> The Riders' Legacy > by ZillaBrony13 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Sailing the Nameless River > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eragon stood at the back of the Talita watching the trees pass on his right and the horizon grow smaller in front of him. Saphira swam beside the boat, the elves were below decks reviewing their plan for settlement, and the Eldunari and eggs sat in chests that were arranged around him. His mind was heavy with thoughts of his friends and family. He thought of Roran, his cousin although they considered themselves brothers. He thought of Nar Garzhvog, an Urgal chief who had ran with him to the Dwarf city of Farthen Dur. He thought of Orik, his foster brother and king of the Dwarves. Then…he thought of Arya, queen of the elves and the Rider of the green dragon Firnen. She was the only one he had truly loved and yet hadn’t returned his affections until just before they were separated by fate. His heart ached for them all and more as the Talita sailed down the river. “Eragon?” He heard Saphira say. “What is troubling you?” “Nothing Saphira.” “Your mind tells me a different story, little one. You thoughts are sad and depressed. What is troubling you? You can tell me.” “I miss my friends and family.” He muttered. “What?” “I miss my friends and family!” He yelled back. Tears threatened to fall as he stood. “We were getting ready to settle down and have a good life when we had to come east! This all seems like some cruel joke played by fate.” “I miss them as well. Especially Firnen.” Saphira had taken Firnen as her mate before they had left for the east. “You must learn to forget.” The voice of Umaroth, the dragon of the final leader of the riders before Eragon spoke up then. “You’re telling me to forget them?! After they would have died for me?” Eragon asked in anger and shock. “I am. They are a weakness your enemies could exploit and use against you.” “Well then…tell me Umaroth elda.” He spat. “What if I had told you that you had to forget Vrael after you awoke because he was a weakness to you? That you had to forget everyone you had known before your burial. HOW WOULD THAT HAVE MADE YOU FEEL?” Umaroth recoiled from the power of Eragon’s thought speech and the meaning of his words, and then receded back into his Eldunari. “Eragon!” Saphira spoke up once again. “Why would you have said such things to him?” “He had every right to.” Glaedr, Eragon and Saphira’s mentor joined them then, his voice emanating from his golden Eldunari. “Umaroth should not have said such things, especially considering what Eragon has gone through in the past few years.” Eragon stood up and went below decks with a mutter of “Going below.” He went into his cabin, pulled out his sword and began to practice. He descended into the trance of battle as he fought imaginary Urgals. Stab-roll-block-slash-kick. His mind cleared as he fought. However there was one emotion he could not get rid of, anger. He was angry at fate for separating him from his friends and family. He was angry at Umaroth for having the nerve to tell him to forget them. Saphira then contacted him. “Eragon, you need to calm yourself. Anger will cause you to do careless things. Meditate on the animals around you. I will observe.” Eragon sighed. As always, her words carried much wisdom. He sat down on the floor and opened his mind. He felt every creature around him, from the fly on his wall to the fish in the river to the forest beside the river. He extended his reach as far as it would go and reached the other end of the forest. Then he felt something strange at the edges of his mental vision. “Saphira? Lend me your strength. I think that I’ve found something.” Her mind melded with his and increased the range of his mental eye. He then beheld a village full of life! Eragon was shocked. He had expected no signs of civilization, but here was a town! And it wasn’t primitive, oh no. He saw signs of a market and a library, though he couldn’t be sure because all he could feel were the inhabitants. The inhabitant’s minds felt human, and yet not. What shocked him the most was that some of the inhabitants were flying without visible means of support. “Do you think they could be an intelligent form of bird?” Saphira asked. "Only one way to find out.” He focused his mind on one of the flying ones and eavesdropped on its thoughts. “-for Dinky Doo.” He heard the voice say. “Maybe I could make her some muffins when I get home after my route. She’d love that.” The mind then emanated distress. “Oh no! I forgot about my package! I’m gonna be late!” Then the mind flew away. Eragon was thoroughly puzzled. “What is a muffin?” “I don’t know” Saphira was just as puzzled. Eragon noticed another mind, one that held an immense amount of power, and focused on it. Almost immediately the mind recoiled and put up thick mental barriers. Eragon returned to his own body. “At least