Sometime after Cozy Glow's defeat, Springer and his friends will be called to an unknown area. There, Springer will discover that there's always a chance for a species to begin anew. Even his.
Despite everything in Equestria being great at the moment, Springer and his charges must still face the harrowing fact that they are the last of their kind. Or are they?
Just when all hope seemed lost, they find themselves being called to a place that may hold the key to their species' revival. But as they arrive, they will find certain obstacles stand in their way, and if they're not careful, war could break out. As such, Springer must use everything he's learned in his time with the ponies to make things right. But can he?
In a dark cave, five bipedal figures could be seen sitting in a circle around a fire. They were all wearing black hooded cloaks that had different colored versions of the same pattern, all sitting like a monk and staring into the fire, saying nothing. But as their heads kept moving, it was clear some kind of conversation was occurring. But then, a sixth figure arrived through the entrance of the chamber. This figure wasn't wearing a cloak, but the darkness of the room hid their features as they walked in and got down onto one knee with their head down. "Father," they spoke in a feminine voice, "I have returned from the seal. It's just as you sensed. The seal has been broken."
The one in the silver trimmed cloak nodded, "I see. I had hoped I would live to see this day. The day our imprisonment would end, and we could finally return to the world."
"We should not be so hasty to leave," the one in the green cloak chimed in, "We have only been gone from this world a century and a half. For all we know, it could be just as chaotic as our parents told us it was when we were trapped in here. Maybe it would be safer to stay here, where we know it is safe."
"Hiding is not within our nature," one in an orange cloak added, "If we stay here, we'd just be inviting the enemy to come in and seal us up again."
The silver cloaked one turned to one in a purple cloak. "What do you see in our future?" The one in purple took out a glass orb from within their cloak, placing it on their lap and staring into it. The others all remained silent as they continued to stare.
"There are too many possibilities. Too many images to get a good enough vision. But there is one image that seems clearer then the rest. It is...Razor Fang." The rest of them growled at hearing this. "There is no doubt. He is the only one with that form, and he will play a big part in what is to come."
"You truly expect that arrogant fool to be the one to lead us into the future?!" One in a snow blue cloak sneered, "Ever since he achieved that form, he has grown worse and worse. If he were to lead us, no doubt disaster would follow."
"The prophecy did say he would be the one to bring us into a new era," Orange chimed in again.
"That prophecy is the reason we were trapped in here," Green continued, "I say to heck with the prophecy. We must decide for ourselves what our future holds." He turned to the one in silver, "You are our leader. It is you who decides what we do."
Silver remained still, only to turn to the figure still kneeling in the shadows. "Mirage. What do you think we should do?"
"Me?" The figure looked up.
"I know you care for the safety of our tribe, but also have the courage not to fear the unknown. So I ask you, what would you do if you were in my position?" They gestured for the figure to move closer, the one getting up and walking into the light. In doing so, they revealed what they were. A jakhowl.
The jakhowl was whitish silver, with black lines and feet while the fur on her chest and stomach was hot pink. Her eyes were a bright violet and the spikes on her chest and the back of her paws were shorter than what they would usually be seen.
"We don't know what the world could be like now. For all we know, the jakhowls of other tribes survived and managed to spread out. They very well might be the ones ruling the area we're in. If that's true, we should make our presence known. It's the only way we can find out where this world is safe for us."
"You make an excellent point," Silver nodded, "And I know exactly how we will do so. I only hope you're right and the jakhowls are still around and living someplace peaceful."
Summer had arrived in Equestria, which meant one thing: School was out.
All over Equestria, the schools had shut down and the students had returned home to enjoy themselves. This included the School of Friendship, which had just finished its first full year of school. It had been a shaky start, but the place was now officially confirmed to be a success. The students had worked hard to pass the first year, and now they could enjoy a summer of relaxation. But the ones that deserved to really relax were the teachers.
All over Ponyville, the teachers were enjoying their extra free time. Pinkie was still working at Sugarcube Corner, baking multiple delicious treats, babysitting the twins and spending quality time with her boyfriend when he wasn't out doing shows. Rainbow and Soarin weren't in Ponyville, the married pair instead travelling on tour with the rest of the Wonderbolts. Rarity was also away, preparing for a big show in Manehatten with Lightning Blitz. Fluttershy and Applejack were in town, but they had gotten rather busy with their farm and sanctuary work.
That just left the last two teachers of the school, who's current location were currently unknown by everypony. That included Springer, who was now walking through the crystal castle, looking for his pegasus partner. The jakhowl frowned as he looked for Flash, being tempted to simply scan for Flash's aura. It was getting late in the morning and Springer really needed to find him.
"Flash?" He called out, stepping into his and Twilight's room. He glanced around, but found nothing, only to hear the sound of the shower running in the next room. Moving over to it, he knocked. "Flash?"
"Yeah?" Flash's voice replied, Springer stepping inside and seeing the shower stall curtain was drawn. Flash heard the door open and yelped, "Dude!"
"What?" Springer asked, "It's nothing I haven't seen. Besides, you said you'd take over my patrol today. Remember?"
"Okay?" He sounded exasperated, "I'll get to it when I'm done. Can you go now?"
"Why?" Springer raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing in there?"
"Nothing."
"Right..." he replied slowly. "Then you won't mind me opening the curtain? You in the shower isn't any different from when you're swimming."
"Don't!" It wasn't Flash's voice that cried that, making Springer flinch.
"Twilight? What are you doing in there?"
"Um...taking a shower?"
"With Flash?"
"Why not?" Twilight muttered out, "We all have to do our part to conserve water. Now can you go?! Flash will get to the patrol when we're done in here,"
Springer crossed his arms, not believing that one bit, and despite being shielded by the curtain, a flash of purple made him realize Twilight was likely about to blast him with magic. "Okay," he turned to leave, "I'm going. Geez." He reached the door and was about to head out, but in that moment a wicked idea entered his head. And before his better judgement could stop him, he reached over and hit the flush on the toilet. He then ran out of the room as the sound of two ponies screaming filled the entire castle.
Getting to the ground floor, he zipped into the town. As he did this, he couldn't help but wonder why he had done what he just did. Many would probably say that despite being considered an adult at this point, he was technically a child by most of Equestria's standards when it came to age, though he did have to consider what happened a bit ago with Shade would make him seem old.
As such, he headed through town, only to spot a pair of ponies drinking from the same milkshake at a cafe. Another pair were walking through town together and another pair were having a light-hearted argument, all done between ponies Springer could feel a great amount of affection with one another. A type of affection Springer would probably never get to experience himself.
And as he passed Sugarcube Corner, he glanced inside and spotted Pinkie and Wild side by side. Mr and Mrs Cake was also there, playing with their children and leaning against one another. Springer couldn't help but feel a wave of jealousy wash over him.
When he had first met all of his friends, they were all single and seemed perfectly happy. Springer had also felt happy on his own, thinking his friends would be all he ever needed. But as time passed and each found a pony to call their special somepony, Springer felt something hollow in his heart. As each of his friends found happiness, that feeling grew and grew. Springer knew that he was never going to get to share the kind of happiness they all had, since he was one of the only jakhowls left alive.
With just him and two others, both too young for him, he knew he was doomed to a life of feeling that hollowness. Forever.
He then walked into the town park, now seeing Ace and Mira off in the middle of it. Ace was wielding his Bone Breaker and swinging it around while Mira was clearly trying to form her own aura bone, but still couldn't grasp it. The yellow jakhowl grunted as she formed an Aura Blast in front of her and then tried to change its shape, but every time the orb popped and sent out a wave of aura. "Ahhh!" She groaned, and then tried again to form it, only to pop once more. "What am I doing wrong?!"
"No idea," Ace replied, "From what I can see, you're doing everything right."
"Then why won't the aura form the shape I want?!" She growled, only to turn to her mentor as he walked up, "Springer, why won't this work?"
Springer frowned at her, knowing that she had tried so much recently, but it still didn't work. He let out a long sigh, "I'm sorry, but...I don't know. You are doing it correctly."
Mira sighed before turning to Ace, seeing him dance around with the aura weapon. "But you two can easily do it. What's so different about me?" She glanced down at her fur, seeing the different color, "Maybe...maybe I can't use this move."
"What?!" Springer yelped, "Why would you say that?! Of course you can use it!"
"But what if I can't?" Mira instantly countered, "What if my species of jakhowl can't use that move?" Ace and Springer tilted their heads at that, "I mean, you two are both blue and Springer's entire tribe was blue. So maybe only blue jakhowls can use the Bone Breaker technique. And since I'm not blue, I can't use it."
Ace and Springer opened their mouths at that, about to tell her that was ridiculous, only for nothing to come out. Springer had to admit that that theory could be true. Springer had only seen non-blue jakhowls in the memories he watched from their time in the lost city, and none of them had used any special attacks. If ponies were divided into several subspecies, each with their own specific abilities, who says the jakhowls didn't fall into the same split.
"I...I guess it's possible," Springer nodded, "But we don't have any way of confirming it." He sighed as he sat on the grass and looked up at the sky. "I mean...I guess its possible you'll naturally learn to use another move Ace and I can't learn. But if that's the case, it's gonna be on you to figure it out. I had to figure out all of mine alone..."
Mira frowned at this as Ace chimed in, "Well, why not try and teach her how to use Velocity Strike?" The two turned to him, "I can't use that move yet, so maybe she'll pick it up before I can use Bone Breaker."
"Yeah." Mira exclaimed as she turned back to Springer, giving her the best puppy-dog eyes she could. She thought back to that day when she accidently moved at lightning speed, causing a wave of food and drink to blast itself into her friends and splat them against the wall.
Springer flinched at that, "That's...that's a very dangerous move to use. Even I don't like to use it that much. When I first started learning it, my body got hit with backlash that basically made me useless. It's not a move you should use as part of your fighting set. It's a finisher or a last ditch attack, and I still have to mainly use mega mode to use it safely." But Mira just kept giving him the eyes, making him sigh, "Fine, we'll try. But the moment it looks like you're gonna hurt yourself, we stop."
"YAY!" Mira cheered, jumping up and down with joy.
Springer shook his head as he stood up. "Let's get to work."
Meanwhile...
Across town near the edge of forest, Heart was training, punching a tree again and again with as much force as he could. Every time he punched the tree, he let out a mighty grunt. Soul was laying against another tree, a book in her lap as she tried to read, only to growl as she heard the noise.
"Do you have to do that?!" She finally yelled, Heart not stopping as he spoke back.
"I'm training!"
"I doubt Flash got as strong as he did by constantly grunting like an enraged gorilla." Heart rolled his eyes, but kept punching away at the tree.
"I didn't ask you to come."
"No, but if I didn't, then nopony would be around to look after you when you inevitably overdo it and hurt yourself...again." Heart didn't say anything back and simply kept punching the tree, Soul sighing as she got back to reading her book. Though she was worried about her brother, she had unfortunately grown use to his moodiness. Ever since the unfortunate incident with Cozy Glow, Heart's happy and upbeat personality had all but vanished. The pain of her betrayal had shook him to his very core, causing him to lose all the joy that had once been his defining personality trait. Now he was overly serious and constantly annoyed, something that had caused a lot of his fellow students to start giving him a wide berth before the end of school.
Flash and the rest of Heart's friends had all tried cheering him up and occasionally, it seemed to work and he almost started smiling. But the universe seemed to want Heart to stay upset since every time he looked ready to become happy again, something or someone would do something that reminded him of Cozy and they would be back to square one.
Now that school was out for the year, everypony hoped the break would give him the time he needed to heal. But so far nothing seemed to be improving his mood in the slightest. Soul wished he could help him, but it seemed the pain he was in was one of the few that her magic couldn't fix. As such, all she could do was be there for him when he needed her and pray that he would find a way on his own.
"Ow!" She looked up from her book and saw Heart pull away from the tree, clutching his hoof. She saw that some of the tree bark had been broken off by his punches, meaning he had probably gotten a splinter, the alicorn filly sighing as she got up and moved over to him.
"That's what you get for bullying the poor tree. Did you not think it wouldn't start fighting back?" She laughed and Heart just rolled his eyes as Soul pulled the splinter out of his hoof and managed to confirm he wasn't seriously hurt. To be sure, she used her magic to make sure it didn't get infected and as soon as she finished, Heart pulled away and started working on another tree.
Soul let out a sigh and sat back down, grabbing her book and finding where she had left off. If Heart didn't start turning things around soon, she feared she would never get to see the happy and excitable brother she loved so much ever again.
Springer now watched Mira stand at one side of the park field. They nodded to each other, Mira closing her eyes and attempting summon the same power she had felt the first time. The aura wrapped around her and once the cloak was formed, she opened her eyes and leapt forward. She flew across the field, but something didn't feel right. Instead of moving at high speed, she felt like she had just jumped a long way.
And after a few seconds and few feet, she began to slow down and fall down. She quickly spun around so her feet landed before the rest of her, the yellow jakhowl sliding to a stop and letting out a sigh when she did.
"Argh!" she kicked the ground, "Why isn't this working?!"
"I don't know," Springer replied, "It's possible the last time you did it was a fluke, but don't get depressed." Mira sighed and moved back over to try it again, turning back to where Ace was practicing against a tree. She summoned her aura and leapt forward again, only to repeat what happened last time. "Don't try and force it. You need to let your aura lead you. Last time you did this, you said it felt like your body was moving on its own?" Mirra nodded, "Well, that's how it's supposed to do."
"So why isn't my aura leading me now?"
"It could be you're not in the right mindset. What were you thinking about when you used it last time?"
"I was really wanting to beat Ace and the rest of his side in the food fight." Springer couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered Twilight telling him all about that little incident and how annoyed she had been. Luckily, nopony had been hurt, so the EEA hadn't been breathing down their necks about the whole situation.
"Well, you'll have to try and put yourself in that mindset again." Mira nodded and closed her eyes, only to hear a rumbling. They both looked down at this, seeing the stomach was the source. Both laughed as Springer patted her side, "Why don't we get a bite to eat and try it again after lunch? You might be able to get it right with a full stomach." Mira nodded and Springer gestured for Ace to come with them.
Ace nodded and the three began to head out of the park, Ace and Mira beginning to argue about where to go for lunch, Springer laughing at the two.
But before he could make up his mind, something happened that stopped his thoughts head in their tracks. For in that moment, it felt like he was struck by a wave as some kind of force suddenly washed over him. He reached up and grabbed his head, which started screaming at him as he felt his legs give out and cause him to fall to the ground with a cry to the heavens. Ace and Mira's screams filled his head at this, glancing back to see the pair holding their heads as they fell to the ground as well.
Several ponies seemed to hear their screams and rushed to their side, but the trio all seemed to lose consciousness as they did this. Seemed was the optimal word, since the three were still conscious, just slumping over as their consciousnesses seemed to leave their bodies.
As their bodies fell to the dirt, the three felt themselves phase out of their bodies and remain as they were. The pain they felt was gone, but fear had replaced it as they began to float upward.
"What's happening?" Mira cried, Springer wanting to know the same thing as they were lifted higher.
"Are we dead?" Ace asked, clearly terrified Springer would say yes.
"I...I don't think so." Springer moaned out, only for the trio to be pulled in a different direction. Instead of going up, they began to fly forward and pick up speed with each passing second. They all cried out as they left the town and flew through the air almost too fast for them to pick up any detail.
But Springer was able to tell where they were going, and as they got closer to wherever they were heading, he could feel a pull. Something he had only felt when trying to find Ace and Mira. "No way," he whispered. It was then that they started slowing down, the three taking in every detail of their surroundings. They found the place was a bit barren, but they could still see trees not too far off and there was a river nearby. It looked like a pretty good place to set up a town or outpost honestly.
They then noticed a mountain that they were moving toward, which was pretty tall, but not so much you could see it from a great distance away. The top was flat, as if someone had cut the tip of it off and thrown it away. And it was this top that they found themselves moving toward. Standing atop it were five individuals, all wearing hooded cloaks that hid their faces. One was standing in the exact center of the mountain top, while the other four stood around him to form a dice five. The five each had their arms up and appeared to be giving out an energy that the three knew all too well. Aura.
The aura had swirled into a large orb above the middle figure, looking like a giant Aura Blast. And every second, the orb sent out a pulse of aura that the three realized was what had hit them. And as they got close enough, one of the cloaks seemed to notice something and turned to them.
They stared at the three, and after a few seconds, the others did the same. "They can see us?" Mira asked, looking at their ghost-like form. "But how?"
"They're using aura," Springer pointed out, "And there's only one type of being I know that can use it in such a way." The center figure walked up to them at this, reaching up and grabbing the hood of their cloak. In doing so, they revealed who they truly were. "A jakhowl."
It was indeed a jakhowl, but it was not like any Springer had seen before. It had a different color of fur, for the parts that were blue on Springer were a mixture of cream and many strands of gray. The black parts of Springer were the same for him, though parts of that were also gray, but the most noticeable thing about him was the fact that his skin looked wrinkly. It was an old jakhowl, older than any other jakhowl he had ever seen. And he wasn't the only old jakhowl. The other figures removed their hoods to reveal themselves as jakhowls as well, all being different colors and all looking very old. Not as elderly as the first one, but still well past their prime.
The first jakhowl looked them over, then looked around as if expecting something else to appear. But he seemed rather disappointed. "Is...is this all?"
"What?" Springer asked, but suddenly found himself being pulled back. "Wait! What's happening?!" He cried as the old jakhowls looked the three over.
"Find us," the first one replied, "Find us and we will explain all."
Before he could say anything else, the three were pulled back at lightning speed. The mountain quickly vanished from view, but Springer did everything in his power to memorize the route to it. They were moving much faster than when they were being brought to the place, Springer feeling like an elastic band that had been pulled tight and let it snap away. Eventually, they returned to Ponyville and were pulled back to the park. The pair were then sucked down into their bodies and in a blink, Springer could feel himself on the ground as his eyes opened.
He gasped as he pushed himself up, Ace and Mira doing the same. The ponies around them pulled back in surprise. "You're up." Octavia sighed in relief, "We were so worried. We were just about to try and move you all to the hospital...or a vet."
"What happened to you?" Thunderlane asked, but Springer didn't answer and looked over to his charges instead.
"Did you see that?" He asked them, not even needing to give details about what it was. Sure enough, the pair nodded and Springer smirked. It hadn't been a dream. "Come on!" He jumped to his feet and ran for the castle, Ace and Mira right behind him and leaving a couple of very confused ponies behind.
They ran as fast as they could through the town, the ponies around them noticing them, figuring something must be up. They eventually reached the castle, and as they did, Heart and Soul were returning there. The pair noticed the shocked and serious expressions they were all wearing, Soul trying to speak to them. "Hey Mira, what's-" She didn't finish as the three ran inside, the twins sharing a glance before heading in after them.
They followed the trio until they reached the map room, which activated as soon as they were inside it. "What are you doing?" Heart asked as Springer stared at the map, locating Ponyville on it and slowly moving his gaze across the environment. And as they did this, Twilight, Starlight and Flash stepped into the room.
"What's all the commotion about?" Flash asked as Springer let out a 'There!'.
"Twilight," Springer pointed to a mountain on the map, "I need you to make me a Rune Gate to this mountain! Now!"
The ponies in the room all flinched at his outburst as Ace and Mira jumped up onto the table and stared at the sight of the mountain. "Um...why?" Twilight asked, "Springer, is something wrong?"
Springer took a deep breath, unable to believe he was actually going to be saying these worlds. "Jakhowls," he replied, his heart beating a hundred miles an hour as the ponies all went wide-eyed at the news, "There are more jakhowls out there and I've got to find them."
"What do you mean there are more jakhowls out there?" Flash asked as he, Twilight, Spike, Heart and Soul followed the three canines through the castle.
"We saw them!" Ace yelled as they reached the jakhowls' rooms. Each grabbed a backpack and began filling them with whatever they thought they might need. "They were on a mountain and were using some kind of weird aura ball."
"He's right," Mira nodded as she stuffed a sleeping bag inside her backpack. "I think they were trying to call all the jakhowls in Equestria to them. They looked surprised when they saw we were the only ones that showed up, but they told us to come and find them."
"And that's what we're gonna do," Springer finished.
"Hang on there!" Twilight exclaimed, "Before you three go galivanting off on what could be a wild goose chase, have you actually thought about any of this? How do you know this isn't some kind of trap?"
"Yeah," Flash nodded. "The last time you thought you found another jakhowls, you found Shade instead. You just got done fighting him, do you want to do it again?"
Springer turned to him, a slight glare on his face as he remembered that last confrontation. The trickster had leapt into a blizzard, and hadn't been seen since. The thought of him already back was...unnerving to say the least as Springer let out a sigh, "No." he shook his head, "It's real this time. I can feel it." He turned to the ponies and saw nothing but frowns, "Listen, I know you're worried, but I need to do this. If there really are jakhowls out there, I have to find them. I don't know where they've been all this time, but I have to figure it out."
They all exchanged glances before nodding, "Alright," Flash grumbled with crossed hooves, "But at least let us send a letter to the princesses. You know Luna will want to know that more jakhowls have returned." Springer nodded back at that, Spike quickly taking out a scroll and writing it as Ace and Mira stepped out of their room.
"Alright," Ace shook his bag up his back, "What are we waiting for?"
Springer gave them a raised eyebrow, "Who said you two were going?"
"What?!" They yelped, looks of horror now on their faces as Springer shook his head.
"Flash is right. This could be a trap."
"All the more reason to take us with you!" Mira yelled back, "Going alone is dumb. Going with us, not so dumb."
Springer's eyes narrowed at this, "No." They opened their mouths, only for Springer to lean down, making them stumble as he added, "Listen, I know I showed you why I fought him last time and the times before, but you two should know that if it is Shade, you're not ready."
Ace and Mira shared a glance before glaring back at their mentor, "We're ready!" Ace exclaimed, Springer about to reply before the young jakhowl added, "We're not little pups anymore! We've trained hard, and we can hold our own just as much as you can." Springer frowned at this, "Don't forget, we helped save Equestria. I'm pretty sure that qualifies us for going on epic adventures."
"And it wasn't just you who got called," Mira continued, "We were summoned too, and we want to meet the other jakhowls!" She and Ace then gave Springer their best puppy dog eyes, Springer flinching before letting out a groan.
"Fine." The two cheered as Spike finished writing the letter and sent it off. "Alright...if we're going, then let me see what you two packed. Even if we do Rune Gate there, we might still be needing all the provisions." The pair nodded and showed him their bags, Mira having packed her sleeping bag and teeth care products while Ace had only packed a bunch of junk food. "Really?"
"What? I don't wanna meet the jakhowls with my blood sugar low! I might get cranky and make the wrong impression." Springer rolled his eyes and the three headed down to the kitchen where they grabbed as much food as they could carry with them.
"Water bottles?"
"Filled and ready," Mira smirked as she pointed to the three bottles of water now on the counter.
"Flashlight?"
"Got and given new batteries," Ace spun the device in his paws before almost dropping it to the floor.
"Anything else we might need?"
"All packed with the rest of us." The three turned to the door and saw Flash, Twilight, Spike, Heart, Soul and Starlight all with their own bags on their back. "What?" Flash asked when he saw them stare, "You think we'd let you do this on your own?"
"Yeah," Soul smirked, "We're coming with you."
Heart nodded. "And if it is a trap..." He punched a hoof into his other, making a puff of smoke appear. The others turned to him as Spike suddenly started coughing. Moments later, he spat out a blast of ash that swirled into a scroll.
Twilight caught it and started reading aloud, "Dear Twilight. Luna and I were shocked to hear about Springer's discovery. Though we hope the vision they had was true, we also cannot ignore the possibility that this is some kind of trap. I would like for you to go with Springer and confirm if the jakhowls really have returned. If they have, I can think of nopony better suited for beginning friendly relations with them than the Princess of Friendship." Twilight blushed with pride, "Please go with Springer and make sure everything is okay."
"Awesome!" Flash cheered, "Celestia's on board with us going." Twilight nodded and kept reading.
"However, I think it would be best if you limit your number. I know you probably want to go with your friends, but too many ponies appearing may seem like an act of aggression. I suggest no more then five of you go along with Springer and the pups if they are going as well. Hope to hear back from you soon, Princess Celestia."
"Only five?" Soul started counting. "If you don't count Spike, that makes five. But I'm guessing Spike would still count to the number. So that's six of us."
"One's gonna have to stay behind," Flash sighed.
"I'll stay," Starlight chimed in, "You'll need somepony to keep things running in case something school related happens. And I can tell everypony else what happened when they come around." The others nodded and thanked Starlight as they headed for the Rune Gate.
Twilight then fired a temporary Rune Gate to the location Springer had told her about. "Alright," the Rune Gate started powering up, "I've sent the other gate to a forest about a mile or so away from the mountain. Don't want the jakhowls getting scared by it and attacking before we can explain things."
"Good idea," Springer nodded as the pillar of light appeared. The jakhowl took a deep breath at this, his thoughts going between the idea of meeting more of his kind...and a certain fox's trap. "Alright. Here goes."
"Good luck!" Starlight told them as they nodded back, Springer going first as he walked up to the light, only to feel a pair of paws grabbing his. He looked down and saw Ace and Mira holding his paws, the pair smiling up at him as he nodded back. They then stepped through the portal together, Spike following behind, the twins going in next. Fash and Twilight stepped up and turned to Starlight, who nodded at them. They smiled back before stepping through the portal together, only for the portal to close.
"I hope everything goes well." Starlight sighs. "Please be safe."
