up the stairs to bed with Firasha flying right behind him. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 7: Ancient Castle of the Two Sisters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 7= -Ancient Castle of The Two Sisters- =Golden Oaks Library= -The Next Day- Twilight is awake rummaging through her collection of books to find anything on how to open the mysterious chest that the Tree of Harmony produced. Spike is currently cleaning the Library with a feather duster and apron. Twilight growls in frustration and throws the book she’s currently reading across the room destroying Spike’s feather duster. “What’s wrong Twilight?” Spike walks over to her and she turns to face him. “I’ve gone through every book in Ponyville Spike,” She levitates a new book in front of her and skims it. “And there isn’t a single mention of the mysterious chest that came from the tree of harmony, nor anything about keys to unlock it,” She puts the book down and looks directly at Spike. “But something tells me that opening it is pretty important,” She flies to the top of a leaning tower of books and reads the top one. “I hope Princess Celestia has some ideas,” She hastily puts the book back, “If the Library in Canterlot doesn’t have anything, I don’t know where else to look.” The tower of books falls onto Spike, Twilight lands, and helps Spike out of the book pile. After getting up Spike burps a letter from Celestia for Twilight to read. “My dearest Twilight, while it would be perfectly lovely to have you in Canterlot once more, I have another option in mind closer to Ponyville. As you know, the ancient castle I once shared with Princess Luna lies mostly in ruins, deep in the Everfree Forest, but if you look carefully, you may find a book to help you with your research hidden somewhere in what’s left of the castle library,” She rolls up the letter and teleports it away. “Does this mean we’re going into the Everfree again?” Spike says with worry in his voice, “If we are, how about we ask Xephers to come with us for protection?” Twilight thinks for a moment then nods. “That’s a great idea, Spike, let’s go ask him if he’ll come with us.” She trots over to the stairs with Spike following close behind. They go up and get to Xephers’ room and hear talking inside. “Alright, you have fully recovered your health and Mana pool, Your spirit energy is full, and you can transform a total of 4 times today, not counting any involuntary ones.” They hear a small draconic voice say, “Is there anything else you would like me to check about your vitals Xephers?” “Not right now, thanks Firasha, good to know this world isn’t negatively affecting me. You can do as you please until I call for you,” Xephers says with a yawn to Firasha, “I need to get downstairs and see if anyone else is up, see you later bud,” Hoof steps are heard closing in on the door to the room and Twilight politely knocks on the door. “Huh, looks like someone else is up, I got it,” He opens the door, and smiles when he sees Twilight and Spike, Firasha waves at Spike who in turn waves back. “Twilight, just the Pony I wanted to see this morning, do you need something?” “As a matter of fact, yes we do need something,” She smiles back at Xephers, “We have to go into the Everfree Forest and would like to know if you would come with us when we go?” She pauses, “You don’t have to if you don’t want...” Xephers cut her off. “Alright, I’ll come with you, I’ve got nothing better to do,” He looks around making sure he has his cloak and Vest on, “When are you guys leaving? I’m ready whenever you are,” Twilight smiles, turns around, and starts heading back downstairs. “We were just about to go before we asked you, so we can go now if you’d like.” Xephers and Spike follow her downstairs and out the front door, closing it behind them. =Outside The Castle of The Two Sisters= -A long walk through the Everfree Forest Later- They get to the old castle without a hitch and head inside, they look around the castle for a little while until they find the castle Library, a huge two-floor library with a few huge bookshelves full of old books. Twilight squeals in excitement at being able to read centuries-old books. Xephers stands guard at the entrance of the room, occasionally glancing at either Twilight or Spike to check on them. Twilight flies around in excitement while Spike gets caught in cobwebs, falling over trying to get them off. Suddenly the Inhabitants of the room, Star-Spiders, start checking out the intruders of their home, causing Spike to shiver in fear. “We need to get some candles for light...” Before she can finish her sentence a bright ball of light appears on Xephers’ Hoof, floats to the center of the room on the ceiling, and glows bright enough to see the entire room perfectly. “Nevermind