Hope Run Dry Pt. 2

Part 1
http://pastebin.com/LG1R0bm7

>You decide to, instead of killing them, scare them off in a flashy example of magic.
>You raise both hands beside you, and begin to raise rocks and chunks of earth from the ground.
>The guards look visibly scared now.
>Suddenly you collapse the rocks and earth around you to make yourself about twice as tall and large than before.
>You take the extension of your right arm and slam it to the ground with a deafening smash.
>You begin to trudge to the two soldiers cowering in fear.
>Before long they drop their spears and high tail it back away from you.
>In one last flashy example of magic, you smash both of your arms on the ground and shake the earth beneath you.
>"Haha, good one Anon!" Applejack shouted.
We don't have much longer, both of you grab their spears, we're getting out of here and heading to the forest.
>They don't hesitate and both grab a spear and stand beside you as you trudge through the street in your earth-bound juggernaut.
>Each step you take shakes the ground beneath you.
>It's slow going, but you're sure you're scaring any courage from anything thinking of intervening.
>Which is good. You didn't want to kill more than you had to.
>Slowly but surely, trudging through the streets of Fillydelphia brings you to a dirt road leading out of town and into the forest.
>You decide to collapse your golem around you before you all head into the woods.
>You didn't want to disturb what may be lurking withing the everfree forest.

>As the dirt collapses around you, you begin to jog into the woods with your friends.
>You're trying to dust off as much dirt as you can, careful not to leave a trail to be followed.
>The air was thick with humidity from the rain, making it hard to breathe.
>Because of this, you decide to slow down as you make a good way into the forest.
>Eventually, you slow down to w walk, with your friends by your side.
So that was something else.
>"That's for sure!" Applejack says.
>Nightingale engulfs himself in a brief cloud of dark mist before turning back to his original form.
>"I'd say so. But it was fun! Watching you scare those soldiers of made it hard to laugh!" He said, letting out a loud laugh.
Not so lous, Nightingale, we might have been sorry.
>"Right... sorry." He says in a low whisper.
>"So what's the plan?" Applejack says.
Well, we don't have much choice other than to settle down for the night, as much as I don't like this forest.
>You carefully look around you and up into the canopy of the forest.
>The rain had come almost to a complete stop, but the droplets from the trees continued to fall.
I say we find a tree somewhere, and sleep underneath it. We'll take turns staying awake and keeping watch.
>"Sounds good to me." Nightingale replies.
>"Same here." Applejack says.
So, which tree you guys want?
>They all look around for a tree that catches their eye.
>"How's that one over there?" Applejack finally says, breaking the silence.
>She pointed to a tree with low-hanging branches to sleep under.
I'd say it's as good as any.
>"Same." Nightingale adds.
>You all walk the short distance over to the tree and all sit underneath it.
Whose gunna take first, second and third watch?
>"I'll take first." Applejack said.
>"I'll take third, I'd like to sleep a while."
Guess that leaves me with watch 2 then. Guess me and Night here are going to hit the hay. Wake us up if anything weird happens Applejack, alright?
>"Don't gotta tell me twice..."

>"Hey..."
>You hear a voice echo through your head.
>"Hey Anon."
>You look around.
>The humidity and heat had made a dense fog.
>You look around to see Applejack and Nightingale sleeping.
>They couldn't even stay awake
>Whatever, you'll sit up and watch over them.
>"aaaaaannnoooooonnnn..." You hear being said through the fog.
>You look to where you think the noise is coming from.
>In the distance you can faintly see a pony figure in the fog
>"Anoooonn..." It says, waving its hoof at you.
>It quickly turned around and began to trot into the fog.
>What the hell was that.
>You get up and decide to follow where it was going.
>You walk through the somewhat thick brush and fog, going in the direction you think the figure walked off to.
>When you arrive where you think she was standing you don't see any hoof marks.
>You're more than positive you're going crazy.
>"Aaannnoooonnn.." The voice echoes again to your right.
>You look over and see the figure in the distance again.
>It trots off to the left and deeper into the already dense fog.
>This was incredibly strange.
>You needed to find out what the hay was going on.
>You walk up a slight incline up to where you saw the pony standing before.
>As you look off to where the figure trotted off to, you see the figure again.
>"Aaannoooonnn..." It says again.
>It motions you to follow, before trotting off again.
>As you walk closer and closer to where she was standing, you see there is a small cobblestone path.
>You look up further up the path and see the figure again.
>The figure lets out an adorable mare giggle before trotting up an incline of sorts.
>You follow her some more to see it wasn't actually an incline.
>It was a set of battered down cobble stairs, leading up to a chapel-castle looking building.
>Against your better judgement you decide to walk up the stairs and into the castle-esque building.
>As you walk through the doorway, you see a rather large room, with some markings on the floor.
>Then it hits you.

>This was the castle where Nightmare Moon had been turned back into her formal self.
>As you remember this place with great eeriness, you look ahead and see the figure standing away from you, staring at the throne that stood at the center back of the room.
>It stood completely motionless.
>You slowly begin to walk toward the figure.
>"Don't be afraid. It's just me." She says.
>The voice now sounds familiar.
>You look past the fog to see who it was.
>You saw the outline of some wings, as well as a horn.
>But she was short. Couldn't be Nightmare Moon.
>It had to be only one other Pony.
>Twilight.
Twilight?...
>It stood there motionless.
Is that you?
>"Yes." It replies bluntly.
How could you be here?...
>You were incredibly confused and a little scared.
>You inched closer and closer.
>And as you come withing feet of the figure, you see that it is, in fact, Twilight.
>"I'm not here." She replied.
Well then, how do you...
>You interrupt yourself to see her head turn around.
>And what you saw you knew would scar your dreams and thoughts the rest of your life.
>It was Twilight's face, but where her eyes were supposed to be, were two deep, black voids.
>Nothing. Not light. No eye. Just black.
>You were now genuinely scared.
>"Don't be afraid, Anon. I already told you it was me." She says in a soft tone.
>You tried to utter 'what the fuck happened to your eyes', but you only managed to sputter a little bit out of the sentence.
What the fuuu-
>You could force the other words out.
>"What's the matter?" She asks. Her face as monotoned as the pitch in her blank eyes.
What are you doing here?...
>"Watching you die." She says, straight faced as ever.
What the hell are you talking about??
>You were really scared now.
>"Don't be afraid, Anon. We all die sometime." She says.

Yes... but I need to find who killed you, Twilight, you know this!
>She stares at you.
>Those eyes.
>Black as night.
>They stared into your soul until it was nothing but stone.
>"But I'm already dead. Why does it matter?" She says, as a slow ring of fire begins to rise out of the floor.
What are you doing?!?
>"What are you talking about?" She says, as the circle of flames begins to rise higher and higher.
Th-The f-fire!
>You can barely manage to utter a word as her gaze never separates yours.
>The fire was now about the same height as Twilight and getting higher faster.
>"I have to go now" She says.
Wh-Wh..
>You couldn't bring yourself to say anything.
>You were scared beyond any imaginable words.
>The fire slowly starts to engulf Twilight.
>You weren't sure what the hell was going on.
>Soon the fire begins to melt her form and she begins to bleed into a puddle.
>Her form collapses, her mouth opens wider than you could ever imagine a pony mouth possibly could.
>Her mouth was as dark as her eyes.
>And then, the most gut-wrenching scream is bellowed from her mouth.
>Her scream is so loud and ear piercing, your ears begin to ring.
>You begin to breathe incredibly rapidly.
>And in the middle of breathing, you couldn't help but let out a laud scream of horror.
>You scream as loud as possible, trying to scream louder than the 'Twilight' in front of you.
>As you scream, you feel yourself fall into your body again.
>Your eyes slam open.
>Applejack is on top of you, shaking you incredibly hard.
>"Anon, what the hay is going on!? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She said, staring at you.
>Your heavy breathing and sweating made it incredibly hard to try and make out words.
>While you'er breathing rapidly, you hear the voice echo in your head one last time.
>"Aaaannooonn....."
>"Well, what the hay happened?! Did you have a nightmare?" She asked, incredibly concerned.
I-I-I don't Kn-Know...
>You were shaking harder than you ever thought possible.

>Applejack brings you in closer and gives you a hard hug.
>"It's okay, Anon. Whatever you dreamed about didn't happen. You're safe now."
>You held her tight back, your shaking was subsiding.
H-Her face...
>"Shhh... what face?"
Her eyes..
>"Whose eyes, Anon? Make some sense!"
T-T-Twilight. N--no eyes. Just black.
>You are only able to speak in semi-coherent half sentences.
>"What do you mean?!"
She's dead, but, she was staring at me, with no eyes...
>"Calm down Anon, you're starting to scare ME now!"
>Your breathing started to level off, and your shaking was subsiding now.
>Applejack holding you was definitely helping.
>When you started to focus on your breathing and focus of calming yourself down, you saw your shaking minimize and your breathing return to normal.
>"You okay Anon?"
Yeah... I'm fine.
>"Sure as hay don't seem like it."
Yeah, that was some nightmare.
>"What happened?"
I followed a pony through the fog, and eventually it let up to a castle like building. Twilight was standing in there, and when she turned around she had no eyes. But she stared right into my soul. I didn't know what to do.
>"That's somethin' freaky..." Applejack said.
Then fire encircled us and began to melt Twilight as she screeched like a banshee. I let out a loud scream and that's when I woke up.
>"That's some freaky dream, Anon. Maybe you better stay up a little while longer so you can calm yourself."
That's probably the best idea.
>You sit up and prop yourself up on the tree trunk.
>You laid there, calming your nerves.
>As you relive those words in your head over and over.
>'Aaaaannnoooooonnnn.....'

Maybe you should get some rest, Applejack. I think I'm going to be up for a little while.
>"You sure Anon? You could use some after that."
After that, I don't think I want to sleep at all...
>"If you insist anon..." Applejack said, swapping places with you and laying down, shutting her eyes.
>You sat there, propped up against the tree.
>You kept an eye out for anything that stood out.
>It made it hard to look through the fog.
>But as you look around you do notice some similarities between your dream and how it actually is.
>As a matter of fact, the spot that pony was first standing on, or rather Twilight, looked exactly like it did in your dream.
>Just looking in that direction gave you shivers.
>You turn your head and look off in other directions.
>It's surprisingly quiet.
>Almost peaceful.
>The quietness and the calm movement of the fog put you at ease.
>The last of your nerves leaves you as you continue to look around.
>You're surprisingly awake despite having walked all day.
>As the night crept forward, you kept yourself ever vigilant.

>Constantly scanning your surroundings.
>The fog has lifted slightly, but still makes for hard seeing.
>Perhaps this was for the better, made it hard for ponies and predators alike to spot you.
>But while you searched the area, something kept clawing at your head.
>The castle.
>You felt the need to go there yourself after your nightmare.
>Despite your fear of what may be there, you felt a need to go there.
>You kept yourself preoccupied by searching and day dreaming.
>But the thought of the castle kept creeping in.
>Eventually, your will gave to your curiosity, and you decided to set out for the castle again.
>You stood up and stretched your arms a bit before walking to the brush where the pony had stood before.
>Or Twilight, rather.
>Or whatever the hell that thing was.
>Either way you made the short hike to the spot, and tried to remember where it took you after that.
>You look and remember the slight incline that she was standing at.
>As you begin to walk, you notice something in the dirt as you were watching your footing.
>Hoofprints.
>This was a little unnerving, considering in your dream there were no hoofprints.
>And they lead to the exact are of where the pony had walked / stood.
>Once you reached the top of the incline you look to your left and in the distance you can barely make out the road she stood on.
>And the hoofprints lead to the road.
>This made you increasingly paranoid.
>You were not sure whether or not to continue.
>You decide you have come far enough that you should keep going.
>You keep walking until you hit the stone path and follow it up a ways.
>You keep walking and eventually, you find yourself at the foot of the castle stairs.
>You looked among the stairs for a few seconds, blank-mindedly.
>Then you began your ascent of the stairs to the entrance of the castle.

>As you climb the stairs, you find yourself walking through the entrance of the castle.
>When you walk through the entrance, you take a careful look of the surroundings.
>The fog and the sounds of your footsteps against the cold stone were enough to get your heart racing.
>You take a careful look through the throne room, the same one Twilight stood in.
>You look around and there's nothing.
>Nopony, no scorch marks, nothing out of the ordinary other than the castle being, well, the castle.
>You walk around, you see a shimmer on the floor catch your eye.
>It's a few feet away from the throne.
>You were curious.
>You began to walk to where you saw it, and as you get closer, you see a small orb laying on the ground.
>You get closer and see it's glassy, but a very foggy white.
>You kneel down to get a closer look.
>You can faintly see your reflection in it.
>You put your hand to it.
>It's cold to the touch.
>Maybe colder than it should be.
>You pick it up and hold it in your hands.
>It's slightly smaller than a baseball.
>But it's decently heavy.
>You're not entirely sure what it is used for or why it's even here.
>But s you hold it in your hands, it reacts to the tint on your arms.
>Your arms begin to glow a low purple.
>You don't feel any different, and the orb was still as cold.
>Very curious.
>You decide to keep the small orb, in case it may hold some magical power.
>You put it in a small pocket on your chest plate.
>It barely fits, but you manage it.
>Plus, you're sure the thing won't shatter.
>You turn around and begin to walk out of the castle.
>You take one last good look at the throne room.
>A phrase said by the half-dead Twilight rings in your head...
>"What are you doing here?..."
>"Watching you die...."

>You walk out of the entrance to the castle.
>You wanted to make it back before either of them woke up or found you missing.
>You walked a bit down the cobblestone path.
>You eventually find yourself where you should hop off the road.
>You make your way to the top of the incline and stare out at where you should go.
>The fog was like a lake below you.
>You stood in some of it where you stood, but looking down it looks like an expansive lake of fog.
>You admire the view for a few seconds, before carefully walking back down the hill.
>You reach the clearing where the pony first stood, and you look toward where the tree your friends were sleeping.
>You begin to walk toward the tree, and you find your friends still asleep at the trunk of the tree.
>You walk toward the tree and plop yourself on the trunk where you once sat.
>Like nothing ever happened.
>As you sit, you pull the orb out and hold it in your hand once more.
>You arm reacts again as you hold it.
>It was a curious little thing.
>After staring at it for a couple of seconds, you put it back into your pocket.
>You lay your head back against the tree and look up to the sky.
>Or what little showed through the canopy of the treeline.
>You wondered how the hell you were going to convince Celestia what happened.
>You sure wish she would listen when you finally spoke to her.
>You're not entirely sure what would happen to her country if she didn't.
>The changelings.
>The Omens.
>If she didn't listen, it would be bad.
>Very bad.

>Even just sitting around made you sweat.
>The fog may have cleared slightly, but the humidity was killing you.
>It's probably didn't help you were incredibly dirty from escaping out of Fillydelphia.
>The two friends you had were sleeping like rocks.
>So much that you really didn't want to wake them up to trade guard.
>You still weren't tired, and even if you were, you probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep.anyways.
>You were still shaken by your dream.
>Not physically, but mentally.
>But besides this, you were thankful you hadn't run into incredibly terrifying wildlife.
>And the it was really quiet in the forest as well.
>Even as your mind wandered you kept a vigilant eye.
>You've kept watch for so long, you've memorized your surroundings and would be able to pull out anything out of the ordinary.
>To keep yourself preoccupied, you decided to draw your sword out and clean it off a bit.
>You hadn't cleaned it since you first got, it could sure use it.
>Random streaks of dirt and dried blood were scattered on it.
>You grabbed some nearby wet leaves, and ripped off a portion of your shirt once more.
>You made sure to get the section of you shirt damp from the leaves enough so the grime would come off.
>As your section of shirt becomes damp you start to wipe off the dirt and grim off your sword.
>Watching the fog.
>Waiting.