Within a forest a bit away from the mountain, a pillar of light exploded upward as Springer stepped out with Ace and Mira. Heart, Soul, Spike, Flash and Twilight followed suit as the pillar vanished, Heart asking, "Is this is?" Ace ran ahead at this, hopping onto one of the trees and using his claws to help him scale it. Once he was at the top, he glanced around, now seeing the mountain a good mile or so away from the edge of the forest.
"There it is!" He exclaimed as he hopped down and Twilight caught him in her magic. "That way!" He pointed at it and Springer held a paw out in that direction, sending out a wave of aura...only to not feel a thing.
"Doesn't mean they're not there," he added as he took the lead, the younglings on his tail, Spike and the ponies following after them.
"I really hope this doesn't turn out to be for nothing." Flash whispered to Twilight as he saw the determined look on Springer's face, "I don't think he could handle it if there wasn't anything there."
"Something had to have called them here," Twilight replied, "If it's not the jakhowl, who could it be?"
"I just hope it wasn't Shade...or somehow another Trickster." Flash finished as the eight made their way through the forest.
And as they reached the edge, the others now saw the mountain. "Is that it?" Heart asked, the jakhowls nodding.
"How many jakhowls did you see on it?" Soul chimed in.
"Only five," Mira responded, "But they were all really old."
"But it might not just be them," Ace added, "I mean, I hope there's some jakhowls our age we can hang out with."
Springer nodded at this, "And even if there aren't, who knows what those old timers could teach us. There could be a whole new level of aura power we haven't discovered yet."
Mira and Ace grinned at this, Mira definitely hoping they knew how to teach her to properly form a Bone Breaker. And as they continued across the rocky landscape toward the mountain, the soon saw the place had a fence of rocks surrounding the base of differing sizes and shapes. Sighing at the sight, they began to climb over the boulders.
But as they did this, a bunch of eyes stared at the group, Mirage appearing on top of one of the rocks. "What have you found?"
"Intruders," a jakhowl pulled itself into the light. Compared to Springer and Mirage, he was a very different color. The normally black parts of his body were purple, while the rest of him was white and his chest fur was orange. "They appeared from out of the forest and some of us saw a strange light appear from it before. They're heading straight towards us."
Mirage frowned and glanced over the rocks, seeing the figures, only to notice three of them were jakhowls. "What?" She asked, remembering her father telling her about what had happened before. The group were now getting over the first hurdle of boulders, the sight making her growl, "We can't let them get too close. If those jakhowls have allied themselves with our enemy, we must teach them a lesson for betraying their kind." The other jakhowls all nodded as they stepped into the light, each one being a different assortment of colors and all looking ready for a fight.
The group now found themselves staring at a huge rock fence now, one that would need a lot of climbing. "We could just fly over them," Flash chimed in, "Twilight and Soul can carry Springer in their magic and I'll carry the youngsters. Shouldn't cause too much of a problem, right?"
They all nodded in agreement, only for Spike to point up at the boulders, "Hey! What's that?"
"What was what?" Twilight asked as they spun around to stare at where he was pointing.
"I...I thought I saw something. Movement." The others followed his gaze, only to find nothing.
That is, till Heart pointed at another rock, "There!" They turned and still saw nothing, only for Soul to spot another shift behind some more rocks.
"Over there!"
Flash let out a huff at this and pulled out his sword. "Alright, who's there?! Show yourself!"
As he yelled this, nothing happened. The group clenched up at this, only for Springer to point upward, "Look out!" He then summoned an Aura Guard as a blue sphere hit his barrier and exploded. "No way." The smoke quickly faded, and when it did, they were greeted to the sight of the one who fired the attack.
Mirage landed on one of the rocks and glared down at them, Springer's eyes going wide at the sight of her. And she did not look happy. "Why did you come here?!" Springer's voice seemed to vanish as he stared at her, the jakhowl growling as she saw she was now being ignored. "Answer me!"
Springer shook his head at this before lowering his shield. "We came because we were summoned here. A bunch of old jakhowls appeared to us in a dream and told us to come."
"And why did you bring them?" She pointed to the ponies and dragon with a snarl.
"They're our friends," Mira instantly replied, "They came to make sure we weren't walking into a trap."
Mirage's face twisted at that, "You're friends with our sworn enemies?!" She yelled, the group going wide-eyed before she added, "You traitors!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Twilight stepped up, "There must be some mistake. We're not enemies. Ponies just want to welcome you back to Equestria."
"Equestria? What is that?!"
"That's where you are," Flash replied, "This is the kingdom of Equestria. Where did you think you were?"
Mirage's eyes narrowed at this, "So, our enemies were able to conquer this land while we were away. Well, you won't take our home from us! Jakhowls!" As she yelled this, four more figures leapt up from behind the rocks. They landed on either side of her, all showing to be jakhowls of different color combinations in their fur, bands and feet.
"Whoa..." Heart gasped.
"Well..." Flash turned to Springer, "At least now we know the jakhowls actually have returned."
"Why do I get the feeling that this is gonna be a really complicated problem?" Springer responded.
"Last chance," Mirage growled, "Leave or be destroyed."
"Now hang on, this is all a big misunderstanding," Twilight chimed in, "We're not your-" She didn't get to finish as one of the jakhowls fired a blue orb at her. She gasped at this, Flash quickly getting in front of her and slashing the sphere, cutting it in half and causing the ends to fly off in different directions and explode.
The jakhowls all leapt down off the rocks and once they hit the ground, all charging next, "What do we do?" Soul asked as they came, "We can't fight them."
"I don't think they're giving us much of a choice," Heart ignited his body.
"Don't let them hurt you," Twilight commanded, "But try not to hurt them either." As they said this, Mirage's paw spike morphed into a Steel Paw.
"Try to not hurt the younglings!" She announced, "There's a chance their brainwashing can be undone!" She then leapt at Springer, who quickly formed a Bone Breaker. The pair met in the air, Springer using his staff to shield himself against her claws while the others scattered. Flash was fighting the purple and white one while Twilight put a shield around herself to defend against a teal one with a brown chest and black bands while Spike made a pair of fire claws that he held up defensively. Ace and Mira found themselves up against a brown one with gray bands and yellow chest fur, while Heart and Soul were being attacked by one that looked like an older Mira with green chest fur.
Springer and Mirage pushed against one another, their eyes glaring into each other. "Please," Springer groaned, "I don't wanna do this. We're not your enemies."
"You side with the ponies," Mirage hissed, "That makes us your enemy." She pushed Springer back and started slashing at him rapidly, the male jakhowl swinging his staff around and barely managing to block them all. This seemed to make Mirage raise an eyebrow. "Who trained you? Your stance is all wrong and you're barely holding the staff correctly."
"Nobody trained me. I trained myself." This made Mirage stop for a second, only for Springer to split the bone in half and started swinging it at her. "I don't know where you and your friends have been, but jakhowls and ponies aren't enemies." He swung both bones down and Mirage crossed her claws. "My tribe were allied with the ponies since my dad was a cub. The ponies have only ever treated us with respect. And when we vanished, they mourned us."
"Vanished?!" She pushed Springer back, only for the male jakhowl to lock her in place with his aura weapon.
"Until today, I thought we were the last three jakhowls alive. But now you all show up." He stared right into her eyes, "How many more of you are there?"
"Why would you want to know?" She growled, "Planning to turn us into a bunch of pony slaves like you?!" She then leapt back and formed an Aura Blast, "I won't let you hurt them!" She fired the orb and Springer simply deflected it without much issue, making Mirage go wide-eyed. "What? How are you able to do that with no training?"
And as this exchange happened, another jakhowl was watching the events. This one was black in color, with blood red bands and dark gray chest fur. He watched with a snarl as he grumbled, "Mirage should have let me handle this. I could have destroyed these vermin in ten seconds."
"You sure could." He turned to another jakhowl, this one being in his child form, his fur being snot green with a brown mask and feet. "You could have taken them down no issue. Yup, yup. That's why you're the best and when this is over, you'll be leading us into the future."
"That's right," he nodded. "And don't you forget it." He stared back down at the fight, grinning at the sight, "I'll give you five minutes Mirage...then I'll kill 'em."
Flash managed to block his opponent's Bone Breaker, the purple and white jakhowl glaring at him as he swung the staff around with one paw and formed an Aura Blast with the other. "Whoa!" He leapt back to avoid the staff and then thrust his sword forward, "Flash Force!" A laser came out next, hitting the Aura Blast and making it explode between them, forming a smoke cloud, only for the jakhowl to leapt through the fog.
Flash flared his wings and flew over the jakhowl, "Would you just listen to us for five minutes?!" The jakhowl started firing Aura Blast after Aura Blast at him, the pony quickly flapping around each attack.
"Things have changed!" Twilight cried as she and Spike dodged their jakhowl's Steel Paw, Spike attempting to grab him, but the wolf leapt back and flipped through the air. "I don't know where you come from, but ponies and jakhowl aren't enemies in Equestria!"
The jakhowl then fired an Aura Force, Twilight summoning another magic shield. As this happened, Ace formed a Bone Breaker and charged at his opponent, who simply caught it in his paw before shifting his head to avoid Mira's Aura Blast. "I'm sorry if these ponies have hurt you," he told the two. "But don't worry. We can help you break whatever spell you're under."
"We're not under a spell!" Ace yelped.
"The ponies have been nothing but kind to us!" Mira added as the jakhowl pulled Ace's Bone Breaker out of his grasp before spinning around and slamming his tail into them. They were both knocked back and landed near Heart and Soul, the alicorn noticing this.
"Hang on!" She gasped, using her magic to heal the scrapes they were getting
"Stop brainwashing them!" The jakhowl Heart was fighting roared as he fired an Aura Blast at her, only for Heart to shoot a stream of fire at the orb.
"We're not brainwashing them!" Heart growled, "Ace and Mira are our friends! We were there when they hatched. We've had fun with them and taught them how to do a load of things. Heck, we're the ones that gave them their names."
"Sounds like a pet to me," the jakhowl hissed, "Otherwise known as a slave!" He charged with a Bone Breaker at this, forcing Heart and Soul to take to the air.
And as this happened, Springer and Mirage continued to clash, Springer finding himself on even footing due to Mirage's obviously more advanced training, allowing her to keep up with Springer's greater strength. They locked attacks again, Springer's Bone Breaker keeping her claws from gorging out his eyes. "Please," he gasped, "Stop this. We don't want to fight. Just listen to us."
Mirage huffed, "You might have turned your back on our kind, but I won't!" She pushed him away, only for her body to glow. The next thing Springer knew, Mirage leapt up and four more of her suddenly appeared.
"What the heck?!" Springer yelped as he saw five jakhowls all doing something different. One had her Steel Paw out, another was making an Aura Blast, one was ready to punch him and the last two looked like they were about do a Kamen Pony kick. All Springer could do was dispel his staff and put up an Aura Guard as all five struck it, pushing him back. And as he did this, the Aura Blast she had thrust created an explosion that shattered through the shield, knocking Springer back as the other three rushed in and struck him all at the same time.
Springer was sent flying back, crashing into the dirt. Mirage then landed in front of him, as the other four vanished, leaving her to stand tall and glaring at Springer. At the same time, the other jakhowls seemed to get their defensive opponents on the backfoot. Springer moaned as he rolled onto his front and pushed himself to his knees, then glanced around and saw the others in trouble. "Please. I haven't betrayed the jakhowls." He stood up and glared at Mirage. "When I was born, I was alone. The rest of my kind were gone, thought extinct. The ponies took me in and made me the jakhowl I am today." He started glowing, "That's why they're my friends."
Mira then felt herself clench up at this, now feeling a surge of aura pour off him. This flow made the other jakhowls turn to Springer, making them all stop fighting, all now staring at the jakhowl.
"And even if it means I have to take you all down...I'LL PROTECT THEM!"
With that, the light exploded off of him, the jakhowls all staggering back at feeling the sudden burst of power that flew off him. And up on the mountain, the other jakhowl saw this and his eyes went wide. "No," he whispered, "That's impossible!"
Mirage's whole body shook as she saw Springer grow taller, his whole form changing as the light exploded off of him to reveal his Mega Mode. "You...you..."
"Yeah," Springer smirked, "I thought this would surprise you." He suddenly vanished with a burst of wind, only for Mirage to feel something fast and strong slam into her. She cried out as she was knocked flying back, the rest of her group all getting struck seconds apart.
One by one, they all crashed into the rocks surrounding the mountain as Springer reappeared. He didn't even look winded at the incredible speed he had just used, as Mirage and her friends moaned. Each of them slid down the rocks and hit the dirt, only for Mirage to glance back up at Springer and whispered, "Incredible...could he be the one?"
"Now," Springer pointed a finger at her, "Are you gonna listen to us and let us explain?"
Mirage just stared at him, her mouth not moving. She didn't answer, instead looking away as she seemed to be weighing her options.
But before she could answer, something suddenly slammed down in front of Springer. The surprised jakhowl backpedaled at this, only for a red beam to fly straight at him, Springer side-stepped just in time. "Red aura?" He asked as he stared at where the attack had come from.
"Razor!" Mirage gasped as the black colored jakhowl stood in front of her and summoned a red Bone Breaker.
"Leave this to me," he growled without even looking at her before pointing his weapon at Springer, "I don't know how you were able to fake that form outsider, but I know it's not real. Probably a trick using those pony's magic."
"What are you talking about?" Springer looked himself over, "This is real. I've had it for a long time."
"No, it's not." Razor hissed, "Because only one jakhowl can possibly have that from." As he said that, a veil of red light wrapped around him. "Me!" The light exploded off of him and Springer staggered back, feeling an intense energy pulsing off the jakhowl as his body began to change.
"No way," Flash gasped.
Razor was now an exact copy of Springer in his Mega Mode, but retained his previous color scheme while the parts of his body that were red on Springer were dark blue. Razor was still holding his Bone Breaker and as he pointed it at Springer, the shape of it's tip started changing. Seconds later, the bone staff had a blade on it the same size and shape as Flash's Celestic Gear.
Razor then charged as Springer formed his own Bone Breaker and tried to block it, but Razor's aura blade simply cut through it. "Whoa!" Springer staggered back as Razor pointed to blade at him and thrust it, Springer then summoning Steel Paws to grab the blade between the claws. The two were locked in place for several moments as Springer grunted out, "I'm...not...your enemy."
"You're trying to take what's mine," Razor growled, "That makes you my enemy." He suddenly dispelled his weapon and spun around, kicking Springer in the face.
"Augh!" Springer staggered back as Razor formed an Aura Blast, which he thrust forward as it turned into a red Aura Force. The laser shot straight for Springer, the jakhowl putting up a shield just in time.
"That's it!" He yelled after the blow hit him, soon reshaping his shield into his avatar's head, neck, upper body and arms. Razor's eyes almost widened at the sight, only for the avatar to grab him between both paws. "That should hold you until you calm down!"
"Pathetic." Razor spat as he formed a red sphere around him that grew larger and larger. Springer tried to hold him, but it quickly began to change shape. By the time he realized what was happening, the red jakhowl avatar was completely formed, Springer and his friends looking up in shock as the red giant stared down at them.
"Now do you see, you fake?!" Razor hissed, "Anything your fake power can do, I can do better!" He raised his foot at this, "Die outsiders!"
He then thrust his foot down at the ponies, "NO!" Springer roaring as his avatar grew and completely formed. Within seconds, the two jakhowl-shaped aura masses were the same height as Springer's blocked Razor's avatar's foot before the two stared one another down. "I won't let you hurt my friends."
"And how is a fake like you gonna stop me?" Razor spat as the pair pulled a fist back. "You will not take what is mine, you-"
"ENOUGH!" An Aura Force fired at the pair and flew between them, hitting the ground on the other side. Everyone turned to the mountain and saw several cloaked jakhowls standing on a ledge just above the avatars' heads. The old jakhowl Springer had seen before stood at the front, his paw out smoking from the laser.
"It's you..." Springer whispered.
The old jakhowl didn't look happy and the others pulled their hoods back, revealing themselves to be jakhowls that looked just as old as the cream colored one. Each of them was a different color, being the same color as the trim of their cloaks. "Stop this foolishness," the lead jakhowl yelled as he started jumping down from the mountain.
"Father!" Mirage exclaimed, picking herself up. As the five landed upon the rocks, the jakhowls all stood to attention. All except Springer, Ace, Mira and Razor. "The jakhowls you contacted. They have allied themselves with the ponies!"
"I can see that," the cream one replied. "But I can also see that these ponies do not have any malice within them. They are not here to do us harm." He looked up at the two avatars. "You two, come down here and let us deal with this situation like civilized beings." Springer smiled while Razor let out a hiss, pulling his avatar's fist back again, "RAZOR!"
"Stupid elder." Razor growled as both dispelled their avatars, the duo floating to the ground.
As they did this, the five old jakhowls stared Springer over, seeing him still in his Mega Mode. And as he reverted back to normal, Razor continued to glare at Springer while the blue jakhowl moved over to his friends.
"You all okay?"
"We'll live," Twilight replied, "We're just lucky some of those jakhowls realized we weren't their enemies." As she said that, the five older jakhowls moved over to them.
"I apologize for my daughter and her friend's sudden attack on you all. They have spent their lives waiting for the day they can actually work to protect our home, and were probably a little jumpy."
"It's alright," Twilight responded, "Nopony...nobody was hurt, so no harm done." She then noticed the jakhowls Springer had sent flying backwards into the rocks were looking a little beat up. "If you want, my student Soul is quite skilled with healing magic. She could heal your daughter and her friends."
"I think it's best they keep their injuries," the cream jakhowl replied, "Help them remember not to be so hasty to judge." He looked back at them and they all looked a little sheepish except Razor, who continued to glare at Springer. Despite this, the elder looked back at Springer, "Anyways, I see you managed to make it here. And before we were even able to make it down the mountain."
"Er...yeah. Sorry we were so fast." Springer light chuckled, "Its just...well, we have friends with some awesome magical abilities."
"Indeed." the elder laughed, "Now, let's do some introductions. I am Sirius, leader and high elder of the jakhowls." He turned to the other old jakhowls, "These are my fellow elders." They all nodded before Sirius pointed to the other jakhowls, "And you've already met my daughter and her friends." Razor growled at that word as Sirius turned back to them. "We welcome you here. Though when we reached out to you all, I'll admit to have been expecting a lot more jakhowls to reply."
Springer grimaced at this, only for Flash to step up to them, "Honestly, until today, we thought these three were the last jakhowls left alive."
The elders all frowned at this. "That is concerning. We should discuss this inside."
That statement got mixed receptions from everyone, shock from his fellow jakhowls and confusion from the others. "Inside?" Spike chimed in, "Inside what?" Sirius didn't reply and turned back to the mountain as the other jakhowls all walked up to him.
"Father," Mirage spoke up, "Showing them the way in could be dangerous!"
Sirius shook his head, "I told you, they have no malice within them. You need to spend less time training your body and more time training your heart." Mirage glared at him at this as Sirius led them up to the rocks. Springer glanced back at his friends, the ponies all shrugging before beginning to follow the group, the ponies and dragon flying while carrying Ace and Mira.
They soon found a path hidden behind the rocks, which they all headed up as it coiled around the mountain. Eventually, they came to an area of the mountain that had a cave in the side of it. And as they approached it, Twilight and Soul sensed something. "You okay?" Springer asked as he glanced back at them, sensing their surprise as the other jakhowls made their way through the hole.
"This wall," Twilight touched it. "There was magic within it. Fused into the rock itself. It's gone now, but I can sense its magic hoofprint."
"I can see you are well versed in magic," Sirius chimed in, "Indeed. The magic you are sensing is what remains of the magical seal that once trapped us within this mountain. The seal covered our entire home, keeping us trapped within until only recently."
Hearing this didn't surprise the newcomers. This wasn't the first time jakhowls had been sealed away. And as this happened, Twilight reached down and picked up a piece of rock on the ground, which was two different shades depending on the side. She then followed them as they headed through the hole. They found that the hole lead to a stone staircase that appeared to be a winding one they realized probably wrapped around the entire inside of the mountain.
After a while, they reached the bottom of the staircase. There they saw a long corridor that had a bunch of patterns etched into the walls. The same patterns could be seen on pillars holding up the roof and as they got closer to the end of it, they saw a stone arch in the middle of a stone wall. The arch was being shrouded by a bunch of drooping leaves hanging from something on the other side of it and as they got closer, they noticed a light occasionally breaking through the leaves. They all wondered what could be causing that light underground, but soon got their answer when the other jakhowls moved the leaves aside.
Stepping through the arch, they were greeted to one of the most amazing sights they had ever seen. Despite being underground, it almost felt like they were back outside. They were in a large round biome that was so large, the whole of Canterlot could probably fit within it. The edges of the area had giant stone walls that went up so high that they couldn't even guess their height. Several holes were in the wall and many of them were spitting out streams of water that filled large lakes and rivers scattered about the biome.
Looking at the ceiling, they saw a giant crystal sticking out of the roof that was giving off a bright light and in the very center was a massive tree, which they could see had a large number of wooden houses circling around it. And a fair distance away from this tree, out of the shade it produced that blocked the crystal's light, they spotted a flat area that was some kind of farm.
However, the truly amazing sight was the hundreds of jakhowls that they saw scattered around the place. There were many different colored jakhowls, some running around having fun while others were working on the farm, fixing and building houses, cleaning and swimming in the water or simply hanging around doing nothing. Multiple groups were also a good distance away, appearing to be training and sparring against one another.
Springer tried to count them, but kept losing count whenever he got close to triple digits. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had come looking for what he had hoped would be the last small group of jakhowls and instead had found an entire kingdom of them. He clutched his heart and fell to his knees as Sirius stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Springer and his friends were in absolute shock, as they made their way through the underground biome full of jakhowl. Sirius and the others had led them down a path to the village surrounding the giant tree in the center of the chamber, all the while the newcomers looked around as they tried to take in every detail of the place. And they weren't the only ones in shock.
As they got closer to the village, they passed the farms, the training grounds, and the occasional random jakhowl who spotted them. Whenever the jakhowls saw the ponies, dragon and new jakhowls, they were in absolute surprise. "Why are they staring at us?" Spike asked when one jakhowl dropped a water jug at the sight of them.
"Wouldn't you?" Twilight asked, "We're the first ponies they've seen in...who knows how long."
"Ever," Mirage chimed in, "You are the first ponies we've ever seen. We were all born here. Even my father and the rest of the elders have known no other life except the one we lived in this place. This has been our home...but also our prison."
"How long have the jakhowls been down here?" Flash asked.
"One hundred and fifty years," the teal one replied, "Back when our grandparents were young."
The newcomers all frowned and shared glances at this, knowing that didn't sound right. But before they could say anything, they reached the main part of the village, now seeing that many of the houses were little more than wooden huts that looked like they wouldn't be able to stand up to a strong breeze. This made sense, mainly due to this enclosed environment, they probably wouldn't need much protection. The air was also fresh, but there was no wind. Rain, snow and other forms of weather likely never appeared here.
"How the heck are you growing anything in here?" Flash asked, the jakhowls turning to him, "I mean, this place is obviously very fertile, and you've obviously got plenty of water. But don't plants need sunlight?"
"They do?"
Twilight nodded before looking up at the crystal glowing up above them. "Unless that crystal is giving out ultraviolet rays."
"I'm not sure what that means." Mirage replied, "But that crystal glows like that for roughly twelve hours, then it dims for another twelve hours. That's when we sleep."
"Amazing," Twilight whispered, "Could it somehow be reacting to Celestia and Luna's movement of the sun?"
This made the jakhowls all tilt their heads at her, confusion on their faces as they reached the giant tree. As they got there, Sirius spoke up, "Welcome, to the Tree of Ancients. The tree that has stood since the first jakhowls found this jakhowl haven."
They began to walk up the roots at this, only to find a hole in the side that they were able to step through. Doing so brought them to a round wooden chamber the size of an average house. The elders all moved to the back of the chamber, where five cushions were located. Sirius sat in the middle while the other four sat on either side of him. Mirage, Razor and the other jakhowls stood around the edge of the room, while Springer and his friends remained standing in the middle.
"Please," Sirius gestured to the floor, "Sit." They did so and all stared at one another. "So...Springer, was it?" He nodded, "Are you really the only fully grown jakhowl left in the outside world?"
"I am," Springer nodded again, only to hear movement. He glanced back at the entrance and saw a bunch more jakhowls step into the room and stand around the edge, along with even more outside, all of them looking in. "I...it's hard to explain everything that's happened, but until today, the three of us thought we were the only jakhowls left. Then we got your message."
"Yes," Sirius nodded, "We did that hoping to connect to more jakhowls out in the world. We hoped that a time of peace had befallen this land and the jakhowls could return without needing to fear anything."
"But you can," Twilight spoke up. The other jakhowls glared at her, Twilight almost flinching before shaking her head, "Sorry for speaking out of turn, but I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. One of the four alicorn leaders of Equestria."
"What is this Equestria?" The green Jakhowl elder asked, making the group exchange glances before Flash took the lead.
"Well...everything. You're in Equestria." The jakhowls frowned at that, "You said you've only been locked away for a hundred and fifty years." They all nodded, "well...Equestria has been around for over a thousand years. This area has been part of Equestria since the beginning, so how do you not know what Equestria is?"
The jakhowls all glanced around at that, the elders showing nothing but confusion on their faces. That is, till Twilight took out the piece of rock she had picked up, Springer noticing this. "You thinking of something?"
Twilight nodded and showed the elders the rock. "This rock was part of the wall that held the seal, right?" They nodded. "Well, the erosion on one side isn't equal to the erosion on the other."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The brown jakhowl next to Mirage asked.
"It means that one side of the rock aged more than the other side," Mirage replied, "That can only mean that time was moving differently on each side of the rock."