then, didn’t know your magic could produce light.” Xephers looks at her with a small grin. “It’s a basic Null Spell that illuminates a Room perfectly no matter what, but it only lasts for 2 hours, I’ll have to recast it after that, but it doesn’t use too much power to cast,” He looks around and spots the Strange Star-Spiders roaming around, “Are these Star backed Spiders going to be a problem?” Twilight looks at them and shakes her head, “Alright then, I’ll keep an eye on the Light spell, if it goes out don’t panic it’ll be back up in no time,” He smiles then turns back towards the Entrance, glancing at the spiders, just in case they decide to try to attack them. Twilight gets back to reading and Spike begrudgingly joins in to help her, but he’s being conscious about the Spiders. After a few hours, Xephers is sitting by the Entrance instead of standing and Twilight and Spike are still reading. “Find anything Spike?” Twilight asks, Spike setting down a large book shaking his head. A book floats toward Spike and out hops Angel, Fluttershy’s pet rabbit, scaring Spike and alerting Xephers, “Angel? What are you doing here?” as she says this Spike falls back in his chair and it pulls a lever revealing a room behind a bookshelf. Xephers joins them as they investigate what’s in the room, finding The Journal of The Two Sisters, Princess Celestia and Luna’s Personal Journal. “Maybe this is the book that Princess Celestia was talking about!” Twilight said with a gasp. She opens it and begins to read with Angel resting on her back. A few more hours later, Twilight is still reading the journal with Angel lounging next to her eating some delicious carrots. “Guys, you’ve got to hear this,” She announces to Spike and Xephers, “I love to duck behind the paintings, and though the hall of hooves still gives her a fright, the trap door slide is Luna’s favorite,” She finishes and Spike walks up to her to look at the Journal. “Hall of Hooves?” Spike says confused, Twilight flips the page to show said ‘Hall of Hooves’, then She begins speaking again. “Soon the Organ to the outside will be finished, I can hardly wait,” She finishes again and Spike grabs a pillow to sit next to her. “What’s the Organ to the outside?” Spike asks and Xephers shares his two cents. “If I had to guess it’s an organ that can be heard everywhere in the castle, even the courtyard.” He stands up and walks up to Twilight, Spike, and Angel. “I’ve dealt with an Organ like that, Creepy Music in an abandoned Temple, turns out the Demon at the End of the dungeon was a Musician in his previous life. Also, his ‘Organ’ was a spectral Instrument, and his weapon to fight me and my pals, he wasn’t easy to defeat.” He sat down next to Angel and gave him a Super Carrot, a large Carrot filled with double the nutrients, from his bag. “Well let’s hope nothing skitters over it to make loud sounds,” A few seconds after Twilight says that Creepy Organ Music begins to play. “Spike, do you hear that?” Xephers hears the Creepy Music, stands up, and walks over to the secret door. Spike follows him slowly until he also hears the Music. “Sounds like we’re not alone, that music is coherent,” Spike looks at him confused, “Intelligent, Spike, just like back then at the Temple...” Xephers looks at Twilight, “Princess, We’re not alone, something is playing the Organ,” He pauses, “Something Intelligent,” She breaks her concentration towards the book and looks at Xephers. “What are you talking about...” She started hearing the music, “You’re right, we aren’t alone, we need to investigate come on.” She picks up Angel and trots out the door. “Xephers can your Light spell be used as a torch?” Xephers nods as He and Spike catch up, Casting Light 1 again but passing it to Spike to hold. “Spike, here, hold this, it’s not hot or cold but it can fly away at any time so just keep a good grip on it.” Spike nods and hops on Xephers’ back for better height for the light source. “Good Idea, hang on tight and if we run into any trouble hop off so I can fight without you falling off,” Spike says ‘Right’, and they continue on their path To find the source of the music. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 8: The Inevitable Pinkie & An Old Enemy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 8= -The Inevitable Pinkie And An Old Enemy- =Outside The Castle Library of The Two Sisters= “Does anypony else hear a bunch of crying and yelling ahead of us?” Xephers inquires prompting Spike and Twilight to listen closely, “I think your friends are here Twilight, and they might be in trouble,” Xephers speeds up making Spike bounce a little and hold on tighter. Twilight nods and speeds up to keep up with Xephers. “I think you may be right, Xephers, I do hear my friends, let’s hope there’s nothing dangerous with them,” They gallop for the lobby where the crying and yelling is coming from. After half a minute of galloping, they reach the lobby and see all of Twilight’s friends minus Pinkie Screaming and crying over seemingly nothing. “I don’t see anything attacking them, just them running around in hysterics,” She looks at Xephers, “We need to stop them and assess the situation, correct?” Xephers looks at her and nods, he springs into action stopping Applejack from running around screaming by tackling her to the ground lightly. “Applejack, calm down, there’s no reason to be panicking!” He looks her in the eye with determination and she calms down, they stand up as Twilight stops Rainbow, from playing pinball with her body and the walls, with her magic. Angel runs up to Fluttershy to stop her from crying over a pillar and she hugs him tightly. Spike hops off Xephers and consoles Rarity, stopping her from crying, and then they all group up in the center of the room. “Well, that went better than expected,” Twilight pauses, “Have you girls been running around scaring each other?” They think for a moment then Applejack speaks up. “That depends, who’s making that creepy noise,” The Organ is still playing, “If we’re here, then who’s playing that?” Xephers steps up, “There’s only one way to find out... Everypony on me, time to see who’s the creep playing the Music, Leaf Blade!” His sword appears and he grabs it and heads toward the area the Music is coming from. Rainbow, Twilight, and Applejack nod and catch up to him with the rest following slowly behind. They reach the Organ chamber and see a cloaked figure playing the Organ, Xephers casts his Light spell to illuminate the room and the figure stops playing. It turns around revealing a twisted Theater mask under the cloak. It slowly reaches for the mask, stopping once it touches the mask. Xephers, Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight ready themselves with the others hiding behind the door opening. The figure speaks up in a low Femaleish voice. “I’m glad everypony decided to attend...” It takes its mask off and throws it across the room hitting a target causing a chain reaction in the room, “It’s time for...” Smoke covers the room then quickly dissipates to reveal... A party. “Xephers’ Welcome to Ponyville party!” The cloaked Figure throws the cloak into the air revealing Pinkie Pie! “Were you surprised?” When she said this several dozen Posters and balloons appeared out of nowhere. “Jesse it took you guys so long to get here I was about to run out of material for the Organ, but now you’re here!” She moves extremely fast to grab Fluttershy and the others and push them into the room for the Party. “Wait, you set up a party here?” Twilight pauses then looks at Pinkie, “For Xephers?” She pauses again, “Without telling us?” Pinkie smiles and happily answers, “Yes, I did this all for him and I hope he likes it so we can be the best of friends.” She bounces over to Xephers to gauge his reaction, “So, Xephy, Do you like it?” Xephers cringes at the bad nickname and looks at her, he drops his sword and steps on it. “#1, Disperse,” He un-summons his Sword. “#2, don’t do that again,” Pinkie deflates a little and stops bouncing. “#3, I love it, thanks Pinkie.” Pinkie cheers up instantly and shoots up into the air and Yells ‘YAY!!!’ then bounces around the room. After a few minutes of food and comradery things calm down a little with the party starting to head toward the entrance. “This is going to be so much fun, I just hope they survive...” An invisible being with a visible pair of red demonic-looking eyes says quietly then snaps something on its body almost silently. “Time to show you’re real... Hero...the eyes close and disappear. “So, anypony want to go back to the library with me to keep looking for any clues on the chest?” Twilight asks everypony present. Before anyone can respond the Organ begins to play again, making everypony look at it. “Pinkie, knock it off already,” Twilight shouts but she notices Pinkie standing right behind her. “Wait, if you’re here then who...” She gets interrupted by Ghostly Laughter which makes Xephers jump in fright. “No... It can’t be...” Everypony looks to Xephers, he looks pale and has sweat dripping down his face. “I thought we defeated you in the Temple!” Xephers is slowly backing away towards the door. The disembodied voice chuckles. “Where do you think you’re going?” A very low growling voice asks from behind the entire group making them turn around and face a Ghostly figure of a human with Pale white skin, long boney claws for fingers, yellow Jagged teeth, Blood Red eyes, baggy clothes that show his malnourished body, Sharp Black horns growing in his thin white hair, Chains around his wrists, and nothing from