>You sat for ages, wiping down your sword.
>Sitting and watching.
>And suddenly, when you looked off in the distance, you saw something.
>Light, breaking through some of the canopy.
>The sun was finally coming up.
>About time too, you were getting tired of looking at the same spots 500 times.
>Your sword was, more or less, shiny and clean.
>You put it back into it's sheathe with a satisfying sliding noise.
>You turn around to try and wake the other two up, but it looks like the sound of your sword had already waken up Applejack.
>"Watcha grabbin' your sword for anon?" She said, tossing around a little.
I was cleaning it, now get up, time to get on the move.
>"Nyuuhh... fine..." She said, rubbing her eyes and standing up.
Wake up Nightingale, time to move!
>You made sure to speak loud enough for him to hear you.
>"Arrgghh.... why must you always wake me in the middle of a good dream?..." He asked.
We gotta move, that's why.
>"You didn't wake me up at all to watch over you guys?" He asked.
Naw, I didn't want to sleep, you're fine.
>"Okay by me." He said, shrugging his shoulders before getting up on his two hooves.
>"God, it's so humid... And i'm all icky from the dirt..." Applejack went on.
>"Same, but you gotta get used to it." nightingale said.
It really is something you gotta get used to. Now lets move.
>You motioned them to follow you.
>"No offense Anon, but do you know where you're going?"
I know exactly where I'm going.
>"If you insist..." Applejack says unsure.
>You began walking back to where the pony you saw had stood.
>Despite the sun coming up, it was still pretty dark, especially with the blanket of fog over everything.
>You made your way into the small clearing, where you had seen the hoofprints from before.
This way guys.
>You pointed up to the top of the incline.
>You and your friends walk up a bit before reaching the incline.
>Applejack nearly tripped over a couple of roots along the way.

>The three of you reach the top of the incline, you motion over to other two to follow you.
There's a road just over this way.
>You walk a short distance before your group comes across the cobble road.
>Using logic, if this road lead you to the castle by going right, you could reach ponyville by going left, like in the show,
>"You know, this road seems mighty familiar..." Applejack says, rubbing her hoof on her chin,
It's the road that leads to a small castle up on a small hill.
>"Wait a minute, it couldn't possible be the one I'm thinking it is..." She said.
Which one?
>She looks into the fog and squints her eyes.
>"Well I'll be darned, it is! It's the same castle me and the other girls were in when we vanquish Nightmare Moon!" She said.
>"Ah know exactly where to go from here!" She said, taking the lead.
If you insist.
>You let her lead ahead, taking the road to the left.
>You and nightingale followed behind her side by side as she happily traveled the road she knew.
>After a bit, you guys came across a small bridge leading over a deep crevice.
>"Now guys, we need to cross one at a time, it isn't the strongest bridge there is." She said, being the first to step on to it.
>She kept walking over it until she vanished through the fog.
>"Alright! Somepony else can cross now!" She yelled.
>"I'll go next, if you don't mind."
>Before you could even say 'go ahead' he already walked past you and began to cross the bridge.
>He, too, also faded from sight into the fog that separated the two sides.
>After a few seconds of not seeing him, you hear hill yell across.
>"It's all set, Anon!" He yells over.
>You carefully put one foot on a plank at a time.
>This bridge was obviously made for ponies, bot someone like you.
>Each step makes the wood creak and setting you on nerve.
>Despite this, the bridge held along the walk.
>Eventually, you see your friends past the fog.
>Step by step.

>Your feet creak on each board.
>You really wish it didn't do that.
>But you take it nice and slowly, careful not to mis-step.
>Before you know it, you focused so much on not falling, your next step in back on to the cobble road.
>"Afraid of heights, Anon?" Applejack asks.
Not really... Just afraid of falling from them.
>"As the rest of us. Now come on, let's get going!" She says, motioning you and Nightingale to keep following her.
>You kept following her on the cobblestone path.
>In the meantime, you tried to remember everything the mane 6 faced on the way to the castle.
>You couldn't quite remember, but you knew it would kill you if you didn't remember.
>You keep trying to think as you walk along the cobble road.
>Eventually, the stone becomes more and more scattered.
>And turns into a dirt road.
>The past you walk seems almost to cut right through the forest.
>Thick brush in every direction except where you're walking down the path.
>As you continue walking something catches your ear.
>You try to listen in on it.
>It sounds like running water.
>And it's getting louder the more and more you walk down the path.
>It sounded like a rive of some sort.
>Then it clicks in your head.
>Now you remembered this place...
>As you remember, you see the river begin to come into sight in the distance.
>The sound of running water came ever closer.
>It reminded you of when you saved lotus.
>You weren't sure if this was the same river or not.
>Could make for a good conversation bit when you see her again.

>Your group eventually reaches the river.
>It's running fairly fast and look deep.
>Deep enough that none of you may be able to cross it by walking.
So, what do we do know?
>You knew what was going to happen, but you wanted to obscure your knowledge from them anyways.
>"Dontcha worry anon, I got it covered." She said.
>She puts one of her hooves up to her mouth and lets out a loud whistle.
>How she did that with her hoof, you'll never know.
>"Just give it a second." She says.
>You stand still for a second, eagerly looking at the water.
>Bubbles start to form and make their way to the surface of the water.
>The water slowly started to rise and you could see a figure starting to form in the water.
>Within seconds, it splashes up through the water, and gets you and your two friends wet.
>As you wipe the water from your eyes, you look up and, as you expected, up there in all his purple and mustache glory, was Stephen Magnet.
>He stretches his arms and lets out a yawn that could be heard from miles away.
>You actually had to cover your ears.
>"aaahhhh, Hello? Who's there?" He said, looking to the other side of the river.
>"Heya, over here!" Applejack waves.
>He turns around, and you see a giant smile appear on his face.
>"OOOHHH my, Applejack, it truuUUuuuly has been a long time hasn't it?!" He said, getting at face level with you all.
>Or as close to face level as he could get.
>"Ah know! I need to visit you more often!" She exclaims.
>"OOOooohh, yes you should! And look, you even brought some devilishly handsome friends with you as well!" He says,
>"Ah sure did, Anon, Nightingale, this is Stephen."
>"Nice to meet you!" He says and waves over to him.
Nice to meet you!
>"Oh, nice to meet all you as well, I can tell we'll be the BEST of friend!" He says, throwing his arms in the air.

>"So tell me about yourselves!" Stephen asks.
>"I'm just a changeling, following Sir Anon here wherever he goes."
>"SIR Anon? I had no idea he was a knight!" He said, bowing down before you.
Please, there's no need to bow, I'm merely on a mission.
>"OOOHHH, A mission, is it top secret?!" He said, putting his hands to his chin like a child waiting to hear the best part of the story,
Yeah, sure, let's go with that!
>"WELL then, I don't want to have to keep you waiting on your most perilous journey! Here, I'll let you cross the river." He said.
>He then laid down and his body snaked up and down across the river, allowing you to hop from section to section.
>Applejack was the first to hop on.
>"C'mon guys, he don't bite!" She shouts.
>"It's terribly true, I recently got one of my teeth pulled!" He quips, making you all laugh.
>Nightingale follows suit and begins to hop from one section to another.
>And lastly, you, you hop up on to the first hump he's made.
>Then the second, and so on.
>He made the gaps small for the other two to cross, so it was easy crossing for you.
>And as you hop off his last hump and jump to the other side of the river, he lifts himself out of the water again.
>"Well, there go you children, thanks for riding Sea Stephen, be sure to stop by again!" He says, laughing to himself.
>"Good luck on your Quest, Sir Anon, I sure do hope our paths cross again!" He says, before diving back down into the depths of the river.
>"What a nice fellow." Nightingale says.
>"He really is, We really should visit the fella more often, he must get pretty lonely." Applejack adds.
I'd like to see him again as well some day. Anywho, where to next, Applejack.
>"We keep following the path a short ways, but I'm not sure how we get past this one part..." She says.
We'll figure it out when we get to it.
>"Alrighty, let's get headin' off then." Applejack says, leading the way once more.
>You couldn't quite remember what came before that...

>After a few minutes of enjoying the scenery over the cliff, Applejack breaks the silence.
>"I think we should get headed out now anon." She said.
You're right, where we headed to now?
>Applejack put her hoof to her chin, thinking of what to do.
>"Well, if we go this way..." She said, pointing straight behind you guys.
>"Then we end up in ponyville. We don't exactly want that..."
>She went back to thinking.
>"But if ah remember correctly, secoras house should be this way." She said pointing slightly to the right of where she pointed before.
>"There's no path there, but it's our best, and safest shot."
As long as we get there in one piece, I don't much care which way we take.
>"I think it to be better if we take the shorter way, through the forest." Nightingale says.
>"Agreed, I don't want people to see Anon and start a riot again..."
Yeah, I wasn't exactly fond of that...
>"So it's settled, we'll cut through the forest." Applejack said.
>She began to lead the way, pushing aside some plants.
>You and nightingale followed.
>There was no path, so not only was the brush incredibly annoying to navigate, but there was little sense of direction.
>Eventually, the brush got thick to the point where applejack was struggling to push it aside.
Hey applejack, you want me to lead? I can chop away the brush if needed.
>"Yeah, sure, go ahead anon..." She said, trying to shove away a branch in her face.
>You pull your sword out and sing it down and lop off the branch she was having trouble moving.
>You walk past her and begin to cut through any all branches or bushes that get in your way.
>You look back and you see it's making it much easier for you friends.
>So you keep trudging and cutting through to make it easier for them to walk though, as it was not really a problem for you.
>Boy you're glad you cleaned your sword.
>Probably would have been harder work making your way through all this.

>You relentlessly hack your way through the brush.
>The more you hack through, the more you wish you had taken the easier route.
>But you knew there was no guarantee the townspeople wouldn't just chase you out again.
>You try to keep that in the back of your mind as you hack your way through the forest.
>There was no fog up in this section, but it was still humid and sticky, making it exhausting to cut through the brush.
>But you kept at it, hoping you'd see a shack in the distance at any moment.
>Every time you looked up, you were disappointed.
>So you decided to keep your head to the plants and keep cutting away.
>You'll probably have to re-clean your sword after this.
>Probably even sharpen it.
>The more and more you cut, the more you noticed it got slightly harder to with every plant you cut.
>But you keep cutting.
>And as you keep cutting, applejack breaks the silence.
>"Hey y'all, look over there!" She says, pointing to your guys's left.
>It was a small shack
>"Let's get going!" She said before running off to the shack.
>You followed as well as nightingale.
>You didn't care that branches were hitting you in the face and you kept getting thorny plants stuck in your pants.
>You were glad you finally reached where you needed.

>You cross the last bit of forest into the clearing where the small hut was.
>You had arrived on the back side of it, so Applejack was walking around to the other side to make sure it was the right place.
>You and nightingale followed her around to the front of the small hut and, after a short inspection, Applejack finally breaks the silence.
>"This definitely looks like Zecora's place for sure."
Good, want us to come in?
>"Ummm... I'm not sure how she would react to a changeling and a 'murderer', maybe it's best if I just go in, and you two wait in the jungle a fair ways away."
As much as I would like to go in, I think she's right.
>You were a little upset, all the walking and you wouldn't get to hear any of Zecora's whitty rhymes.
>Maybe some other time, when you're not exactly being hunted.
>But you do what is logical and hide in some brush to the side of the house with nightingale.
>You both sit down in the dirt, tired from your walking and hacking.
>You sit down and cross your legs and look over a nightingale.
Must be something to change into what you want on demand.
>"It's really nothing special. Just something you kind of know how to do." He says.
Being able to shape shift is no minor thing, Nightingale.
>"Oh, I know you ponies make a big deal of it, but it's nothing out of the ordinary to us. Us changelings can tell regular ponies apart from us so there's no real use being normal ponies most of the time."
That's interesting. Can you just sense if they're a changeling, or is it something else?
>"No, they look the same, but if they're cloaked they have a sort of blue-like aura around them. It's pretty easy to see."
That could be pretty handy. We could use something like that, keep an eye on who is what around the towns and cities.
>"Maybe. I'm content just being around you, though. You're always doing something interesting!" He says with a smile on his face.
Not so much interesting as it is something I have to do.
>"You even say it interestingly!"

>You knew it wasn't too much longer before you reached ponyville.
>You don't remember Zecora's house being too far from ponyville in the show.
>As you're walking through the path, Applejack put on of her hooves up.
>"Careful walking through here, the last thing we need is to brush up against this poison joke." She said.
I'll be careful.
>You completely forgot about that.
>The three of you walk through the path, careful not to touch any of it.
>It's just a small field of it, so there really wasn't much to avoid.
>It didn't take long before you made it to the other side of the patch, and in view through of the trees in the distance, was ponyville.
>"There it is Anon, you'd better drink it up." She says, pointing to your bottle.
You're right, don't want to risk anything to chance.
>You take the small bottle and pull the cork out of it.
>The mixture inside is positively green and looks vile.
>You give it an odd look before swirling it around.
>It had the consistency of cough syrup.
>This was going to be pretty nasty.
>You decide to get it over with, and take a few huge gulps of the concoction.
>As you swallow it, it surprisingly didn't taste bad.
>It didn't taste like anything really.
>After you drink it you drop the potion on the ground and stand still.
>You look at your extremities and don't see anything different.
>Nothing felt different.
>"Guess the potion didn't work, huh?" Nightingale says,
>"Whaddaya talking about, I can't see him at all!" She says.
Wait, you can't see me?
>"Nah, ah can't, it's weird talking to something that ain't there."
>"Stop pulling his leg, I can see him just fine!" Nightingale says.
>"How the hay can you see him? I don't see hide nor hair of him!"
>You could see yourself too.
>You thought for a moment as to why this was happening, why Nightingale could see you, but Applejack couldn't.
You think maybe your ability to see other changelings affects your ability to see me, nightingale?
>"Maybe... I think that might be the case!"

>"It must be, I can't see him at all!" Applejack says.
But it's odd, I can still see myself though.
>"Must just be something with the potion. The only way to test is to head right into town!" Nightingale says, galloping into the town.
>"Guess we don't have much of a choice." Applejack says.
I'll stay close behind, and not make a sound.
>Applejack shakes her head.
>"Man it's spooky talking to something I can't see..." She says, turning around a galloping to where Nightingale was headed.
>You decided to follow quietly behind them.
>You made your way through the last of the forest and came out into a rather rural area of ponyville.
>You saw Applejack and the disguised nightingale walking to the left.
>You caught up to them and walked close behind them.
>Ponies here and there would walk by, but pay no attention to you.
>The potion worked.
>Seeing as Nightingale was the only one who could see you, you decided to let him know it worked.
>You walked up and tapped her on the shoulder.
>She turned around, and you gave her two thumbs up, saying it's working.
>She nodded and smiled, and turned her head to face forward again.
>"So where ya from, nightingale?" Applejack asks, striking up conversation.
>"I'm from a small village on the western side of the country." She said, most likely referring to the changeling kingdom.
>"Interesting, is it a large one?" Applejack asks.
>"Not exactly, it was a decent size, maybe a little smaller than this town here."
>As your friends begin to walk into the market part of town, you see one of the shop keepers wave at Applejack.
>"Heya Applejack, how's it going!? And whose that good looking friend of yours?" He asks.
>"Heya, how's it going!" She yells back, "I'd stay and introduce ya, but we got a train to catch!"
>"I'll hold you to that, alright!" He said, chuckling to himself.
>It gave Nightingale and even Applejack a good laugh
>Even you wanted to laugh, but you couldn't.
>You had to make sure to make as little noise as possible.

>Making little noise was actually a larger pain in the ass than you thought.
>You can't talk, yawn, laugh, sneeze, or anything you do on a normal, daily basis.
>But despite this you managed to stay quiet.
>The walk took you past the market place and toward the center of town.
>The center of where it all began.
>The first thing you notice is obviously the library tree.
>It had been completely rebuilt.
>No scorch marks or anything.
>It looked amazing.
>You wanted to go in and see it, but you had to keep your curiosity at bay and keep following your friends.
>You keep walking.
>None of the firewood, or any thrown about objects that were strewn about the town were anywhere to be seen.
>They did a good job of cleaning up.
>You kept looking about the houses, everything looked just as pristine as the day you came here.
>You wish everything was like it was in those days.
>As you think about it, your luck really has been shit.
>You manage to get into the place that brought you so much joy.
>Only to be thrown into a fight for your life.
>It's a good thing your determination is as strong as it is.
>As your mind wanders, you almost didn't notice that Applejack and Nightingale had turned onto a different street.
>In the short distance you could make out a train station.
>It's a good thing, thinking about the good times in Ponyville were starting to make your stomach feel uneasy.
>But hopefully, in just a little longer, your name will be clear, and you can truly hunt those one you killed your friend.