"Exactly," Twilight nodded, "I'll need to do some tests, but I'm willing to bet the magic used to seal you away also changed the flow of time for you. One day in here during the sealing could have been decades out there. So while only a hundred and fifty years have passed in here...thousands of years could have passed. That's why you don't know about Equestria. It was founded after you were sealed up."
"Seriously?!" Flash asked, "What is it with jakhowls and getting locked out of time?!"
"Come again?" The orange jakhowl elder asked, Flash flinching at the question.
"Uh..."
Springer let out a long sigh at that, "That's a long story." The jakhowls turned back to him, "Actually...the reason why I'm all that's left is a very long story."
Hearing this, Sirius stood up. "I think words will not be enough to understand this story." He moved over to Springer as he and the others stood up as well. "The best way to truly learn about them is to see through their eyes."
"What are you talking about?" Ace asked.
"My father has a very rare ability," Mirage chimed in, "Aura-scaping."
"Aura-scaping?" Mira asked as Sirius held out his paws.
"Through connecting our auras, I can see into your mind and view your memories. What's more, I can show those memories to others jakhowls I am connected to, or show you my own memories." Springer's eyes widened at this, unable to believe such a power existed, only to remember the time loop using the memories of everypony in town. "With this ability, I will be able to learn about you and your children and see how the world has changed."
"They're not my kids, per say..." Springer slowly replied, his eyes darting back to Ace and Mira for a second. And as he looked back at the elders, he added, "I don't mean to sound negative, but what you'll see won't be exactly pleasant."
"What do you mean?" Sirius responded.
"I...let's just say, my memories will show you a lot." Springer looked back at Ace and Mira again, only for a certain fox to appear in his head. And then it switched to when he had shown them his history in the crystal room, the shock and sadness on their faces as they saw the truth. The duo stared back at him, knowing what he was thinking as he muttered out, "Some things you jakhowls might be better off not seeing."
Sirius shook his head at this, "That does not matter. You hold what we need to see."
Springer glanced back at the elder, now seeing a firm look in the jakhowl's eyes. It was one he had never seen in a jakhowl before. Springer bit his lip at this, still feeling the hesitation as he closed his eyes, "Alright. I'm warning you though...its not pleasant."
And as he reopened his eyes, the elders stared at Springer, only to see something they all recognized. It was the look of age, one that had gone through tons of trials and tribulations. Something the others around them didn't see, even Mirage as she stared at him with eyes of curiosity.
It was here that Springer took a deep breath and asked, "So...how does this work?"
The other jakhowls moved over to circle them as the ponies and Spike moved to the side. They each began to link arms while Mirage and the green elder held onto Sirius' shoulder, the ponies and dragon now seeing this also happening outside. Springer then looked down at the leader's paws, which were beginning to glow as he lifted them up to Springer's face.
Ace and Mira grabbed a paw and connected their auras to him as Springer took another deep breath. "Let's do this." Sirius nodded before his paws moved closer and touched Springer's temples. And in that moment, Sirius' eyes went wide along with Springer, Ace and Mira as their eyes glowed white.
Their friends all flinched at this as the rest of the jakhowls followed suit. Even Razor, who was lazily holding onto some jakhowl's shoulder at the back went wide-eyed. Each of them were mentally linked and in a flash of light, they were no longer in the tree anymore. Instead, each were suddenly flying through their own personal corridor of white light. Within this corridor, multiple still images were flying toward them. And as they flew into them, they would experience the memory that made it as if they were Springer.
Everything. Springer's first memory of wandering through the Everfree Forest, alone and scared, only to be attacked by Timberwolves and saved by Flash. Being taken in by the ponies, taught everything he knew, learning the truth of his species and how he might be the only one left alive. The jakhowls saw Celestia for the first time, shocked at what ponies could look like with her long rainbow-colored mane as she told Springer about what had happened to the jakhowls.
And then the rest of Springer's memories followed. All Springer's little adventures with the ponies, making friends with them, showing him fight others and learn new abilities. But then it switched to Springer meeting Luna in a dream, telling him of another jakhowl. This was followed by confusion for all the jakhowls, only to turn to fear as they saw Springer meet an imposter jakhowl. The Trickster Shade, who showed just how dangerous he was by taking over a town until Springer fought him.
And as the fox got away, it began to show everything else. Springer had his adventure in Omniara, Shade reappearing, only for Springer to confront him again. But as this confrontation happened, they saw Springer see his father fully for the first time. The jakhowls watching could feel the power from Sharp Paw, even in this form in Springer's mind. But it was what Sharp Paw said that gave many pause, as the former chief declared Springer to be the future of the jakhowls, and his destiny to both lead them and defeat the Trickster. The memory made Razor growl, almost disconnecting himself before the memories began to flow again.
More and more happened next, all watching Springer's life continue, only for Shade to appear again. And this time, every jakhowl was in fear as they watched the fox unleash the true story of what happened to the jakhowls. They watched as Shade declared that the Tricksters exist to torment the jakhowls, and showed how Dark Mist and Vile Rune destroyed two species in a lust for power, along with Sharp Paw's final battle with Dark Mist, a display of true jakhowl might. This was followed by Springer fighting the fox, a battle that shook the room, watching Springer bleed as he fought tooth and nail against the fox. Many gasped as they watched Springer get beaten, only for his friends to come through, giving him their power so he unlock his Mega Mode for the first time and beat Shade once again.
After this, the jakhowl was summoned to the Lost City, a place where he awakened as a fully-fledged adult jakhowl and gained both his permanent Mega Mode and the eggs of the two younger jakhowls. New memories started joining Springer's, including Ace and Mira's first few days of life and everything after. Shade appeared yet again, only to show how weak he had become compared to Springer. And as more memories came to pass, they reached Springer's final battle against Shade. The fox showed he had lost all sanity as they fought, only for Springer to quit. The sight was shocking to all of them, the elders in particular as they watched Springer walk away from the fox, declaring the feud to be over. And as Shade leapt off the prison roof and into a blizzard, it then showed Springer go and tell everything to Ace and Mira, declaring he would devote everything to them now.
But this was followed by Ace and Mira saving all the magic in Equestria, an event that Springer was proud of them for, only for it to show them now seeing the elders before coming here. And as it came to a close, it seemed like hours of watching these incredible events, but for those outside the vision, it was only a minute or so.
Spike and the ponies watched as Sirius pulled his paws away and they all returned to normal, but they no longer seemed wary of the newcomers. "Well..." Sirius was barely able to say, "You...you've certainly been through a lot."
"Yeah," Springer felt a little off after seeing all his life's highlights flashing before his eyes. "I uh...I hope what you saw has convinced you that you don't have to be mistrustful of ponies."
"Indeed," Sirius nodded as he turned to Springer's friends. "I can see that there are many good ponies out there." They all smiled as they once again sat down, Sirius taking in everything he had just learned. "So, we may be the last jakhowls in existence. What's more, in the time we've been gone, the surrounding area has been claimed by the ponies."
"Yes," Twilight nodded, "But you don't have to worry about us telling you to leave. This area of Equestria has gone mostly untouched. I'm sure Princess Celestia would be happy to make it yours."
"So, we would become citizens on your kingdom?" The blue elder asked next.
"That would be your decision to make," Twilight replied, "You can become citizens of Equestria and have all the privileges that citizenship affords you. You could even join our United Federation as official members. Springer already joined since we thought he was the only one left, but I'm sure we can rework it so you all can join."
"And what would that do to us if we did join?" The green elder asked.
"It would mean we're friends," Flash chimed in, "Ponies, jakhowls and all the other members of the Federation. Griffons, hippogriffs, changelings, yaks and dragons. The seven species would all be united, learning from one another and offering help whenever it's needed."
"So...we would have to help you whenever you get in trouble?" said a voice that was not an elder. It was Razor, who growled as he pushed his way up to the group, "You think you can use us as your own personal shields, all because you're too weak to protect yourself?!"
"Razor!" Sirius exclaimed, "That's enough!"
"NO!" Razor spat as he pointed at the ponies, "You can't actually be listening to this! Don't forget what these ponies did to us! They attacked us because they were scared of the prophecy. They tried to destroy us, and when they realized they couldn't, they trapped us away. And now that we've returned, they want to turn us into their personal army so they don't have to fight their battles."
"Hey!" Flash stood up, "We don't use anybody. All we want to do is make friends with the jakhowls and help them stay safe. And we don't go looking for fights."
"Yeah," Heart added, "We only ever fight in self-defense."
"Yeah right!" Razor growled as he turned to the other jakhowls. "You all remember the stories we were told as pups. How the ponies attacked in the dead of night, turning into clouds of smoke to attack. How they used their red horns to put jakhowls into trances and suck the life right out of them. If we let them stay, they'll turn on us and try to enslave us."
"Razor!" Sirius roared, "Enough!" Razor turned to glare at him. "You forget yourself."
"No!" Razor pointed at him, "You forget the prophecy. My destiny. I'm supposed to protect us from our greatest threat and bring us into a new age. That's what I'm doing." He and Sirius glared at one another as Mirage moved in front of her father as if to say 'you want to get to him, you go through me.' Razor hissed at her for a moment, then turned to leave. "Don't come crying to me when these things try and turn you into mindless zombies."
As he said that, he pushed his way through the crowd, growling as several watched him leave. "I apologize for him," Sirius sat back down. "He's been eager to find something to fight since he awakened his ability to transform."
"His Mega Mode?" Springer asked.
"If that's what you call it," Mirage replied, "He calls it his King Form, since he thinks it means he'll one day be the king of the jakhowls due to the prophecy."
"What is this about a prophecy?" Twilight asked. "He kept talking about it, but what's it about?"
The purple jakhowl, a female, spoke up. "That would be the Great Prophecy my ancestor once foretold."
Sirius then pointed to her, "This is Crystal Clair. Her family has a particularly rare skill, even rarer than my Aura-scape ability. The power to look into the future."
The group all went wide-eyed at this, only for Clair to add, "My great grandmother was the most powerful future seer of all time. And one day, she foretold the eventual arrival of a jakhowl like no other. One that would awaken a form greater than any other jakhowl, and would use it to defeat the greatest threat the jakhowls had ever faced and lead us into a golden age."
"And Razor thinks he's the jakhowl in this prophecy?" Twilight asked while tilting his head.
"He does," Sirius nodded. "He's always been different. Even when he was a pup, he believed he was destined for greatness. The color of his aura set him apart from others of his age, along with his skill at learning any attack he tried to learn. It took him only three years to attain his adult form and another four to maintain it permanently."
"Seven years to get into his adult state?" Flash smirked before nudging Springer, "You got him beat there." Springer blushed at this as the other jakhowls turned to stare at him, remembering what they had just seen.
"Last year when he obtained the form you call Mega Mode, he was sure it meant he was the jakhowl in the prophecy. Alas, that caused his arrogance to skyrocket. He now thinks he can do no wrong, so keeping him in check has become difficult."
Mirage let out a long sigh and shook her head, "I must say, I had hoped seeing you in that form would quell some of his arrogance. After all, it's clear now that that form isn't the one that no other jakhowl has obtained."
"I'm more worried about this threat the prophecy spoke of," Twilight chimed in, "If this jakhowl is supposed to show up, that means something bad's gonna happen that they have to beat. Even if he can, who knows what damage that could incur."
"Maybe we don't have to worry," Soul added, the other turning to her, only to see her shrug, "Maybe the threat's already passed. Springer's fought a bunch of bad guys. Heck, it sounds like Shade would be the big bad."
"I...guess that could be true." Springer sighs, "I mean, we all saw what he did, along with his master."
Soul nodded at this, "Yeah! You all said Razor didn't get his Mega Mode until last year, right?" The jakhowls nodded back, "Well, Springer's had that form way longer. So if he beat this threat between getting it and Razor getting it, that means he had a form no other jakhowl has ever reached. So the prophecy could have already been fulfilled."
The elders all exchanged glances at this, Sirius speaking up again, "I suppose that's possible, but we can't know for sure. All we know is that because of that prophecy, we were sealed away due to our enemy's fear that they were the great threat destined to be destroyed...but now we have returned."
"And Equestria welcomes you," Twilight adds, "Like I said before, Celestia would be happy to give this land to you. We can send her a message right now and let her know everything that we've discovered."
"I...would like that," Sirius replied, "I have seen how trustworthy you ponies are, so I would very much like to meet with this Princess Celestia. I would have to put it to a vote about officially joining your kingdom as citizens, but I'm sure the rest of my tribe will see the benefit of it." Several jakhowls nodded, while others frowned and looked away, "For now, you will be honored guests in Aurarora. I'll arrange some housing for you to stay in while you're here. In the meantime, feel free to look around and experience jakhowl life." He focused on Springer and the pups, "I'm sure you're all eager to learn more about your heritage."
The three smiled as Sirius called the meeting to an end, the jakhowls leaving until only Sirius, Mirage and the newcomers were left. Sirius turned to his daughter. "Show them around. I'm sure they would like to get to know the you that isn't trying to kill them." Mirage blushed at this and nodded, the group heading out of the tree and once again looking out at the village.
"Well..." Mirage glanced away while holding one of her arms, "What would you like to see first?" They all shared a glance and shrugged.
"We'll leave that to you," Twilight told her. They all nodded and Mirage sighed before walking down the roots, her guests following her.
"I...I just wanna say I'm sorry. I know I didn't take your arrival to kindly."
"We understand," Springer nodded, "You were just trying to protect your home. I might have done the same thing if Ponyville had been sealed away for centuries." Mirage bit her lip at that, only for the group to pass by a rather poorly constructed house, which a jakhowl was trying to keep from falling over.
Twilight used her magic and the tilting structure straightened up, the jakhowl gasping at this before turning to her in fear. The princess frowned at this, making sure the house was stable before letting it go. "Don't take this the wrong way, but your houses are a little..."
"Terrible?" Mirage asked, the ponies slightly nodding, "We know. Building isn't really the jakhowl's strong suit. Also doesn't help that our only source of wood is the Tree of Ancients. We have to wait for its branches to grow before we can repair or rebuild anything."
"Shouldn't be an issue anymore," Spike chimed in, "There's a whole forest of wood just outside that you can use."
"And maybe some ponies could come and help build them," Mira added, "You saw how good they are at building stuff. Maybe they can teach you." Mirage glanced away at this as they got to the village, Ace and Mira now instantly drawn to the training field where many young jakhowls were working on their fighting skills.
Spike and the ponies could tell how interested they were, Flash speaking up, "Tell you what, why don't we fly around and see what this place has to offer from above?" They all spread their wings, "You all have fun with your guided tour." They shot off before the jakhowls could say anything, Mirage frowning.
"Impatient ponies, aren't they?"
"You have no idea," Springer chuckled as they headed down the path and arrived at the training field, spotting several older jakhowls teaching the classes. One group was practicing simple paw to paw combat, the youngsters all in a line and mirroring the teacher's punch and kicks. Another group was practicing with Steel Paw, slashing at straw dummies and rocks. Another group was doing target practice with their Aura Blasts, launching them at large rocks that had been painted with targets. One blast hit a rock and exploded, but the rock didn't seem even remotely damaged. Then there was a group practicing with Bone Breakers, which Ace and Mira noticed.
"Awesome," Ace smirked as he formed a Bone Breaker and ran up, the group surprised by his sudden arrival, but seeing him getting into his normal stance made the teacher flinch and rush over to correct him.
"Maybe you should take some lessons," Mirage told Springer. The older jakhowl frowned at her and simply walked over to watch the martial arts training while Mirage turned to see Mira staring at the Bone Breaker class longingly. "You can join if you want."
Mira shook her head at this, "I can't." She formed an Aura Blast and tried to reshape it, only for it to puff out of existence. "For some reason, I can't do it. Springer's tried to teach me, but it just doesn't work."
"Ah," Mirage replied, "So you can't use it either. That's alright." Mira glanced back up at her, "Don't worry, I can't use that move either. A lot of Jakhowls can't." Mira's eyes fully went wide at this, "The only move all jakhowls can use is the Aura Blast. For every other move, it depends on the jakhowl's family line."
"R-r-really?" Mira asked, "Springer never told me that."
"From what I saw in his memories, he doesn't know. His tribe probably all had the same abilities. But that's alright. There are lots of attacks that you could possibly learn, ones that Ace and Springer can't use."
"Like what?" She asked, Mirage then pointing to another group of jakhowls. Mira turned and saw one of the jakhowls form an Aura Blast that then began to reshape into a star, which they threw at a wooden target. It struck and exploded, knocking the target down. They repeated this process, only this time, a jakhowl threw the target into the air. The star was sent flying and it quickly curved toward the target, acting like a heat seeking missile that struck the target and exploded.
Another jakhowl suddenly coated his hands and feet with aura before rushing forward, karate chopping one rock and smashing it in half before spinning around to kick another rock, shattering it to pieces. Then, one leapt into the air as their tail glowed with aura. She spun around and struck another rock with it, breaking it apart.
"Wow..." Mira whispered, "That's amazing!"
Mirage nodded. "Just because you can't use one ability doesn't mean you're weaker than those that can. If I'm correct, the move I saw you use aside from Aura Blast is Steel Paw, correct?"
"Yeah," Mira nodded "I also used Velocity Strike. Or a weaker version of it."
Mirage nodded again, "I saw that. But I don't think it was that move." Mira blinked at her at this, "You're way too young to use Velocity Strike...and if I'm honest, I'm not sure many here could. When I saw that move in Springer's memories...I can see why he probably doesn't want you using it. But, there are other abilities that require large amounts of speed to use. For instance..." She crossed her arms as she glowed, the light flying off of her and taking shape besides her. Eventually, another Mirage appeared beside the first and Mira couldn't tell the difference between them.
"Wow," she whispered at seeing the two jakhowls standing side by side and moving differently to show they weren't a speed illusion like Flash could do. "What do you call that move?"
"It doesn't have a name," Mirage moved over to a rock and picked it up before throwing it at her copy. The fake caught it and tossed it to Mira, who caught it as the fake vanished. "We don't actually give most of our abilities names. The Aura Blast and Aura-Scaping are the only ones. But I gotta admit, the names you called them are interesting."
"So it doesn't have a name?" Mira asked, the older jakhowl nodding. "Well...why not call them Aura Mirages? That's what they are, aren't they? Mirages made of aura. Plus, you can say they're named after you." Mirage let out a laugh at this, only to pat the young jakhowl's side.
"I suppose so. Come, let's see if you can learn this move."
And as the two walked away, Mirage had to admit that despite having just met this young jakhowl, she liked her.
Up in the branches of the tree, Razor was watching as Springer and his friends seemed to be settling in. He growled at the sight, "Those idiots! Letting those outsiders pull them in so we'll lower our guard and they can betray us." He created a Steel Paw and used it to pick at his teeth, "I've gotta find a way to make them realize these ponies are nothing but trouble." As he said that, a small green jakhowl climbed up the side of the tree using his claws. "Snivel."
"Boss," the jakhowl pulled himself up onto the branch next to him. "What are we gonna do? We need to stop those ponies before they pull something, just like you said they would."
"I know that," Razor hissed, "But the rest of these idiots seem to think we can trust them."
"Right," Snivel nodded, "Sure, that Aura-Scape showed a lot of good things, but you're the jakhowl of prophecy. They should listen to you."
Razor slowly nodded back, only to feel himself more stuck than ever. He glared at the training ground, watching Springer spar while Ace continued to practice his Bone Breaker training and Mirage started teaching Mira something. Then he watched the ponies and their dragon friend as they continued to explore the area. "I've got to prove they're dangerous...but how?"
The ponies and dragon soon landed, all now walking through the farmlands, where multiple jakhowls were working on their crops. There were tons of vegetables being grown: Carrots, peas, potatoes, avocados and cabbages all growing quite plentifully in the soil.
"Wow..." Spike checked the leaves of a cabbage, "This looks amazing. My friend Applejack would probably be jealous of how well this turned out."
"Thank you," a light green jakhowl female bowed, "We work hard to make sure these crops grow well, but it is the soil that is truly to thank. It is excellently fertile."
"Yes," Twilight touched the ground and used her earth pony magic to sense it. The ground instantly responded, making her gasp, "It really is amazing. Not a single contaminant to be found. Considering the state of the land outside, this place being so lush is even more amazing."
The jakhowl nodded, "My great great grandmother was a farmer in those days, and her stories of the land back then spoke of the mountain being surrounded by lush terrain. However, it appears that the time we spent here has caused that land to lose its fertility."
"Time can do a lot of damage," Flash replied, "But it doesn't mean the place will always be like that. I'm sure with a little hard work, you could turn it back into a green paradise."
The jakhowl smiled at this as they continued to search through the place, Soul commenting, "I can't believe this place has been hiding here this whole time."
"It is amazing." Twilight added as they passed a trio of jakhowls playing hopscotch. "And now Springer doesn't have to worry about being the last of his kind. He, Ace and Mira all have a place they can feel at home in."
"I thought they did feel at home in Ponyville?" Heart asked, the group turning to him and saw a low serious glare on his face.
"Of course they feel at home there," Flash added, "But you felt at home in the Lost City until you came to Ponyville. That's probably how Springer and the others are feeling right now. They might have been happy where they were, but now they have a place they can truly be themselves."
Heart frowned, Flash's statement making him look worried. "Does that mean Ace and the others are gonna stay here?"
That question made them all come to a stop, their smiles vanishing at the thought of Springer, Ace and Mira not returning to Ponyville with them. But they knew if they did choose to do that, they had no right to get in their friends' way. "Maybe," Twilight told them, "But that'll be their decision to make. If they want to stay here, we'd have no right to stop them."
Heart just glanced away at this before spreading his wings and flying off. "Heart!" Flash yelled, but didn't go after him. He knew it wouldn't matter. As for Soul, Twilight wrapped a wing around her as they continued to explore the place, eventually arriving at the edge of the giant biome. Here they found several jakhowls hanging around this area, one being the blue elder that was standing next the large wall that covered the village.
As they got closer, they noticed the wall had been painted on. A bunch of images were scattered all over it, though the differing skills of each painting showed they were not all done by the same being. Most depicted images of jakhowls, along with many other creatures.
The jakhowl elder turned to them at this and smiled. "Ah. Enjoying your exploration of our humble home?"
"Yes," Twilight nodded, "It's a very nice place. You've taken great care of it."
"Well, it's not like I've had to do much," he slowly walked across the ground toward the wall. "As much as I hate to admit it, very few issues have occurred here during my tenure as an elder. I've gotten to add very little to the wall of memories."
"Wall of memories?" Twilight asked as they stared at the images.
"Indeed," he nodded, "This wall is the history of our tribe since we first came here. Every important moment has been added to it so that we won't forget anything." He showed them the latest image, one that still looked wet, and saw it was them. "I'm sad to admit that since being trapped within the seal, there hasn't been much we've got to enjoy."
"Chrome," he replied, "My name is Chrome. And thank you, my dear. If you have any questions about these memories, feel free to ask."
They nodded and looked back at the wall, only to see the image of a jakhowl they all recognized. "Is that Razor?" Flash asked, pointing at the image of the jakhowl in his upgraded form.
"Yes," Chrome nodded, "He demanded that I add him to the wall when he unlocked that form. I would have anyway, but his insistence didn't make it very fun for me."
They grimaced at that before continuning to inspect the painting, only for Flash to come across one that made him stop and do a double-take. On the wall was an image of the mountain outside with a bunch of tiny jakhowls inside of it. And surrounding the mountain were a bunch of creatures Flash didn't expect to see on a jakhowl mural. "Umbrum." Twilight heard this and sprinted over, seeing the images of creatures she had only seen from Sombra back when he was in his evil days.
"No way," she whispered as Chrome stepped over to them. "What does this picture depict?"
Chrome stared at it and sighed. "That image is of our sealing. It's not a pleasant memory we like to remember, but those that fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."
"You said ponies were the ones that sealed you, right?" Flash asked as Chrome nodded, only for the defender to point at the painting, "But these creatures aren't ponies." That made Chrome tilt his head, Flash then repeating what Razor Fang had said before. "Attacking in the dead of night. Turning into clouds of smoke and using their red horns to put jakhowls into trances. Sucking out their spirits and sealing their enemies away for hundreds of years. I can't believe I didn't see it before."
"See what?" Soul asked, Twilight also making the connection.
"The enemy of the jakhowls from all those years ago. They weren't ponies. They were umbrum."
"What are these umbrum?" Chrome asked with a raised eyebrow.
Twilight turned to him. "It's hard to explain. Umbrum might look like ponies, but they're our exact opposite. The same way ponies descend from the original alicorn, the umbrum descend from the original umbrum." Chrome just blinked at her at this, Twilight sighing as she tried to think of a way to explain it.
Meanwhile...
Springer was now watching his pupils being taught the correct way to fight. A part of him said he should be annoyed that all his training with them were being undone, but an even larger part of him was happy. He had always known that being taught by him would leave Ace and Mira's training unperfected. Springer was strong, but he was entirely self-taught. All he could do was teach them what he knew and from what he saw of Mira's training with Mirage, she was clearly more comfortable with the style the older female jakhowl was showing her than his.
Springer continued to glance around, seeing all the different styles of training the young jakhowls were learning. No doubt, Ace and Mira would find a style that best fit them. He had always feared that when he was gone, the future of the jakhowls would be in danger. But now the traditions of the jakhowls were secure, so long as this place remained safe.
"Try again," Mirage told Mira, the yellow jakhowl taking a deep breath before summoning her aura, then rushing forward as fast as she could. Her speed increased, and as it did, she started jumping from side to side. The speed of her movements were so fast that she was creating an after image of herself, and within a few moments, she looked like she had a perfect twin that was moving just like her.