we know that they aren’t birds.” Saphira said “Do you think we should investigate?” “I think so.” “Well then we should tell Blodhgarm and the other elves.” “Agreed.” Saphira said. He stood up and walked onto the deck and called out to the elves. The ten warriors stood before him with Blodhgarm, an elf with blue fur covering his entire body, at their head. “Yes Shadeslayer?” He questioned. “Saphira and I have found something on the other side of the forest. Dock the boat somewhere and wait for our return.” Eragon ordered. “Of course, Shadeslayer.” Eragon went over to the chests and opened the biggest one. The Eldunari glittered as he looked upon them. He pulled out Glaedr’s and Umaroth’s Eldunarya and placed them in his saddlebags. “Umaroth elda?” The white dragon barely acknowledged him. “I’m sorry for what I said. Can you forgive me?” “I-I forgive you Shadeslayer. Anger can make the mind do fickle things and that was of those things. Do not allow your anger to control your judgement again.” “Yes Ebrithil.” Eragon climbed onto Saphira and waved to the elves as with a mighty flap of her wings, she took flight and soared over the dark forest below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Twilight lay inside her library, reading one of the great works of Starswirl the Bearded. She loved studying him and his works, for he was her idol. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a vast and powerful mind touching her own. She quickly threw up mental barriers as Celestia had taught her. But to her surprise, the mind didn’t press the attack. Instead it faded from her mind and left. She quickly thrust out her own mind and found the mind that had touched hers. She gasped aloud as she beheld the power the mind contained. She then noticed that it was accompanied with 3 other minds and they were headed towards town. She quickly ran out the door and towards Sugarcube Corner. Her friends had to know about this. > Exploration > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saphira flew over the forest as birds scattered at the sight of her shadow. She, Umaroth and Glaedr were currently engaged in a game of riddles. “What force and strength cannot get through I with gentle touch can do And many in the street would stand Were I not a friend at hand What be I?” Glaedr asked. Saphira and Umaroth thought. “Is it a key?” Saphira asked. “Correct. Your turn.” Sapira thought. “Only one colour, but not one size Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies Present in the sun, but not in rain Doing no harm, and feeling no pain What be I?” As they played, Eragon observed the forest below. It was dark, gloomy, and glowing eyes watched Saphira pass overhead. Eragon shuddered. He would hate to be in that forest at night. He then noticed a cave that seemed to emit a faint glow from the mouth. He pointed it out to Saphira. “Land over there. I want to investigate.” She complied and alighted inside the cave. Eragon dismounted and looked around the cave. He then saw what was emitting the glow and gasped. A huge pile of riches was before him. Gold, precious stones, and more were arrayed in piles that dwarfed Saphira. He looked over and saw that she was drooling! “Mmmmmmm.” She growled “They look so crunchy, so juicy, so…delicious.” He tried to rouse her, but her eyes remained glued to the riches. “Umaroth? What is Saphira talking about?” “Gems. They were once considered a delicacy among our kind. Before the elves came we raided the dwarves not only for livestock, but gems as well. The amount of gems here are enough to feed Saphira for a year at least.” A rumbling shook the cave then. “Who dares disturb my sleep?” The voice rumbled through their ears and shook their teeth. Eragon saw the pile shift and fall, as a dragon rose from the riches. But it wasn’t a dragon like Saphira. It was as big as Glaedr had been and there were no scales to be seen on its green hide. The spines on its back were a lighter green, broad and more curved than Saphira’s. Its snout was flatter and its fore arms were shaped vaguely human-like. Its back legs were muscled and looked like they were meant for standing on them and them alone. Finally, its wings were folded on its back, not on its sides. It glared down at them and spoke once more. “You are a skulblaka yes?” He spoke to Saphira. “Y-yes.” Her eyes were wide with fear. “Interesting. I thought the skulblaka were long dead.” “Don’t you mean dragon?” Eragon asked. “NO! I am a dragon and she a skulblaka. You would be wise to remember the difference. We dragon’s evolved from the skulblaka.” “But you just said that all the dra-” He was cut off by a snarl from the dragon. “skulblaka were dead.” “Long ago, before my grandfather’s fathers were born, the skulblaka were all wild. They were proud, fierce and nothing stood in their way. Then some of them disgraced themselves by allowing others to ride upon their backs. These