>Your friends approached the station with you following closely behind.
>It was mid afternoon so there were quite a few ponies waiting for their trains.
>You tried as hard as you could to avoid touching anypony, which made it like maneuvering around a maze.
>You kept your friends in close sight as they bought their train tickets to Canterlot.
>You managed to maneuver your way through a crowd of ponies and get to a schedule board.
>The next train leaving was at 5:30
>The current time was 5:04
>That train was going to be arriving soon, so thankfully there wouldn't be too much of this maze-travelling.
>You look back to the kiosk to see your friends are about third in line.
>As you wait for them, you try and find a place in the area to stand still and not attract any attention.
>You manage to find a spot on the wall next to a water fountain in plain sight of the kiosk that will do just fine.
>You walk over to the fountain and lean against the wall next to it.
>Ponies come and go to get a drink from it, but otherwise don't come near you.
>Next up were your friends, who rather quickly paid the bits for the train ride and walked off with tickets.
>No surprise seeing as they probably ride the train very often.
>You keep your eye on them, and as they're walking, you see nightingale go into Applejack's ears and point over to you.
>Most likely telling her where you were standing.
>You give a slight wave and keep your eye on them.
>Nightingale nods back.
>They find a bench to wait in plain sight of you near the train platform.
>You keep your eyes fixated on them waiting for the train.
>This was going to be a slightly boring half hour or so.

>You stood by the water fountain, watching over the random ponies of the train station.
>You saw Applejack and Nightingale talking to each other.
>You couldn't make out what they were saying over the crowd of ponies so you didn't bother trying to listen in.
>Now and then you'd see a pony come and get some water.
>This didn't bother you at all, as none of them got close to you otherwise.
>The time passed and you stared at various ponies in the train station.
>Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
>No ponies looking at you.
>So you could rule out any changelings around.
>As you look around a group of young ponies catch your eyes.
>The four of them are chatting, and it looks like they had just bought their tickets.
>They were walking over to you, but you dismissed it as them just wanting something to drink.
>They keep approaching and one of them gets to the water fountain and get a drink from it.
>The other three are still talking and they almost blockade you in.
>They stand around you, talking, but you're too busy trying to avoid contact to care about what they're saying.
>You stand completely still.
>And regulate your breathing.
>They just stand around you talking.
>It seems to be working.
>But as you stand still, you hear something catch your ear.
>It sounds like the distant horn of a train coming.
>If that was your train, you sure hoped this guys moved before it got here.
>You didn't want to move them out of the way for fear of being spotted.
>But if you missed that train, you're not sure what you would do.
>As these thoughts ran through your head, you hear the train horn coming closer, and eventually, the sounds of the wheels on the tracks.

>The ponies were still not moving as the train came into sight on the tracks.
>The ponies in front of you were so busy talking they probably didn't even notice the train.
>The train began to screech as it came to a stop.
>Shortly afterwards the doors opened up and ponies began to walk out in a single-file fashion.
>As the first few come off you see the two doors on the other side of the fountain swing open.
>A pony in what resembled a conductors uniform came out with a big wheeled pallet with a bunch of suitcases and other assorted luggage.
>As he brought it to the loading area and ponies began to grab their luggage, the conductor made the boarding call.
>As he did, ponies scattered through the train station began to make their way to the train.
>They began to line up as the conductor checked and punched their tickets.
>All the meanwhile, the ponies in front of you refused to move from their spot.
>If they didn't hurry, you'll have to push them out of the way.
>You keep your eyes fixed on the line as it becomes ever shorter.
>That conductor was fast.
>As there were only a few ponies left in line and the ponies in front of you refused to move, you decided you would have to shove them aside.
>You walk forward and push one to the side, enough for you to squeeze between her and the water fountain.
>"What the hay was that?" She said, looking around her.
>You didn't care to hear what else she had to say as you were just fixated on getting on the train in time.
>The conductor makes the last boarding call as you maneuver your way through the crowd.
>You get close to the train as the conductor turns around and begins to head back into the train.
>You decide to start shoving ponies aside to make sure you made it.

>You shove the ponies aside, every one of them making a remark or gasping of some sort as you shove them aside.
>You get close to the train and try your best to run into it.
>But as you reach the door, it slams shut.
>Shit.
>The door was closed and you couldn't figure out a way to get it opened.
>As you look for a way to get on to the train, it begins to move.
>You didn't know what to do.
>The train slowly began to pick up to speed.
>You couldn't cling to the side, because the train station was designed so the train would be almost next to the wall.
>It begins to pick up more speed, and in those split moments it picks up speed, you had to think of a way to get on it.
>There was only one way you could think.
>You had to jump on to the caboose.
>You look to your left to see the train's end coming and fast.
>You ready yourself to jump as it begins to come closer to the platform.
>As it does, you begin to run to the train.
>You try to jump on to the caboose.
>You misjudge it's speed and you just barely miss the caboose.
>You fall down on to the rocks and train track below as the train continues on the tracks at increasing speeds.
>You weren't missing this train.
>You began to run to the train.
>It was faster than you, but you had one thing you could try.
>You steady yourself and aim your body at the caboose of the train.
>You hold your arms to your side, and quickly slap them forward.
>You cause in immense rush of air behind you that knocks you high up in the air and toward the rear of the train.
>You begin to fall and as you do, you see you will land on the caboose.
>However, as you land, your stomach land right on the guard rail of the caboose.
>As you hit, you feel the wind being knocked out of you, and you slide down the rail and hang off the back of the train.
>As you slip, you manage to grab the railing with your hands.
>But when you do, your legs and feet begin to scrape and kick off of the rocky train tracks.

>You were trying to regain your breath, and the scraping of your shins and feet weren't helping.
>You manage to catch your breath and begin to pull yourself up.
>It was hard pulling yourself up with your flailing legs.
>But you eventually manage to pull the railing up to your wait and you hang for a moment.
>Then you shift your momentum so you roll forward and fall on to the floor of the caboose.
>You land head first and roll forward a bit.
>You laid there for a second and got up and turned around.
>You propped yourself up on the railing of the caboose.
>You tried to help your breathing a little more.
>Your stomach hurt and your legs felt scraped and hurt.
>But you'll worry about that later.
>For now you were happy you made it on to the train.
>You looked off to your left and saw ponyville in the distance, fading away.
>You stared for a couple of seconds, taking in deep breaths.
>As it continued to fade from sight you decided to give your legs a look.
>Thankfully your leg pads absorbed most of the rocks and beating.
>Your knees and feet weren't as covered.
>There were a few bloody scratched on either kneed.
>It wasn't anything you weren't used to by now.
>You feet just felt battered, more than anything.
>No bleeding or cuts.
>This was probably some of the best news you had gotten in a long time.
>You weren't bleeding much for once.

>You looked to the sky after checking your wounds.
>The sky was a deep blue with clouds here and there.
>You noticed it's something you do a lot.
>The sky always seemed so peaceful, no matter what was going on below it.
>You sat there for a minute, enjoying the sight of the sky.
>It relaxed you and helped you ignore the pain in your stomach.
>You daydreaming was interrupted when the caboose door opened.
>The pony that walked through was none other than Nightingale.
>She closed the door behind her before she turned to you.
>"I've been looking for you! I almost thought you missed the train!" She whispers.
I did, but i managed to hop on the caboose of the train.
>"Good, I'm just happy you made it. Listen, the ride is going to take about a couple hours, we should reach Canterlot when the sun is setting" He says.
Good, I might get some sleep, seeing as I didn't sleep at all last night.
>"Alright Anon, just be watchful of ponies back here, and careful not to fall off, alright?" She says.
Of course. I'm not partial to falling off of anything moving.
>"Good, me and Applejack are in the third car, about half way down on the left side. We'll wait for you to get off." She said, turning around and entering back into the train.
>As she enters back into the train you throw your head against the bar behind you.
>You let out a sigh and turn your sight ot the sky once more.
>You wondered about Twilight a lot, but you thought of something while looking at the tree library earlier today.
>How spike was feeling.
>Even though he was the major cause of this confusion, you couldn't help but wonder how he was taking all of this.
>To lose the only person you knew since you came into this world
>Must be the most terrible thing in the world.
>By comparison, you think you were lucky.
>Despite your numerous wounds you've received over your travels.
>You begin to think of all your travels.
>All the ponies you met.
>And as your mind wanders, you being to fall asleep.

>You awake to the sound of screeching.
>The noise practically pierced your ear drums, as you were content in the repetitive chugging of the trains wheels.
>You shake your head to wake yourself up more to find the train slowing down.
>You look off into the distance and see nothing but bright skyscrapers and beautiful city.
>This had to be Canterlot
>It was a lot more flashy than pictured in the show.
>And through all the skyscrapers, you can see the castle, dominating over the city.
>It was an odd twist you thought, mixing something old like a castle into a, by pony standard, modernized city.
>But it was a good mix.
>Your rambling thoughts came to a stop as the train itself does.
>You stand up and peer into the caboose cabin to watch the ponies exit.
>You wanted to wait until all of them were off the train before you made your move to link up with your friends.
>One by one they exit onto the platform through the door in the middle of the cart.
>As the last one exits, you see your chance and open up the door and speed walk to through the cabin.
>You approached the door as the conductor was making the final dis-embarking call, and jumped on to the platform.
>You remember Nightingale telling you that they were in the third cabin.
>You look over to your right and try to sift through the crowd to find them.
>Without any luck you begin to walk over toward a small crowd loitering near the third cabin.
>As the crowd becomes clearer to see, you can make out Applejack, as well as Nightingale standing next to her.
>You wave your arms over to the two ponies standing among the crowd to catch their attention.
>Nightingale seemed to interrupt herself in the middle of something she was saying to look over to you.
>You give her a thumbs up, letting her know you're ready to follow once more.
>She nods her head, and leans in to whisper into Applejack's ear.
>After she does, the two ponies begin to move toward the exit of the train station.

>You walking led you down street after street.
>Each one seemed to be larger than the last, with more ponies down each road.
>But you could see the castle through the building coming closer, so you know you were getting close.
>You were just barely managing to maneuver around ponies in the streets at this point.
>It even became hard to see where your two friends were going.
>It's a good think Applejack's hat stands out among the city folk.
>You try and keep up with them as best you can, as they weave in and out of the streets.
>You all come upon a 6-way intersection with ponies going in every direction.
>This was going to be fun...
>They begin to enter the intersection and head to one of the roads to their left.
>The ponies crowding the streets have now become un-maneuverable.
>You try to weave through them but after a few seconds you have made no progress.
>You decide to just shove your way through the crowd.
>You begin to walk and shove ponies aside, some don't even notice, and others begin to blame other ponies for doing it.
>At least it's so busy that they most likely won't think you're there.
>Pony after pony you shove aside to make your way through the crowd.
>Eventually, your shoving actually put you even closer behind the duo than before.
>You heard a couple of ponies bickering behind you where you had walked through.
>You could pull some good pranks with this if you could get more of this potion when the dust was all settled.
>The castle was very close, enough to where you think you could make out a gate in the distance at the end of the road.
>This street was far less crowded then the one before, which made it easy on you, and you could enjoy your surroundings again without worrying too much about bumping into ponies.
>As you continued down the path you could definitely make out the main gate to the castle in the distance.
>There were only two small entry-ways to the castle which is what made it hard to make out it was an actual gate.

>You and your friends begin to get close to the gate.
>There are three guards at the entrance, one in the middle of the two, and one on either side.
>As they get close you see Applejack tip her hat to the guard and they give a salute back.
>You pass through the entrance closely behind.
>Aside from the salute, the guards were still as a statue.
>Your friends follow the lengthy street leading to the castle entry way.
>There are very regal trees down the middle making two paths leading to each of the entry ways.
>To your right you can see the gardens and random animals skittering around the area.
>To the right was a park looking area with fountains and chairs to sit at.
>It was a very well maintained area.
>Near the stairs that lead up to the enormous gate into the castle, the two walk ways connected, making quite the large cobbled area.
>Your friends made their way up the stairs, you followed closely.
>The stairs were painfully short to climb, but for ponies you really couldn't expect anything else.
>The grand open doorway into the castle was at least 40 feet tall with the wooden doors flung inwards.
>As you entered you were met by a rather large, rolled out red carpet with golden trims around the sides.
>And as you looked up, you saw her, Celestia, sitting on her throne a ways up the main corridor.

>Your friends made their way up the carpet and close to the short stairs that led up to Celestia's throne.
>"Well hello Applejack, what brings you here?" She asks in her royal voice.
>"Listen, there's something I need to show you, do you mind if me and my friend here talk with you in private?" She asks.
>She put her hoof up to her chin and thinks for a moment.
>"Well, I don't have any pressing matters at the moment, I don't see why not." She said, standing up off her throne.
>"If you would kindly follow me." She says, turning right and heading to a door behind one of the pillars on the side of the main corridor.
>"We can speak in my private quarters." She says, opening the door for Applejack and Nightingale.
>As the door opens, you see Celestia holding the door open for them, and you make your move.
>You quickly and quietly dash in front of them and get into the room before Applejack and Nightingale make their way in.
>They walk into the room, and Celestia follows behind.
>She closes the door behind her with her magic and opens her mouth.
>"Now before we speak, I must ask your friend to kindly stop using his invisibility spell." She says, looking over at you.
>"W-Whaddaya mean?" Applejack asks nervously.
>"As the element of honesty, I don't see why you would try to hide what I already know."
She obviously sees me Applejack, no sense in lying to her.
>Applejack turns around and looks toward you.
>She still seems a little offset by the whole invisibility thing.
>"Thank you, now if you could kindly remove your spell." She asks.
Well, I can't really, it's a potion, no way I know of to reverse it.
>"I see. No matter, what's your name?" She says walking over.
It's Anon, it truly is an honor your majesty.
>You extend your hand and she puts her hoof in yours.
>"Likewise. I take it your the friend Twilight mentioned of?" She asks.
>You didn't know she had written to Celestia about you.

I am, your highness, but you must listen to me when I say that I had nothing to do with Twilight's murder!
>She puts her hoof up
>"I am very aware, Anon, I knew what would happen to her." She said with great sorrow.
>"Wait... you knew what would happen to her?!" Applejack said, slightly outraged.
>"Please, Applejack, listen to me. I knew someone was going to make an attempt on her life that evening, but I didn't think it would happen only moments after I sent my letter. I was sending guards when I received a letter, hastily scrawled on a piece of paper, saying 'he's here'."
>You keep staring at her, interested, and curious,
>"And that's the last I saw Twilight alive." She said, tears visibly starting to come down her cheeks.
>You almost didn't want to say anything.
Celestia... I'm not sure if you have been made aware, but the townspeople of Ponyville seem to think I'm responsible for her death. That's why I used this invisibility potion.
>She gave you a peculiar look.
>"They think YOU did it?" She asked, very concerned.
Yes, and on top of that, I know who did it.
>She gives you a very surprised look.
>"Who was it?..."
It was a very powerful Changeling, the Omen of Fire. I'm not sure if you are aware of the five omens behind Chrysalis, herself being one as well.
>"I am not, please, let me know." She said with an eager tone.
There are four Omens, well, three now really. The Omen of Fire, The Omen of War, The Omen of Death, and the recently deceased by my hands, The Omen of Avarice.
>"How peculiar. No offense to you or your kind Anon, but how did you manage to kill an incredibly powerful Changeling?"
I'm not sure if Twilight even mentioned it to you, but I have incredible magical powers, and before my fight with Avarice, Twilight had reached me in an unconscious state and gave me some of her power, hence the purple tint on my arms.
>You pull off one of your arm guards to show her.
>She puts a hoof over her mouth in complete shock.
>"She didn't..." She says.