the knees down floating in the door opening. “Thozzal, you were sealed into a light crystal, how did you escape!” Xephers barks out still slightly freaked out. “You were meant to be sealed permanently!” Thozzal floated closer to him making everypony else back away from the demon. “Let’s just say, I had a little help from a friend so I could exact my revenge once and for all.” Thozzal waves a glowing red hand behind him and the doors slam shut and lock. “It’s time we had a rematch without all your pathetic friends...” He looks around the room spotting the others, and laughs, “Or your new ones,” He raises his hand and summons black holes below Everypony except Xephers. “Leave them alone Thozzal, It’s me you want!” Xephers stands straight, winning over his fear. “Let them go and we’ll have our rematch.” Thozzal hesitates for a moment then sucks the others into the Black holes and drops them outside the castle. “Your friends are safely outside the castle... But as for you...” Thozzal grows in size to fill about half the room. “This is where you meet your end!” He laughs maniacally a giant black hole opens under both of them transporting them to Somewhere Unknown. =Outside the Castle of the Two Sisters= “Is everypony ok?” Twilight stands up from the cold ground and looks around, “It looks like we were teleported outside the castle,” Applejack gets up and dusts herself off with her hat. “I’m ok Twi but, what was that thing, it looked unnatural,” Rainbow gets up and helps everypony else onto their hooves and feet. “Alright, we need a headcount, Rainbow check if everypony’s here.” Rainbow salutes and looks around carefully. “We have everypony but Xephers,” Rainbow lands next to Twilight. “If he’s not here then that means he’s still with that monster,” Twilight nods and tries to find him with a spell. “Oh no... I can’t find him anywhere in the castle...” She searches around the castle as well but, finds nothing. “He’s not around it either...” Suddenly a strange magical force starts emanating from the Organ room alerting Twilight. “Wait... I feel strange magic coming from the Organ room, come on we need to help Xephers!” Twilight charges back into the castle with the girls following behind while Angel and Spike wait safely by the door. After a few moments of full-speed galloping, they reach the doors to the Organ room still shut. Rainbow tries to open the door to no avail, Twilight tried to teleport into the room but something blocks her. All hope seems lost until the doors disappear before their very eyes, looking into the room they see Xephers lying there on the ground in a pool of blood. “Xephers!” Fluttershy flies to assist her fallen friend followed by the others, when she lands next to him she notices he isn’t breathing. “Oh no, he’s not breathing, Twilight can you do anything?” Twilight thinks frantically, but before she can do or say anything the body of Xephers stands up, half of his coat, mane, and tail stained red. Fluttershy starts shivering as he opens his eyes revealing the whites of his eyes have turned black and his pupils are now Red and slit much like a cat’s eye. “Uhh, anypony else getting a bad feeling about Xephers here?” Applejack starts backpedaling, making Xephers slowly look in her direction, once his eyes lock onto hers, his eyes go full red and he gallops at her full speed making everypony jump in fright except Rainbow, she flew into the air and tackled Xephers to the ground easily seemingly knocking him out. “What in the hay was that about?” Rainbow looked closely at Xephers, His eyes reopened and locked onto Rainbow’s making her jump and letting him get off the ground and look at Rainbow tracking her every move, the longer he stared the more he started drooling bloody saliva, soon opening his mouth revealing razor-sharp teeth and a forked tongue. “Wait, I don’t think that’s Xephers,” Once Twilight started talking ‘Xephers’ stopped staring at Rainbow and slowly turned his head toward her. “I think it’s an imposter, his teeth aren’t normal, they’re sharp and pointed!” Once ‘Xephers’ locked eyes with Twilight he started speeding towards her. “ Freeze!” She grabs him with her magic and lifts him into the air, ‘Xephers’ Is still attempting to gallop at her in the air, mouth open and tongue hanging out one side. “Let’s see what you really are,” She concentrates her magic on her captive, he glows oranges before exploding into smoke making everypony cough, after the smoke dissipates everything looks normal. No blood, no corpse, but also no Xephers. “It seems you sniffed out my trap, but Xephers is still with the real me,” A Thozzal clone appears out of the floor in front of the girls. “If you really want to join him, we’re at the spot where you defeated Nightmare Moon,” He floats into the ceiling, “Just don’t expect to get there without any roadblocks,” “Really, where we defeated Nightmare Moon, that’s on the other side of the Castle,” Rainbow yells in anger. Twilight looks at Rainbow with a determined look. “You’re right Rainbow, but we can make it, we just have to try our best to make it there before anything happens to Xephers,” She turns toward the entrance, “Come on everypony we have a friend to help!” They all nod and start galloping towards their destination. =To Be Continued!