riders were very powerful, powerful enough to move mountains.” Eragon scoffed inwardly at that. The dragon’s father must have exaggerated to him. The dragon then continued, “They were strong, but did not guard against themselves. One of their own betrayed them and killed them all, along with the wild skulblaka. Some of the wild skulblaka saw what the traitor was doing and fled to the east and settled down. Eventually we evolved from them.” He then turned to Eragon. “You must be her rider. I despise riders. So I advise you to leave before I decide to bathe you all in the fire from my belly.” Eragon quickly mounted Saphira and she flew off out of the cave. She wimpered at the loss of her gems. “It’s ok Saphira. I’ll find you a sapphire to make up for it. Ok?” “Yes little one." She flew toward the settlement as the sun rose in the sky towards noon. As the town came into view, Saphira landed in a clearing on the edge of the forest. “Why are we doing this little one? Why not fly into the town?” “So that the town’s people can shoot you down with magic? The dragon’s cave is close to town, so they might have had trouble with it before. Not to mention they were able to use magic at will when I scanned it with my mind.” “Fair enough little one.” They set up camp in little over half an hour. Eragon took out some lunch and began to eat. Saphira went off to hunt only after swearing in the Ancient Language not to go back to the dragon’s cave. After breakfast, Eragon began to practice his swordplay. Then a howl cut through the forest. He lowered his sword and looked around. Glowing green eyes watched him from every direction. “Barzul!” he cursed and raised his sword as the animals attacked. > Fight and First Contact (Rewritten) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eragon looked around as the animals slowly came through the underbrush. They were strange animals. They looked like the Shrrg from the Beor Mountains but with a couple major differences. First they were smaller, about the size of regular wolves in Palancar Valley. Next, and the thing that really puzzled him, was that they were made entirely of wood. Their eyes were green and the same green was present in the form of a glow that encompassed their entire bodies. He heard a tree break and fall. He looked to his left and gasped. A new wolf was rising out of the underbrush. But this one was huge! It was around 15 feet tall and had the same wooden complexion and green glow as the rest of the wolves. Eragon assumed it was the pack’s leader. It howled and the pack did as well. Eragon winced and lowered his sword. In the Ancient Language he said, “Wolves of wood, I mean you no harm. Leave now and you may live. Otherwise I will make you leave.” The wolves snarled in response. One leaped out of the pack, seeking to kill Eragon and be the first one to eat. Eragon unsheathed his sword and slashed at the wolf. It fell to pieces at his feet. Then the pack charged at him. He fell into the daze of battle like he had done so many times before. He slashed and stabbed at any wolf that came close. He rolled under a wolf which then collided with one of its comrades and they both shattered. He took notice of this and grinned. They couldn’t stand a heavy impact. He used this to his advantage dodging their attacks more often than striking, resulting in the wolves slowly whittling their own numbers until the last wolf charged him. He dodged underneath and then kicked it over his head and into a tree. It shattered like so many of its comrades. He then looked up at the pack leader. It howled at the loss of its pack and charged Eragon. He waited until it was almost upon him and then he jumped as high as he could. With a yell he sheathed his sword in the alpha wolf’s head. It convulsed underneath him and then was still. The green glow faded from its body and it fell apart. He jumped clear and surveyed the clearing around him. Wood was scattered around the clearing. No wolf had survived his onslaught. He sat down and began his meditation once more. As he extended his mind he noticed something peculiar. The wooden remains of the wolves had an energy around them that he could not identify. He continued observing and then noticed movement throughout the clearing. He opened his eyes and gaped in horror. The wood glowing green and was drifting back together! Even as Eragon watched the entire pack of wolves regenerated, including the pack leader. Eragon paled. “Are they unkillable?” He thought to himself. The pack now completely surrounded him, blocking any chance of escape. He thought about contacting Saphira, but she wouldn’t be able to get to him in time. He reached his mind toward the alpha wolf, intending to take control of its mind and tell the other wolves to stand down. But he did not find a mind. Then he thought of something he had heard long ago. A legend. The legend said that here was a creature that had the power