>"She didn't what?!" Applejack yells.
>Celestia is taken back for a moment.
>"Did she ever cast any spells on you that you know of?" She asks concerned, trotting over and getting a closer look on your arm.
>You think for a moment, and there is only one spell that you can think of that stands out.
The only one I can think of is when she used her magic to levitate me in mid air, to check and see what kind of magical properties us humans have.
>She looks at you incredibly interested.
>"Very...unlike her...." She says, her gaze locked on to your arms.
>"What she did was no mere scrying spell. It's dark magic used to unlock dormant magic in objects, but in a living being?! She knows it's very dangerous. She could have killed you!" She exclaims.
>You stagger back a bit.
She could have.... killed me?!
>"She very well could have, but by the looks of this, she did a good job, and even injected some of her magic in to you, which is why she is able to briefly speak to you from the other side, whatever it may be." She says, walking back to her old position.
>"She must have seen something inside of you to do such things... Tell me, what's the largest manipulation of magic you have done so far, in your little time you've been here?"
The largest I would have to say is reversing the spin of a Waterspout that endangered a ship I was on.
>She looks at you in almost complete awe.
>"With magic like that at your disposal just a little while in your stay here, who knows what else you could do!" She practically yells.
I'm not entirely sure, but I do have something to ask of your highness.
>"Please, anything Anon." She says, bowing her head to you.
>For a princess bowing her head down to YOU, you must have been something fucking else for her to do that.
All I ask is two things. One, you clear my name of any wrong doings any pony might think I have done.
>"Done, and what of the other request?"
>You look to a map that is hanging over a small desk.

>You walk over to the map and look for the point on the map you want.
>You see the river flowing through the Everfree forest, and at the end it leads to the ocean, and just northwest, was the small cove, completely unmarked and not noted for anything being there.
>You point your finger to that spot.
I would like to be teleported here.
>She looks over and walks up next to you and takes a good look at the map.
>"But that's in the middle of nowhere in the ocean Anon! Are you sure?" She asks, incredibly concerned.
Don't be so sure there isn't anything there.
>You give her a smile.
>You turn over to your two friends.
I want you two guys to get the message back to the outpost, I'm getting reinforcements. I have a couple of friends that will be able to help us with our Flame problem.
>Nightingale looks up to you.
>"Don't be gone too long Sir Anon, We'll await anxiously for your return." She says with a smile.
>You open your arms and get on your knees and give her a hug.
>You reach over and grab Applejack and pull her in as well.
>"What the hay!?" She shouts, being caught off guard by being yanked in.
>After she realized you were giving both of them a hug, she didn't fight it.
>"Give me some warning before you do that!" She yells.
>You and nightingale share a hearty laugh before you stand up.
Before I go, I have one other thing I wanted to ask you, Celestia.
>You pull the small orb from your chest plate pocket.
>You hold it out in your hand as your arm begins to glow slightly brighter with it in your palm.
What exactly is this?
>She looks surprised.
>"So this is what's been causing the ruckus..." She says under her voice.
>"It's an orb of great magical power, it's used to keep beings foreign to Equestria out... How did you happen upon it? I had it kept behind the old throne of the castle in the Everfree Forest!" She exclaims.
That's exactly where I found it, but it wasn't behind the throne, it was in the middle of the main corridor.
>She seems intrigued now.

>"This explains everything... Twilight's death, you appearance here in Equestria, and why the Changelings are becoming ever more hostile." She states with great concern.
>"This orb is kept on a magical pedestal, feeding it the magic needed to keep intruders of all kind out of Equestria. If it was knocked out of place, I can see why they were not only able to Kill Twilight, but also why you were able to appear in these lands to begin with..."
>You were unsure of how you felt about that.
>Knowing your existence here was most likely an accident.
>"But with you here Anon, I can't simply put it back, I couldn't do that to you. It would most likely kill you, as well as anything not native to Equestria."
>You didn't want to endanger the whole country just to keep yourself alive.
If it comes to it, I'll make sure this is used to make everything safe.
>"Well, it's not that simple, it needs to be charged again. There's no knowing how long exactly it's been without magic feeding it. It's only activated by the Elements of Harmony... And well... you can see the problem there." She says with the sorrow returning to her voice.
>You didn't want to say it, but you knew if there was at any point you had to use it, you had to have it charged.
I can take Twilight's place.
>She gives you a curious look.
I know I'm not the Element of Magic, but part of her courses through me, like you said, so even if I couldn't make the cut to be the element of magic, I could probably still help charge it.
>She thinks for a second.
>"I suppose your right, if you really think you should do it, then I should send mail to the other Elements as well." She said.
But there's one more thing I didn't mention before...
>You felt water finding it's way into your eyes just thinking about it.
>"What is it?" She asks, concerned.
Rainbow Dash, too, is no longer alive.
>She put her hoof up to her mouth, in complete disbelief once more.
>"W-What happened?!" She screamed.
>You almost couldn't say it...

It was me... she didn't give me a choice...
>She was in even more shock and disbelief.
>"Listen, your highness, I can defend him. Rainbow Dash wouldn't listen to none of us when we told him he didn't kill Twilight, and instead went out looking for poor Anon here who was looking for the killer himself!" Applejack butted in.
>"I....Understand. Sorrow and negative emotions and drive a pony to do insane things... I know far too well..."
>"But with this knowledge, we're now down another Element. There's no way we'll be able to recharge it now..." Celestia says, tears finding their way down her cheeks once more.
>You had to think of something.
>Anything.
>You throw your head back and look around the room.
>Then, as you vision snaps to Nightingale, it hits you.
I'll have nightingale take Rainbow's place!
>She gives you an odd look.
>"What makes you say that?"
You can show yourself here, Nightingale, you don't have to hide any more.
>"Are... are you sure Anon?"
Please, I wish Celestia to see.
>As you finish your sentence, a brief burst of black mist encases him, before plopping down on to the floor, back in his original form.
>"A changeling?!" Celestia exclaimed.
Listen, I know it sounds off, but it's the only shot we got. Ever since I met this fella, he's been following me everywhere, putting his life on the line because I'm one of the few things that's ever shown him compassion. If that's not loyalty, then I don't know what is.
>Celestia looks blankly at you for a few moments
>"I suppose it's the best we have to go with. I'll send out a letter to each of the other Elements. Hopefully they should be here tomorrow. Do you mind waiting until tomorrow until you teleport to you destination?" She asks you.
I'll hold off. Until then, do you have a place I can lay my head for the evening. I didn't get much sleep last night.
>"Of course, here, let me take you to a spare room we have you all can sleep in." She says, opening the door and walking out of it.

>She took a right out of the door and walked a short ways.
>She took the next door on the right and opened it with her magic.
>She kept the door opened for you guys as you walked in and what you say was simply amazing.
>A bed, quite literally, three times the size of you sat before your eyes.
>To the left was an expansive room, with dressers and drawers, and even a shower.
>As you looked at you, you almost forgot what a shower felt like.
>You were more excited to see that more than anything.
>Your daydreaming of the shower was interrupted by Celestia.
>"Does everything in here meet your needs?" She asked.
That and more... so much more...
>You were still in awe of the size of the room.
>"Very well then I'll let you all relax, I have stuff I must prepare for tomorrow." She said, before turning around.
>"Oh, and nice to meet you, Anon." She says, with a smile.
>You turn around
You as well, your majesty.
>You gave her one last bow before the closed the door behind herself.
>"This is an amazing room!" Nightingale said.
I call the shower first!
>You yelled that and ran over to the shower in the corner.
>"You sure are excited about a shower, aren't ya Anon?" Applejack asks.
I haven't felt hot water in I don't know how long. This is amazing!
>You began to take off your armor pieces bit by bit when you remember something.
Also, Nightingale, I know you can see me, so just don't look over here, okay?
>"Don't have to tell me twice!" He says, plopping himself on to the bed, "My god this bed is eve better than the one in the fishing town!" He yells.
>You turn your attention back to you armor, unstrapping it and placing it on the floor below.
>Soon all that was left was your tattered clothing.
>You pull it off with ease and hop in to the shower before Nightingale catches an eye of you naked.
>You turn on the hot water, and let it hit your face.
>From that moment forth, you swore never to take a hot shower for granted ever again.

>You turn the knob on the shower and the water in the shower slowly.
>You never thought something as simple as a shower could make you feel so great.
>You opened the opaque door and grabbed a towel hanging on the sink besides you.
>You dry off your hair and body before beginning to step out.
I'm coming out guys, don't peek!
>No one responded.
>Your laid out the towel on the floor and stepped on to it.
>You looked over on the bed to see Applejack and Nightingale sprawled over the bed.
>You chuckle under your breath and grab your tattered clothes off the floor.
>You throw on your half-torn shit and muddy pants.
>You sure wished there was someplace you could wash these, but you weren't going to argue.
>They felt baggier than before, but it was most likely because you didn't have your armor on.
>You felt so relaxed after you shower, you just stood there, looking at your armor, not wanting to put it on.
>Eventually you said forget it and began to walk over to the bed.
>But then you remember something.
>Your invisibility still hasn't completely wore off yet.
>Or most likely.
>You couldn't tell for sure.
>You walk back and start putting your armor on.
>You pull the chest plate over your head and strap it in.
>You make sure it's well fitted before connecting the shoulder, then strapping in your leg guards and arm guards.
>Lastly, you take your cape, and throw it over your shoulders and tie it off.
>You turn around and walk to the door.
>You get up next to it and creak it open slowly, as to not attract any attention of anyone standing nearby if there was.
>You open it up and there isn't a pony in sight.
>Not even Celestia was on her throne, Luna had taken her place.
>You were not sure if she was able to see you as Celestia had, but you walk out and softly close the door behind you anyways.
>You look up to the throne as see Luna looking at a scroll of some sort.
>You were curious if she could see you, as you decided to be goofy for once.

>You began to walk slowly up the red carpet.
>As you came up to the base of the stairs you began to wave your arms in the air.
>She still had her eyes locked on the scroll.
>You jumped around and flailed your arms, trying to get her attention if she could see.
>She didn't seem to budge.
>You slowly tip-toed up the stairs and stood next to her.
>Her eyes were almost frozen on to the scroll.
>You take your hand and stick it in between her scroll and her face.
>She tilts her head back and sighs in annoyance.
>"Do you have anything better to do with your time than bother us?" She asks.
>You hesitate for a second.
>"Well..." She says expectantly.
Not particularly, I wanted to see if you could see me while I was still under the effects of my invisibility potion.
>She lets out another sigh.
>"Yes, we can, now if thou could be so kindly as to leave us to our work, it would be most appreciated." She said, sticking her head into the scroll again.
>You stand there for a second, just looking at her.
You shouldn't stress yourself too much.
>"And you shouldn't be bothering the princess, now should you?" She says sternly, not shifting her gaze from the parchment.
What is that you're reading anyways?
>"None of your business." She says sternly.
>You give her an odd look.
No need to be rude.
>"You are the one interrupting us, now please, be off with you!" She nearly shouts.
Sorry for trying to start up a conversation.
>She ignores you and continues on her reading.
>You turn around and start to head to the room again.

>Luna seemed a lot less bubbly than you remembered in the show.
>You brushed her off and went back to your room.
>You opened the door to see Applejack and Nightingale still dead asleep on the bed.
>You didn't have anything you could do, as you were still wanted to get a bit out of your invisibility potion.
>There was only one thing you could think of.
>You decide to walk over to Applejack and get on the right side of the bed.
>You kneel down on the right side of the bed and put yourself into position to strike.
>She's laying on her side faced away from you, so you had to get the front of her face.
>You slowly reach over and give her a firm slap on the face.
>She jolts up and look around real quick.
>"What the hay was that for?!" She yells.
>"Huh... was what for?" You could hear Nightingale said, being awoken from his sleep.
>"You just hit me! Didn't your Ma always tell you to never hit a girl?!"
>You were trying hard to keep your snickering under your breath as you hid on the side of the bed out of view of Nightingale.
>"What are you talking about, I didn't do anything!" He says.
>"Like hay you didn't! Come here you-" You hear her say as you hear an audible thud of a pillow hitting what you presumed to be Nightingale.
>"Oh, so you wanna play rough, huh?"
>You them struggling a little before you hear several more thwaps of the pillow.
>You couldn't keep your laughter in any more and let out a loud audible laugh.
>"What the hay is that?" You hear Applejack ask.
>You were too busy laughing to care if they found you now.

>"Sounded like Anon!" Nightingale says, as you hear him running over to your side of the couch.
>All you saw was him looking over before he threw a pillow right at your face.
>"You big doofus!"
Oh come on, that was hilarious!
>"To you it Might'ave been!" Applejack said in a stern voice.
Come on, I had to get the most out of my invisibility as possible!
>"You didn't have to pin it on me!" Nightingale screeched.
>He threw another pillow at you as you were finishing p your laughing fit.
Okay, okay, I'm sorry, now let's all get some sleep, we all have busy days tomorrow!
>"Ah suppose, even though we WERE sleepin' just fine until you decided to but in!" Applejack said in an angry tone
>"Then you thought it was me and woke ME up!" Nightingale yelled back.
Okay guys, break it up, lets just get some rest.
>"He's right, we shouldn't be arguing." Nightingale says.
>"True, the more time we spend arguing, the less time we have for our beauty sleep." Applejack said, pulling herself under the covers of the blanket.
>Nightingale did the same on the opposite side, leaving enough room for you in the middle.
>You slide underneath the covers and pull them over you and your friends.
>"God, it's still spooky being near something I can't see." Applejack says, shuttering her shoulders.
>You settle yourself in the blankets and plop your head on the pillow.
>You didn't have to think too much before you mind began to wander into the land of dreams once more.

>"Anon, wake up!"
>You shift in your bed, you didn't want to wake up just yet.
>"Come on, Anon, we don't have much time." You heard, as the covers are pulled from your bed.
Can't a sleep a little longer...
>You open your eyes and see Celestia at the foot of your bed.
>"I'm afraid not, if we are to charge the orb, now would be the time. The other Elements are here and I don't wish to keep them waiting."
If you insist. Applejack, Nightingale, lets get up!
>"Umm... We're already up Anon..." Applejack says.
>You look to your right and see Nightingale and Applejack standing to the right of the bed.
Fine I'll get up without you guys then...
>They both chuckled as you got up on your knees and crawled over the sheets.
>You stood up next to Celestia and let out a sigh.
Well, I'm ready as ever.
>"Good, follow me." She said, turning around and opening the door.
>You sure hoped the other Elements wouldn't accuse you of anything.
>Even if Applejack told you they knew now it wasn't you.
>Your group follows Celestia into the main corridor of the castle, where the other elements stood around.
>Rarity was looking down, protting her hoof on the ground.
>Pinkie was marching her hooves in place, she must have been excited to see what Celestia had in store.
>Fluttershy seemed a little distant, her eyes wandering to random corners of the castle.
>As your group comes closer to theirs, you see pinkie shift her attention over to you.
>As soon as she sees you, her eyes light up brighter than the sun and she immediately begins galloping over to you.
>"ANON!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
>She nearly knocked Celestia over and she jump on to you and igves you the tightest hug you could imagine is pony-ly possible.
>"I've missed you so much!" She says, burying her head in your chest.
>She she takes her head off your armor and looks up, you can see her eyes are becoming a little watery.
>"I was so scared I would never see you again!"

I'm not gunna, I was afraid too. But I'm here now.
>You grab her head bring it to your chest again.
>You feel her breathing becoming staggered as she seems to sob in your arms.
>You run your hand through her fluffy mane and down her back.
>You knew they loved it, and you didn't mind who saw, you just wanted her to feel a little better.
>"I thought the mob had gotten you!" She barely manages to choke out.
They didn't, and I escaped, and now I'm here.
>She looks back up at you with tears visibly streaming down her cheeks and huge stupid smile on her face.
>"What's up with the get-up anyways?" She asks.
The wilderness isn't exactly kind...
>You put her back on the floor, as she wipes the tears fro her cheeks.
So I improvised!
>You throw your arms out to show the whole group your outfit.
>"I must say, Anon, that outfit would look a lot better in black than that... brown, leather look." Rarity added.
Well, maybe later you can dye it yourself!
>"I would love to! I've never seen craftsmanship like it before!" She said, walking over and circling around you and looking over the straps and details.
>As you turn your eyes away from Rarity, you see Fluttershy walking forward toward you.
>"A-and if it isn't too much to ask, while she's doing that, I could ask you about your home world. If you want to that is..." She says.
I would love to, Fluttershy. But before we do that, I have a few other things I have to do first.
>Fluttershy gave a nice big smile anyways.
>Everypony was incredibly happy to see you, despite what you thought would happen.
>This made you feel warm inside.
>That despite the various misfortunes that have found their way to your friends lives, they've made the best of it, like you have.
>Seeing their faces light up after all the time you've been gone, was something you couldn't put words on.
>And seeing your friends like this made you realize that, your friendship truly is magic.
>And with it, charge the orb, should the worst come.