= > Chapter 9: Battle With A Demon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =Chapter 9= -Battle With A Demon- =Ancient Castle of The Two Sisters= -Where Nightmare Moon Was Defeated- Thozzal and Xephers fall into the Giant black hole below them while Thozzal laughs like a madman. They teleport into where Nightmare Moon met her end at the hand of the Elements of Harmony. “Alright Thozzal, it’s about time I defeat you for good,” Xephers gets into a fighting stance, “Leaf Blade!” His sword appears and he grabs it with his mouth. “Firasha, I’m gonna need backup!” Firasha appears in his medium form, (Medium form is about the normal size of teen dragons like garble) “I’m with you, sir!” Firasha brandishes his razor-sharp claws, “This time we won’t fail!” Firasha charges Thozzal landing a sharp cut to his chest. “Take that demon!” Xephers charged Thozzal as well. “Take this!” Xephers slices at Thozzal’s arms cutting one almost off, Thozzal reels in pain but a second later his arm is fully healed. “He’s regenerating at an extremely fast rate!” “Do you like my little party trick, hero?” Thozzal swings his massive arms around hitting both Firasha and Xephers into the back wall. “Our old friend gave it to me to assist in my revenge,” Thozzal raises his hand to slam it down on them but he hits part of the roof caving it in on himself. “Damn, this place is a tiny bit too small,” He waves his other hand, glowing with magic, and warps reality making the room much bigger than before. “Quick while he’s distracted!” Xephers yells and charges with Firasha to impale Thozzal, Thozzal attempts to guard the attack but they go for different places and Firasha successfully impales his claws into his upper torso. “Got him!” Thozzal roars in pain, grabs Firasha, and throws him across the room, “Firasha I think we need to fuse for more strength, let’s go!” “Oh no you don’t!” Thozzal quickly grabs Xephers and begins to squeeze the life out of him, “What’s wrong hero? Can’t beat me without your pathetic friend’s help?” Firasha recovers from being thrown and slashes Thozzal across the face making him drop Xephers. “Ahh! Damn it! You little... That’s it!” Thozzal glows red charging up a huge attack. “Now, Firasha, fuse with me quick!” Firasha returns to his Microform and Flies around Xephers’ neck causing Xephers to fall to his knees, “Here we go...” Xephers glows bright white, causing Thozzal to lose concentration and stop charging his attack. The light is so bright it can be seen from outside the castle. =Meanwhile with Twilight and Friends= The girls turn down the last hallway before reaching the spiral staircase leading to the room Xephers and Thozzal are in. They all see a bright light above them causing them to stop and look up at the light. “Is that coming from where Xephers is at?” Twilight asks to which Rainbow flies out a hole in the ceiling and checks, after a few seconds Rainbow returns and confirms that’s where it’s coming from. “Oh, let’s hope that’s a good thing but, just to be safe you and I need to fly there as fast as possible to help, everypony else needs to get there as soon as you can as well,” She flairs her wings, “Alright, Twi, you two be careful, we’ll try to get there as soon as we can,” Applejack turns to the others, “Come on girls, we’ve gotta get up this staircase as fast as we can,” They nod and gallop off, Twilight and Rainbow shoot out of the castle and head straight for the light. “I hope we get there in time,” Twilight whispers. The light dies out in the room letting Thozzal see again, he looks around only to find a Bi-pedal lime green Dragon with Flaming hair, piercing blue eyes, a Greatsword made of Fire, and a shield made of Steel grey Leaves. “Who are you and where did The red dragon and beige and green pony go?!” Thozzal yells at the new Dragon who responds by pointing the sword at Thozzal. “Right here Thozzal, and this is where you meet your end,” The Dragon calls out lowering its sword and getting into a fighting stance. Thozzal slams his hands on the ground, roars like a lion, and charges at the Dragon, “Legendary Slash!” The Dragon’s Greatsword glows bright white causing Thozzal to try to stop his advance but it’s too late, the dragon raises the sword above its head and brings it back down to slice Thozzal