The two young jakhowls leapt at Mirage, one throwing a kick and another throwing a punch. Mirage smiled at this, but that wasn't enough for Mira to land a hit on her. She easily deflected one of the punches and struck that Mira in the chest, causing it to vanish and allowing her to focus on the real one. She sidestepped the flying kick and grabbed her by the ankle, then swung her around until she slammed into the grass.
"Ahh!" She cried as Mirage pulled her fist back before throwing it forward. Mira flinched, but felt nothing. She opened her eyes and saw the fist was hovering inches from Mira's face, Mirage smirking as she pulled away.
"Not bad," she helped Mira up, "You've picked it up quite quickly. But it'll take a while before you can form the fakes without incredible movement. For now, you should focus on increasing the number you can make."
"Got it," Mira nodded as Mirage moved over to a rock and sat down. Mira sat beside her and smiled, "Thanks. I know you didn't have to help me, but I appreciate it."
"No problem," Mirage chuckled, "You obviously haven't had any female jakhowl influences. It'd be a crime to let you go without any. Besides, we both have similar names. That might be a silly reason to help you, but who cares."
Mira laughed at that. "Well, that's not my full name." Mirage tilted her head at this, "My full name is Miracle. My friend Soul gave it to me."
"Really?" She asked, Mira nodding.
"Yeah. Before me and Ace hatched, she and Heart talked to our eggs. She said that us being alive was a miracle. That was one of the first things I ever heard."
"You heard her from within your egg?" Mira nodded again, making Mirage blink. "I've heard of that happening, but I didn't think it actually happened."
Mira shined a big grin at this, "We only heard them because our auras are in tune with them. Same with Springer and Flash." They turned to the older jakhowl, who was watching an Aura Star class. "Flash and Springer are so in sync that Flash could understand him before Springer was able to talk to others. They were even able to see through each others' eyes."
"A jakhowl and a pony were able to be that much in sync?" Mira nodded, "Amazing. This Springer certainly is a mystery. Even after seeing everything he's been through, it's still hard to believe just how many insane things one jakhowl can experience in a single lifetime."
"Well, the world's unpredictable," Mira giggled before gesturing to everything around her, "We never thought we'd find an entire kingdom of jakhowls, but here we are."
Mirage nodded at this. "I've seen that there are many good things in this world. But I'm still unsure about what the world outside this mountain is like. So many dangers that could cause my tribe harm."
"But the good things are still worth the risk," Mira chimed in, "If you spend your life hiding away, fearing the unknown, then you'll have never truly lived. It's only by exploring the unknown that you can truly decide what kind of life you want to lead."
Mirage smirked at that, impressed by the wisdom. Despite being the older jakhowl, Mirage could see Mira's time on the surface had given her much. And it was at that moment that the light coming from the crystal began to slowly dim. "What's going on?"
"That would be dusk. The light of the crystal will dim until it's just bright enough for us to not be in total darkness so that we can sleep peacefully." Mira nodded and noticed the jakhowls were all starting to head back toward the village, Mirage heading in that direction as well. Mira followed and couldn't help but smile at how tranquil the place was. She couldn't wait to see more of it.
Inside the Jakhowl home of Aurarora, nighttime had arrived. As such, the jakhowls and their guests began to head to the village to get some sleep. One of the few who wasn't heading for it was Heart, who was sitting on a large rock next to one of the streams that flowed through the biome. He wore a giant frown, picking up a pebble and throwing it into the water, the plopping sound doing nothing to lift his mood.
"Problem?" He jumped and turned to see an orange jakhowl elder walking up to him. "You seem upset. Is our home not to your liking?"
"No," Heart sighed as he glanced away, "It looks great. And that's the problem." The elder tilted his head at this, "Its so...perfect. Ace, Mira and Springer...they'll probably stay cuz of it."
"I see," the elder replied as he sat down beside him. "And you don't want them to stay?"
"I don't want them to leave," Heart responded, "If they stay, that means they'll be leaving Ponyville. I'll never get to see them again."
"Ah...I understand." The elder slowly nodded, "I know how you feel. I can tell that many of the jakhowls here are curious to see the outside world, especially after seeing the memories of your friends. I fear that they'll leave and chose to never return."
Heart's head shifted back to him at this, "Yeah...I guess so. I mean, you could come and move into Ponyville. I'm sure we could find a place you could all live." The elder frowned at him. "What? It'd be great! There's a canyon near the town you could move into. We could dig out the walls into cave homes for you or maybe build large houses for you if you prefer that. The canyon can get big in places, so it'd be able to house you all without issue. You could still be together and be within walking distance of the town."
"As charming as that sounds, I doubt you could convince an entire population to simply abandon their home. As nice as your home appeared in the Aura-Scape, it is not where we belong. And as scared as I am for the younger, less experienced jakhowls' adventurous sides, I doubt everyone will leave."
Heart looked away again, letting out another sigh, "It's not fair. I've lost so many ponies already. My parents. My first home." His anger rose at the memory of a certain somepony, "Her. Now I'm gonna lose Ace, who's like a brother to me. Mira can be fun, and Springer's helped me just as much as Flash is. And now they're gonna be gone."
"You must not think your friendship with them is that strong," the elder instantly said, Heart's head whipping back to him, "if it were then you wouldn't be so worried about losing them. Them staying here wouldn't stop you from being friends, would it?"
"Wha-no!" Heart shook his head, "But I might not get to see them again!"
"I doubt that would happen. I saw how close those jakhowls are to those in this kingdom. Even if they chose to stay here, they probably wouldn't want to stay the rest of their lives. We jakhowls have been trapped in this place for a hundred and fifty years. Now that we're free, I suspect some will explore this world the best they can. And one of those places will likely be your home."
"So you think they'll come back?"
"If they feel there's a reason to come back. So don't go getting grumpy around them, or they'll think you don't care."
Heart opened his mouth at that, only to close it. He thought back to everything recently, noticing he probably hadn't been very fun to be around, so Ace and Mira might not want to be there with him. But they might still want to be around Soul and the others, so there was still a chance. "Thanks," Heart flared his wings at this before looking back at the elder, "What's your name again?"
The elder chuckled at this, "Name's Core. It was nice to meet you." Heart nodded and took off, leaving Core to sigh as he leaned back and stared at the light glowing crystal ceiling. For some strange reason, talking to that colt had removed his own fears. He was sure now that the jakhowls would return. They would spread out and enjoy the world, but this would always be where they called home.
Twilight hummed as she studied the rock she had picked up, using her magic to examine it and nod. She was currently in a hut that the jakhowls had offered them all, which wasn't much better than the rest of the buildings in the village. But it was better than nothing, and they were willing to accept that. The hut was a single room illuminated by a small crystal that apparently came off the one up above them. It seemed the crystal was continuously growing, but pieces on the end tended to break off, the tree catching them all before they could hit anyone below, and the jakhowls used these crystals as temporary light sources during the night.
Twilight wasn't the only one there. Spike, Flash, Soul, Ace and Mira were also there, Ace and Mira telling Soul all about what they had learned and Soul was doing the same, telling them about their discovery of the umbrum being the ones that sealed the jakhowls. Flash was simply sitting against the wall of the hut, while Spike was finishing a letter to Celestia that Twilight had asked him to write. And as Twilight continued to study the rock, she put her hoof to her chin as a smile appeared on her face.
"I got it." she spoke up, "I know how long the jakhowls have been sealed away."
"You do?" Ace asked as they all turned to the alicorn.
Twilight nodded. "Yup. The age difference in the two rock sides is roughly one thousand three hundred and fifty years, give or take a decade or two. That means whatever spell was used to seal them away made time in here run ten times as slowly."
Flash tilted his head at that, "So...like a hundred and fifty years passed in here, fifteen hundred years passed outside?"
"That's right. Very good Flash." Twilight giggled, "Looks like teaching math has helped you learn it."
"Oh, stop it." Flash grumbled as the others all laughed, "Anyways, you're saying their...what, five hundred something years older than Springer's tribe was?"
Twilight nodded back, "Yes. But that also means they are five hundred years younger than the jakhowls in the Lost City, give or take."
Flash glanced down at Ace and Mira, "Looks like you two are still the oldest jakhowls we know."
The pair laughed at this as Twilight put the rock away. "I'm sure Sirius will want to know this. But we should probably get some sleep and tell him in the morning." They all nodded while Flash looked out a nearby window, wondering where Springer and Heart was.
He got one answer when Heart arrived at the hut, stepping through the door. "Hey everypony," he muttered out.
Flash frowned at him, "You okay?"
"Um...I think so." Heart nodded as Ace and Mira turned to him, "Sorry. Guess I let my emotions get the better of me." He then walked up to Ace and Mira, suddenly hugging both. The sight made them all blink, Soul then slinging her hoof around her brother.
Meanwhile...
Springer was at the bottom of the tree, leaning against one of the large roots as he stared at the sights around him. As he did this, he sensed a presence, making him turn to see Mirage. "You should be getting some rest. You've had a long day."
"Could say the same for you," Springer replied, "I know from experience that teaching Ace and Mira isn't easy. You were able to get Mira to learn the basics of that move in a single day. Took me months to teach them the Aura Blast."
"That is always the hardest one to learn," Mirage responded, "Though from what I saw, you were able to do it from the moment you were hatched." Springer shrugged at this as Mirage looked over at the same dark landscape he was staring at. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Its amazing," Springer chuckled in a low, deep tone, "I...I've dreamed of a place like this for so long. A place where I could meet others of my kind." Mirage saw the frown appear on his face, a tired expression creeping onto him as he added, "When I received Ace and Mira's eggs...I was so overwhelmed. I couldn't believe there was a chance for our race." He put a paw to his temple at this, "And now I'm here. Its so amazing and...I still can't believe it. Heck, I'm worried that any minute now I'm gonna wake and find it was all a dream."
"Well, it isn't." Mirage chimed, "You...you're not the last of your kind anymore. And we're gonna need you to help us get used to the outside world."
Springer blinked at her at this, a bit of surprise showing in his expression, "You saw my memories," he slowly said, "You've seen everything I've seen."
"That's not the same as experiencing it." She glanced away this, now staring at the ceiling of the biome, "Seeing those memories of yours...it made me realize just how much in the dark we are about this world." She looked back at him, "I know I was...rough at our first meeting, but after seeing those memories...I'm starting to understand what us jakhowl need to do next. We need to learn as much as we can."
Springer nodded at this, "I understand. And I want to help you all with that. Though uh...I need help too." Mirage raised an eyebrow. "I...don't know anything about jakhowl culture other than the Aura Blast is meant to be the first thing we learn." Springer lightly laughed as he showed her a small smile, "If I help you all learn about the outside world, can you teach me everything that makes a jakhowl a...well, a jakhowl?"
Mirage smiled and nodded, only for a bulb to go off in her head. "Come with me for a second." She gestured for him to follow, the jakhowl soon cutting into a sprint, Springer flinching for a second before following.
Flash laid beside Twilight as they all slept away, though he was still awake. Heart had asked Ace and Mira to come visit them if they chose to stay in Aurarora, surprising the pair since they weren't even sure if they were actually staying. Twilight told them they would talk about this in the morning when they could bring Springer into the conversation After that, Spike had finished off the letter telling Celestia everything they had learned. It would likely not be until morning that they got an answer, so the they chose to go to sleep. But Flash couldn't seem to drift off for some reason. He simply laid there, thinking about what Heart had said about them staying there.
He imagined what life in Ponyville would be like if Springer chose to stay in Aurarora and it caused his stomach to churn. Springer had been his partner for so long, he didn't know what life with him gone would be. He couldn't help but feel uncertain.
"Flash." the pegasi's ears perked up as he sat up. "Flash." He quickly realised that he wasn't hearing someone talk. They were talking into his head. A jakhowl was communicating with him. "Come to me." The voice was feminine and Flash slowly got up, being careful not to wake Twilight or the others as he headed for the exit. "This way. Turn left and go down the street."
Flash followed the voice, wondering who was calling him, but not feeling anything in the voice that told him to be wary. All he could do was follow the instructions and make his way through the village.
Mirage had led Springer through the biome until they reached an area at the very back of the cavern, where a small forest could be found. Springer hadn't really noticed it before since its position had shielded it from sight behind the central tree. "I thought you said that tree was the only source of wood?" He asked as he followed Mirage.
"These woods are special," she replied, "We do not cut the trees down because of what they are."
"What they are?" Springer raised an eyebrow and stared at the trees. He noticed the trunks had a series of patterns in the wood, but they didn't look like they had been carved into it. Instead, it was as if the trees had grown with these patterns on them. And when he placed a paw on it, he suddenly felt something connect with him. It was like his aura had been grabbed by another.
"Can you feel it?" Mirage asked, "The pull of the ancients?"
"Pull...of the ancients?" He could feel this new aura connecting with his, and a part of him told him to pull away, but he had a feeling he didn't need to worry. Instead, he allowed his aura to flow. When he did, the markings on the tree suddenly started glowing. He gasped at this as the light flowed through the entire tree and caused it to light up.
That included the roots, and it quickly spread to the next tree, then another and another. Springer could only watch in amazement as the entire forest was consumed by a soft blue glow that made him feel something. In a split second, it was as if uncountable number of voices were whispering in his head. That many voices should have been impossible to understand and distinguish from one another, but he found that if he concentrated, he could make out what the voices were saying.
"What is this?" He asked as he pulled his paw away from the tree as Mirage continued to walk through the woods.
"Do you know what your tribe did with their dead when they passed away?" Springer tilted his head at this, only for Mirage to continue, "If they were anything like us, they would have burnt their dead and scattered them around the base of trees like this."
"Wait..." Springer glanceed around, "Is this a graveyard?"
Mirage shook her head, "I wouldn't call it that. When a jakhowl dies, the aura they wielded infuses itself into the body. This creates an echo of who they were in life, containing all their knowledge and wisdom for a limited time. If left, that echo fades and their wisdom is lost forever. But if the body is cremated and the ashes fed to these trees within seventy-two hours of death, the echo will become a part of the tree and its memory shall remain as part of the forest."
"Wow..." Springer whispered, "I had no idea jakhowls could leave something like that behind." He then put a paw to his chin, remembering how Shade told him that Tricksters transferred memories through runes, only to look up at the trees and think that this could be the jakhowls' version of that. 'Did my tribe do that? Is there a forest out there somewhere that holds our memories? I mean, I know what happened to mom and dad, so they might not have left anything...though considering today, any miracle can happen.'
Those thoughts were put on hold in his head as he continued to follow Mirage, only to see her stop at a glowing tree. She put her paw against it along with her forehead. "This is where we spread my mother's ashes." Springer hadn't been expecting that, but he probably should have expected it given he hadn't seen a female jakhowl like Mirage anywhere.
"I'm sorry," was all Springer could say. "I...uh...well...how did it happen?" He instantly flinched at his words, unable to believe he actually asked that. He hit himself on the forehead as she wasn't looking, but stood normal as Mirage turned to him.
"When I was young, sickness infected the village." Springer had a feeling he didn't need to know anymore, but she continued. "My mother caught it along with a few others. It wasn't widespread, but it was enough to...to take them from us." She looked down. "Our healers did everything they could, but the illness was too much for them. My mother and several others died."
"I'm sorry," Springer repeated as he moved over to place his paw on the tree next to Mirage's. He once again felt the tug of his aura, wondering if her mother was communicating with him. "I never got to really know my parents. Even though I've managed to meet memories of them a few times, I never got to know them. Luna told me stories about my dad and Ruby has talked to me about my mom...but it's not the same. I guess since I didn't know them, I can't really miss them like you can."
Mirage once again put her head against the tree. "I was really young when she died, but I remember so much. When we used to swim in the river and play. Her brushing my fur. Looking after me when I got hurt. She was amazing." She looked like she was about to start crying. "I shouldn't be so upset. It's not like I lost both my parents."
"Did that happen?" Springer asked.
Mirage nodded, "Razor Fang." Springer grimaced at this, "He lost both his parents to the illness. He wasn't the nicest pup before then, but after that...he got a lot worse." Springer sighed at this, knowing what that meant.
"I see..."
Flash continued to follow the voice as it lead him through the village, only to walk into a small hut. He glanced inside, only to find it was illuminated by a single light source. A crystal ball sitting on a stone table, glowing with aura energy. Sitting behind the table was the elder, Crystal Clair, who didn't even look up at him and was constantly staring at the orb.
"Welcome," she slowly said, "I've been expecting you."
"You have?" Flash asked, "Did you see that in the future?"
She shook her head, "No. I was the one that called you here."
"Oh." Flash let out a hum before sitting down on the other side of the table, Clair continuing to look into the crystal orb. "Why did you call me here?"
"I can sense great uncertainty within you," Clair replied, "You worry for the future, do you not?"
"How could I not," Flash sighed, "Springer might stay here. I'm happy he found this place, and I know he'd be happy here, and I know I have no right to try and stop him from staying, but...I don't know. Springer and I have been partners for so long. He was there beside me whenever I faced off against my biggest challenges. I could always trust he'd be there when I need him. But now that he might stay here...I guess I'm just nervous about the future."
"Parting is such sweet sorrow," Clair nodded. "I understand. You two have relied on one another for so long, that it would feel like separating you both would make whatever challenges you both faced in the future a thousand times harder." Flash nodded back, "I saw how strong your connection is through the Aura-Scape. But you must be careful. A connection can become a shackle if you rely too heavily on it. While you two together are clearly a near unbeatable team, you must not let yourself become too reliant on that team, or you will find that when the two of you are not together, you are unable to stand against even the weakest of opponents."
"I know that," Flash replied. "I've faced that harsh reality many times before."
"But it is not just the future without your friend I can sense you are uncertain about. What else do you worry about?"
Flash flinched at this, a memory bubbling to surface as he remembered when he was given a glimpse into his student's future and by extension, his own. "I...I got to learn a bit about the future a while back. I was told that it's a great future, but...I'm not in it. Knowing something like that is coming is..."
"I see," Clair nodded, "So, you wish to learn about the future?"
"I...don't know," Flash slowly said, "I've seen where that road takes you. My friend, Twilight, once got a glimpse into her future. And when she saw it, she became so terrified by it that she almost drove herself crazy trying to change it. But that just led her to make that future happen anyway."
"Yes. One often finds their destiny on the road they take to avoid it."
"Can you please say something that I wouldn't find in a fortune cookie?" Flash asked.
"I have a suggestion," Clair pointed at the orb, "My abilities to see the future can be spread to others. Place your hoof on the orb and I will allow you to get a glimpse into your most likely future."
"Most likely future?" Flash asked, "What are you talking about?"
"The future is constantly in flux. Every decision we make can have a drastic effect on it. The simplest choice can have a big impact. Being at a crosswalk and deciding to go left could result in you becoming the richest pony in the world, but choosing to go right could make you a bit-less pauper. There are a hundred decisions to make between that choice and the outcome, but that single choice can affect how the future plays out."
"So you're saying that what you show me could happen, but then I could make a choice that could make it impossible?"
"Exactly," Clair nodded, "My ancestor was the most powerful seer in our tribe. Only she could see something that was set in stone. But I only have the power to see what will happen based on the past and present. So, if you don't like what you see, you can be sure that there's a chance it can still be undone. So, what do you say? Care to take a glimpse into your possible future?"
Flash sat in silence for a moment, wondering if he should tempt fate by seeing what was coming. What if it was all good and seeing it would make that good future never happen? But what if it was also horrible and the only way to stop it was to see it coming. Weighing his odds, Flash eventually nodded. "Let's do this."
Clair nodded and reached out to touch the orb, Flash doing the same. As soon as they were both touching the orb, Clair spoke, "Look into the sphere. Do not think and simply let your mind drift as you stare into it."
Flash did so, staring at the swirling light within the orb and trying his best not to think of anything. He simply followed the lights as they moved in random directions around the orb, unknowingly falling into some kind of dream state. Eventually, everything except the light disappeared, and Flash found his mind being pulled into the light. And in the blink on an eye, he was no longer in the hut.
Instead, he found himself standing in a void of the light inside the orb. "Did it work?" He glanced around, but saw nothing but the light around him, "Clair?" She didn't answer, Flash blinking in response before something began to appear out of the light in front of him.
It was a structure of some kind. One he felt he recognized. The light had turned into a fog that was slowly receding, allowing him to get a better look at the building that was coming into view. And as he moved closer, his eyes went wide as he realized what it was. "No..." he whispered, "It can't be."
It was the Castle of Friendship, but it was in ruins. The tree-like building had been completely knocked down, the trunk of it lying shattered around the building as the structure on top now lay upon the ground and had large holes in the walls while the star-shaped top was hanging from the building with many cracks and missing pieces. Flash couldn't believe what he was seeing, and things only got worse as more of the fog slowly faded away. He turned to see that the School of Friendship was also nothing but rubble in the side of a hill. "How could this happen?" He spun in the direction of the town and saw that more fog was fading, allowing him to fly toward Ponyville. And as he did this, he was greeted to the same sight as the castle and school.
The whole place was a wreck. Not a single building was left standing. Town Hall, Sugarcube Corner, Rarity's Boutique. They had all been destroyed. This wasn't a town anymore. It was a battlefield.
"Why?!" Flash asked, "Who did this?!" And as he yelled this, the pegasi spun around to see a new figure in the fog. "Who's there?" He reached for his sword, only to realize he didn't have it in this dream. "Show yourself!" The figure didn't need to move, for the fog around them began to disappear. And as it receded, Flash went wide-eyed, "Void..."
The one previously known as Shadow Corrupter stood before him, looking just as crazy and enraged as the last time he had seen him. Flash thought he had died when Heart blasted him, but it seemed it was all for naught. "Did you do this?!" The defender yelled, "What did you do to Ponyville?!" Void said nothing, "Answer me!"
In that moment, Void's form began to shift. It began to glitch and morph, only for a black mist to cover it as it took a new shape. And when the fog began to fade again, Flash saw a new pony appear within it. A pony he had never seen, but recognized instantly. Himself.
It was a bleach gray version of him, with short blue hair and eyes of red and green. "You...you're the version of me Twilight and Starlight met. The one from another timeline. What are you doing here?"
But as he asked this, Flash's form changed again. It reshaped itself into another pony, another Flash. This Flash looked more like the real one, only his coat and mane weren't as bright. His cutie mark was different, the shield being yellow with a blue lightning bolt over it. Flash knew he didn't recognize this one, but the cowardly look on his face made the Royal Knight uncomfortable.
That is, till the pony changed into another villain from Flash's past: Shake Shocker. He was then replaced by Big Score, then Rickashay, then Boulder, Electra, Doom Raizer, Banshee and Storm Blade. Almost every serious villain that Flash had ever faced before. And after Storm, they changed back into Void before switching back to dark Flash.
"What the-what the heck is happening here?!" He yelled, "I just fought a bunch of these mooks recently! Why are you showing me this?! Heck, who are you and why did you do this?! ANSWER ME!" But the villain didn't answer, instead just exploding into a cloud of darkness that shot toward him. Flash gasped as he tried to fight back, but the cloud struck him before he could and everything went dark.
The next thing Flash knew, he was back in Clair's hut, staggering back and falling to the floor. The jakhowl raised her head from the orb, now sensing a great deal of fear within him. "Are you alright?" Flash began to pant, his heart racing a mile a minute. He took several deep breaths before controlling his breathing. The defender soon got up and sat back down in front of her. "What did you see?"
"I...I saw my home...in ruins. Not a single building was left standing, and...all my friends were gone."
"Was there anyone else there? The one that caused it?" A look of uncertainty appeared on his face as he looked down at the floor.
"There was. A villain I thought was dead. But then...then he changed into somepony else. Another villain. One I've never seen, but heard about. Then he changed again, and again and again. It was the same figure, but they kept changing." Clair just stared at him as he glanced back up at her, "What does this mean?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of a vision like that before. I can't be sure what it means. I can only guess."
"I'm willing to take a guess if it helps me figure out what's going on."
Clair nodded back, "It's possible that while the event you saw is likely to happen, the one there during that event is still unclear."
"So Ponyville's gonna be destroyed?!" Flash yelped.
"It's likely. As I said, simply seeing it in my orb could have changed the events of it happening. Or, it could have set those very events into motion. The future is difficult to understand. But like I said, the figure you said is still in flux."
"So any of them could cause the destruction?"
"Maybe. Or maybe they have nothing to do with what happens to your home. Can you honestly say that any of the ones you saw have the power to destroy an entire town?" Flash crossed his hooves at this, thinking about each one. Void could definitely destroy the town if he found a way to regain his former power. The evil version of him probably could as well, same with Doom Raizer. Banshee and Electra...maybe, same with Shake Shocker. But Score and his group couldn't do that, even if they worked together. The same with that other Flash he saw, though he was still curious about him.
"No," Flash shook his head, "Not all of them."
"So there's a chance they have nothing to do with the destruction. Another problem with seeing my visions is you have no idea when in the future this could take place. It could happen tomorrow, or twenty years from now. Anything between now and then could happen to destroy your home and it would be out of your control."
"I guess," Flash sighed, "I was hoping seeing the future that would make me feel better, but this is just making me feel worse."
"So, what will you do now?"
"I'm...not sure. I should tell Twilight what I saw, but then she'd go nuts trying to do every little thing to stop it. No," he shook his head, "I'll keep this to myself...for now. And if I think something that caused that future is about to happen, then I'll tell her and the rest of my friends."
Clair nodded and Flash got up, giving her his thanks before stepping out of the hut. And when he was gone, Clair felt her own curiosity get the better of her and looked into the orb, focusing on Flash's future for herself. Doing so caused a vision to appear in the sphere. This image was of Flash, surrounded by a bunch of ponies carrying strange looking weapons much like his sword.