>"Now ponies, I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you all here." Celestia begins.
>"Of course!" Pinkie yelps, jumping up.
>Celestia looks over at you and gives you a nod.
>You reach in to your chest plate pocket and pull out the small orb.
>The orb reacts to the markings on your arm, only it's a little more brightly this time.
>The ponies gather around and stare at it in awe.
>"I require all the Elements to help charge this orb. Without Twilight and Rainbow Dash, We'll have Anon, and Nightingale help charge it."
>The ponies give varied looks of confusion and interest.
>"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asks curiously.
>"Yes, Applejack, you said you'd look for her, did you find her?" Rarity states.
>You and Applejack exchange looks
>"Uhh... Maybe it's best if I explain it on the ride home. It's a really long story, and I don't want to keep the princess waiting," Applejack said, looking over and nodding to Celestia.
>She gave a solemn nod back.
>"And what of Anon, how could he take Twilight's place as the Element of Magic?" Rarity inquires again.
>"To make a long story short, Twilight has infused some of her powers with Anon. I'm sure Applejack will explain that as well on the ride home." Celestia states.
So, if everypony is ready, let's get this started. How do we go about this Celestia?
>"It's simple, you all hold the orb as the same time and focus yourself on to it. It should charge shortly afterwards."
Well, you all heard her.
>You stick your hand out and hold the orb in your hand.
Lets get this thing charged.
>Each pony, including nightingale places their hooves on the orb.
>Slowly but surely, the markings on your arm begin to glow a vibrant purple.
>As the glowing becomes intense, the orb itself becomes a blinding white light and flashes brightly for a second.
>Then the light dulls and the orb is in your hand, no longer an opaque white, but is now a deep azure blue.
Did it work?
>Celestia walks over and has a look over the orb.

>"It appears it has done the trick, the spell worked!"
>You, Applejack, and Nightingale give a good cheer, the other ponies share a small cheer as well.
>"What's the orb supposed to be used for anyways?" Pinkie questions.
>Celestia walks near her.
>"In case more changelings come, we can prevent what happened to Twilight to the rest of you. You have my promise, none of you will fall."
>Pinkie becomes a little saddened, but seemed a bit more at peace as well with that knowledge, even if it isn't 100% true.
>"Now, Anon, are you ready?" Celestia says, changing her focus over to you.
>You give a nod.
I'm ready to do what I have to.
>You turn around to the other ponies around you.
First, I want to ask you Applejack, will you join me and Nightingale?
>She hesitates for a second.
>"To be honest, Anon, fighting isn't mah thing. I'm going to sit this one out, but we'll all be rooting for you." She says with a swing of her hoof.
I understand, Nightingale, you're still comfortable with joining the fight?
>He gives you a hearty salute.
>"Until the inevitable end, Captain Anon." He states.
Okay, be sure to send the message to our forces at the spire that I'm gathering friends for the assault. I'll stop by before the attack.
>"With great haste, Captain." He said, bowing his head.
Now, for all of you. I suppose I should tell you what's happening. I'll keep it short. I've found Twilight's killer.
>The whole groups mouths go agape.
>No words even leaked out of their mouth.
He is a very powerful changeling, and through the conquer of another powerful changeling, I have earned the loyalty of a small changeling army. I'm going to use them attack their citadel that he hides himself within.
>You see worry in their eyes.
I... may not make it back.
>You open up your arms and get on one knee.
>All the ponies gather around and give you one giant group hug.
>Pinkie gets in your face with her mane and practically chokes you.
>"Promise me you'll visit again."

>You let out a deep sigh and run your fingers through her fluffy mane again.
I can't promise that pinkie...
>She rubs her head under your chin.
>You hated saying that and making her feel bad, but you didn't want to make promises you couldn't make.
>"At least promise us you'll be safe. I'd hate to see another friend gone." She says rubbing her cheek on your chest plate.
That I can. Just because I can't promise I'll make it back doesn't mean I won't try my hardest.
>They all hug your tighter before they start to detach from you one by one.
>"We'll all miss you Anon..." Fluttershy said in a shy tone.
And I'll miss you all too. But I have to do this.
>You turn to Celestia
I'm ready when you are Celestia.
>"Okay, brace yourself Anon, Teleportation can you... a little woozy." She says, as her horn begins to glow.
I'll see you all when I get back!
>As those last words exit your mouth, a flash of white light surrounds you in an instant.
>A second later, you're spit out into the Ocean.
>You hit the water and quickly swim back up to the surface, before throwing up into the water.
>She wasn't kidding.
>That did make you incredibly nauseous.

>You look up from the water to see a dock right in front of your face.
>It stretched to your right, and as sure as you knew, the town was just as it was when you had left.
>But as you think about returning to your home, your shaken by a massive thud to your right.
>A second afterwards water splashes on to your head.
>What the hell was that.
>Then it happened again, only farther away.
>It was as if something massive was being shot into the water.
>You look under the dock to see what's going on.
>You can faintly make out dark black masts in a fair distance.
>This wasn't good.
>More thuds surrounded the waters of the dock.
>You began to swim toward the shore and get on the dock.
>Another round slaps the water near you, spraying more water on to your head.
>You shake it off and continue to swim to the coast that is just within reach.
>As you come to shallower water and your feet hit the bottom, you try to haul yourself out as fast as possible.
>If the town was under attack, this was going to get bad.
>As the water slowly only reaches your ankles, you begin to sprint toward a set of stairs that left up to the docks.
>Your feet hit the dock with a loud thud for every step you took.
>You ran up the length of the dock and eventually hit the intersection that lead up to the leaders house.
>As you looked up you saw the leader himself sprinting down the hill faster than any pony you could ever imagine.
Hey, what the hell is going on?!
>"Changelings attacking, no time to speak, get to my ship!" He yells as he passes you.
>You listen and run behind him and take the short distance to his ship.
>"No time to untie the ropes anchoring us down, cut them loose so we can get headed out ASAP!" He says, taking the first dock.
>You run past the front of the ship and to the other side.
>You pull your sword out and hold it in your right hand and swiftly cut every rope as you run by them.
>One by one, as the ropes are cut the ship begins fall out of the dock.

>As you cut off the last rope you jump on to the ship, clinging to the bars on the side.
>You climb up the side step by step as the ship goes further and further back.
>This ship was massive, larger than you remembered.
>The continuous sound of mortar fire from the deck kept rattling the ship, almost deafening you,
>Though the climb was shaky, you manage to put your hand up to the deck of the ship and pull yourself up.
>You're met by the chaos of ponies running around on deck, carrying all sorts of various armaments.
>You bring yourself up to your feet and begin running to the helm of the ship.
>As you reach the step, the ship jerks forward.
>You fall forward, almost hitting your head off the stairs.
>You quickly run up the stairs and are met by the pirate leader on the wheel.
>He hops of the wheel and runs to you.
>"Take the wheel! I need to cut some ropes!" He says, quickly galloping down the stairs.
>You didn't have time to question him as you ran and grabbed a hold of the wheel.
>It was even larger than the wheel of your old ship.
>The ship began to jerk more and more forward and more of the massive sails fell in to place.
>You can barely see through the smoke that your mortars are putting out, but you don't dare stop firing for fear of what may be behind the smoke.
>You decide to throw the wheel to the right and get out of the smoke.
>The ship is slow at turning, and it's hard to get past the smoke, but when you do you see something you wish you didn't
>About 5 changeling ship, 3 galleons by the looks, 2 frigate, and several other ship that are battered and on fire and sinking, too far into disrepair to make out what they were.
>But as you look to the group of ships, you se something catch your eye.
>Another ship, coming toward them, but it didn't have black sails.
>It must have been reinforcements for you.
>You throw the wheel back to the left and begin to charge straight at them again, mortar fire splashing the water around the ship.

>You steady the ship to head straight for the blockade facing the blockade.
>Mortar fire is coming from all angles and being fired from your ship in immense numbers.
>One of the mortar shots manages to hit the front right of the ship and create a small explosion.
>The explosion knocks one of the mortars up and over, making it unusable.
>This wasn't good.
>There was a small fire in place where the explosion occurred
>You didn't even have to say anything before the ponies begin to douse it.
>As the fire begins to die down you see there was little to no damage on the hull of the ship.
>What the hell is this ship made of?
>As that thought enters your mind, another mortar hits
>This time it's a lot closer, and on the right side.
>The explosion was at the base of the stairs to the deck.
>It was so intense, you got knocked back and let go of the wheel for a second.
>You stagger grab the wheel, you knew you couldn't charge straight at them if they kept hitting you like this.
>You throw the wheel to the left, the ship slowly responding.
>Your mortar fire has slowed, so there wasn't as much smoke clouding your vision.
>There was another small fire at the base of the left stairs.
>Ponies were trying to put it our fast, but you were blind on your left side.
>It didn't matter much, as the ships were going to face your right side.
>As you clear a patch of smoke, you see the ship were a lot closer now.
>They were almost in Canon range.
READY CANNONS, GET READY TO HEAR THE ROAR OF THIS BEAST!
>You wanted to make sure ever cannoneer could hear you.
>You see what you presume to be an allied ship taking up on the other side of the ships.
>It seems if you positioned yourself right, you could run circles around the ships if they didn't get moving fast enough.
>You position your put your ship just past the last ship in the blockade, one of the two frigates on the outside of the Galleons.
>You throw the wheel right and begin to head right to the left of the ship.
READY CANNONS

>You came fast on the ship's side.
>As you began to some side to side with it, you could see ponies frantically trying to lower the sails.
RIGHT SIDE PREP
>You try to put your side of the ship as close to them as possible.
>Your ship is only but a few feet away from theirs as you come side to side with their ship.
>Yours almost seems to dwarf theirs by comparison.
FIRE
>You scream at the top of your lungs.
>As soon as you give the orders, a skull shattering volley of explosions launch themselves from the side of your ship.
>It was so loud you couldn't hear anything but your ears ringing.
>As the last of the explosions ring out, you can see chunks of wood fly through the smoke and on to your deck and over your ship.
>The smoke was so dense, you couldn't see through any of it, so you decided to keep on your course of going forward.
>You await eagerly, hoping the enemy ship wouldn't fire.
>And as you ship continues to move forward, nothing.
>Not that you could hear anything, but you sure you would feel them fire.
>Still nothing.
>This was good.
>As you ship begin to clear the smoke, you look behind you.
>You saw what you couldn't even describe as a ship any more.
>The entire right half of their ship was almost blasted in two, and was listing heavily to that side.
>The mast had been blasted clean off, and fell on to the galleon nest to it.
>As the ponies on the boat look back, they all let out a loud triumphant cheer.
>But this fight wasn't over yet.
>You throw your wheel to the right, and the ship begins to slowly respond again.
>You look in the distance to try and find the friendly ship.
>You find that the other Frigate had broken off from the group and got into a fight with the friendly ship.
>They were circling around each other in a plume of smoke.
>You figured that while the other ship kept the frigate busy, you would make mince meat of the two ships remaining.
>The leader of the cove runs up the stairs to your right and takes spot by your side .

>"Great job kid! I knew I could count on you. Now, what do you suppose we do about these 3 Galleons?"
Well, the one with the mast stuck in it isn't much of a threat right now. But I have a plan for the other two, just you wait.
>"Right side ready for fire captain!" You hear a pony yell over at you.
Perfect. You might want to hang on to your jacket for this next one.
>You quickly throw the wheel as hard as you can to the right.
BOTH SIDES, READY CANNONS!
>Your ship slowly turns across the surface of the water, and points itself right between the two other ships.
>"My god man, if you're doing what I think you're doing this is going to be one hell of a fight." He says, pulling out one of his swords.
Told you you would want to hang on to your jacket.
PULL UP ALL SAILS!
>As you shout that order, the sails begin to pull up one by one.
>Your ship slows down as it's approaching the middle of the two ships.
BOTH SIDES PREP
>Your ship had it's last sail pulled up as the front of your ship squeezed its way in between the two ships.
>As the ship drifts in, both sides of the ship are scraping against both of the ships on either side, slowing your down substantially.
>As a majority of your ship is stuck between the two ships you give the order.
BOTH SIDES FIRE!
>The same deafening blasts could be hear on either side.
>Cannon after cannon fired on both sides of the ship.
>Explosions and wood chunk went flying in each ever direction, you didn't know what to make of it.
>Your head was pounding and your ears were ringing incredibly loudly.
>After you feel the last of the cannons fire, you knew it was time to strike at them.
>You tap the Leader on the shoulder and point him at the ship to your right, he began trotting over, ready to board.
>You turned around, and focused your attention on the one on the right.
>This time, there will be no running.
>No saving the ship for the sake of cargo.
>Just complete, and utter destruction of this small fleet.

>You take a few steps back and begin to sprint to the side of the ship.
>You hop up on the railing and vault your self to the other ship.
>You almost didn't make it, but you manage to grab hold of the other ship's railing.
>You see two changelings running over to where you were trying to pull your self up.
>You were getting on this boat if it was the last thing you did.
>You let one hand go and pulled it back.
>You pushed your hand forward and sent a huge shock wave of air at one of the changelings, sending him flying back.
>The other one hesitates for a moment, before running back, undoubtedly trying to get the help of others.
>You pull yourself up on to the railing and hop down on to the deck.
>You are met by few changelings.
>There was the one who was running and two to your right running at you from the frost on the ship.
>You draw your sword and hold it in hand.
>As they draw close, you rise the sword up and hold it in both your hands, blade facing down.
>You jab the sword in to the wood, causing it to shake violently, before causing an immense hole in the ship where they were running.
>They fall down the hole and in to the next level of the ship.
>As you chuckle to yourself over the easy victory, you hear an explosion behind you.
>Near the helm of the ship, a gun powder barrel must have caught fire and exploded.
>This gave you an idea.
>You run up to the helm of the ship toward the fire.
>As your run up the small stairs to the top, the fire had spread alarmingly fast.
>As you get up close to it, you sheathe your sword.
>You get up close to the wild flame and begin to draw in the flame to your hands.
>You channel it for a few seconds before stopping.
>Once you had finished, you had two small fireballs in each hand, you began to jog back down the stairs to the deck.
>While jogging you notice a small group of changelings, swords in hand waiting to charge you.
>As they stomped their hooves on the wood, the group began charging at you.

>You take a few steps back.
>You hold your hands out in front of you and force the fiery power out of your palms
>The fire spews from your hands like a flamethrower as you create a small wall of fire between you and the charge group.
>They all place their hooves firmly on the deck and slow down, trying not to go into the fire you placed before them.
>They turn toward the other set of stairs on the opposite side of the helm.
>As they shift their focus from you and to the stairs, you suck the flames in front of you back in to your palms.
>Bit by bit the flames shrink in to the fireballs you hold in your hands.
>As the last bit is sucked back, you begin to sprint to the center of the ship.
>The group of changelings had hardly noticed you were making your way to heart of the beast.
>You run by a mast and are met by a steel-grate covered center of the ship.
>And through it, were kegs upon kegs of gunpowder.
>You held your flame in both hands.
>You stared at the grate.
>And threw both balls of flame in to the Magazine.
>You immediately turned around and ran as fast as you could back to your ship.
>As your feet meet the railing of the ship to jump, an enormous explosion shakes you down to your very soul.
>The blast from it vaulted you forward incredibly fast.
>The only thing you see after the explosion was the railing of your ship.
>And you hit your head right off of it.
>You throw your arms up trying to grab a hold of the side, and you barely manage to hang on to the deck.
>The blow to your head starting to send blood down your face and made your head pound harder than it had before.
>It made it incredibly hard to keep your grip on the ship.
>You blink your eyes a couple times to get your sight back in to focus.
>As your vision comes back to you slowly, you begin to pull yourself up.
>You pull your right arm up on to the railing, then your left.
>You pull up and tilt yourself over on to the deck.
>You flip forward and land on the deck.