to grow back two heads if you cut off one. These wolves were similar to the creature. And the only way it was defeated was by... “Letta!” He shouted. The wolves froze in midair with yelps of surprise. Eragon jumped over them and landed on the other side of the clearing, releasing the magic as he did so. They snarled again and raced towards him. He raised his word high and shouted, "BRISINGR!" His sword burst into blue fire, painting his face in a unearthly glow. The wolves faltered in their advance and looked at the fire with terror in their eyes. "Leave." Was all he said. The Alpha wolf snarled at his pak. They charged again and once more, he cut them all down. He then looked up at the Alpha wolf and said one word. "Brisingr." Blue fire raced up the wolf's legs as the spell took hold. The wolf screamed in agony as the fire licked it's body. Eragon clamped his hands over his ears in pain. The wolf stumbled toward him as its of it fell off. Then it took one more step and fell to the ground, it's body charred and blackened. He extended his mind to the remains of the wolves and felt no energy around the wood. He sighed in releif, knowing that they were finally dead. He got up and began to practice the Rimgar. He heard the rustling of the underbrush and though nothing of it. “Oh…my.” He heard a small voice say behind him. His battle instincts kicked in once more as he whirled around, unsheathing his sword as he did so, and prepared to strike down whoever planned to hurt him. But there was no threat, so far as he could see. There was only…brightly colored horses? “This day is just getting stranger and stranger.” He thought to himself. He studied the creatures for a moment. They all were colored a bright color. White, purple, orange, yellow, blue and even pink! They were small and their head only reached to his neck. They all had marks on their flanks like a brand or something. Finally two had horns on their heads and two had wings. They all looked at him with fear in their eyes. He thought that they were friendly, but decided to check first. “After all,” He thought to himself, “The Twins seemed friendly enough.” He reached out to who he thought was the leader’s mind. The horse was purple, had a mark of five small stars surrounding a large magenta one and had a horn on her head. As soon as he touched her mind he noticed something. He recognized it! It was the same mind he had touched that had blocked his presence. Apparently she recognized him as well. Once again she recoiled and put up thick mental barriers. “You!” She said. “You were the one who touched my mind!” She lowered her horn and it began to glow. He felt that it was magic and began to chant a spell to deflect whatever the horse was planning. A blast of magic erupted from the horses horn and raced toward him with the speed of an arrow loosed from a bow. He cursed.The magic was coming too fast. He wouldn't be able to finish the spell in time. He ended his chanting and raised his sword to block the blast, but was a second too slow. The blast hit his arm and with a sickening crack it broke. Both Eragon and Saphira yelled in pain through their link and he felt Saphira take off. “No! Stay away Saphira!” He shouted at her, but she seemed to ignore him. The horse loosed another blast of magic at him, but this time he managed to block it. The other ponies tried to help. An orange one tried to lasso him with a rope, but he flipped out of the way. A blue one rammed him and sent him flying. He landed and rolled out of the way as sharp gems buried their tips in the ground where he had been seconds before. A pink one fired a blue cylindrical device at him. All the while he dodged gems, magic, the blue horse, the lasso, and blasts from the cylinder. He knew that he could not last much longer and shouted in desperation, “Eka fricai un Shur’tagal!” The horses stopped in confusion. “What?” The purple one asked. “Eka fricai un Shur’tagal.” He repeated. "What in the hay does that mean?" The orange pony asked. "It means that I am a friend. I will not harm you." "How do we know we can trust you?" "You do not." A yellow horse spoke up. "Twilight? I think we can trust him" "How do you know?" "Well we attacked first." "After he tried to take over my mind twice!" Twilight exclaimed. "Did he?" "Well...he backed off after I put up my barriers." She said hesitantly. "See? He wasn't trying to take over your mind, were you?" Eragon was relieved. "I was only trying to know what your intent was." Twilight still looked angry. "Applejack! You can't believe this can you?" "He ain't lyin' Twilight. Trust me, I'm not the Element of Honesty for nothing" "Alright fine." Twilight conceded. She turned to Eragon. "I'll trust you...for now." "Thank you." Eragon said. "Can I ask you a question?" "Of course." “What are you? You’re not a pony.” she asked pulling a parchment out of nowhere along with a quill. “So they’re called ponies.” he