Those ponies were all lying on the ground, looking like they were in a great amount of pain. Flash showed nothing but fear on his face for them, only to look up at another figure. This figure was surrounded in darkness, its identity hidden as she saw Flash charge forward before being surrounded by light.
The vision then ended, making her gasp. She had never seen such a thing, but she knew whatever was going to happen to Flash, it was going to be big. And she could only hope he would have the strength to overcome it.
Springer and Mirage continued to stand by the tree her mother was buried under, both standing in silence as they paid their respect to the jakhowls of old. And after a bit, Mirage spoke up, "Do you think the ponies could have helped them if we weren't sealed away in here?"
Springer went wide-eyed at the question, only to glance away, "Um...maybe. I guess it depends on what the sickness was. Pony medicine is pretty good, although I've never been to a doctor."
"You never had any kind of medical check-up?"
"Oh, I have. But it was done by a vet."
"A what?"
"It's a doctor, but they focus on animals. And since our anatomy is closer to a dog then a pony, Ace, Mira and I have been relying on her to keep us healthy."
"I see." Mirage let go of the tree and moved away. "I hope these Princesses you told us about are willing to send some of these vets here to help us. I don't want anyone to lose their family like I did."
Springer nodded back, "They will. The princesses care about all creatures that live in Equestria, even if they're not ponies. And Luna has a special love for our race." He stepped in front of her and smiled, "The ponies only want to help us. If you believe only one thing I'm saying, it's that. The ponies are our friends."
The pair stared into each other's eyes, only for Mirage to nod, "I believe you. And not just about the ponies. I believe you about everything." She spun around and stared to walk away, Springer moving with her. "You...Mira and Ace. I'm glad you came. Came to help us find our place in this world."
"No problem," Springer chuckled.
"But..." Mirage turned back to him, "Will you stay?" Springer blinked at this, "You clearly love the home you managed to find with the ponies, but if what I saw in your memories is true...Aurarora needs you here. I know my father will not force you to stay, but I hope you do. I believe you have much to teach us, and we can teach you just as much. You three would be welcomed here."
Springer glanced away at this, the thoughts of staying here and saying goodbye to his life in Ponyville now entering his head. To stop being a Defender of the Peace, and to all the friends he made that he never got the chance to say goodbye to. "I...don't know yet," he sighed, "I'll need to think about it some more."
Mirage nodded as they reached an area of the forest that had a waterfall. The liquid was flying out a hole ten meters up, pooling down into a small lake below it and rolling into a stream that connected to several others. "This is where I come to be alone," Mirage moved over to the side of the water and sat down. "It's such a beautiful spot."
"Sure is," Springer sat down next to her. They both smiled as they looked out at the water, which was reflecting some of the light from the crystal. Springer didn't know if he was going to stay, but he definitely would want to come back to this incredible place.
The pair simply sat there, both beginning to tell the other about their own worlds. And before they knew it, the duo were laughing and joking well into the night, telling crazy stories between the two. But as they did this, a certain jakhowl was standing behind a tree.
Razor Fang glared at the two, having heard everything Mirage had told the outsider about their tribe. "This is going too far. I have to stop this...now."
And with that, he walked away with a snarl on his face.
The next morning...
As soon as the sun was up, or the crystal glowed brighter, Sirius had called the elders, Mirage and their guests to the Tree of Ancients. Ace, Mira and the twins were playing with some more young jakhowls, so the adults decided to let them keep having fun.
And as they met, Chrome told everyone about what they had discovered the previous day. "Umbrum?" Springer asked, turning to Flash. "The umbrum are the ones who sealed the jakhowls away?"
"Yup," Flash nodded. "We're sure of it. Their wall of memories has a pretty good painting of them sealing the jakhowls inside the mountain."
"So it wasn't ponies who were our enemies all those years ago?" Clair asked, the others nodding as Spike asked another question.
"Do you think they're the same umbrum that are trapped under the Crystal Empire?"
Twilight tilted her head at that, "It's possible. According to my analysis, you've been gone for fifteen hundred years. The Crystal Empire was lost a thousand years ago, and from what Sombra told us, he did what he did because of the umbrum that were trapped under the Empire. But since we don't know how long they were trapped for, we can't be certain."
"What exactly are these...umbrum?" Core asked, "Do you know where they came from?"
"Yeah," Flash nodded. "But it's...complicated." The jakhowl's expressions told him they were willing to listen. "Okay, so the world was created by two powerful entities. The Sacred Light and Corrupted Shadow." The jakhowls seemed surprised by this, not having learned about this during their Aura-Scape with Springer. "They created everything you see. Whenever one created something, the other would create its exact opposite to keep the world in balance."
"Does that include us?" Sirius asked, Flash nodded.
"Yup. I'm told the jakhowls were a particular favorite of the Sacred Light." They all smiled at that, "And in contrast, the Corrupted Shadow made the Tricksters to keep everything in balance. Then, they chose to live in the world they created. To do that, they made forms for themselves to inhabit. The Original Alicorn and Original Umbrum. And from them, the pony and umbrum race came into being."
"Interesting," Sirius replied, "And you're saying these umbrum are now gone?"
Twilight nodded again. "There are some sealed under the Crystal Empire, but other than that, we're pretty sure they've all died out."
"Good," Sirius respodned, "Then we don't have to worry about them attacking us again. I guess it's a good thing the seal lasted as long as it did."
Twilight then took something out to show them. A scroll. "Actually, Princess Celestia thinks she knows why you've been freed at this time. You might actually owe your freedom to a criminal." Everyone blinked at this as she continued, "When you looked into Springer and the pup's memories, did you see what happened with a pony named Cozy Glow?"
"Yes," Sirius nodded, "She attempted to take control of the kingdom by getting rid of all magic."
"And it's possible that by doing that, she sucked away the magic in the seal. I'm willing to bet that's when the rock trapping you began to give away. It broke apart just enough so that when the magic returned, the seal was too badly damaged to become re-enchanted. After that, it was just a matter of time before the seal broke completely and you were free."
"So...something good did come out of Cozy almost destroying the world," Flash sighed and shook his head, "Who knew?"
"I see." Sirius slowly said, "Does your princess say anything else?"
Twilight nodded and unrolled the scroll. "She says she and Luna are both happy you're back and excited to meet you, if you wish to meet with her. She's also confirmed what we suggested about you becoming official Equestrian Citizens. You'll be granted all the land in the surrounding area to do with as you please, offered any kind of aid that you want or need, and be offered full membership into the United Federation of Creatures."
"This is sounding too good to be true," the green jakhowl elder chimed in, "Wouldn't you agree?"
"Indeed Cress...but I think this is something we should try. It is an excellent opportunity to re-establish the jakhowls into the world." He turned back to Twilight, "Tell your princess I look forward to meeting her whenever she is able to discuss the finer details." Twilight nodded and took out another piece of paper and quill to write just that. "Which leaves us with just one thing left to discuss."
He turned to Springer, the jakhowl flinching at his stare, "What?"
"I can sense you're feeling conflicted. And I have a feeling I know why. You are unsure about remaining here or returning to the home you have spent your entire life in." Springer went wide-eyed at this, only for Sirius to add, "I can understand. The ponies have treated you well. I can see why you wouldn't want to stay goodbye to them."
"Er...yeah," Springer turned to Flash and Twilight, "It's hard to chose."
"Well, it's obvious which one you should choose," Sirius told him. "Both."
"Huh?" The group looked back at him, the elder laughing at their confused expressions.
"You said the ponies have the power to transport themselves great distances in a matter of moments, did you not?" They nodded back, "Well, then you shouldn't have any problems coming back and forth from here and this Ponyville."
"Wait..." Twilight leaned back at this, "You want us to set up a Rune Gate so Springer, Ace and Mira can come and go as they please."
"Why not? Is it difficult to create one of these gates?" Twilight shook her head, "Then I see no reason why Springer can't use one to come and go as he pleases. We won't need him here all the time. He can stay here a few days and help us get acclimated to this world, then return to your home and spend time doing whatever he needs to do there. I think that should be a perfect method for him, wouldn't you?"
They all turned to Springer, seeing tears almost appear in his eyes, "It is. Thank you."
"My pleasure," Sirius smirked, "You have been through a lot in your life. More than any jakhowl I have ever seen. You lost your first family before you even hatched, so it wouldn't be right of us to make you abandon your second family." They all smiled at him as Sirius took a deep breath. "I think that's enough for now. You still have much more of our home to enjoy. And maybe you'll be willing to take a group of our best jakhowl fighters out to show them the surrounding area. If we will be gifted this land, we'll need to know about every inch of it."
They all nodded and got up, all but Sirius leaving the tree. Once the last of them were gone, Sirius let out a long sigh. He was glad he had lived to see this time. His daughter would get to enjoy the outside world and peace between his home and the ponies was a certainty. He couldn't wait to see the world himself. "I hope I get the chance to see this Crystal Empire they were talking about."
But as he said this, he slowly got up as he felt something. He walked over to the exit and glanced outside, only to see nothing. "Hmm?" He stepped back inside, only to sense the presence again. And as he felt this, his mouth was suddenly covered before a surge of pain shot through his back and all the way through his body before splitting out his stomach.
"You old fool." The voice made his eyes go wide, only for the weapon stabbing his stomach was pulled out, making him fall over. The elder slowly turned his head at this, now seeing Razor standing over him. "The jakhowls don't need you ruining their lives." He kneled down in front of him and took something out. A cloth. "Those ponies will destroy us unless we destroy them first. But a weakling like you would rather bow down to them and become their slave. Well, I won't let you bring our noble clan down."
"Razor," he coughed as he felt blood fill his mouth, "Don't do this."
"It's over," Razor hissed, "War is coming, and I'm gonna be the one to lead us to victory."
Everyone was outside the town now, the adults enjoying themselves as they watched Ace, Mira, Heart and Soul play with other young jakhowls. The sight made Springer shine the biggest grin, happy to see such a sight. The expression he wielded was one that intrigued Mirage, only for the ponies to walk up to her.
"Something catch your eye?" Flash asked with a smirk.
Mirage turned to him before looking back at Springer, "It's just...I've never met a jakhowl like him before. After I saw his past, I...I understand why, but still."
"It figures for him." Twilight chimed in as she walked up to Mirage's side, "Springer...well, he's always been like that. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he'd do anything for those two."
"I see..." Mirage chuckled as she watched them play a game of hopscotch.
Flash smirked as he watched as well, "I wonder what other games these youngsters play around here?"
"Not many. What other games are there for you all?" Mirage asked, the ponies exchanging glances.
"Well, there's softball, dodgeball, kickball and a bunch of other ball games."
"Too bad you all couldn't play buckball," Twilight sighed, "Then you could play against our team and Appaloosa." Mirage tilted her head at this, "Well, I guess you could, but you'd have to team up with a pegasus and unicorn while taking the place of the earth pony. Unless you all can secretly fly or levitate stuff."
"We cannot," Mirage shook her head, "But those other games do sound like they might be interesting."
"What do you all do when you want to have fun?" Spike asked, "You've never heard of basic games, and you obviously don't have video games." Mirage blinked at this, "So what do jakhowl kids normally do for fun?"
"Lots of things," Mirage replied, "We play tag, go swimming..." She suddenly seemed stumped, "Um...did I say way play tag?"
"Guess there isn't much you can do in a single sealed location," Springer commented as he walked up to them, Mirage turning to the jakhowl. "That's so sad. I mean, have you even seen snow?"
"Snow?" Mirage responded, causing the others to gasp.
"You don't even know what snow is?" Flash asked, "Oh, you poor things." Mirage and the other jakhowls around them all turned to the pegasi at this, "Don't worry, we'll make sure your area gets some snow during the winter this year."
"Hey, that's cheating!" They heard Ace yell as they looked over to see it was Heart's turn and the pegasus colt was using his wings to keep himself balanced.
"What?" He asked with a smile on his face. "You all have an advantage being naturally two legged." He hopped over the stone and lost his balance, falling to the ground as the others laughed. He picked himself up and started laughing himself, making Flash smile as well, glad to see Heart looking happy again.
But in that moment, his joy was replaced by a particular feeling inside his body. One he knew he needed to deal with quickly. "Um...question?" Mirage turned to him, "Where do jakhowls...do their business? I haven't gone since I got here."
Mirage chuckled and pointed at the village. "There's a large building in town where we do our...business. You can't miss it." Flash nodded and flew off while Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"You have plumbing here?"
"What's plumbing?"
Twilight grimaced as she realized what must be happening. "What do you do with the...leavings?"
"Oh, the restrooms have a large wooden bucket connected to the toilet that we use to store it in. When it's full, we take it out and use it to help fertilize our fields." Twilight, Springer and Spike all felt queasy at hearing this, though they knew that the jakhowls had to do something with it. Waste not, want not. And as Mirage had been explaining that, Springer saw the jakhowl known as Razor Fang walking up to them. The jakhowls around him all stared at him, seeing the glare on his face.
He turned to the game of hopscotch and snarled, "Why are these pups not training? How do you expect them to perfect their fighting abilities if they're wasting their time like this?!"
"We're having fun," Ace replied, "You know, that thing that makes life worth living. You need to lighten up."
"Our tribe is in danger," Razor hissed, "If we want to survive in this harsh world, we need to be strong. That means we don't have time to play around."
"That's enough, Razor!" He turned to glare at Mirage as she moved over to him. "The outside world isn't completely safe, but it's not the death trap we grew up hearing about."
"And how exactly do you know that?" Razor growled as he pointed at Springer, "Because you saw it in that outsider's memories?! How do we even know what we saw was true?! Those ponies have magic that can do almost anything. How do we know they didn't effect these fool's memories?! They'd do anything to keep what they truly are a secret, trying to trick us into becoming pets like these three!"
"Hey!" Mira yelped, "We're not pets."
"Yeah," Soul added, "They're our friends!" Razor glared at her, Soul flinching as she saw aura began to appear in Razor's paws, only for Springer to walk up between them.
"Just ignore him." Springer chimed in as his face switched from his smile into one of neither anger or annoyance, but rather pity. "You know, I feel sorry for you." Razor raised an eyebrow at this, his aura sputtering at the words, "You've become so scared of everything that isn't in this place, you can only process them as a threat. But here's the simple facts: The world is a scary place. But it's also a wonderful place with many amazing things worth facing the scary stuff for."
"What's your point?" Razor growled as his aura began to form in his paws again.
"No point," Springer replied, "I just feel sorry for you. Sorry that you can't overcome that fear. But just because you're scared doesn't mean you need to force that fear on others. You can stay here if you want, that's fine. But there are those that want to see what's waiting for them out there, and I'm gonna help show them what they'd miss if they stayed here. And you can't stop that."
Razor glared at him, clearly prepared to break into an argument, only for a voice to scream into every jakhowl's head in Aurarora. "HELP ME!" They all clutched their heads as it echoed through their minds, many falling to their knees in shock.
Twilight and the others gasped at this and ran over to their friends. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked Mirage as Heart and Soul helped their jakhowl partners back to their feet.
Mirage moaned, but then gasped as she realized who's voice she had just heard. "FATHER!" She screamed as she suddenly cut into a sprint to the Tree of Ancients, Springer following after her with the rest of the jakhowls on their tail. Twilight motioned for the non-jakhowls to go too and they ran into the town, spotting Flash walking towards them as they did so.
"Hey!" Flash yelled, "What's going on?!" Nobody answered as he had to take to the air, the group now heading up to the tree.
Mirage was the first inside the chamber, only to gasp when she saw her father on the floor, blood leaking from his body. "NOOOOO!" Springer rushed in behind her as she knelt beside her father, rolling him over as Springer saw the wound on his stomach.
"SOUL!" He roared for the filly.
"Father!" Mirage looked ready to start crying, "Who did this to you?!" Sirius was silent for a moment, but then coughed and opened his eyes. And as he coughed, blood filled his mouth. "Father!"
Soul and the rest of the ponies arrived next, all gasping as Soul ran up to him, "Hold on!" The alicorn yelped as her magic activated.
"What is she doing?" A jakhowl asked, Twilight turning to him.
"Soul has healing magic. She can heal almost any wound." They all went wide-eyed, some sighing in relief, only for Twilight to frown and look back at her student, "But...she can't keep those with fatal injuries alive. That'll be up to Sirius. He has to stay strong until the wound's completely healed."
"Father..." Mirage added as she began to cry, "Please don't leave me. I can't lose you too." Sirius looked her in the eyes, gazing into them and smiling.
"Just hold on," Springer continued, "Soul will get you fixed up." He looked at the filly as she slowly began to close up the wound. "What did this?"
"It looks like some kind of blade," Soul surmised, "Based on the shape of the wound, I'd guess it was a blade with a single curved edge." Sirius suddenly started coughing as she pumped in more magic, "This is bad."
"You can heal him, right?" Flash asked.
"He's lost a lot of blood," Soul replied.
"Father!" Mirage cried as Springer stared at the elder.
He then turned to the filly alicorn, "Hey Soul." Soul turned to him, "What would happen if he tried to Aura-scape with us?" Soul went wide-eyed at this, "If he can do it, we could see who did this to him."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Soul responded, "At his age and with this wound, that kind of effort could be too much for him."
Springer growled as he glanced back down at the elder, only to put his paw on Sirius's head. "What are you doing?" Mirage asked, "Are you trying to Aura-scape with him?"
"Got any better ideas?" Springer asked, "Maybe I can do it. Who knows." He closed his eyes and tried to connect it to Sirius, a part of him wondering if Sirius could just tell him through telepathy. But as he connected to the older jakhowl, Springer could feel his mind was a complete mess of pain, panic and fear. "Come on...clear your head." Sirius continued to have trouble focusing, but Springer's words allowed him to calm down.
He couldn't connect enough to telepathically talk to Springer, but he focused on what Razor had done. And to everyone's surprise, Springer's eyes went white for a moment. Mirage couldn't believe what she was seeing as Springer found himself in the same white void he had seen the previous day. But unlike yesterday, there weren't a bunch of images surrounding him. Instead, there was only one in front of him. One that showed him Sirius looking down and seeing a bloodsoaked blade sticking out of Sirius' stomach. One that looked just like Flash's Celestic Gear.
That was all he got to see before the vision vanished, Springer finding himself back in the chamber. Mirage was staring at him in shock, "You can Aura-scape." Springer shook his head at this, "What did you see?"
"I'm...I'm not sure." Sirius coughed again and they turned back to him as Soul kept healing the wound.
"Father," Mirage whispered, "You'll be alright. You just have to stay strong."
But then Sirius stared up at her again, showing a tiny smile before coughing out more blood. This cleared his airway enough for him to speak. "You...have your mother's eyes." Mirage gasped as she clutched his paw, Sirius holding it tightly as he turned to Springer. "Take care of our tribe. Do what you believe is right and you won't...regret it." He kept both of them in his gaze, the pair staring down at him as he closed his eyes and took one final breath.
"FATHER!" Mirage screamed as Soul stopped her magic and placed her ear to his chest. She waited for a heartbeat, but there was none.
She pulled away and looked to Mirage, giving her an apologetic look before shaking her head. Mirage burst into tears as she pulled her father toward her, hugging him tightly while the rest of the jakhowls and their guests looked down in shame. That is, till someone pushed his way through.
Razor, followed by the rest of the elders, all made their way into the tree and looked down at their leader's body. "What happened?" Chrome asked as they gathered around them.
Soul stepped back as Clair moved over to place a reassuring paw on Mirage's shoulder. "He's gone," she wept. "Someone...someone killed him."
"Who?" Core asked as he reached down to inspect the wound. "He died from such a small wound."
"I was trying to heal him," Soul chimed in, "If only he had held on for a little bit longer. Whatever weapon did this did a lot of internal damage. He...he might have lost too much blood to be saved, even if I had completely healed him."
"What weapon did this?" Cress asked next.
"Springer," Flash whispered, "You were able to Aura-scape with him. What did you see?"
Springer turned to the pegasi, grimacing before slowly saying, "I saw something stab into him...but I couldn't tell what it was. It was a blade of some kind."
"Like what I thought?" Soul asked, Springer nodding.
"What do you mean?" Core asked, "What kind of blade?" Soul explained what she had guessed, making him hum. "We have very few blades here. And none of them are like that."
The other jakhowls nodded and then Razor's eyes went wide. "You're right," he nodded. "We don't have any blades like that." He then slowly turned to Flash, "But you do." Flash raised an eyebrow at this as the other jakhowls all stared at him.
"You can't be serious," Flash replied, "You think I did this?"
"You're the only one with a weapon like that," another jakhowl pointed out. "Where is it?"
Flash glanced down at himself, just now remembering he had left it at the hut, the pegasus not seeing a reason to keep it on hoof given how peaceful the place was. "It's at the hut we stayed in. And I can assure you, it's still there."
"Prove it," Razor growled, "Bring this weapon to us and we will determine if it was used to slay our leader."
"Razor!" Clair exclaimed as Mirage continued to hug her father's body, "Show some tact. Besides, how could he have used it?! He was with you the entire time."
"Was he?" Razor asked, "I don't remember seeing him with us right before Sirius called out to us."
They all turned to Flash again, the defender really wishing his bladder hadn't let him down. "Yeah!" another jakhowl yelled, "And he was walking to us when we came here. Maybe he was coming back from here."
"That's insane!" Twilight exclaimed, "That's circumstantial evidence at best!"
"Then prove it!" Razor spat, "Bring this weapon to us."
"Fine!" Flash replied as he spun around and marched out of the tree, Twilight and his friends following him. Springer watched him leave and wanted to join, only to glance back at Mirage.
But then the jakhowl lifted her head and nodded, "Go." Springer nodded back and ran out the tree, catching up with his friends as they made their way through the town.
"Here," Flash pointed at the hut, "My sword's inside." He stepped into the hut and everyone waited for him, but he remained in the hut for a few minutes.
"What's taking him so long?" Core asked, Springer walking into the hut at this. When he looked inside, he was shocked by what he saw. Flash was holding his sword in his hooves and the blade of that sword was covered in blood.
"What?!" Springer yelped, "What's happening?!"
"How?" Flash asked before Razor burst into the room, only to roar as he pointed at the sword.
"MURDERERS!" Before either of them could do anything, he fired a blast of red aura at the pair. The next thing they knew, they were being blasted out of the hut's wall. They crashed into the street and moaned as they skidded on the ground as the hut collapsed, leaving a red glowing aura covered Razor.
"Razor!" Chrome screamed as Twilight and their friends ran up, "What on earth are you doing?!" But as he said this, he turned to Flash and saw the blood on his blade, his eyes going wide. "It can't be."
"What more proof do you need?!" Razor exclaimed, "I told you these trespassers would do nothing but cause pain and heartache for us! They lulled us into a false sense of security, and now they've taken our leader from us!"
"Now hang on, that doesn't make any sense," Twilight chimed in, "Why would we kill Sirius? He agreed with us about our two nations becoming friends."
But as she said this, the jakhowls around them all began forming Bone Breakers or Steel Paws. Seeing this, the elders raised their paws as Cress yelled, "Stop this! This is not our way!"
"It is our way!" Razor growled, "We jakhowls destroy our enemies, and these ponies have been our enemies for over a thousand years! They tried to seal us away because they knew we would lead to their destruction and now that we've returned, they intend to simply put us under their control. WELL WE WON'T LET THEM!"
As he roared this, the ponies all flinched, Soul whispering to her mentor, "Twilight, what do we do?"
"Um..." Twilight tried to say, only for one of the jakhowls to charge at them with a Bone Breaker. And as it leapt at them, Twilight's reflexes kicked in and she grabbed her friends with her magic. Pulling them close, her horn unleashed a powerful blast of light that blinded the jakhowls. They all cried out, fearing the pony was going to try and blast them, only to open their eyes and saw the outsiders were all gone.
"What the-what just happened?!" A jakhowl asked, Chrome blinking at the sight.
"They must have used their magic to warp someplace else."
"They must be planning to seal us up again!" Razor screeched as he rushed over to the destroyed house and leapt onto the rubble. "Don't you see?! They're dangerous! They care nothing for us! We must strike them before they strike us!"
And as he said that, Mirage and Clair arrived. "What's happening?" Mirage asked as Razor turned to her. "What's all this ruckus? Where's Springer and the others?"
"They ran away!" Razor exclaimed, "They were the ones that killed your father!"
Mirage's eyes went wide at this, "No...that's not possible!"
"The sword that pony had was covered in his blood!" Another jakhowl yelled, "They killed our leader, and they're gonna kill us next!" The rest of the jakhowls all began to cheer and yell in agreement as Mirage's eye shrunk at the information she had just received.
"Where is your proof?" Clair asked, making Razor turn to her, "You claim they killed Sirius, but where is the proof?"
"The sword was covered in blood!" A jakhowl barked, "What more proof do you need?"
"Proof that confirms it was the ponies that actually used the sword to kill him. That blade was laying in the hut for anyone to take. Just because it's his sword, that doesn't confirm anything. If they were the ones that did it, they'd be stupid to use their own weapon and leave the blood for everyone to see."
Razor smirked. "Clearly they underestimated us. They were probably planning to clean the blood off the blade, but didn't foresee Sirius calling out to us and bringing us to him before he could. And now their wrongful superiority will cost them! They killed Sirius, and we will have our revenge!"
Mirage couldn't listen to this anymore. She turned to run away as Razor continued to speak to the jakhowls, "These outsiders will stop at nothing to destroy us! We will not allow that to happen!" In that moment, his body exploded with light as he took his King Form. "Follow me and I will lead us to victory! The time of the prophecy has come to pass...I will defeat and destroy our greatest threat, and then lead us into our golden age! The land they call Equestria shall fall under our rule! It will become the new Aurarora!"