>You shake your head a bit and pull yourself up to your knees, then back on to your legs.
>You were incredibly dizzy and found it hard to walk.
>But you had to get to the other ship.
>You staggered your way to the other side of the ship, flames crackling behind you.
>You look up to see your crew members and the captain fighting on the deck of the enemy ship.
>It was a losing battle.
>You had to go help.
>You put one foot up on to the railing and prepare to vault.
>As you do so, you foot slips, and you fall stomach first on to the railing.
>You fall back on to the deck, wind knocked out of you.
>You blink a couple times and and roll your head to look on to the deck of the enemy ship.
>You saw ponies retreating back and jumping back on to your ship.
>And in front of them all, was the captain, making sure everyone made it off.
>You finally manage to grasp a small breath and turn yourself over.
>You're on your hands and knees pulling in huge breaths.
>You see ponies hopping on to the deck from the enemy ship.
>You can see the captain shouting and pointing to the masts, but you can't hear anything.
>You ears are ringing loudly.
>But you knew what you had to do.
>You barely managed to bring yourself to your feet, but when you do, you turn to the right and begin to head to the helm of the ship.
>Your walking is staggered and slow but you manage to get yourself to the base of the stairs.
>As you take the first step, you feel the ship jerk forward.
>You stagger forward, and nearly hit your face off the stairs.
>Luckily you stopped it with your arms.
>You stagger up to your feet again, knowing the ship is moving now.
>Stair after stair you climb until you reach the helm.
>You walk over to the wheel unmanned.
>You grab a hold of the wheel and try to find the captain.
>As you look over to the deck, and then to the enemy ship, you see him still fending off the enemies as the last of his crew jump down on to the deck.

>The last of the ponies manage to jump down on to your ship as more of the sails fall in to place.
>The leader kept keeping the enemies at bay.
>As he turns around to try and jump to the ship, a changeling grabs on to his shoulder, pulls him back and plunges his sword straight through him.
>You couldn't believe your eyes.
>But in a final act of vengeance, he manages to pull the changeling on to him as he falls forward into the water below.
>Your ship was moving too fast now.
>You couldn't do anything.
>You stared at a distance, hopeless at what you could do to help him.
>You wish you could have done something.
>Anything to save him.
>But it was too late now.
>He was resting in the basin that held his hopes and dreams.
>You just had to make sure you made it out in once piece, crew and ponies alive.
>You threw the wheel to the left to steer clear of the ships once you had cleared both of the ships on either side of you.
>As you begin to turn the wheel, you feel your strength fade.
>You pull the wheel, but it doesn't seem to turn.
>You tug and pull and it barely budges.
>As take in a gasp of air, you throw yourself on to the wheel.
>You find your breathing becoming labored.
>You you can't turn the wheel, and you can't get yourself up off the wheel either.
>You stare off in to the distance, the water calm and smooth,
>You felt at ease as your sight began to dim.
>Soon, all you saw was black.
>Then you felt nothing.
>And saw nothing.
>Complete and utter silence and darkness.

>You feel your sense of touch coming back.
>Your head is pounding, your ears are ringing,
>You slowly open your eyes.
>Things are out of focus for a second before you start to adjust your eyes to the surroundings.
>You're laying down it seems.
>You can see wooden boards above you, you're no doubt in the hull of a ship.
>"Well look who decided to wake up." You hear a familiar voice taunt.
>You turn your head to the left.
>You knew it.
>Sure enough there was lotus, sitting on a chair by your bedside.
You know I'm a heavy sleeper...
>You rub your eyes a bit.
>"Not much heavier than whatever smacked you right on the head there." She said, pointing at the large cut on your forehead.
I slipped and hit my head...
>She let out a small chuckle.
>"You don't have to lie, I know you're in an abusive relationship. That's the excuse they all use."
>You both let out a hearty laugh.
>"So seriously, what the hell are you doing here?" She asks curiously.
I should ask you the same question.
>"Hey, I asked first." She said, raising and eyebrow.
>You couldn't argue with her logic.
To be honest, I need your guys's help.
>"You need lots of help." She says, chuckling to herself.
That's very true. Seeing as the leader had died in that fleet fight, it's going to be hard convincing everyone to go along with it.
>"Go along with what?" She asks curiously.
>You draw in a deep breath.
To keep a long story short, I found a changeling I want dead and he has a Citadel on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, and I need help sieging it as best I can.
>She looks at you blankly.
>After thinking for a moment, she decides to speak up.
>"True, it would be hard." She says, pausing.
>"But with all you've done for the town, I don't see why you couldn't muster up a small force to help out." She says heartfully.
>You give a small smile.
I do have just one question though...
>"Go on.." She says eagerly.
Where... exactly am I right now?

>"We're in the deck of the leader's ship. I would have left you up on the deck if it didn't start raining. I would have felt a little bad." she says.
Only a little?
>She lets out a small chuckle.
>You had a lot of questions, and wanted a lot of answers.
>What the hell happened, where is the body of the pirate's leader, and how many men can you get to help you.
Sooo... what exactly happened after I went out.
>She puts her hoof to her chin.
>"Can't say I know much for sure. I was locked in to a fight with a frigate off the fleet."
That was you?
>"Aye it was. I trust you were the one on the wheel of this here ship?" She asks, pointing upwards.
That would be me.
>She let out a small laugh.
>"Figured as much, you're the only crazy bastard I know who would run his ship between two of them and manage to sink them."
I have an eye for danger, what can I say?
>You both laugh a little.
>"Well, anyways, I managed to sink the other ship, not before mine was pretty badly mangled. I looked over to see your ship breaking off from the others."
That's when the leader died, he ordered everyone back on the ship. He wanted to make sure everyone made it back, and he died in the process. But I don't remember that ship being destroyed at all.
>Lotus lets out a loud laugh.
>"You shoulda seen it! After your ship broke up, that ship just blew right the hell in tow, split right down the middle! I haven't got a clue what did it, but it musta been powerful."
>Funny, you didn't remember there being an explosion.
>You may have already passed out when that happened.
Yeah, I didn't quite catch that. I passed out before it exploded. Last I remember was turning the ship left and falling over on the wheel.
>"Well after the explosion, the ship turned back right and into port, my guess someone took the wheel and they brought you down here. I only found out it was you when the crew referred to you as 'The Standing Demon'. You must have pulled off some pretty good fireworks."

Damn right I did. This first ship exploding was all me.
>She cocks her eyebrow at you.
>"Don't show off too much, you might just impress me for one."
>You both laugh at each other.
So after you found out that I was here and unconscious, what did you do?
>"I waited here for a bit, then you woke up, was only about an hour so. you weren't out long."
That's good. You think I'm good enough to get up on my feet?
>You sit up in your bed and turn over to her and stand up.
>Your head is a little light, and it's pounding slightly, but you feel fine otherwise.
>"I WAS going to say get some rest, but looks like you don't want my advice. I told you it was raining."
A little rain never hurt anything. We have preparations to make.
>"Preps or not, you need your rest. No wonder you don't want a marefriend, you can't stand in the same spot for mare than 10 seconds."
>You both laugh a little.
Be that as it may, I'm getting close to what I need. I may settle somewhere afterwards, but for now, my business is with this powerful changeling.
>She rolls her eyes.
>"You probably have like 10 marefriends and you don't want to tell me."
You hit the nail on the head. Now, let's see if we can convince some of the other captains around here to help. Preferably ones with mortars.
>"You're best bet would be the ship that's two down from this one, the one right behind your old one." She said, pointing to the direction the ships were lined.
Good. Care to join me?
>"Of course. And here I was thinking you wouldn't want me around..." She said.
>You began to make you way to a ladder leading up to the deck, Lotus followed you closely behind.
So what's this fella's name?
>"People only refer to him as the purifier. He doesn't talk much, but word goes around his parents were killed by changelings, and now he hunts them relentlessly."
>Killed by changelings.
>The prophet.
>That's right.
>You had almost forgot.
>You had to let Lotus know about her father.

Listen, Lotus, there's something I have to talk to you about.
>"What is it, Anon? Come to confess your unconditioned love for me?"
>You shrug off her comment.
You know how you told me your father was dead, right? murdered by assassin's?
>"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with your feelings for me."
>You roll your eyes.
Well, he isn't dead, Lotus. The Prophet I went to seek, is your father.
>She just stands there and looks at you with an odd expression.
>"Is this a joke? You do know I saw my father bloodied and murdered, right?"
>You nod your head.
But the thing is he told me that he was playing dead, in hopes the killer would leave you guys alone in case they just wanted him.
>She shakes her head.
>"This has to be some kind of joke you're pulling..."
>She looks back up to the serious tone on your face.
>"You're not joking... are you?" She asks, very curious now.
Not at all, your father is alive, Lotus.
>You see a small smile come on her face.
>"I want to see him as soon as possible!" She exclaims.
One thing at a time now, Lotus, we have to focus on the assault at hand in the near future.
>"Do you know where he is?!" She jumps in to your face.
Of course I do, he's at the Citadel where the army I have waiting on standby, you know, for the assault we have to plan?
>She brushes off your statement.
>"Can we pleeeaasseee see him uncle Anon???" She said, wrapping herself around your legs.
>As annoying as it was, it was pretty adorable.
>You draw in some breath and let out a sigh.
Yes, but only if you're a good girl during the attack.
>"Woohoo!" She cheers, standing back up on her hooves.
So, let's go talk to this 'purifier' guy now, the sooner we get our attack going, the sooner you can see your father. Lets get going.
>You turn around and walk up the ladder and throw the hatch up.
>Warm rain met your face and head as you walk up on to the deck.
>Lotus followed behind with a smile wider than any you had seen before.

>She seemed happier than the day you had saved her.
>It was nice bringing happiness to someone, a good change of pace.
>You make your way to the side of the ship where the ramp led down on to the dock.
>While making your way to the dock you look over at what was your ship.
>Half the sails scorched with holes in them, chunks of wood missing from hull and railings.
>She certainly has seen better days.
Took quite the beating, huh?
>"I'd say so, but nothing a little hard work won't fix." She says happily.
Think it's good for a fight?
>She looks at it for a moment.
>"I'd say she could manage. I could do a few repairs and make her more worthy of a fight."
Sounds good. So, the ship I'm looking for is the one right behind it?
>She nods.
>"That would be the one."
>You couldn't see much of the ship behind your old one, but it was a galleon just like the leader's.
>You walk up the dock and take a right and walk fast the front of your old ship.
>Even more chunks missing and scorch marks.
>You were beginning to think that having her sail along was a bad idea.
>But you shove the negatives aside, you didn't want to deny her the possibility of seeing her father again.
>You walk past the front of the ship and take a right and walk for the ramp up the this 'purifiers' ship.
>The shit had metal plates all long on the deck and railings.
>This thing must move incredibly slow.
>But judging by the fact there are dents and scorch marks completely untreated all over the deck means it works a charm.
>You walk up a ways and head over to the door leading under neath the helm to the captain's quarters.
>You knock on the door firmly.
>"Come in!" You hear a raspy voice shout.
>You open the door and duck underneath the top, careful not to hit your head again.
>When you peer over to the table you see a rather hardened-looking old pony.
>"Well, the demon that's been stirring quite the ruckus since he came here all the while ago. What brings you here.

I have a proposition, one you might enjoy.
>"I'm listening." He says sternly.
I need as many ships as I can get to help siege a Changeling fortress.
>He chuckles a bit.
>"Count me in. Any dead changeling is a good one."
>That was oddly easy.
I'm going to be assaulting the changeling fortress with other changelings, making it better, I have them destroying each other.
>He lets out a couple chuckles.
>"I like your style kid. Just let me know when you're ready to go, and I'll get my crew ready."
I appreciate it. I hope by doing this I can bring justice to anypony wronged by the one in charge.
>"I'm no fan of fighting for values, kid, I just want some dead changelings. Now, I got work I gotta do, signal me when you're ready."
Will do, Captain, thank you.
>You give him a nod and turn around and back out the door.
>The door shuts behind you and your met with the familiar feel of warm rain.
>"He was quite the charmer." Lotus says.
Yeah, but allies are allies. Know of anyone else that can join up?
>"Only one other, everyone else is out on missions of sorts. He's on the opposite end of the dock. His name is Firelance. Quite the friendly pony to allies, but one of the fiercest fighters to his enemies."
Sounds like a pony we need, let's go before your oh-so-precious mane gets ruined by the rain.
>She chuckles at you.
>"Says the thing that couldn't even steer a ship in the right direction."
>You both laughed at each other.
>It was nice to talk to Lotus again.
>You two were so crude to each other it was almost like you were married.
>Something you never really had, especially in this world.
>Having someone like her around helped ease your tensions.

>You and Lotus started making your way back to the docks.
>The rain was still coming down as hard as before.
>Lotus's mane and your clothes were both soaking wet from just the short trip to this ship.
>"You know, we could have at least waited until this storm blew over before we went out..." She said, shaking her head from the rain,
Time isn't exactly on our side right now, Lotus. I want to get this attack going as soon as possible so I don't have to resort to more drastic measures...
>She lets out a huff.
>"You're always so pushy..." She muttered, following closely behind you.
>You make your way around the front of your old ship again.
>It killed you a little on the inside to see her so mangled, but what to be done was done.
>But still, she would need a good bit of TLC.
>You shift your focus from the ship to a crack of lightning that bolted across the skies.
Looks like the storm is ramping up.
>"I'd say, maybe we should hold out on asking Firelance until this storm blows over."
>As much as you wanted to move forward with all of this, you really didn't want to get stuck in another person's ship.
I suppose so, we gunna hunker down in your ship?
>"I don't see why not, come on, I don't want to get any more soaked than I already am!" She said, sprinting ahead of your to your left down the dock.
>You run right behind her to ramp leading up to her ship.
>There was not a pony in sight on deck, most must have been below riding out the storm.
>She quickly opens up a hatch and, before you can get to it, she slams it right in from of your face.
>You pull up the hatch and start walking down the ladder.
Gee, thanks for holding the door open for me.
>"Don't mention it." She said, shaking herself, sending water flying at you.
>You shake your head at her before she starts to walk down to the other side of the hull.
>You follow behind her in to the main center of the hull where familiar faces were gathered around.

>While you and Lotus walk through the corridor, all the assorted ponies begin loudly stomping your hooves and shouting in reverence to yours and Lotus's accomplishment.
>A couple ponies walk up and shake your hand and talk a little with you.
>Seems after all this time they still haven't forgotten you.
>It was nice to know there were ponies still here that welcomed you like family.
>After talking a little with a few of them, Lotus urges you to come to the Captains room in the back.
>"We need to get you dry, I have some towels in the back. You can get to chatting with your buddies afterwards!" She said, motioning you to follow her.
>Yup, it was pretty much like you were married.
>You followed her up a short set of stairs and down a narrow hallway that lead to a door leading to the familiar bed room.
>She opens the door and holds it open with her flank.
>"Happy I'm holding the door open now?" She asks.
>You walk up and hold the door so she can walk in to the room.
I practically have butterflies.
>"I knew you to be the soft type." She giggles, grabbing a towel off of one of the nearby tables.
>She walked over and tossed it to you and you started to dry your hair and armor off.
>You were still soaking in your clothes underneath but it wasn't anything you weren't used to.
>After a quick dry, you pull the towel off of you and throw at lotus.
>As it landed on her head she lets out a low grunt.
>"So I hold the door open for you and this is what I get?" She asks sternly.
It's payback for not keeping it open earlier dummy.
>She took the towel off of her head and in one quick motion, threw it at your face.
>You pulled it off to see the little blue pony jumping up latching on to you.
>Her force staggers you and makes you slip backwards and land on your back.
>"I'm not half as wimpy as I look, Anon." She said, staring in to your eyes. At least I can stand to get a little wet!" She exclaims.
Well, the way you worded that I could very well take that the wrong way.