thought to himself. “My name is Eragon Shadeslayer, son of Brom. I once was a human, until I was changed. What would your names be?” She reluctantly put down her parchment and quill, which she had been taking notes on, and said, “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the Princess Celestia’s protégé and a librarian in Ponyville.” The blue one that tried to ram him before lifted into the air. “Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria. No applause is necessary.” The orange pony with a strange hat, a blonde mane, and a mark of three apples on her flank walked up to him and began shaking his hand very hard. “A’m Applejack! It’s a pleasure to meet ya!” His arm went numb from the shaking that it had endured. “Rarity, it’s a pleasure to one such as you.” said the white pony with a horn, purple mane, and a mark of three diamonds on her flank. The yellow pony that had defended her spoke up. “Um…my name is Fluttershy.” She whispered so softly that his elven hearing had trouble picking it up. A blur of pink filled his vision as a pink pony with a pink mane raced up right into his face. He couldn’t tell what her mark was. “HimynameisPinkiePieandI’mPonyville’snumberonepartypony.SorryaboutthePartyCannonDoyoulikeparties?Wellduheverypoylikesparties,evenifyournotapony.” She then gasped leaving him a little time to absorb what she had just said, or what he could understand of it. “Oh my GOSH! Your new to Ponyville! I’ve gotta go start planning your ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’!” Just before she could run off to parts unknown, a loud thud vibrated the air around them “Wh-what was th-that?” Fluttershy asked. The answer to Fluttershy’s question landed right behind Eragon. Saphira looked pissed beyond belief when she saw Eragon’s broken arm. “DRAGON!” The ponies yelled in fright and then fled into the forest. Well, all except one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She should have been running. She would have been running, but she looked into the dragon’s eyes and froze at the sight. Those eyes, were just like his eyes. The memories flooded back to her as she stood in pure terror. Her parents…the dragon…the flames. “YOU HURT MY RIDER!” The mental shout tore through her mind, erasing all thought from her head. “YOU SHALL ALL BURN!” The dragon took a huge breath in. “Saphira no!” Eragon shouted at the dragon, but it was too late. The dragon breathed out blue flames that illuminated the clearing in an eerie glow. Fluttershy closed her eyes and waited for death’s embrace to take her for the first, and final, time. > Death of a Friend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the dragon landed, Rainbow didn’t think twice. She ran. The Element of Loyalty, the bravest and coolest pony in all of Equestria, was now cowering in the bushes trying not to be seen. “What is wrong with me?!” She thought to herself. She should have stayed out there! She should have put that dragon in its place. As she looked at the dragon, horrifying memories of her first encounter with one flashed through her mind. How she had almost gotten her friends killed. For weeks afterward she had nightmares about what would have happened if Fluttershy hadn’t intervened. Burned to ashes by dragon fire, crushed beneath the dragon’s talons, or eaten alive and doomed to a slow death by digestion. She trembled as she realized, that she had developed a fear of dragons. She looked at the clearing once more and her blood ran cold. Fluttershy was still out there! Her face wasn’t one of confidence and anger like the first time. Now it was locked in an expression of pure terror as she gazed up at the dragon. “You harmed my Rider!” A voice tore through Rainbow’s mind making her clutch her head in pain. “You will pay!” The dragon reared its head back like a snake about to strike. Eragon shouted something, but it seemed to have no effect on the dragon. Blue flames streamed out of the dragon’s mouth, engulfing Fluttershy in an inferno hot enough to melt steel. “NNNOOOOOOOO!” The other ponies yelled. Rainbow stared in horror as Fluttershy’s silhouette fell to the ground and didn’t move. Behind her she could hear Pinkie beginning to cry. She tried to deny what she had seen. It was a dream. She was hallucinating. It wasn’t real…was it? She slammed her hoof into a tree and grunted in pain. She couldn’t deny it now. It was real. All of it was real. She…she should have done something. She should have pushed her out of the way. She should have stayed with her and taken the fire alongside her. Anything but hide like a coward! Satisfied that Fluttershy was dead, the dragon turned to the bushes where the others were hiding. It raked its claws across the top of the bushes and exposed the frightened ponies underneath. It breathed another stream of flame but Twilight blocked it with a magic shield. The dragon snarled and slammed its claws into the