"Stop this!" Cress yelled, only for Razor to point at him.
"Restrain the elders. Their time is over, and if they won't come into the future willingly, we'll have to contain them until our quest is at an end." The four elders were all grabbed by the younger jakhowls and pulled away, unable to fight against them as they cried out in protest. And as they disappeared into the distance, Razor looked back at his army. "The ponies will soon come to regret messing with us. War is coming, and I will lead us to victory!"
Outside the mountain of Aurarora, a brilliant flash of light signaled the sudden appearance of the eight travelers. "Ahhh!" Flash groaned as he hit the ground, everyone else doing the same. They all moaned as they picked themselves up, only for Flash to yelp, "You teleported us outside?!"
"I didn't have a choice," Twilight replied, "Those jakhowls were in too much of a state to listen to reason."
"So what?!" Ace yelled, "We're just gonna run away? That'll just make us look even more guilty."
Twilight shook her head, "No, we're gonna wait. Hopefully, they'll calm down enough and realize we're not their enemies."
"I don't think that's gonna happen," Heart added, "They were all pretty angry and that Razor is probably gonna whip them into an even bigger fury."
The others nodded, believing the same thing. Seeing this, Soul sighed, "And things were going so well," She turned to see Flash holding up his sword. "But in the blink of an eye, everything we managed to build vanished."
As she said that, Flash moved over to a river, dipping the blade down, the drying blood beginning to be washed away. As he did this, he could only let out a long sigh as he glanced back and saw Twilight, Soul and Mira all showing frowns. Spike and Ace both looked unsure, and Heart's smile had vanished. He was just starting to open up again, only to show that angry glare he had been wearing for so long now return.
But then he turned to Springer, seeing the jakhowl stare up at the mountain. The place that could have become a second home to him, with the rest of his race being with him...only to now be an outcast. His own race now likely hated him with a burning passion. The sight made Flash shine the biggest frown he had ever worn in a long time.
"So, what do we do now?" Soul asked as they just stood there. "If we can't get the jakhowls to believe us, what do we do?"
"We should tell Princess Celestia about this turn of events," Twilight replied, "Spike, prepare a letter." Spike glanced around, only to show her a grimace.
"Uh...Twilight?" Spike gulped, "We left all our things in the hut. They were probably all buried when Razor blasted it."
They all moaned at this, Heart exclaiming, "So we're stuck a long way from any other form of civilization with no way of contacting Celestia and telling her about what happened?! We've been accused of murder with no way of proving our innocence, and there's a crazy jakhowl that wants to start a war with the ponies, who's probably preparing the rest of the jakhowls for said war! Am I missing anything?!"
"Nope," Ace groaned, "That's pretty much it."
And as they said that, Ace and Mira turned to see Springer walk away. The two youngsters wanted to follow, but Twilight put her hooves on their shoulders. They glanced back at her, the alicorn shaking her head. And as they looked back at him, the jakhowl was already almost out of sight.
Springer moved into the forest a mile or so away and walked through the trees, the memory of the walk he had taken with Mirage the previous night fresh in his mind. His thoughts drifted back to the last moment of Sirius' life, when he had asked Springer to protect the tribe. He had told him to believe in what he believed was right and he wouldn't regret it.
But now he felt nothing. The jakhowls were probably preparing to attack the closest pony settlement, wherever the heck that was. He knew they would likely be able to defeat normal ponies if they took them by surprise, but if Celestia heard the jakhowls were attacking, she would have no choice but to send her own army...and that would be nothing but a disaster.
The thought made him remember when Shade showed him the past, the war between the jakhowls and Tricksters. It was something jakhowls should never do. The thought made him think back to all those encounters with Shade, seeing the cycle of hatred and how the jakhowls were about to go down that same path. Something he had told himself to dedicate his life to teaching Ace and Mira to never go down that path.
"What do I do?" He asked. "Do I try and stop the jakhowls? Do I let Celestia deal with them and make them realize they don't stand a chance? But if I do that, the jakhowl's hate for the ponies will only increase." He muttered to himself, only for the image of Razor inciting the jakhowls to war now appearing in his head...only for the image of how the last war went now in his head.
"NOOOO!" He roared as he spun around and thrust a fist into a tree, destroying part of the trunk and causing it to fall. He fell to his knees, tears filling his eyes. "Why?! Why is this happening?!" He then glanced up at the sky, "Dad...mom...any jakhowl. If you're really somewhere out there, I need your help. You told me I was the future of the jakhowl race...but what does that mean? Am I destined to be alone because the jakhowls will wipe themselves out again?!"
But there was no response. He put his paw on his face at this, rubbing it down. "No...no...I can't let it happen again." And as he said this, the noise around him vanished, making him blink before he saw he was now in a white void. In front of him was his father Sharp Paw, a blue flame burning around the jakhowl.
"My son...you don't need us to tell you what you need to do. That is something only you can decide."
"But I don't know what to decide," Springer barked back, "This isn't Shade where its obvious what I have to do! I can't mess this up! I-I-I can't make the wrong decision and ruin everything! How am I supposed to undo what's been done?"
"You can't. What has happened is something you can't run away from. You can't ignore. Only by facing what has happened can you hope to overcome it. And even if this results in the jakhowls truly being lost, you cannot let the fear of that possibility stop you."
"But...but that's already happened before! I can't let that happen again! What if I make the wrong decision?!"
"Then you'll make the wrong decision. But even if you do, it won't be your fault." The words made Springer shake, making him glance down at the ground, "My son, never forget you're not alone." He glanced back up at his father. "You have friends that are willing to help you. And not just the ones that are here with you now. All the friends you've made since hatching. They'll be there for you, to help you from making what you believe might be the wrong decision. Do you trust them?"
"Of course."
"Then do so and let them see that they can trust you as well."
And before Springer could reply, the void vanished, Springer now back in the real world. The jakhowl rapidly blinked before slowly saying, "Thank you...dad."
Mirage continued to cry as she sat in the middle of the Forest of Ancients, sitting under the tree her mother had been buried beneath. She knew she should be trying to sort out this insane situation, but she didn't know what to do. She had lost her last relative, and the ones she had just began to trust could be responsible.
She sniffled and whimpered, rubbing her paws into her eyes, only for tears to leak out. She couldn't stand it as the dam kept breaking, water pouring down her face. And as she continued to cry, she turned to her mother's tree and placed a paw on it, summoning her aura, "Mother...what do I do? I've lost you and father. How am I supposed to go on now?"
The aura flowed into the tree and she waited...only to feel no answer. "Mother...please help me. I...I can't do this alone. I don't want to do this alone." She sniffed and a tear fell from her eye onto the ground, soaking into the soil as it did so. Then, that section of the ground began to glow. "Huh?"
Mirage stared at the ground as the light from her teardrop spread out across the forest floor. It was forming a vein-like line that ran through the grass and soil, Mirage blinking at it. Before she knew what was going on, she walked after it wondering if maybe her mother and other ancestors were trying to help her. And as she followed the line, she glanced around, trying to see if anything was off.
But after a little while, the line just stopped. Mirage reached the very end and glanced up, seeing it had stopped between the two of the most outer trees in the forest. She placed her paws on the trees, "Why did you bring me here?" But the trees didn't answer, making her sigh in defeat...only to hear a snapping sound.
She gasped and jumped behind a tree, turning to where the sound had come from. She was then greeted to the sight of a jakhowl she knew all too well. "Snivel."
The small jakhowl, who hatched before her and Razor but had never figured out how to attain his older form, was making his way along the river while looking around. Mirage focused and concealed her aura, a trick she and many of jakhowls learned while playing hide and seek, hoping her disturbed state didn't ruin her ability to do so. She watched as Snival reached the waterfall she liked to spend alone time at, the green jakhowl continuing to glance around...only to hold up something, making Mirage raise an eyebrow.
Back outside...
Flash had just finished cleaning the blood off his sword. And as he did this, Twilight walked up to him, seeing he was inspecting the blade and seeing it was perfectly clean...but there was a huge frown on Flash's face, "You okay?" He heard Twilight ask, making him glance up at her.
"Not really," Flash sighed as he looked back down at the blade. "This sword has done so much good. But...knowing it's been used to take an innocent life makes me feel like it's been tainted."
Twilight nodded back as she sat down beside him, "I understand...though I don't get how the killer was able to grab your sword and make their way through the village without anyone seeing. And then come back through the village, carrying a bloodied sword. You'd think someone would have seen them." She commented as she stared at the weapon, "Say...could you put the sword down?"
"Huh?"
"Do it!" Flash didn't argue and did just that, the others turning to her. "Spike, Heart and Soul. Fly up and block the sunlight from touching the sword." The trio tilted her head at this, only to fly above the sword. They blocked out the sun's light as best they could as Twilight's horn began to shine.
"What are you doing?" Ace asked as Twilight's horn glowed a strange purple light that shone down on the sword. This caused the sword to show as a bunch of blots on it.
"What is that?" Mira added.
"Blood," Twilight replied, "Flash might have gotten most of the blood off it, but there's still stains that'll be on the blade for a long time. But it's invisible until you shine ultraviolet light on it."
"And what's it showing you?" Flash watched as Twilight kept studying the blade, turning it over several times before a smirk appeared on her lips.
"The blood isn't even." She pointed at the middle of the blade, which seemed darker than the rest. "This is the blood that's been on the blade the longest. If it was used to kill Sirius, the blood should be on the tip. And like I said, the blood isn't even." She showed them one side, the other which seemed to have less blood stains on it. "This blood was wiped onto the blade. They did it on one side, but didn't do such a thorough job on the other."
"So Lightbringer wasn't what killed Sirius!" Flash gasped as Twilight nodded. "But then...what did kill him? And how'd they get his blood on my sword?"
Mirage watched as Snivel held up a red cloth, which he then wrapped around a rock and tied up before throwing it into the water.
As the rock sank, Snivel ran off, Mirage staring at him for a second before silently diving in. Swimming all the way to the bottom, she spotted the cloth covered rock and grabbed it. And as she did this, she noticed some of the red was coming off it.
Breaking the surface of the water, she gasped and swam to the shore. She then felt something dampening her paw and looked down to see it was covered in red stuff. And once she was ashore, dog shaking on instinct, she sniffed her paw and the cloth...and went wide-eyed.
It was the smell of blood. Her father's blood. And as she continued to smell, she picked up another scent. Razor's.
Anger flooded through her entire being, grabbing the cloth and almost ripped in rage. "Razor..." She wanted nothing more but to march up to Razor and use her Steel Paw on his throat, but knew her father wouldn't want that. She only had one choice.
Inside the Tree of Ancients...
The elders all sat in a circle, contemplating the loss of their friend and leader. Sirius's body had been removed from the tree and taken someplace to be prepared for his joining with their ancestors. The blood was still staining the floor and might never come out of the wood, though Cress was scrubbing it as hard as he could with a wet cloth their guards had graciously given them. But there was nothing else they could do.
That is, till they heard a commotion outside. Turning to it, it sounded like a fight, only for a certain jakhowl to rush inside the room. "Mirage?!" Clair gasped as the jakhowl turned to her, the group seeing the fire now in her eyes.
"Come on," she told them. "We're getting out of here." They all got up at this, glancing outside to see unconscious guards littered around the tree. Concealing their aura, they all followed her, able to do this due to Razor and the rest of the tribe training, preparing for a fight as the group quickly snuck away.
Along the way, they saw Razor was even having the pups train. And by the looks of things, they were being forced way past their limits. "This is insane," Cress growled, "He's going to turn our tribe into a bunch of war-crazed authoritarians. All our future generations will only know one thing: To train for a fight."
"A fight we probably can't win," Mirage added, "We have to get help. And there's only one group that can help us. I just hope they haven't left yet." They reached the far wall of the biome and followed it to the exit. The older jakhowls couldn't move as fast as Mirage, forcing her to go slowly up the stairs.
And as they got there, they made their way down, only to spot the ones that had been wrongfully convicted of her father's murder. Mirage then dropped the mask on her aura, allowing Ace and Mira to sense her. They both spun around and gasped at the sight. "Mirage!" Mira cried as the silver jakhowl leapt from the mountain and onto the rocks.
"Mirage," Twilight walked up next, "You have to believe us, we've been framed. Someone else-" She stopped when Mirage threw something at her, gasping when they saw it was a cloth. She grabbed it in her magic and looked it over, seeing the blood covering it. "Is this..."
"A cloth soaked in my father's blood. Yes. Yes it is. I saw Snivel throwing it into a lake."
"Snivel?" Flash asked.
"He's a jakhowl that is the closest thing to a friend for Razor." Chrome said as the jakhowls all leapt down. "Clearly, there is only one explanation. Razor was the one who killed Sirius. And he tried to pin the blame on you."
"So you believe us now?" Spike asked.
"We always believed you," Clair chimed in, "But right now we have bigger issues. Razor is preparing our tribe for war. No doubt, he intends to leave and attack the closest pony town."
"We figured that," Flash sighed, "I know you all are strong and will probably win a few fights at first, but you're seriously outnumbered." The jakhowls frowned at this, "How many jakhowls in your tribe would you say are actually capable of putting up a fight? Whatever it is, I'm willing to bet Equestria has at least three times that number. And that's before you add in the Crystal Empire, griffons, dragons, changelings, yaks and hippogriffs."
"The jakhowls can't win," Heart finished.
Mirage shook her head at this before growling, "I was worried Razor would only cause you problems. Now I'm worried he might wipe out our tribe. This could lead to the end of the jakhowls! Forever!"
"Which is why we need to stop him," Twilight repied, "We have to show the jakhowls we mean no harm and were framed."
"They won't listen," Cress countered, "Razor's gotten them into too much of a frenzy. They believe the great prophecy has come to pass. That ponies are the great threat and Razor will defeat it."
"But...but there has to be some way to get them to listen!" Soul yelled, "I don't wanna fight the jakhowls, and I know the rest of Equestria doesn't want to either!"
The elders glanced at each other, only for Clair to put a paw to her chin. Humming at this, she spoke up, "Well...what about a kyosongsai?"
The jakhowl adults went wide-eyed at this, only for Ace to ask, "A what?"
"It means great competition," Mirage replied, "A kyosongsai is how the jakhowls used to choose who the leader of the tribe would be. It hasn't been used in a long time, but any jakhowl can demand one of the leader."
"Razor wants to affirm his dominance of the tribe," Core added, "Winning a kyosongsai would do that for him. But if we can beat him, the rest of the tribe would have to listen to us. It's the only way."
"That sounds like what Springer's father did when he first met Princess Luna." Mira continued, "Remember Ace?"
"Yeah." Ace nodded before turning back to the elders, "Alright, let's go beat him! Then we can stop this crazy situation!"
"It's not that simple," Mirage sighed, "A kyosongsai is one on one. Someone will have to fight him on his own...and I don't think the tribe will allow a non-jakhowl to compete."
"This could be difficult," Clair added, "Razor's enhanced form will make him difficult to defeat on our own."
"That's fine." Flash chimed in, the elders turning to him, seeing the big smirk on his face, "You might not be able to match his power, but I know a jakhowl who can."
Springer sat against one of the last remaining trees in the area, having vented his frustrations on the pair wooden towers. He was still at a loss about what to do, knowing he should go to his friends, but also wanted to be left alone. But as he stood there, he felt a certain presence, making him spin around just as something leapt out of the trees.
"There you are," commented the jakhowl known as Mirage as she landed in front of him, "I've been looking all over for you."
"We didn't hurt your father," Springer instantly replied, "You have to believe me!"
Mirage nodded, "I do believe you." Springer flinched at this, only for Mirage to continue, "Razor was the one who did it. I'm sure of it. He framed your friends and he's preparing the jakhowls for war. If we don't do something, he'll get us all killed, and it really will be the end of the jakhowls."
"I know that," Springer sighed, shaking his head. "But what can we do?"
"There's a way to stop Razor and make the others listen to us. An ancient rite that any jakhowl can demand of the current leader. The kyosongsai. If you challenge Razor to it and win, you'll become the new leader of the tribe. You'll be able to get them to stop and listen to us."
Springer took her words into his head and thought them over, making him blink before putting a paw to his chin, "A kyonsongsai...sounds like what my dad did back in the day when he became leader of the tribe." He looked back at her, "Why me though? Aren't you the daughter of the leader here? It should be your birthright."
"That might be true, but...but you're the only one who can do it." Mirage responded, "I've...I've seen your power. Only jakhowls can challenge him, and Razor's powers are like nothing me or the elders can stand up to. Only you stand a chance of beating him."
Springer stared at her, feeling the doubt he still had before saying, "And what happens if I lose?" Mirage didn't answer, almost flinching at the question as he added, "I've seen war before. Its not something any jakhowl should do." Mirage glanced away at that, "Is there really no other way?"
"None that I can think of." Mirage walked up and placed a paw on his shoulder. "My father believed in you. And I believe in what he believes. You are the future of the jakhowls. Only you can help bring us out of the darkness."
Springer stared back at her, the female seeing the doubt swirl in his eyes. But before he could say anything, another voice spoke up, "And you won't be alone." They turned to see Chrome, Core, Cress and Clair, the four remaining elders smiling at him. "We trust in Sirius's judgement as well. This is what you were meant to be."
Clair nodded, "Razor sees you as an outsider because of your time in the outside world, but it's clear that your destiny was to grow up there so you might lead us better. Only you can bring our worlds together."
"And we will stand beside you the whole way," Chrome added.
Springer just blinked at them, only to slowly ask, "You...you're really okay putting your faith in me?"
"Everything good requires a little faith," Cress instantly replied, "And I'm sure the future you bring us into will not only be good, but great." The others nodded in agreement, making Springer flinch, only for his face to slowly show a smile. He then spun around, now seeing his friends walk up, all showing smiles as well.
Seeing this, Springer took a deep breath before nodding, now remembering his father's words. "Thank you." They nodded as Springer looked back at the elders, "Alright. If I'm gonna take Razor down, I'm gonna need to be at my best. And I'm gonna need you to tell me everything there is to know about this kyosongsai."
"Luckily, we have time." Chrome responded, "Razor might be a fool, but he won't be so hasty to attack that he'll head out without gathering the needed supplies. I say we have until noon tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me." Springer's body lit up with a flare of aura that made the elders' smiles grow. "Let's get started."
The next day...
Every jakhowl who could at least enter their adult form had been training well into the night. As such, they were still quite tired when Razor forced them to wake up so they could head out. The war with the ponies was going to start, and now that they had had a chance to sleep on it, many were starting to worry they had made a mistake.
The elder's words had finally sank in, and many were wondering if the ponies actually had killed their leader. But one look from Razor whenever one brought this up caused them to flinch in fear, keeping their mouths shut. Now they were being led by Razor out of the biome.
"Come on!" Razor growled when he saw several on the stairs slowing down and holding the line up, "Keep moving!"
The jakhowl could not see how tired they all were, his eyes instead flaming with purpose as he ran up the staircase, only to hear a voice, "Razor!" He heard Snivel yell as he ran down the stairs past several others. "You've gotta come look!"
"What is it?!" Razor growled, pushing past him and the others until he reached the top of the staircase. He made his way out of the cave, only to sense something. "Mirage and the elders!" He hissed, now remembering they had escaped, but hadn't thought much of them. He had simply assumed they had run off to be with those outsiders and he would deal with them after he conquered the ponies.
He rushed down the mountain with many other jakhowls following, and when he got at the base, he came to a stop. Before him was Mirage and the elders, along with Springer and the invaders. They were all standing in a line, the group ready to stop them from going any further. Springer stood in the center, stepping forward as he locked gazes with Razor. He then sent out a wave of aura and connected his mind to all those outside the mountain.
The jakhowls of Aurarora that had been preparing to set out for war all came to a stop as they stared at Springer, the jakhowl glaring as Razor after he had issued the challenge of a kyosongsai. Razor Fang was growling at this, his eyes wanted to drill holes into the jakhowl as Springer stood there with his friends beside him.
"You dare attempt to claim the right to demand a kysongsai?! You, the outsider who aligns themselves with our mortal enemies!" He turned to Mirage and the elders. "You told him about it, didn't you? You spit in your father's name, Mirage! Trying to get this traitor and his murderous allies to claim the right of leadership!"
Mirage glared right back at him, "You have no right to speak about my father. Not after what you did!" She then threw down a certain blood-soaked cloth on the ground. "Everyone, listen. The ponies aren't your enemies, and they aren't the ones who killed my father." She pointed at Razor, "He is! And he got his lackey, Snivel, to plant the evidence on the ponies!"
The jakhowls all heard this and gasped, all turning to Razor with wide eyes, "You think I had something to do with your father's death?!" Razor roared before pointing at Flash, "He was killed by the blade in his paws!"
"No," Springer stepped forward. "That's just what you wanted us to believe. But it was you who did it." Springer pointed at him, "The elders told me everything about you, including your impressive talent over shape manipulation. You made a sword of aura that was the same shape as Flash's blade, and then had Snivel plant the blood on Lightbringer."
"Do you hear yourself!?" Razor growled, "You're accusing me of this crime?! Why would I kill our leader?"
"Oh, I don't know," Flash gestured to him and the rest of the jakhowls. "Cause you knew killing the one who wanted to work with the ponies you hate and blaming them would get you exactly what you wanted. A pointless war!"
"And honestly," Core walked up, "I don't care why you did this heinous crime. What matters is that you did it and justice shall be brought."
"This is ridiculous," Razor hissed before turning to the rest of the jakhowls. "The ponies have obviously brainwashed these weak-minded fools." He pointed at them, "Blast them!" But the jakhowls did nothing, "What the-what are you waiting for?!"
"A kyosongsai has been declared," one of the jakhowls replied, "Until the challenge has been determined, there is no leader of the jakhowls."
"Don't be ridiculous! He is an outsider! A traitor!" Razor exclaimed while pointing at Springer, "He has no right to challenge me!"
"He's a jakhowl," another one responded "And laws state that any jakhowl, even those not recognized as members of our tribe, can demand one. You must accept the challenge or step aside as leader."
Razor's eyes narrowed at this before turning to Springer, hissing at the sight of the jakhowl, "Think carefully about this. If you waste anymore of my time, I will not be lenient on you. I will accept your challenge and when I do, I won't stop until you are ripped to shreds. You sure you want to face the most powerful jakhowl that has ever been born?!"
Springer glared right back at him. "You're strong, but I've faced way tougher opponents than you and come out on top." He got into a battle stance, "Now let's do this." Razor's glare turned into a smirk as he jumped off the side of the mountain. He flew down and landed on a rock before leaping into the air again. After several flips, he landed right in front of them and stepped on the bloody cloth.
"You had your chance." The rest of the jakhowls leapt down, slowly spreading out and forming a ring around Razor and Springer.
As they did this, Flash moved over to Springer. Putting his hooves on his shoulder, Flash started rubbing them. "You can do this buddy. This nutjob might be strong, but he's been stuck underground his entire life. Probably never been in a real fight. Not like you. You got this."
"Thanks," Springer nodded, "But his lack of experience is probably made up for by years and years of training." He looked over at Razor and saw him talking with Snivel, "He's been waiting for this day for a long time. Now I'm all that stands in his way."
"No pressure," Spike held up a drink for him to slurp through a straw. "But Flash is right. You can do this." The others nodded as well.
As this was happening, several jakhowls moved over to Mirage and the elders. "Do you really think Razor killed your father?" A female jakhowl asked Mirage, who looked hurt hearing those words.
"Yes," Clair replied, "Razor's always dreamed of becoming our leader. He probably feared Sirius would make Springer his successor and any hope Razor had of becoming the king he always dreamed he'd be would be lost. Not that he ever had the right or chance to be one to begin with."
The other jakhowls nodded as the circle completely formed, Springer and Razor stepping forward. As they did this, Razor turned his attention to Mirage and the elders. "I hope you realize how foolish you've been. After I crush this miserable worm, I'll have no choice but to charge you all with treason." The five frowned at him. "Submit to me now and I might overlook this mistake. But I warn you, nothing you do once this kysongsai begins will earn my forgiveness."
"We will never submit to you," Mirage instantly replied, "My father believed in Springer. The fact he did after only knowing him a day proves to me that he's more worthy of leading us into the future than you'll ever be."
Razor shook his head before turning to Springer. "Your poisoning of their minds truly has sunk too deep. I hope you understand the pain and suffering you'll have caused for them." He got into a fighting stance. "When this is over, they will be forever banished from Aurarora. And if they go scurrying to those ponies for help, I'll simply crush them when I conquer the rest of this land."
"You won't be crushing or conquering anything," Springer responded, "Your reign of terror ends here and now." As he said that, the jakhowls around them formed Aura Blasts.
"Kyo!" They held their paws up. "Song!" The competitors stared one another down, "SAI!" The Aura Blasts flew into the air and collided, creating a loud explosion that signaled the start of the fight. The two shot forward, Razor creating a Bone Breaker sword while Springer used his Steel Paw. The pair roared as they reached each other, Razor swinging down the weapon as Springer raised his paws and blocked the attack. The weapons clashed with a loud clang, Razor's strength instantly pushing Springer back.
But Springer quickly regained his footing and roared, "Aura Force!" He thrust his paw, firing the laser as Razor swung his sword in response, cutting right through it. And as the laser was sliced in two, Razor created an Aura Blast and leapt up before throwing the orb. Springer quickly dove to the side and fired his own, only for Razor to backhand it with ease, knocking it away just as another Aura Blast formed in his paws, but this one he shaped into a star that he threw at Springer.