>She brings her head back up as it starts to go a little red.
>She quickly hops off of you realize the innuendo she just made.
>"Like I'd get ever that kind of wet around you..." She pouted.
Don't worry, I can keep a secret.
>She rolls her eyes, her cheeks still visibly red.
>"I'm gunna lay down, I'm still worn from earlier today. Don't get any bright ideas..." She said, walking over to her bed.
What about wet ones?
>She pauses for a moment and shakes her head and hops up in to the bed.
>"Oh, quit it you, go off and get funky with one of your... I don't know, monkey lady friends or whatever." She says, pulling the covers over her.
I'd love to, but there is a distinct lack of monkey lady friends in this world.
>"Pfft, not my problem." She says, turning her back to you.
Well, I think I'll sleep too, don't get too lonely without me over there.
>"As if I would..." She pouts.
>You chuckle a bit to yourself.
>Seeing her embarrassed was kind of funny, and a bit cute too.
>You knew she liked you and you wanted to poke some fun at it.
>You bend your back and stretch your arms out, loosening your body up before you pulled yourself into bed.
>You crawl in to the bed and lay your head down on the pillow.
>The faint patter of rain on the deck could be heard, as well as the occasional rolling of thunder.
>The rain always seemed to help put you to sleep, and even now.
>You think for a bit with your eyes closed, but the rhythmic sound of the rain hitting the deck puts you to sleep.
>To the dreamland once more with you.

>You feel some rustling in your bed.
>You're half asleep and you're not sure what it is.
>You don't want to wake up, but at the same time, you should probably see what's in your bed.
>You slowly open your eyes to see Lotus in your arms, making herself more comfortable.
>You're half brain dead from walking up while asleep so you don't really fully process why she is in your bed.
Wh-what are you doing..?
>"I was cold, and you're really warm." She says.
>She finally settles herself on your arms, back facing to you.
Don't get any funny idea's...
>She just lets out a soft chuckles before resting her head on your arm.
>"Holy crap you really are warm." She says, slightly surprised.
One of the better perks of being a monkey thing.
>"How do you not explode from heat stroke?"
I-I don't know...
>You couldn't think of a witty comeback.
>So in lou of any comeback you pull her tightly into you.
>She doesn't seem to budge much.
Too hot for you?
>"I live in a tropical fishing town. I think I'll be fine." She says, before letting out a sigh of satisfaction.
>You didn't say anything, but instead opted to let yourself fall asleep with her in your arms.
>You never really had the chance to hold anyone like this before.
>So you stayed half awake, half asleep, enjoying having this pony in your arms.
>Every breath she took in expanded her soft coat.
>You could get used to this.
>You tried harder and harder to keep yourself awake to enjoy it as much as possible.
>Unfortunately, your attempts were met with futility as you slowly drifted back into your mind.
>All the meanwhile, holding this wonderful pony in your arms.

>You wake up slowly to the feel of something on your face.
>You open your eyes to see Lotuses face thrown on to yours.
>She was even drooling on to your cheek.
>You prod he a couple time in the stomach.
Hey, wake up.
>She twitches a little.
>She doesn't wake up.
Hey, wake up!
>She rustles around a little bit.
>"Nyehh... I don't.... wanna..."
>She move her head off of your cheek and shoves it in to your neck.
>"Yerrr too warm.." You hear her muffle from your neck.
Come on, it's sounded like the rain's stopped and we need to get moving.
>You maneuver yourself and sit up in in bed, she is still firmly clung to you with her head in your neck.
>"Don't toss me in to the cold, you wouldn't do that to me, would you?" She asks.
I will, if you don't get off of me...
>"Neevverrrrrrr" She mutters, moving her face deeper in to your neck.
>You let out a sigh and stand up.
>She is even still now hanging onto you with her hooves around your shoulders and head in your neck.
Seriously?
>"Hmph." she mumbles sternly, maintaining her hold on you.
>You knew there was only one way she would move off of you.
>You take your handles and start tickling the side of her stomach.
>Oh-Oh god nohoho!" She says, starting to get in to a laughing fit.
>Eventually, she starts laughing and wriggling around so much she falls off of you and hits the floor.
>"Ow!" She yelps sharply, before simply laying limp on the floor.
>"Why are you so mean to me!" She says in a very sarcastic and whiny tone.
Because we have stuff to do.
>"Ughhhhh" She mutters before getting back on her hooves and dusting herself off.
>"Just so you know, I didn't do anything to you while you slept. promise."
>You rolled your eyes.
I wouldn't put it past you if you did...
>"Well, when I like what I see, I try not to do unspeakable things to them in their sleep. Makes for a very awkward circumstance if they wake up."
>You couldn't argue with her logic, even if you wouldn't mind something like that.

So, how's about we meet this Firelance guy?
>Lotus was stretching her back out.
>"I don't see why not, first lets see how much we slept in first."
>She finishes her stretching and walks to the door leading to the main corridor of the ship.
>Most of the ponies are fast asleep in the beds that litter the area.
Think we're up a little early?
>"Most likely." She whispers back.
>You both keep walking until you reach the ladder leading up to the deck.
>She climbs up and you follow behind her.
>The rain had stopped, giving way to a very bright blue sky and lustrous stars.
I can see the rain is gone.
>"Good, I'm not fond of getting wet."
>You chuckle to yourself.
Depends on what you mean by getting wet.
>She look at you and shakes her head, her face turning red again.
>"I bet that's all you think about you weirdo..." She said, turning her back to you and walking down the ramp to the dock.
>You follow shortly behind.
>"I don't think we should be waking him up. Most captains don't take kindly to being woken up early." She stated, before turning around and staring in to you soul.
Hey, you were drooling on me.
>"Pfft... You probably liked it. Weirdo." She said rolling her eyes.
So, you think we should hold off on seeing him until morning?
>"Yup, it's our best bet. The night's almost over so there's no point in going back to bed unless you really want to." She said.
I think I'm good. Lord knows you'd start humping me as soon as I got in bed anyways.
>Her face turns even more red.
>"Always with you and that...that... stuff!" She says, throwing her hoof in the air.
>You start laughing at her embarrassment.
I only do it because it embarrasses you!
>"Well... good, when I find something that embarrasses YOU, I won't stop either!" She said sternly.
Well, good luck finding something.
>She sighs and shakes her head.
>A short silence befalls the two of you.
>You attempt to break the awkward silence before it gets weird.
So, what do we do while we wait for the sun to come up?

>"Hell, I don't know. Maybe we could look at the stars or something fruity like that." Lotus suggest.
Well, it's better than just standing here.
>"Hey, you're the one who asked what we should do."
>She had a point.
Alright, you know a spot that's good for us to watch the stars?
>"Why don't we head to the end of the dock, it's quite a relaxing place, don't you think?"
>It really did have a soothing aura about it.
>And, it was the first time you kissed Lotus as well, which is a plus to the destination.
Sure, it sounds like a good spot.
>You begin making your way across the dock and down to the left, passing ships by.
>Some were a bit more worse for wear, which was to be expected from the recent battle.
>Ship by ship you passed before you and lotus found yourself at the end of the dock looking out to the Ocean.
>You sit yourself down and let your legs hang off of the edge of the dock.
>Lotus takes her place next to you.
>You lay yourself back and stare at the sky.
>"Wow, you really are going to look at the stars aren't you? You're one fruity monkey if I've ever seen one." Lotus says teasingly.
>You chuckle a little to yourself and don't give her the satisfaction of a response.
>As you stare blankly in to the stars you look at each one, some brighter than others, all the same beauty.
>It reminded you of that night that Twilight and you looked at the stars through the telescope.
>And the night of the attack.
>These stars were something more than just things in the sky, Twilight was always drawn to them.
>You wanted to say it was because her cutie mark itself was a star.
>As you thought of that, you look back around the stars.
>Each and everyone was like a little Twilight.
>Watching over you.
>It was a bitter sweet feeling knowing Twilight was actually, in fact, watching over you.
>Even though you had no idea why.
>Maybe when you meet her again, one day, you could ask her.
>"Hey, earth to Anon!" You hear Lotus shout over at you.

Oh sorry, I was daydreaming, were you saying something?
>She rolls her eyes.
>"Yes, I asked why you like the stars so much?" She asks aggressively.
>You smile a little to yourself.
They remind me of somepony, and help me keep moving on.
>"See, I knew you had a secret lover..." She said pouting in an exaggerated manner before looking back up to the stars.
>You joined her.
>You stared back up at the stars.
>But as you stare back to the stars, something else crosses your mind.
>These stars were a giant ball of flame in the distance, galaxies away even.
>Flame.
>How the hell were you going to fight a Changeling with the power of fire at his hooftips?
>The same power in the core of those suns were the same that he can unleash at you.
>Even if you manage to cripple the fortress, you needed something to help fight against that.
Odd question I have for you lotus.
>"Yeah, whats on your mind, thinking about breaking up with that special pony and coming back to me?" She asks teasingly.
>You roll your eyes.
No... I was wondering, you have any equipment that is treated to withstand fire by any chance?
>She raises her eyebrow at you.
>"A fire-breathing mare friend I see..." She states.
Come on, Lotus, let's get serious here.
>She lets out a huff and begins to think to herself.
>"I can't think of anything outside of magic and whatever the hell the Leader's ship was made out of."
>That's right.
>His ship took almost no damage from the blasts from the other ships.
You're correct, that ship took a hell of a beating and didn't even have nearly a scratch on it afterwards. Any idea what the hell it's made of?
>Lotus shrugs her shoulders.
>"Your guess is as good as mine there, bud. Maybe Firelance would have an idea. I mean, he even has fire in his name."
Hey, it's worth a shot.
>"Yeah, but we're not going to wake him up now, I already told you nopony likes to be woken up in the night, ESPECIALLY Captains." She said, giving you another harsh glare.

>The sun slowly started rising in the distance over the ocean.
>You and lotus exchanged witty comments back and fourth before you both decided it was time to pay this Firelance guy a visit.
>Call it a bad feeling, but a person,or pony rather, named Firelance can't possibly be 100% right in the head.
>"Well, looking at the sky is getting boring, let's pay Firelance a visit." Lotus says, hopping up on to her hooves.
You said his ship is on the other side of the dock right?
>"That's right, now the sooner we get walker, the sooner we get there and the less you have to walk, because I know just how much you like to look at the sky."
>You shrug off her comment and follow her as she lead the way down the dock.
>There was barely a cloud in the sky and the sun was bright on the townsfolk of the little cove.
>Ponies around began coming out of their houses and started their work, making it quite lively.
>Familiar ships passed by your vision, still in the same relative state of decay they were in a few hours ago.
Say lotus, you think we could convince all these captains to help right with us?
>"Pfft, as if, good luck with that, they're mostly fishing ships." She responds.
>You look at them and most of them are lined with cannons and ammunition.
Then how do you explain all the weapons?
>"You really think pirates go anywhere without bringing some firepower with them?"
>You shrugged, she had a point.
>Although 'some firepower' was a little bit of an understatement.
>"Well, you carry your sword with you at all times, don't you?"
That I do. I see your point, but I still don't see any reason not to ask.
>"I just wouldn't, if they never made it back, these ponies would have half the food they already have." Lotus argued back.
I realize that, but the Changelings most likely wont take kindly to a whole fleet being sunk by a couple of brigands, and will send more unless we attack first.

>"I want to fight back as hard as you do, Anon, but to risk the entire village, is just not worth it."
>You wanted to get a large fleet, but it seemed like your argument was losing.
>You decided against continuing on the argument, it was for the best if you didn't anger her.
>"There it is, Anon, The Saint Spark." She said, pointing over to the last ship in the line at the dock.
>The sails were blood red, you can faintly remember them when you had first come here.
>Even the ship itself had a red tint to it, as if made of a redwood tree of some sort.
Certainly a sight to see.
>"Yeah, it's not exactly the most discrete ship, but sure as hell one of the most dangerous."
>You weren't going to argue that.
>Even if the ship seemed to have less cannons than the previous.
>Lotus motioned you to go up the ramp up to the ship.
>And what she had mentioned about this ship being the deadliest made perfect sense when you made your way to the deck.
>Two rows of mortars, about 7 in each row.
>This thing was a living embodiment of artillery.
>And it would be invaluable to have on your team.
>Each and every last mortar was almost perfect looking, and taken care of incredibly well.
>You were excited about this find, but you were also nervous of this pony turning you down.
>Looking over the ship, you could see the ponies giving you various odd and curious looks.
>"Come on Anon, let's get to the captain's quarters, see if he's awake."
>She didn't have to tell you twice.
>Lotus walks up to the door and knocks her hoof twice on the door.
>There is a small pause before you hear a voice come from within.
>"Come on in!"

>Lotus opens up the door and walks in, you follow shortly behind her.
>There was a pony sitting down at the table in his captains quarters, reading over some papers before he looked up at you two.
>His mane was as red as his sails, and his coat as blue as the sky.
>"My my, Captain Lotus and the demon have found their way to my ship, what do I owe the honor?" He asks, sitting back in his chair.
We're looking for a little bit of help.
>"How can I help?"
Well, we're looking to attack a spire controlled by changelings in a counter attack. We feel taking out this spire will stop the attacks on this quaint little village.
>He puts his hooves together, thinking for a moment.
>"I can see why you would need help. Their spires are known for their durability. What I want to ask, is what is in it for me?" He asks curiously.
>You had to think of something quickly to make the deal sweet.
>Then something clicks in your head.
You'll be the new leader of the village, and be welcomed as more than a hero, as a legend.
>You see a small smile come across his face.
>"I like it. So what's the game plan?"
I have an army of changelings at my own command ready to attack the spire by lands. The spire sits on a cliff, which is why I would need some artillery to loosen it up, as a frontal assault on a spire that you can only attack from on direction is probably not the brightest idea.
>"Indeed it isn't. when will we leave? I'd prefer it sooner than later, my men get fidgety if we stay in the same spot for too long."
Give us one hour, we'll leave for the spire then.
>"Very well, I'll stock the munitions, know how long of a sail it will be?"
>You try to think of the best estimate.
Probably a day and a half to two days.
>"Alright, I'll stock plenty of food and water for the crew then. It's best you do the same, Demon." He said, getting out of his chair.
Will do Captain. thanks for the help, we'll be getting ready.
>He gives you a nod before you both exit the small room.

>"Anon, I don't think I can repair the ship very well in just one hour!" Lotus scoffs at you.
I know, you can do some patchwork on the hull and replace the sails before we leave.
>"Between that and stocking up? You're trying to work me to the bone aren't you?" Se said as you both made your way off the ship.
Not on purpose, Lotus. You know we don't have much time, and I want to use what little time we have to our advantage.
>She seems to pout a bit.
>"If you think it's the right thing, I won't doubt you. You haven't made any particularly bad decisions yet."
None that you know of at least.
>You both let out a small chuckle, as both of your ships come in to sight,
You go tell the purifier guy that we're getting ready to leave. Tell him to stock up as the ride will most likely be 2 days.
>"What about my crew? They need to know what we're doing."
Don't worry, Lotus. They know me and I'll handle it.
>She lets out a sigh of discontent.
>"If you insist..." She says in a low tone.
>As the two of you approach your ships, you take the right to the Leader's ship as Lotus continues walking on her way to 'the purifier'.
>You walk up the ramp to the ship and look around on deck.
>You see several ponies walking around ,tying off various ropes and cleaning the deck where it was needed.
>As you look around the ship, you realized something.
>You forgot to ask Firelance about the wood the ship was made out of.
>Shit.
>You had to improvise.
Who here handles the munitions and supplies?
>You shout it loud so ponies can hear you.
>One of them shouts back.
>"The navigator handles just about everything, specially since the old man ain't with us any more." He shouts back.
Where can I find him?!
>"Last I saw the man was down below eating some breakfast. He don't move around too much so he's probably down there somewhere." He shouts back, before returning to his cleaning.
>You had no reason to doubt him, so you decided to check below deck.