in half, Thozzal catches the blade with his hands and stops it from cutting him. “Is this all you have?!” Thozzal’s hands start to glow black and he begins to push back against the Dragon, “You’re losing ground Dragon, it would be a shame if you were killed by your own sword, wouldn’t it,” Thozzal grips the sword with one hand and allows the other to let go and attempt to cast a spell on the Dragon, “It’s time for you to die Dragon!” His free hand starts to glow red but, suddenly Rainbow and Twilight burst through an open window, “Xephers we’re here to help!” Twilight shouts causing Thozzal to lose focus and let the blade slip a little, “Rainbow quick, he’s losing ground!” Rainbow flies at Thozzal kicking his head extremely hard causing him to drop the sword cutting him fatally in half. “NOOOOO!!” Thozzal’s body starts to warp, “You wretched pony, you’ve ruined my plans!” He attempts to grab Rainbow but Twilight zaps him with magic, “Ahh, *Grunt* My master won’t be happy with this but...” Thozzal looks directly at the Dragon, “You will hear from more of your old adversaries... Trust me...” Thozzal screams in pain and explodes into a dark mist that blows away in the wind. “Take that demon...” The Dragon falls to his knees, “Can’t keep... The fusion going... Anymore,” The Fusion separates and Xephers falls onto the ground unconscious. “We did it...” Firasha lands on the ground trying to catch his breath. “Man Xephers, that attack took most of my energy too,” Twilight trots over to Xephers but Firasha stops her. “Don’t worry, he’s fine,” “But he’s unconscious on the floor, how is that ok!?” Twilight shouts at the micro-dragon, “Rainbow go help the others get here,” Rainbow salutes and flies out the main door. “Listen Twilight, Xephers used an Ultimate attack, a desperation move,” Firasha regains his energy enough to fly again, “The one he used has a side effect, after use, it will always knock out the user whether the attack hits or not,” Firasha flies in front of Twilight. Twilight opens her mouth to respond but the room starts shrinking back to its original size. “What’s happening?” Twilight asks looking around the room, Firasha lands on her head and pats her head to let her know it’s alright, “I’m going to run a magical scan on Xephers to make sure he’s ok,” Her horn lights up, and a purple glow envelopes Xephers. “Twilight we’re here, it took longer than I expected but, we’re here,” The others arrive with Applejack leading the pack. They look around the room to find Xephers covered in Twilight’s magic. “Hey girls, we beat him, but Xephers used all his energy with a powerful attack,” Firasha jumps off Twilight’s head and walks over to the others. “He’s unconscious for now, Twilight’s just checking him out to make sure everything is entirely ok,” They canter over to Xephers, and Twilight’s magic stops. “Ok, he’s going to be fine, he just needs a bit of rest,” Twilight says with a small smile, “Though we should probably get him back to Ponyville,” Fluttershy flitters up and looks at Xephers, checking for any cuts or bruises. “Applejack can you carry him? I’d teleport us back but, I don’t know if the sudden movement would negatively affect him,” Applejack nods and picks Xephers up onto her back with help from Rainbow and Fluttershy. “Alright he’s not too heavy I should be able to carry him back without any problems,” Firasha grows into his medium form again. “I’ll escort you guys so nothing attacks us,” Firasha says then turns toward the exit, “Just stick close and stay behind me,” In a dark corner of the room far from the others the Red eyes appear again, “Damn, they defeated Thozzal, looks like next time I’ll need a bigger threat to take care of them,” The being whispers, then disappears again. “Alright, let’s go and get Spike and Angel, they’re at the entrance to the castle,” Twilight informs Firasha, he nods, and they all start walking out of the castle. =Outside The Castle= “I wonder what’s taking them so long,” Spike looks up and covers his eyes, “It’s already starting to turn to day out here,” He looks back down at Angel, who has fallen asleep. “Spike it’s time to go,” Twilight says as they exit the castle. Spike looks up only to see a Red Dragon he’s never seen before leading his friends out of the Castle. “We beat Thozzal, but Xephers was knocked unconscious, he needs to get back to Ponyville so hop on,” Spike jumps onto Twilight’s back, and Fluttershy picks up the now awake Angel. “Alright, Everypony forward march back to Ponyville,” Firasha announces and they ‘March’ back to Ponyville. =End of this Story...= A new version of the story with better writing and more story from Xephers’ own world is coming soon, Look out for: Legends of Addola: Equestrian Adventures Coming soon to a FimFiction.com near you!