Springer gasped and side-stepped, barely missing his ear. Razor then launched more stars, Springer quickly dancing around them, only for one of the tips of the star nicking his cheek. His friends watched this, grimacing as they saw Springer keep getting forced back while Flash and Core just stared at the sight.
And as Springer dodged another star, he put his paws together and formed an Aura Guard. The stars began to bounce off the aura barrier, Razor growling as he kept firing Aura Blast after Aura Blast. "You can't stay in there forever!"
"I don't need to," Springer replied as the explosions kept smacking the shield, "Just long enough for you to exhaust yourself."
"Shows what you know," Razor spat, "I'm the strongest jakhowl to have ever lived! I've spent years preparing for this war, and I've honed my body to become the perfect weapon! I can go for hours!"
He then fired an Aura Force, the laser slamming into the shield and causing it to start cracking. Springer groaned as he felt the attack, "If you're so powerful, why do you need the other jakhowls? Go wage your stupid war on your own and leave the rest of us alone!"
"I could," Razor hissed, "But these jakhowls need to see why we are the most powerful creatures in this world. Our conquest of those worthless ponies will prove to the other species that they are right to be afraid of us! We will no longer hide away from the world! We will rule it, and crush any who dare oppose us underfoot!"
The jakhowls around him went wide-eyed at this, almost all frowning at the idea. They began to murmur, whispering how they wanted to live in peace and not have to constantly worry about being attacked. They wanted justice for what happened to Sirius, but now they didn't know what to do. And amongst the crowd, Snivel saw that the crowd was starting to turn against the Razor's opinion.
At the same time on the other side of the fight, Ace and Mira were watching their guardian as the shield began to crack. But as they did this, Ace saw Snivel moving away from the group. He had a feeling he wasn't just bored about the fight, so he nudged Mira before talking to her through his aura, "We might have a problem,"
"What is it?"
"I just saw that Snivel jakhowl walk away." Mira glanced out at the crowd, only to see no sign of the green jakhowl.
"Where'd he go? We better keep an eye on him." Ace nodded and when nobody else was looking, they also broke away from the group and moved around the outside of the circle.
And as this happened, Springer felt his shield giving way and dropped it before it broke, leaping into the air as the laser blasted down under him. He summoned his Steel Paws and spun like a top, flying down at Razor and slashing into him.
"Augh!" The red and black jakhowl staggered back, clutching his now bleeding chest as Springer landed. The blue jakhowl started launching several more slashes, Razor backpedaling as he dodged each one by the thinnest of margins. He then formed a Bone Breaker sword and used it to block one of the attacks, pushing Springer back and cutting at his shoulder.
"Gyah!" Springer jumped back and touched his arm, feeling a slight sting as Razor charged in to stab him. But Springer jumped to the side, rolling on the ground before forming a Bone Breaker that he snapped in half. The two jakhowls charged at one another, both clashing so fast that Flash was the only pony that could track their movements. And as this happened, he went into Theta Mode to keep track, the pair seeming to be evenly matched, Springer managing to hit Razor in several spots, but receiving several cuts for his troubles. They weren't deep, but each one had to be stinging and distracting him.
The pair then stopped moving and locked weapons, glaring at each other as they attempted to overpower the other. But as this happened, a cut on Springer's leg exploded with pain. "AUGH!" He cried, losing his balance and allowing Razor to push him back. He staggered and barely managed to avoid getting his head cut off as Razor swiped at him, only for the cut in Springer's arm burst with pain. "Raaah!"
"What's happening?" Heart cried as Springer dodged an Aura Blast while clutching a cut on his side.
"I think Springer's injuries are more severe than they look," Soul added with a grimace, only to see him fall to his knee.
"What do we do?" Spike asked, Twilight and the others not responding back to the drake.
Mirage began to worry she might have led Springer to his doom, the jakhowl then looking down to where Springer's charges were supposed to be...only to find nothing. "What the...where'd they go?"
Ace and Mira had detected Snivel as they continued to climb over some rocks. Following his aura to a higher section of boulders, they saw that they were now overlooking the area the kyosonsai was taking place. The duo then spotted Snivel, who was hiding behind one of the larger rocks with a perfect view of the fight. And as they approached, Snivel summoned some aura and condensed it down into a tiny needle, one that was so small that it was almost invisible.
He held the needle between his paws and looked around the rock, then threw it. Moments later, Springer cried out in pain despite not being hurt. The pair gasped at this, "Cheat!" Ace yelled, making Snivel gasp before turning to see a charging Ace. He slashed a Steel Paw at him, the green jakhowl jumping back with a startle.
Mira then fired an Aura Blast, Snivel yelping as he made his own and threw it, both attacks connecting and cancelling each other out. But as this happened, Ace leapt at him and summoned a Bone Breaker, Snivel jumping back at this before firing a ton of tiny aura needles. And as they struck Ace...he barely felt anything. Just a slight prick. "Well, that was anticlimactic."
Mira glanced back down at Springer's fight, seeing the jakhowl covered in cuts. "They only hurt because they're being driven into open wounds. On their own, they're weak."
"Kind of like him," Ace added.
"You won't stop me!" Snivel growled back at the two, "Razor will be the leader. And when he's in charge, I'll be on easy street."
"What?! That's why you're helping Razor?!" Mira yelped, "He's going to wipe out our entire species!"
"Oh please. I've seen how powerful Razor is. Those ponies won't stand a chance. And when he rules Equestria, I'll be his right paw jakhowl."
With that, he started firing Aura Blast after Aura Blast at the pair. Ace leapt in front of Mira and used his staff to deflect them as Mira took a deep breath. She remembered what Mirage had taught him, the yellow jakhowl digging deep as she started to glow. Taking a few steps back, she then charged as Ace continued to deflect the orbs.
And when she was right behind him, Mira leapt straight up as the light around her flew off and split into two. Snivel saw this and gasped when he spotted a trio of Miras flying at him. He fired another Aura Blast and struck the middle one, but found it just vanished. He then shot the one to the left and it vanished, leaving only one, only for Ace to charge in with an Aura Blast, Mira making one as well.
And with a mighty roar, both slammed their attacks into Snivel in unison, the jakhowl screaming as the attacks exploded and blasted through a rock before slamming into another. He slumped over next, the two panting for a second before walking over to the knocked out jakhowl.
"Come on." Mira grabbed Snivel's right arm, "We gotta show everyone what he was doing."
"Right!" Ace replied as he grabbed the other arm.
Springer panted as he stood opposite Razor, holding his aching arm while his opponent shined a huge malicious grin. The bursts of pain had stopped, but he found he had no time to counter Razor as the other jakhowl charged at him. Springer tried to put up a shield, only for it to instantly shatter upon Razor's sword strike. Razor then swung at Springer and he staggered back, losing his balance as his opponent threw a punch right into his gut. Springer gasped at this, the air being forced out of his body.
Razor then grabbed Springer's neck, Razor lifting him up before slamming him down into the ground. Had Springer had any air in his lungs, it would have been forced all out again. Springer began to cough, only for Razor to put his knee into the jakhowl's stomach.
"It's over," Razor hissed, "You were a fool to think you could beat me. I am the future of the jakhowls, not you."
Springer gasped again, feeling the world around him go black. "You're not the future of the jakhowls," he managed to force out. "And neither am I."
"Oh?" Razor loosened his grip a little, "Then who is?"
"Nobody," Springer gasped, "No one being can become the future of an entire race." He reached up and gripped his arm, trying to pull it off his neck. "You...me...we're nothing? Dust in the wind. We're just a single step on the journey our race will take. No more important than the last step, or the step that comes after. It's only the collective steps that give our race meaning."
"Maybe," Razor tightened his grip again, "But one step is all that stands between walking into prosperity, or walking off the edge of a cliff. And I won't let us walk off that cliff."
Springer felt himself beginning to black out again, and as he stared at the growling jakhowl above him, only one idea came into his head. He then closed his eyes, and with all the focus he could, he connected his aura to all those around him. Razor and the others felt this, Razor raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing?!" Springer didn't answer and instead thrust his paw up and grabbed Razor by the temple. And before Razor could pull away, Springer's eyes shot open and revealed themselves to be glowing. The rest of the jakhowls did the same, all now being brought under the Aura-Scape's power and pulled into Razor's mind.
In the blink of an eye, Springer was inside a white void. Multiple images appeared around him, but he was only focused on one. One he hoped was on the front of Razor's mind. And sure enough, an image appeared that he passed through. In a flash, he was standing in front of the Tree of Ancients and moving closer. He then heard movement coming from within and leapt up, using his Steel Paw to dig into the tree above the entrance.
Sirius stepped outside and looked around, allowing him to carefully jump down while concealing his aura. He moved into the tree and waited out of sight as Sirius returned. As the elder did this, Springer saw a Bone Breaker form in his paw that quickly reshaped itself into the exact same shape as Flash's Celestia Gear.
And in a flash, he moved in and covered Sirius' mouth before thrusting his sword.
"You old fool." He pulled and drew the sword from his back, dissolving it as it dripped blood everywhere. Sirius fell to the ground and Springer watched himself move around the elder. "The jakhowls don't need you ruining their lives." He kneeled down in front of Sirius and took something out. A cloth. "Those ponies will destroy us unless we destroy them first. But a weakling like you would rather bow down to them and become their slave. Well, I won't let you bring our noble clan down."
Sirius coughed as blood began to fill his mouth, "Razor...don't do this."
"It's over," Razor hissed, "War is coming, and I'm gonna be the one to lead us to victory." Sirius then slumped over as Razor used the cloth to soak up as much blood as he could. After that, the scene changed to show him standing in front of Snivel. He gave him the cloth and Snivel nodded before walking out of sight.
That was all he got to see before everything around him went white and he could feel Razor fighting against him. He was suddenly ripped from the vision and returned to the real world, where Razor pulled himself away from Springer as he clutched his head.
Springer gasped for air, finally able to breathe and panting as air began to fill his lungs. As he did this, he glanced around and saw the jakhowls' eyes returning to normal. He hoped they saw what he had and slowly, they all turned to glare at Razor.
"You monster," Mirage growled in both anger and sorrow. "You took my father from me just so you could take command and trick everyone into thinking you were right!"
"I am right," Razor growled, "I'm doing what's best for the jakhowls, and once I win this kyosongsai, you will all follow me!"
"You're not winning anything!" Ace's voice suddenly called out, making them all turn to see him and Mira pulling Snivel toward the circle. "You broke the rules and had your friend here interfere!"
"Tell them!" Mira pulled Snivel's arm back, making him cry out in pain.
"Okay, okay! I admit it!" He screamed, "I was throwing aura needles into Springer's wound! Razor told me to!"
Razor let out a snarl, only for the other jakhowls to glare at him. "You have violated the laws of the kyosongsai!" Chrome exclaimed at this, "By our ancient laws, you are no longer fit to compete for the right of leadership! You are no longer fit to be part of our tribe!"
As he said this, Soul rushed over to Springer, her horn shining as she began to heal him. Springer sighed as he felt his wounds slowly close up, the jakhowl turning to smile at his charges. They grinned back as they threw Snivel to the ground while the rest of the jakhowls began to surround Razor Fang.
"Come quietly," Core growled, "You have much to answer for."
Razor's whole body shook, rage pouring off of him. "No...NO! This isn't how things were supposed to go!" They could feel him starting to build up energy. "I...I am the most powerful jakhowl! The king of our race!"
"You are anything but a king!" Clair spat, "You are a fool, and a thug. If your parents were alive, I'm sure they wouldn't even be able to look at you!" Razor's eyes went bloodshot red at this as Clair added, "Now surrender yourself."
"No," he whispered, "I'm...NOT DONE YET!" With that, his body exploded as a wave of aura flew off him, knocking everyone back. Jakhowls hit the dirt, some rolling and others slamming against the rocks. The only ones left standing were Springer and his non-jakhowl friends, Mirage, and the Elders. Twilight had put up a barrier to protect Flash, Spike and the twins while Chrome and Core had done the same with an Aura Guard. They all watched as Razor glowed and began to transform, his eyes glowing red as he entered his King Form.
"Great..." Flash sighed as the shields faded, "Like this nutjob wasn't bad enough without that."
They watched him as he began to gather more aura, only for some of the jakhowls to push themselves up and saw Razor looking ready to start hurt those around them, charging at the insane jakhowl. "Wait!" Mirage cried as some launched several Aura Blasts at him while others created Bone Breakers and Steel Paws.
Razor saw them all coming, able to sense each of their auras as they drew closer. He didn't even move as he instead unleashed another, though weaker, wave of aura. This wave caused the Aura Blasts to explode, the force of them being blasted back to those that fired them.
As some of the jakhowls were knocked back, others got through the aura wave and attacked, only for Razor to disappear. Within seconds, each of his attackers felt themselves struck in the chest, neck or stomach. They all cried out as their attacks faded as Razor returned to where he originally was and spun around.
"How strong is he?" Spike asked as Razor glared at Twilight, his eyes narrowing on her as he charged with his sword forming in paw, "Look out!"
Twilight prepared to put up a shield, but Flash was quicker. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Twilight and blocked the aura blade with his own. "You're not going...anywhere near her," Flash grunted at the impact.
"You think a pathetic pony like you can stop me?" Razor asked, only for Flash to start glowing.
"You clearly weren't paying attention when Springer showed you his memories." Flash deadpanned.
"Of course I didn't! It was nothing but lies, just like your lies over friendship!" Razor spat, the defender rolling his eyes at that.
"It's no lie. Here, let me show you the power of friendship. ARMORiZE!" Razor was suddenly blinded as Flash morphed into his Shining Guardian form, the pegasi then slammed his hoof into Razor's face before thrusting his sword, Razor quickly blocking it.
Everyone watched as Flash and Razor began to clash, both blades clanging as their bodies slightly vanished in their eye due to how fast they were moving. As this happened, Springer pushed himself back to his feet, "I gotta get in there."
"No! You haven't fully recovered," Soul instantly replied.
"It'll have to be enough." Springer groaned as blue aura coved him. "Mega Mode Power!" He transformed as he leapt at Flash and Razor, using his Steel Paw to slash at Razor's sword.
"Raaaah!" Razor roared as he blocked the attack before leaping a few feet back as Flash and Springer stood side by side. "How pathetic. Needing the help of this pony to even stand a chance against me."
"Like how you needed your little friend's help before?!" Springer responded as Razor growled. "And being able to work with someone else isn't a weakness. It's strength that those like you fail to see again and again. And like all those before you, you'll regret that mistake and every other mistake you've made."
"My only mistake was not destroying you when you first got here." Razor's body glowed as his voice got louder, "You...thinking you can come here and take my title as king! I'll kill you!"
Springer and Flash tensed up at this before the two, Mirage and even Twilight started firing at him with beam attacks. But as this happened, Razor was surrounded by a red dome of aura, which blocked all the attacks and several others thrown at him by the surrounding jakhowls. That dome then quickly began to reshape itself into his head before he floated into the air, the head growing the rest of his body beneath it.
The jakhowls screamed as they ran away from the red avatar, all fearing that they were about to be crushed beneath its feet. Some continued to fire at it, but Razor's avatar just swatted the attacks away. And once the form had completely solidified, he let out a roar before launching an Aura Force through the energy jakhowl's mouth.
"Look out!" Twilight screamed before teleporting all those around her away, the laser hitting the ground and causing it to explode. They reappeared behind the rocks and watched as the avatar started looking around, firing laser after laser from his mouth.
"What do we do?" Soul asked.
One of the lasers then hit part of the mountain, causing it to shake and rocks to break loose. They all gasped at this, some fearing Razor would cause the cave entrance to Aurarora to collapse. But Springer was more worried about his two charges, who were still near that mountain.
"Run!" Ace cried as he and Mira tried to escape the falling rocks, blasting some of them as they ran.
Snivel was right behind them, "Razor!" He called out, making the larger jakhow turn to him, "Bring me inside before I get crushed! Please, hurry!"
But the jakhowl inside the avatar just glared at him.
"Useless," he opened his avatar's mouth and charged up another Aura Force. "Not only have you never been able to access your stronger form, but you allowed actual pups to defeat you!" Snivel's eyes went wide as the laser exploded out the avatar's mouth. "BEGONE!"
Snivel screamed as he tried to run, only for the laser to explode around him, sending him flying as a cloud of dust consumed him.
Seeing him intentionally blast the mountain was the last straw. Springer got up and ran toward Razor, summoning as much power as he could. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He leapt into the air as an orb of aura formed around him, which then quickly reshaped itself. Razor heard his voice and spun around, only to get punched right in the avatar's face by Springer's. He staggered back as the blue energy jakhowl completed and grabbed the red one's arm.
He then pulled him away from the mountain, spinning the avatar around him until Springer had his back to the mountain. "Yeah!" Ace cheered, "Get him!"
"Beat that overgrown bully!" Mira added while the rest of the jakhowls and his friends cheered as well. The two jakhowls began trading blows, Razor slashing at Springer while Springer kept punching him.
But as he did this, Razor began to step around, not even looking as he walked about, threatening to crush any jakhowl underfoot. As this happened, Springer tried to push him away, only for Razor to notice. Laughing at this, he started attacking Springer while trying to push him above a group of jakhowls, forcing the defender to stay in place.
"So weak." Razor laughed as he opened his avatar's mouth and unleashed a blast of aura at him.
"Whoa!" Springer yelped, raising his arms as the beam struck his avatar. The force almost knocked him over, Springer doing everything he could to hold his ground.
"That's right!" Razor cackled, "Now fall! Fall into the mud like the miserable worm you are!" But before Springer could be overcome, something slammed into Razor's back. "AUGH!" His attack stopped and he almost fell over, only to spin around and see a flying Flash, "You ponies really are dumb. You actually think you can defeat me?!"
"Yup." Flash smirked as he glowed as well, "Once again, you should have been paying attention when Springer showed you everything. If you did, you'd know you're not the only one who can create an avatar." With that, he formed the sphere of energy around himself. Razor's eyes went wide as the sphere then took shape and started forming the alicorn avatar.
"Impossible! No pony can have that kind of power!" Razor exclaimed as Springer raised his avatar's paws at him before firing his own force attack. It struck Razor's avatar, knocking him forward, the red giant staggering away from the other jakhowls. Flash and Springer smirked at one another before Flash's avatar flew down, and once close enough, Springer's faded and he fell into Flash's energy field.
Phasing through the light, he joined Flash in the air above Razor. "Ready partner?"
"Anytime!" Springer cheered before they grasped paw and hoof.
Razor regained his balance and looked back at his opponents, only to see the alicorn avatar begin to transform. "What?!" He growled as the energy construct rebuilt itself into a bipedal from while jakhowl-themed armor began to form around it. Soon, the transformation was complete and the pony jakhowl fusion spread its wings and took to the air. "What the...you dare use that power with a pony?! What kind of insult is this?!"
"No insult!" Springer replied, "This is the power of two friends, working together."
Flash smirked at this, "Maybe you'd understand that if you actually had friends." The avatar flew down and formed a Bone Breaker sword as Razor got into a defensive stance and formed his own blade. The two giants swung their blades, the clash causing a powerful gust of wind that almost blew everyone away.
Many of the jakhowls at this point had run around the base of the mountain and taken refuge there, all safe from this powerful wind, but those that hadn't were forced to take shelter where they could. Ace and Mira had found a section of rock that formed a shield they could hide behind, while Twilight and the elders had put up magical barriers.
They watched as the two swords struck one another with a mighty clang, only for the hybrid avatar to pull back and fly above Razor. This caused the red and black jakhowl to stagger forward while the avatar launched a laser from its horn, hitting him in the back.
"Augh!" Razor felt the explosion, then spun around and launched his own. But Flash and Springer managed to spin through the air and dodged the attack before firing another laser. Razor blocked it with his sword as the flying avatar raised their sword and charged it with energy. That energy then flew off it when the sword was swung through the air, sending out a crescent of energy. Razor's eyes went wide as he once again blocked the attack, though the blow sent him staggering back. The flying avatar then shot down and before Razor could respond, spun around and kicked him in the head before spinning again and thrusting a hoof into the red giant's chest.
"AHHHHH!" He staggered back, hitting the dirt and causing the surrounding area to shake. He panted at the strain of all the damage he had felt his avatar take, coupled with keeping the construct in one piece. And as he did this, the flying avatar slowly floated down to the ground. "How?!" He pushed his avatar onto one knee, "How is this happening?! I'm the strongest!"
"Maybe you are," Springer replied, "But being the strongest doesn't mean you can't be beat. Especially when you're all alone." He turned to his friend, who smiled back at him. "Time and again, I've seen those weaker than the threats they face overcome them because they had others that cared for and helped them stand against that threat. No one being is invincible." He pointed his sword at him, "Let's end this...now."
Razor let out a snarl, only to glance away as he saw the mountain and spotted something that made him smile. "No." He turned back to Flash and Springer, "This isn't over yet!" He launched an Aura Force from his avatar's mouth and it struck Flash and Springer, knocking them back as Razor pushed himself to his feet.
"Stop!" Springer yelped as Razor charge at the mountain.
"What's he doing?" Heart asked, Mirage not willing to wait and find out. She fired her own Aura Force at this, only for it to simply bounce off the energy body. The other elders also launched their attacks, along with Spike and the ponies shooting at him, but Razor either didn't feel the attacks or tuned them out, too focused on his goal to stop.
And then he thrust his avatar's paws, "You're mine!" He declared as Ace and Mira saw the giant paws, both firing Aura Blasts to no effect. He then grabbed both in the energy construct.
Flash and Springer charged at this, both yelling, "STOP!" only for Razor to spin around and hold up the duo in his avatar's paw. The pair were screaming at this, both in pain as Razor let out another laugh.
"ACE/MIRA!" Heart and Soul cried as Flash and Springer came to a stop. Seeing this, Razor thrust his other paw forward, striking the hybrid avatar back.
"Let them go!" Springer roared as their avatar regained its footing, the avatar's horn preparing to unleash a beam of energy. But as it did this, Razor clutched his paw tighter, Ace and Mira's screams now increasing in volume.
"That's right," Razor cackled, "Try to blast me and I'll crush them like grapes!"
"You coward!" Flash roared as Springer stared at his charges. "Let them go and settle this like a real warrior!"
"Razor!" Mirage cried from the ground. "This isn't our way and you know it!"
"Shut up! I will not be denied anymore!" Razor stomped his foot at this, sending a wave of wind that struck Mirage and blew her back. Twilight caught her in her magic, only for both to glance back up and see Razor clench his giant aura paw, making the two scream again, "I'll do whatever it takes to annihilate anyone that tries to stop my destiny. Now don't move and accept your deserved punishment!" He started firing blast after blast from his avatar's mouth, hitting the hybrid and knocking it back. Flash and Springer tensed up at every impact, each blow pushing them back, only for cracks to form around them.
"Springer!" Mira cried as the gold and blue avatar began to break apart.
"Flash, no!" Ace yelled as Razor charged at them.
"NOW BE CRUSHED!" He punched the damaged avatar and unleashed a burst of energy from his fist, causing the humanoid energy pony to explode and send Flash and Springer flying. They cried out as they both struck the ground, slamming and rolling as Flash's armor vanished and Springer barely kept his Mega Mode on. Their friends gasped at this, only for Razor to fire another blast in front of them.
"You will stay back. You will not help them. Stand and watch what happens to anyone that tries to defy the king of the jakhowls. Stand...and watch the future of my world!"
Flash and Springer both glanced up at him at this, the two trying to get up. And as they saw the avatar began to walk over, he moaned out, "Alright," Springer sighed, "You won. Now let those two go."
"Not yet," Razor snarled, "You still have to pay for your insults to me. Coming here. Trying to steal what's rightfully mine. Calling me a coward. You will pay for them all." He pointed at him, "Kneel before me. Announce that I am the true future of the jakhowls, or I will crush these two like the insignificant pests that they are."
"You slimeball..." Flash growled.
"I'm tightening my grip," Razor smirked as he did so, Ace and Mira screaming again. And as this happened, Springer saw the pain their faces. The sight made his heart sink, his mouth beginning to move as the words formed in his throat-
"SPRINGER!" Mira's voice filled the air, making him stop. "Don't give up! Keep fighting and don't listen to this bully!"
"Yeah!" Ace added, "He's just like Shade, just a big old bully!"
Springer went wide-eyed at this, only for Razor to raise an eyebrow, "Who is Shade?" he asked, the group now seeing that Razor really hadn't paid any attention to Springer's past.
But as Razor continued to squeeze them, Ace let out a scream before saying, "Don't worry about us! Do it for the jakhowls and the rest of Equestria. Blast him! Blast him right now!"
"Ace...Mira..." Springer whispered.
Razor laughed at the pair, "HA! You stupid pups! He will surrender as long as I have you. He is weak, just like you."
Ace and Mira just glared at him. "You don't know anything!" the yellow jakhowl pup growled, her body starting to glow along with Ace. "We're not like you."
"We're a team!" Ace added as the glowing grew brighter. "No...we're more than that! We're a family! Even if we're not connected by blood, we're connected. That's what Springer taught us when he wanted us to be the next generation!"
Mira nodded, "And there's one thing we've learned about family." Then, they both yelled out in unison. "WE ALL FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER!" With that, the light exploded off of them. It started out as blue, coming from their aura, but then it changed to a shining golden light that filled the air.
"AHHHH!" Razor cried, feeling his avatar's paw burn as the light ripped through the construct. The light off the two then flew off them and curved down toward Springer. The twin energies spiraled around before slamming into Springer, making him gasp as he felt it flow through him.