shield. Twilight winced as the shield cracked. “Saphira stop!” Eragon yelled at the dragon. But the dragon ignored him. It slammed its claws into the shield again. Twilight yelled in pain as the shield broke and collapsed. As Rainbow looked up at the dragon, every fiber of her being screamed at her to run. But to do that would be to betray her Element. And she would never do so again. She stood over her friends and glared at the dragon. “You wanna kill us?! Come on then!!” The dragon obliged as it prepared to breath fire for the third and final time. “Malthinae!” Eragon shouted. The dragon yelped in surprise as its legs and wings were bound to its sides and its mouth was muzzled by an unseen force. The dragon thrashed its neck and tail as it tried to get free. “What is the meaning of this?!” The voice from before said in everyone’s mind. “Eragon, they attacked you. They injured you! Why are you defending them?!” “Wait…Eragon, this thing knows you?!” Rainbow asked in shock. “That thing has a name you know.” The dragon growled through its invisible muzzle. “To answer your question Saphira, it was a misunderstanding. When I first met these six I did not know if they were intelligent.” “Hey!” Applejack protested. “Just because I don’t live in one o’ them fancy cities doesn’t mean that I’m not smart!” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Anyway, I probed their leader’s mind for their intentions and found resistance. They attacked me, believing that I was a threat. I didn’t lash out because, from the glimpse into their minds, I knew that they don’t attack unless they or one of their kin are threatened. Once I told them that I was a friend they backed down, but not after giving me a broken arm.” Eragon then turned to the ponies. “Everyone, I’d like for you to meet Saphira. She is my dragon, and I am her Rider. I’m sorry that she attacked you. She can be over protective of me at times.” “SORRY?!” Eragon stumbled back as Rainbow flew up to his face. “That…that thing killed her.” She pointed to Saphira. “It killed Fluttershy and all you have to say is SORRY?!” “She isn’t dead.” “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! I watched her die. We all did! There is no way she could have survived!” Eragon moved aside and revealed Fluttershy’s corpse. But…was it her corpse? An area of grass had been blackened and scorched. But Fluttershy had no burns adorning her skin and no of her fur was scorched. “How is she unmarked?” Saphira asked. “Yes how?!” Twilight exclaimed, having woken up just before Saphira’s introduction. “Nopony has ever been able to shield somepony else directly from fire. Not even Starswirl could!” “Well I did.” Eragon walked over to Fluttershy’s body and placed his hand on her head. “Wake.” He said in the tongue of the Elves. To everyone’s surprise and amazement, Fluttershy’s eyes slowly opened. “F…Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked hesitantly. Fluttershy shakily stood up. “H-hi girls.” “FLUTTERSHY!” Her friends shouted, causing her to jump. Then her friends tackled her into a hug. “I knew you were still alive!” Pinkie exclaimed. “W-what happened? What do you mean by I’m still alive?” “The dragon…the fire…I-I thought it had killed you!” Rainbow said between sobs. “Dragon?” Fluttershy turned and saw Saphira, who had been released from her invisible bonds. She screamed in fear as she saw the one who tried to kill her. She dove behind her friends, trying to hide. Then another mind, one that emanated comfort, sadness, and guilt touched hers. “Come here small one. I will not harm you.” “Why? Y-you tried to kill me.” “Eka weohnatta neit haina ono.” Saphira said. For some reason, Fluttershy felt comforted by those words even though she could not understand them. Fluttershy slowly stepped forward, ready to bolt if Saphira showed any signs of hostility. “I…I’m sorry for attacking you. I should have questioned Eragon before I landed. I was not of clear judgment. I know that you may never forgive me, but know that I am sorry.” Saphira hung her head in shame. She started as she felt something. She looked and saw that Fluttershy was nuzzling her cheek. “Shhh. It’s ok. I forgive you.” “You…you do?” “Of course. You had every right to be angry. We hurt Eragon and you two obviously share a very strong bond.” To everyone’s amazement, Saphira bowed to Fluttershy! “Fluttershy, ono celobra eka mulabra ono ne haina. Atra nosu waise fricai?” “Sure.” Fluttershy said, then she hugged Saphira’s snout. > Help please > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello once more to all my readers! ZillaSmasher here with an update. I've hit a wall in terms of this story and I need somepony's help to break it down. If you wish to help you will get spoilers, so be warned. Also, I want to increase the # of words in my chapters from 1000-2000 to around 4000-6000, so if someone could help me write that would be nice as well.