Everyone gasped as Springer stood up and was completely enveloped by the light. Then, his eyes shot open as he felt new strength flow through him. The golden light began to merge with his body and form armor-like constructs around him, a helmet forming around his head, covering everything but his ears and bands. The same armor then formed around his lower arms and legs, with holes in them to allow his spikes to poke through. Finally, armor appeared around his chest and had an opening for his chest spike to stick through.
From his back had something else begin to form out. A pair of energy wings that looked like they were made of feathers, which began to beat as Springer was lifted into the air. The energy constructs remained on him and shone with an amazing light, while Springer felt more power than he had ever felt in his entire life.
Everyone else was in utter amazement. The bright light should have blinded them, but it actually made them feel better, stronger. The jakhowls that had fled around the mountain had been drawn in by this light, all just as amazed. Ace and Mira just stared at this, only to feel themselves falling.
Razor barely flinched at the sudden transformation before glaring at the pair. He attempted to grab them again, but Springer appeared in front of the avatar and threw a punch. The force struck the remaining energy paw and made it explode, knocking Razor back with a cry.
He then spun around and caught the two before practically warping down to where the others were. "Springer..." Mira looked him over, "What happened to you?" The jakhowl didn't reply, instead turning to Razor as he picked himself up. He then took to the air, flying through the sky like he had had wings his entire life.
Razor healed his avatar's hands and summoned a blade, slashing it right at Springer, only for the defender to summon a Steel Paw and slash at the sword, and to everyone's amazement, the blade shattered. "No way!" Ace gasped as Razor pulled the sword back.
"Impossible." Razor whispered as Springer formed an Aura Blast in his armored paw, which then reshaped itself into a star that he threw at Razor. The star shot through the air and Razor ducked under it, only for it spin back around and slam in his neck.
"AUGH!" Razor screamed, only to then try and punch Springer in the air. But the jakhowl vanished in a blur before several super speed streaks slashed the avatar, the armored jakhowl reappearing behind Razor and blasting him with an extra strong Aura Force. This pushed him forward, away from the mountain and everyone Springer cared about.
His friends watched from the ground, "It's like his power's been tripled!" Spike exclaimed as Razor tried to slash at Springer again, only for the defender to dodge and throw a punch into the avatar's face, knocking Razor back.
Clair stared at the sight as she thought back to her great grandmother's words, "A jakhowl who would awaken a form greater than any other jakhowl, and use it to defeat the greatest threat our race has ever faced."
The others turned to her as Mirage gasped, "Springer's the jakhowl of the prophecy?!"
Core then glanced down at the younger ones. "And you two somehow helped him awaken it. How?"
Ace and Mira blinked at the elder, only for Flash to walk over to them, "That's simple. Aura is the energy of the soul. So maybe if your soul is pure enough, something like this can happen." He smiled at the pair. "Springer was willing to risk his very life to save you two, and you were willing to do the same. That pure intention, complied with your care for each other must have awakened something."
"That's surprising poetic coming from you." Twilight commented.
Flash just shrugged, "I can use big words when I want to."
The alicorn giggled and shook her head before turning to the elders, "He's right though. It created a new more powerful aura, that Springer was able to turn into a new power."
"But if that's true, why hasn't something like this happened before?" Chrome asked as Springer stopped Razor's punch with his bare paws.
"I don't know," Flash responded, "Maybe it's something that can only happen around a special jakhowl, or maybe no jakhowl's wish to help another was pure enough. Though that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Springer has to power to take Razor down!"
The others smiled at this, only for Cress to point at the battle, "Or does he?" They turned and saw Springer's glowing armor was starting to dim. "The power Ace and Mira gave him is starting to fade."
And as Springer avoided another slash from Razor's avatar, he could feel his strength starting to wane "I need to end this, now." He charged and summoned a golden Bone Breaker that he prepared to thrust into the avatar's chest, but Razor blocked it with his own Bone Breaker.
The giant weapon shattered, but Razor was able to grab Springer and crush him between both his energy paws. "Now I've got you!" He growled as everything except Springer's head was trapped, the armor around Springer's head now no longer glowing and starting to flicker out.
"We have to do something!" Soul cried, Flash and Heart flaring their wings, only for Mirage to walk in front of them.
"He needs our help. All of our help." She turned back to the battle and closed her eyes, trying to think the purest thoughts she could. "Springer, my father believed in you...and you were right. One jakhowl can't be the future of our race. Only when we all combine our strengths will we be able to forge the future we want." She started glowing. "Please, take my power and use it to save our kind from this monster." With that, her eyes opened and the light exploded off of her.
It shot toward Springer and Razor, hitting the avatar's hands. Springer felt this, as his armor once again solidified and started glowing, only for Razor to tighten his grip.
"She is right." Chrome added as each of the elders stepped forward and closed their eyes. "You can do this." They all began to glow at this, "We are right behind you. We trust you. So please, stop the madness before it's too late."
The light shot off of him at Springer as Core continued, "You're strong in both body and in spirit. You have the strength needed to lead us into a golden age."
"Don't give up," Cress declared, "Not yet. Our people need someone like you. So please, keep fighting."
Clair nodded. "I don't need to see the future to know you are who we need. You, who doesn't seek power, are the one that is most worthy of having it." All their lights flew off them, meeting with Core's light. They also turned golden and struck Springer, causing his armor to shine even brighter than when it had originally appeared.
Seeing this, one by one, each of the jakhowls watching began to focus. Spike and the ponies could only watch as each of them glowed and unleashed a light, all of them flying into Springer. And as each one hit him, he began to push Razor's grip back, the mad jakhowl starting to feel himself get overwhelmed.
"No!" He cried, his avatar squirming to keep its grip.
But then Springer let out a mighty roar. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The avatar's arms exploded from the wave of energy flowing out of Springer, the defender thrusting his arms and legs out wide. The blow pushed Razor back, only to see Springer begin to fly upward, light now forming around him, "This...end...NOW!" The light then flew into Springer's paw and began to spiral around, forming a golden Aura Blast.
"No," Razor screamed as he began firing Aura Forces at Springer, only for the light surrounding him to act like a barrier, deflecting each attack. "NOOOOO!"
Springer then shot down as Razor fired another laser, only to thrust the orb forward, striking the beam and splitting it in two. "Aura...DESTROYER!" With that, the golden sphere struck the head of the avatar and unleashed a light so bright it blinded all those that saw it.
And as they were forced to close their eyes and look away, Razor's voice filled the air as he screamed in absolute agony, "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"
Razor Fang was in absolute agony as the light from Springer's Aura Destroyer ripped through his avatar and struck him head on. He continued to scream as the light superheated his body, now feeling his fur beginning to burn away and blister. And as this happened, Springer flew forward while still in his armored state, the two jakhowls locking eyes in anger as Springer thrust his fist into Razor's face.
The blow instantly knocked Razor back as the armor around Springer began to disappear along with his wings. Both jakhowls fell toward the mountain, Springer spinning around before catching himself using a Steel Paw on the mountain while Razor slammed into the rocks and slid down until reaching a wide ledge. He then collapsed as Springer landed beside him, Razor's evolved form vanishing in a burst of light.
The sight made Springer sigh as his Mega Mode faded, only to stumble as he felt all the power now leave him. And as he began to slump over, Flash flew down and caught his side, "You okay?" The pony asked, Springer nodding back before seeing Mirage, Ace, Mira, Spike, the elders and ponies all appear a few moments later.
"Yeah...I'm good. All that power's gone and I'm feeling a little drained." Flash chuckled back as the others all ran up to them
"Springer!" Ace exclaimed as he and Mira tackled Springer into a hug, "That was awesome! You could fly!"
Mira nodded as she embraced him, "You managed to beat Razor with all of our powers!"
Springer smiled as he patted them both back, "Yeah...but I don't think that's something I'm gonna be able to do on command. Hopefully, I won't ever have a need to use it again." Mirage and the elders all chuckled at that, only to hear a moan beside them, all turning to see Razor already waking up.
"So...what do we do with him?"
"Good question," Core replied as Twilight turned to him.
"What are your laws concerning murder?"
"We don't have one," Cress responded, "We've never needed one. No jakhowl has ever done anything so heinous before. We've never needed to come up with such a punishment."
The ponies went wide-eyed at this, only for Chrome to point at Springer. "Deciding his fate is the decision of the new chief."
"What?" Springer instantly said, his voice almost shaking.
"You won the kyosongsai. You are now leader of the jakhowls."
Springer blinked at that before glancing back at Razor, seeing the jakhowl glaring back at him. "We should execute him." Mirage chimed in, the group turning to her with wide eyes, only to see her sigh, "That's what I want as his punishment...but I know my father would never condone such an action." She looked back at Springer, "What do we do?"
Springer bit his lip at this, only to glance back at Flash, the defender giving him a small nod. "We have to lock him up." Razor went wide-eyed at this as the others just stared at the new chief, "He'll serve his time imprisoned where he belongs. Hopefully, that time will make him see the error of his ways."
"But we don't have any way to keeping him contained," Chrome replied, "And as soon as he's regained his power, he'll escape again and we'll be right back where we started."
Twilight stepped up at this, "The ponies will take him." They turned to her, "I've learned enough about aura to know how to block it. I'll place a rune on him that'll keep him from accessing his powers and Celestia can find a place in one of our prisons for him."
"I see. Thank you," Clair nodded, "We owe you a great deal for all you've done for us." Twilight smiled at her as Springer turned to Razor.
"Don't try anything stupid. We both know you're in no fit shape to try and fight against what's happening to you. Accept your sentence and try for some remorse. And if you truly do come to regret your actions and ask for forgiveness, I'll give it to you if I feel you're remorseful."
Razor growled at him, "You would forgive me after everything I did?"
"I'm not you," Springer responded, "I've seen how toxic constant hatred can be. I won't let it corrupt me like it's corrupted you. It'll do nothing but destroy me." He and all but Twilight and Flash turned to leave. "I'm gonna live my life surrounded by love and friendship, not fear and hatred."
And as he began to walk away, Razor watched him as he clenched up his paws, "You...someone that weak beat me?!" he whispered as Flash and Twilight moved to his sides in order to restrain him. But as they were about to grab him, he unleashed a burst of aura that pushed them away. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He threw himself back to his feet and formed an Aura Blast, firing it at Springer.
Everyone spun around and saw this, Springer's instincts kicking in. He created a Bone Breaker and deflected the sphere with a single swipe, knocking it back into the mountain above Razor. The explosion caused the rocks to break apart, the jakhowl glancing up and saw a rock slide begin. Everyone gasped and began to run, the winged ones taking to the air as the jakhowls leapt away. But as this happened, Razor didn't move, his body clenching up due to the move he just did, Springer seeing this and gasping. He began to sprint after him, only for the rocks to slam down into Razor. The rubble made Springer leap back, the edge Razor was on now shattering into pieces.
A second later, the rocks covered the side of the mountain, boulders falling for a whole minute as the group landed on the ground just outside the mountain's base. And as it finished, Springer stared at the now pile of rubble...and didn't sense a single life force inside the rock pile.
The jakhowls all frowned at this, none exactly sad that the psycho was gone...but knew that it wasn't right that Razor couldn't let go of his hatred and instead had succumbed to it. Now, all he would be remembered for was being a criminal that almost destroyed them.
And as everyone came down from the mountain, they all turned to Springer, ready to see what he would do now, only for another sound to ring out. They spun around to see the rocks on the mountain to move, only for a small green jakhowl to crawl out of a pile, "Snivel!?" Mirage yelped as the jakhowl coughed and brushed himself off. "How the heck are you still alive?"
"No idea," he replied, only to glance around, "But what happened? Where's Razor?"
"Gone," Springer responded, "And he's not coming back. The jakhowl you put all your faith in isn't gonna help you anymore."
Snivel went wide-eyed before gulping as the others jakhowls all walked up and glared at him. The tiny jakhowl's eyes darted around at the sight, his body shivering before he muttered out, "That's...great." He turned to Springer and tried to smile, "I knew Razor was no good. I'm so glad our kind has a real leader to bring them into the future. And, of course, if you need anything, I'll be happy to be of service."
"Guess nobody taught you anything about loyalty," Spike crossed his arms.
"He needs a good lesson or two from Rainbow Dash." Ace added as Mirage walked up to the green jakhowl.
"You helped Razor kill my father. His death is on your paws as much as Razor's." Mirage growled as she pointed at him, her aura now flaring around her.
"T-t-that's not true," Snivel muttered out, "I-I-I didn't know anything about that until Razor came to me and handed me that bloody cloth."
"But you tried to cover it up," Twilight added, "That implicates you in the crime. You should have told someone else. Mirage or one of the jakhowl elders."
The others nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with the visiting princess. Snivel then saw nothing but glares around him, his eyes shaking as he felt the auras around him now flare up. And before anyone else could say anything, he fell to his knees, "I was scared!" he screamed, looking like he was about to cry. "Please, have mercy on me!" He then actually started crying as he slowly crawled toward Springer. "I am your humble servant. I'll do anything you ask of me."
Springer glared down at him, disgusted by his spinelessness. The other jakhowls looked up at him, ready to hear Springer's judgment, only to see the jakhowl just stare at Snivel. Silence now embraced the area, Snivel shivering as he put his face in the dirt.
And after another minute, Springer spoke up, "Five years." Snivel glanced up at him at this, "You have until nightfall to leave these lands. After that, I don't want to see you here for five years. What you do in that time is up to you. You can live just outside the jakhowl land, or go find a far-off place to live. But if I see you in the lands the ponies have given us until the time of your banishment has passed, I won't be so forgiving."
Snivel went fully wide-eyed at this, only to turn to the rest of the jakhowls. Not a single one seemed to be against this statement, clearly meaning Snivel wasn't going to get off. "F-f-five years?! How will I survive?!"
"I don't know," Springer replied, "That's for you to decide. But if I find out you've been stealing or doing anything else that might hurt others, I'll find you and throw you in the first prison cell I can find."
Snivel gulped at this, the jakhowl slowly picking himself up and turning to leave. Everyone watched him quietly walk away, stopping for just a moment right before entering the trees and looking back at them. Clearly, they weren't going to change their minds. As such, he disappeared into the woods. Hopefully, none would see him for a good five years, and he would return as something better.
But as this happened, Springer glanced back at the elders, "Was I too harsh on him?"
"No," Chrome shook his head, "You were right. Snivel has been behind those more powerful than him for a long time. Who knows. This might even help him learn to access his adult form."
Springer smiled at this, only to spin around to the rest of the jakhowls. There, he flinched as he saw them all bow before him. Mirage was the first, getting down on one knee with her head lowered, and the rest of the jakhowls soon followed suit, Springer now truly seeing what he had become.
"Springer." He turned to see the elders all moving over to a rock, one that had gotten burnt during his fight with Razor. He moved over as the jakhowls stood up, Chrome reaching down and taking some ash off the rock and onto his fingers. Springer knelt on one knee as Chrome and Clair stepped forward, Clair speaking up. "Do you swear to lead our tribe with honour, to uphold justice and to never use your position for any form of personal gain?"
"I swear," Springer nodded, Clair smiling as Chrome moved up to him and using the ash to draw a symbol on his forehead.
And when the symbol was drawn, Chrome and Clair both did a slight bow. They stepped back, allowing Springer to stand up as Core and Cress stepped up to either side of him, all turning to the crowd as Core spoke out to the masses. "The chief...has come home!"
"Long live the chief!" Cress added as the jakhowls all cheered and repeated his words. Many started firing Aura Blasts into the sky, which collided and exploded like a bunch of fireworks.
Springer looked out at all the jakhowls that were now looking to him for leadership and guidance, the task making him tense up...but he knew it was something he had to do for Sirius. For the jakhowls that had lost their lives to get to this point. And for all the future generations of jakhowls that needed him to create the best world he could for them to inhabit.
But he also knew that this meant something else. And as he turned to Flash, he could tell his pony partner was thinking the same thing.
Hours passed as everyone returned to Aurarora, all needing to focus on a particularly important event. Many jakhowls were glad this was taking place since Razor seemed to be so focused on his insane war that he didn't allow them the chance to do it. Had Springer not won, the time would have likely elapsed. But now, they were all gathered in an area of the biome that was entirely made of stone.
The jakhowls were gathered around the stone circle, which had a large flat blackened stone in the middle of it. And on that blackened stone was an object that was wrapped up in ceremonial bandages, allowing all those that wish to pay respect the chance to do so without needing to see anything too gruesome.
Once the body was placed there, Springer, Mira and the elders all gathered around it. Each had a wooden torch, which Heart happily lit for them. They stepped forward and each held the torches to the body, the flames catching onto the cloth that had been soaked in a special flammable oil.
The body burned quickly, Mirage watching as her father's physical form was turned to ash. Everyone bowed their heads, the many jakhowls remembering the times Sirius had been there for them. As for Flash and the rest of the visitors, though they hadn't known Sirus for very long, also thought about how kind and understanding he had been to them. He had opened the door for the ponies and jakhowls to be united, and now it was up to them to make sure that unity lived.
And as Sirius's body slowly burned to dust, Mirage couldn't help but start crying. Springer stepped up and placed a paw on her shoulder while Ace and Mira grabbed her paws, the jakhowl feeling how much they wanted to help her, Mirage smiling as she realized she wasn't alone. Not truly.
The ritual continued until the fire completely burned away the body, then slowly went out as the last piece of flammable material was gone. The elders then used a special clay jar to collect the ashes, all of them being careful not to sneeze and breath too hard and blow the ashes away. Once the jar was completely full, they covered it up and everyone headed to the forest of ancients. As they entered, the jakhowls started using their aura to connect with the memories of their ancestors. Twilight and the others were amazed when they saw the trees begin to light up, Mirage giving them the same explanation she had given Springer before.
Eventually, they arrived at the same tree Mirage's mother had been scattered under. Once there, Mirage took the jar and opened it up. Taking out a pawful, she started sprinkling it along the ground, Springer doing the same thing, followed by the elders, Ace, Mira, and every other jakhowl in the tribe.
As the ashes were scattered along the ground, the tree they were spreading it around's light grew brighter as it spread to the ground. The ashes started glowing, the spiritual aura within them being drawn out and into the tree. Spike and the ponies also got to spread some of these ashes, something they all considered a great honor. And after they had done this, Mirage took the remaining ash and scattered it around the tree.
The light spread to this new ash and also drew out the echo of her father, Mirage stepping back and taking a deep breath. "Father, I'll miss you. But I promise I'll keep doing your work for as long as I can. I'll protect our home, and show the world how amazing the jakhowls can be."
Then, she opened her eyes and saw something that made her gasp. The light that was being drawn out of the ashes flowed upward like mist, which slowly began to take shape and form the blue ghostly image of her father. She could barely believe it, Mirage glancing around, but no one else seemed to see this. She looked back at her father and was close to crying again, but stayed strong for Sirius.
Her father smiled and nodded, telling her he knew she would make him proud. This made her feel great joy and pride as another cloud of light came off of the tree and began to form next to her father. This did make Mirage begin to cry as she saw the form of her mother appear. She and Sirius smiled at one another before holding paws and turning to their daughter, Mirage's heart swelling at the sight of her mother after so long. She smiled back at them, wiping her tears as she watched them glance at Springer. Mirage knew what they were trying to say and mentally swore she would help Springer as best she could. She had seen how difficult being leader could be, and knew Springer would need all the help she could offer.
The pair gave her one final smile before their physical forms began to fade away, transforming back into the glowing mist that had formed them and returning to the ash on the ground. The light was then absorbed by the roots of the tree and sucked into the trunk and leaves. Sirius had joined with his beloved in eternal rest, but would always be there for them if they ever needed his guidance.
Springer, Mirage and many others knew they would likely be asking for that guidance in the weeks, months, and possibly years to come. They had stepped into an age of uncertainty, and there were many trials awaiting them in the future. But together, they knew they could overcome these trials. And as the prophecy stated, it would allow them to enter a time of unbridled peace. The golden age.
It was a night of mourning and celebration as the jakhowls welcomed their new leader with a party that also acted as a funeral for Sirius that was meant to celebrate his life. Springer and his friends got to experience jakhowl music and song, along with their dancing. It continued right into the night, all soon too exhausted to party anymore. They all slept until noon the next day, and by that time, Twilight knew they needed to return to Ponyville and update Celestia on everything that had happened.
As such, they were now outside the mountain, Twilight now working on a Rune Gate. They had managed to dig her saddlebag out of the hut's wreckage and were happy to see that the temporary Rune Gate was undamaged. Now they could go home, which meant it was time for a certain teary goodbye.
"You're really staying?" Heart asked, looking ready to start crying.
"We have to," Mira replied, "We still have so much to learn about the jakhowls."
"And they've got loads for us to teach them about the modern day," Ace added, "Besides, Springer's gonna need all the help he can get now that he's the new leader of the jakhowls." Mira nodded in agreement while the twins frown at them. The pair pulled their pony partners at this, the four hugging it out as Twilight finished setting up the Rune Gate and turned to them.
They then pulled away as Mira said, "Besides, it's not like this'll be the last we see of each other. Summer's not that long."
That made Twilight go wide-eyed, "Wait...are you planning to come back to the School of Friendship?" They both nodded, making Twilight smile and clap her hooves. "That's wonderful."
"Yeah," Ace laughed, "We can't drop out yet. Not after everything we went through to pass our first year." Mira nodded again.
"Besides, your school is the perfect place for other young jakhowls to learn about how amazing the other kingdoms are. I doubt they'll be eager to go if the first two jakhowl students never graduated." Twilight laughed at this and nodded, then turned to activate the Rune Gate.
As the beam of light flew into the sky, the few other jakhowls watching all gasped as Flash turned to Springer, "Well, I guess this is it."
Springer nodded as Spike flew up to him. "I'm gonna miss you fuzzball," he pulled Springer into a hug, Springer chuckling as he embraced the drake back.
"Same. I'm gonna miss our crazy shenanigans." Springer laughed, the two biting their lips, trying to hold back the tears. Spike then flew down to the pups, the pair high-fiving him before he flew into the Rune Gate, glancing back for a second before going through.
Heart and Soul both shared a hug with Springer as well, the jakhowl telling them to stay safe and get stronger before giving one final hug with Ace and Mira before going into the Rune Gate, disappearing as well. Twilight smiled at the two young jakhowls that would soon be returning as her students, and then to Springer. "Things aren't gonna be the same in Ponyville without you."
"Yeah," Springer nodded, "But you'll survive without me. And...thank you." Twilight tilted her head at this, "Thank you for taking me in and for showing me what a leader really looks like. I've learned so much from you, and I know that if I'm even half the leader you are, I'll be just fine."
Twilight giggled at this and hugged him as well, "You're always welcome in Ponyville, Springer. Remember that." She pulled away, tears appearing in her eyes, "I know I didn't say it much, but...you're part of our family. You've always been the moment Flash found you."
"I know. Thank you Twilight."
The alicorn nodded as a few tears went down her face, "Goodbye. Oh, and I'll keep your room just the way you left it."
Springer laughed at this, "It might need a bit of a cleaning though." Twilight laughed as well before wiping her tears away before walking up to the Rune Gate. She stopped and placed a hoof on Flash's shoulder, the defender nodding before Twilight went through the portal.
With her gone, it was now just him and Springer staring one another down. Both weren't sure what to say, the two knowing this would be the most painful parting of them all.
"So...this is it," Springer slowly said.
Flash sighed and shook his head, "Honestly, never thought this day would come." He held out his hoof, "So long partner." Springer looked down at his hoof and took it, the pair shaking.
"So long." The pair stared at each other, tears trying to appear in each others' eyes.
Memories began to go through their heads at this. The day they met and became partners, working together to protect Ponyville. This was followed by them making new friends together, fighting in the Battle of Canterlot, their battle against Discord, their adventure in the mountain that bought them even closer together, their mission in Omniara, getting sucked into a comic book, Springer's time loop, learning about Springer's past, their adventure to the lost city and so many more incredible adventures.
And it wasn't just the big stuff they remembered. It was the little things that they remembered the most. The times they simply hung out as best friends, whether it was reading comics, playing games or just relaxing or playing music together. The years they had spent together all slowly blurring into a group of incredible memories. There were bad memories as well, but those were few and far between the great ones they had made.
And now, it was time to say goodbye. The days of making constant new memories was over. No longer able to take it, Springer and Flash pulled one another into a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you."
"I'm gonna miss you too," Springer muttered out, "But...it's not like we'll never see each other again." They pulled apart. "Just watch. Our best adventures are probably still ahead of us. And even if we won't see each other that much, we're still partners. And more than that, we're friends."
Flash smiled and held up a hoof, Springer smirking back before their pumped fists. With that, Flash pulled away and began to move toward the Rune Gate. He stopped right in front of it and turned back to Springer, then looked past him at Mirage, Ace and Mira. "Keep an eye on him for me. Don't let him do anything stupid."
They nodded with a smile before Flash and Springer shared one final look, Flash then stepping back into the Rune Gate.
"Be happy old friend," was Flash's last words before he completely vanished. The Rune Gate then disappeared as well, vanishing in the blink of an eye before the paper that held it burnt up.
Springer sighed as he spun around, now staring at his new home and family, who all stared back at him. He took a deep breath and said, "We've got a lot of work to do. There's a big wide world out there that needs to know the jakhowls are back, and it's up to us to prove we belong here. This isn't gonna be easy, but together we can do it."
The jakhowls all cheered as they began to head back into Aurarora, Springer wondering just what was next for the jakhowls. And as he looked up at the sky, he felt he was already missing Flash and the others, but knew this was the right thing. And it wasn't the end. "Don't worry," he said to the wind. "We will meet again."