>You climbed your way down the hatch and into the heart of the ship.
>Everything was a little more organized than before, less objects thrown about the ship.
>The leader must have had one hell of a crew to do that kind of work without having to be told.
>You walked towards the center where most of the crew seemed to hang around.
>You stepped down a small set of stairs to an area with tables and chairs.
>There were only a handful of ponies at the tables, eating various plates for breakfast.
Anyone here the navigator?
>You see an older looking pony in the back right corner raise one of his hooves up.
>"That would be me." He says back.
>You give him a short wave before walking your way over to the table.
I'm going to need the ship stocked up on food and ammunition for mortars to last 2 days, I was told you were the one to talk to for that.
>"That would be correct. Mind if I ask what exactly it is we're doing?" He asks curiously.
Bringing the fight to the changelings. We're going to bombard a spire in the north with mortars while I bring an army of changelings in on foot.
>"Quite the glorious battle it seems, I'm sure the crew would like to bring the fight to them."
>You liked that.
>"Give me an hour or so and this ship will be stocked and ready." He said, moving up out of his chair and making his way to a set of stairs.
I did have another question for you, albeit an odd one.
>"Ask away."
Well, it's two really, one, what is this ship made of, and two, is there any spare wood of its kind left around?
>He gets a small smile on his face.
>"It's made of a particularly hardy northern pine tree that is very uncommon. It's called flamesbane because of it's resistance to fire. Natives to the north have a story they share about how an enormous wildfire that laid waste to their homes and forests."
What happened after the fires?
>"After the fire died down, many of the trees where they lived were still standing, but striped of any greenery."

Hence the name flamesbane?
>"Precisely. They used these trees for their huts, and after a short while, their houses, so there aren't too many left of those trees. But the leader had hunted down enough to make everything wood on this ship out of it."
>Everything.
>You had an idea.
Everything on this ship? Even the tables?
>"Exactly. Not a single splinter left unchecked."
>You felt a large smile growing on your face.
Thank you very much, and if you don't mind, could you tell the ship next to us to start preparing as well? I told their captain I would.
>"I shall. Anything else?"
Only one, be sure to bring your war face, we'll need every last one.
>He lets out a small laugh.
>"Of course I will. Now I'll get going on the stocking." He said before walking past you to the stairs leading up to the deck.
>After he walked away, you followed the same path.
>You had an idea.
>You climbed up the stairs and quickly made your way into the captains quarters.
>In the center of the room sat the plain table the captain had.
>Or at least plain to anyone but you.
>You walk over and throw the few oddities on the table aside and clear it off.
>The table itself was nailed to the deck, and not for any bad reason. He must not have wanted it flailing around.
>Without being able to move it, you had to cut the top off.
>You drew your sword out and held it steady.
>As you were about to swing, you think cutting it with your sword would most likely dull it.
>But this was no problem magic couldn't fix.
>You focus your magical energy around the blade facing the table and create a fast rushing, razor sharp enveloping on wind on the blade.
>You then hold your blade steady and give it a heavy swing.
>The sword swings straight through the leg of the table, severing the legs at the table top.
>You'd have to remember that wind blade trick. That made your ordinary deadly sword about 50x sharper.
>You do this for every other leg that is holding the table down.

>After you lopped the legs off of the table nailed to the floor, you had to think of a way to make it wield able in combat.
>While you thought of way to do so, you wanted to cut off the small stubs that were left on the table top.
>You did the same as before, carefully cutting away the small stubs so you don't cut off too much.
>One by one you cut them off until all is left is a smooth table.
>You pull it up and hold it upright to see how it scales to you.
>It come up to about your chest, making it decently tall, and about as wide as your body.
>It was, however, decently heavy.
>But that hopefully wouldn't be a problem.
>Now you had to think of something to make it hold-able.
>You walk over and sit down in the chair and let your thoughts run around.
>There wasn't anything you could think of to make straps for the shield.
>Metal bars would over heat by flame and there was no spare leather laying around.
>And then, you get another genius idea.
>There was no SPARE leather, but you could sure use the straps from one of your shoulder pads to help.
>You immediately untie the straps keeping your left shoulder pad
>You set the shoulder pad on your lap and retie the straps on them as loose as you can.
>You wanted to see if you could fit your fore arm through them before you.
>You slide your arm through the loose straps to see they do fit almost perfectly.
>You grab your sword off the floor and sharpen the edge of it with harsh winds again, before carefully removing both of the straps.
>It's hard to steady the blade with one hand while cutting it, but you somehow manage it.
>The straps were cut off with about as much accuracy as you could manage.
>Now all that was left was to find a way to put the straps on the board of this unflammable wood.

>You sat and stared at the straps, thinking of a way put the straps on the board.
>After thinking for a couple of seconds, you thought the best way was to take the nails out of the stubs in the floor and use them in the straps.
>You move up out of your chair and head to one of the stumps.
>You kneel down and look at it to see that there are 4 small lips that come off of each side of the stump, each with a nail through them.
>You carefully grab your sword, and try to work the tip of it underneath the head of one of the nails.
>With some fiddling and moving the blade around a bit, you manage to work the sword underneath the nail head.
>With a sharp juke up the sword upwards, the nail pops up, and you manage to pull it out with your hands.
>One down, only a couple more to go.
>You do the same to the second nail, you work your blade underneath it and pull it up.
>You do this with all four nails until the stump falls over and you have all the nails you need.
>You throw the little lump of wood aside and pick your shield and straps up off the chair.
>You carefully measure where you want the straps to be, so it's not too tight or awkward to hold.
>After you find the best spots for the straps to fit, you lay the board down flat with the straps as you want them.
>You line up the nail for the first strap, and hammer it down with the hilt of your sword.
>All it took was a couple of hits and the nail easily went through the wood.
>You line up the second nail, and hammer it down with a couple of strikes to secure the first strap in place,
>After doing the same for the second strap, you now held, in your hand, a perfectly functional, hopefully fire-proof shield.
>You held it in your arms, and moved around a bit with it.
>It was a bit large and heavy, but nothing that was particularly bad.
>As you were ready to move up to the deck and your newly made shield, you had another predicament come across your path.
>How were you going to carry it?

>You looked around the small room looking for some rope or something you could hopefully use as a strap from one corner to the other so that you may carry it on your back.
>Unfortunately, no such rope was laying around the room.
>You let out a sigh of defeat and you plopped yourself back in your chair, re adjusting your armor.
>You shift the chest plate a bit, as it had become a little awkward to wear without the shoulder pad.
>That, and your arm was left exposed now, you had to remember that.
>All that was covering your arm was half of your destroyed shirt.
>Then it hit you.
>You could use the remains of your shirt as the strap for the shield.
>You quickly untie the various straps on your armor and throw it up and off your head.
>You quickly do the same with your shirt and promptly lay it across the shield to see if it would be long enough.
>Luck was in your favor, as it was just long enough to go from one corner to the other.
>But you needed two more nails.
>Nothing the little pegs in the floor couldn't fix.
>You pick up your sword and move over to another one of the pegs that still had its nails in it.
>You do as you did before, and put the tip of your sword underneath the head of the nail and lift.
>You grab both of the nails and adjust the shirt to where you want it.
>As you move the shirt around, you hear someone knock at the door.
Come in!
>The door slowly creaks open to reveal the navigator peering in.
>"The ship is ready for departure on your command, Captain." He says.
Sounds good. I just have to finish this one thing up. Untie the ropes and prep us to be dis-embarked from the dock. I'll be up in no more than a minute or two.
>"As you command, Captain." He said, bowing his head, and backing out of the room.
>You shift your attention back to the shield.
>You line the nail with the top right corner of the shield, and hammer it in with the hilt of your blade.
>After a few solid hits, you shift to the bottom left corner and do the same.

>You give the nail a couple of strikes before it is completely in the wood.
>You put the sword back in to it's sheathe and sit back to admire your work.
>It was fairly rustic, but the shield would hopefully serve the purpose it needs.
>You haul it up and throw it over yourself, having what was left of your shirt thrown across your chest.
>Carrying the shield would be a pain in the ass.
>While it was done, you wanted to hold off carrying it on you until you needed to bring it with you.
>You carefully lay it down on the floor next to the chair and make your way out of the room.
>You are greeted once more by the almost blinding sun in your eyes.
>As your eyes adjust to the bright midday sun, you see you came out not a second early, as the unicorns of the docks were using their magic to push the ship off the dock.
>You quickly walked over to the stairs leading up to the helm to see the navigator standing at the wheel.
>As he sees you her promptly hops off and lets you take over the wheel.
Mighty fine day to sail, don't you agree?
>"Very true, Captain, waves are a bit big, but nothing this beast can't handle." He said, stomping his hoof on the deck a couple of times.
Glad to hear.
>You shift your attention to the right to see Lotus's ship backing out of the dock as well.
>And even further past hers, you saw the purifiers ship backing out as well.
>You shift your head to the left and in the distance, you could see Firelance's un-mistakable ship also leaving dock.
>As your ship is back fully out of the dock, you throw your wheel to the right and begin to turn the ship.
>Lotus did the same, and soon you both were facing the north west.
I want full sails!
>You yelled to the crew, as the sails began to fall into place, one by one.
>You ship slowly started to kick forward with each sail plopping down.
>You look behind you to see Firelance's sails falling down as well, to you left to see Lotus's ship doing the same, and finally, the purifiers as well.

>As the small town slowly left sight behind you, your ships were, for the most part, lined up in a line, with Lotus at the front running interference should any enemy ships come.
>In the small time given, her crew had mad very patchwork repairs on the hull, and replaced the sails with those that were less... holey.
>Overall, for the time given, her crew, your old one, did a damn good job.
>The seas were a little rough, waves of decent size found their way to the fronts of all your ships, but nothing terrible.
>Every now and then, a wave would splash up high enough to get water on your deck.
>The crew seemed to like the refreshing sea water.
>You were on the left side of the three ships, covering one side, while the purifier covered the other.
>Seeing as Firelance lacked the cannons to engage in a sea fight, your group wanted to encircle him while he was able to launch mortars.
>And tons of them.
>As you sailed through the sea, you had a thought come across your mind.
>How were you going to command a small fleet and an army at the same time.
>You thought of a couple ways you could do it, but the best way that came to mind was parking the fleet at the tundra where you had found Applejack, and making your way to the spire you held and preparing the army.
>While they were ready to march, you would have the ships make their way to the spire as well.
Navigator, I have a question for you.
>"Ask away captain." He states.
How comfortable are you with commandeering a ship?
>"Fairly good, I've done it plenty of times in my day. Not so much recently, but I can do it."
Good, because I have a plan.
>"May I ask what it is, captain?" He asked eagerly.
We'll make landfall a bit before the spire, so i may get my army ready. When I get my army ready, I will seek you out and give the fleet the signal to move out. Then, I'll return back to my army, and move them out.
>He gives you a nod of approval.
>"And while you're gone, you want me to Captain this ship?" He asks.
Yes.

As for the assault, here's what we'll do. When nightfall comes, you will all be waiting nearby to bombard the fortress. I'll light a couple of beacons around the fort so you know where to aim. Then, when I'm clear and you're ready to fire, I'll send a massive fireball into the air. That's when you all fire.
>He lets out a mischievous laugh.
>"Quite the scheme there. I like it."
Me too, and when the bombarding needs to be stopped, I'll launch a blue fireball in the air, signalling the army itself is going in.
>"Sounds logical. Wouldn't want your own men getting killed, now would you?" He stated.
Not at all. Not Changeling. Not Pony. Nobody under my command if I can help it.
>He gives a small smile, admiring your conviction to saving your men's lives.
>But it wasn't something you were doing to impress him.
>Or others.
>You wanted as little bloodshed on your hands as possible.
>Even if you knew it would be very tough to do so.
>"Shall I let the other captains know now?" He asks.
Not now, let them know when we clue up for the evening.
>"Will do, Captain." He said, agreeing with you.
>You had told everyone before you completely left the town that you didn't want to travel at night too much, it would avoid detection.
>That, and these huge ships would be hell maneuvering around each other with no visibility.
>With the planning business taken care of, you shifted your complete focus back to the see.
>Waves crashing on your ship, keeping a vigilant eye in the distance for any possible enemy ships.
>Nothing out of the ordinary to be seen, thankfully enough.
>Nothing more than the occasional fishing ship would find their way toward your ships.
>But the changelings were crafty.
>And you needed to be one step ahead of them.

>Hour by hour passed as you and your fleet maneuvered it's way across the waves, the land keeping it's distance to the left.
>You had already passed Phillydelphia, there were a few ships out an about near the docks, but you don't think any of them even dared try and do anything to your ships.
>You passed by without incident and continued your sailing.
>Now that Phillydelphia was passed, you just had to keep a keen eye out for the small fishing town.
>While you didn't think you would make it before the nightfall, you wanted to keep an eye for it.
>But as you sailed, the sun in the distance began to fall across the sea.
>Once the sun had fallen enough to where visibility was decreasing substantially, you decided to call it a night.
CLUE UP THE SAILS.
>You shouted it as loud as you could so that the other captains could hear you.
>One by one, not only on your ship, but on the ships of the others, the sails began to curls up and the ships began to slow down.
>As the last sails come up, the ships come to a slow and steady stop.
>The various crew members of each ship toss their anchors overboard.
>You stretched your arms out, sore from the wheel steering and controlling.
Ready to call it a night?
>"Just about. Standing here makes my hooves sore." The navigator said.
Well, let's head down to the hull and get some shut eye.
>"Don't have to tell me twice." He stated, stretching his back out.
>You didn't wait for him before you walked down the staircase.
>You made your way to the hatch that led below deck and began to make you way to the other end.
>As you approach the center of the hull, you see the assorted crew members hanging around the tables and enjoying themselves.
>A few greet you like an old friend as you walk through the tables of the area.
>After a few hearty hello's you reach the end of the living area and approach the door leading to the captain's room.
>You open it up to see a single, rather ornate bed in the center of the room.

>You don't hesitate to jump up into the bed and lay your head on the pillow.
>You quickly pull the covers over you and relax every muscle in your body.
>It was nice to relax after a whole day of sailing, and before god knows what lies ahead.
>You shut your eyes, and before you even have time to reflect and think of what may happen and what has happened, you fall asleep, once more, to the land of dreams.

>You are awoken to the sharp sound of bells ringing above you.
>You slowly open your eyes, it must have been time to get the move on again.
>You sit up in your bed and stretch yourself out a little before turning around and standing up.
>You stretch your arms a little bit more while making your way to the door.
>You open it up and walk down to the main gathering area.
>Ponies were, once more hanging around and chatting with each other.
>A few warm hello's and good mornings later, you found yourself at the staircase lading back up to the deck.
>You were greeting by a rather calm, cool breeze to your face, with the clouds covering the sky overhead.
>It was a refreshing breeze, mixed with the smell of the sea.
>You could get used to this, when this was all done.
>But that was beyond your thoughts for now.
>You walked up to the stars leading to the helm.
>"Good morning captain." The navigator greets you.
Good morning. I see the seas are calm today.
>"Very much so, should make for some smooth sailing."
Agreed. Now lets get this show going. FULL SAIL, I WANT FULL SAIL.
>You shouted it do the other ships could hear.
>Ponies on the various ships repeated your order, as the ship's sails began falling in to place.
>The ships slowly began jerking forward lazily as the sails came in to place.
>And after a minute or so, the sails were in place, the ships were at full speed once more.
>Despite the clouds, visibility was fairly good, a couple of other ships littered the seas in various areas, and the land still to your left.
>You kept your eyes peeled for the small fishing village, you would reach it today, maybe some time this afternoon.
>Perhaps sooner if the weather kept up it's calmness as is.
>But no matter how long it took, you hoped to reach the tundra area by nightfall and make your way to the fort.

>The sailing was easy, and the wind in your hair gave you a feeling of freedom.
>The sea felt like home to you.
>The peril laid before you couldn't hinder the good feelings you got from riding the waves on your beast of a ship.
>It was a feeling you couldn't put to words.
>But a feeling you wouldn't want to let go of.
>A sharp breeze finds its way to your face, snapping you back to the task at hand.
>You look across the horizon and see not but the calmness of the sea with the land to the left.
>As you look across the land, in the distance, you begin to see a familiar sight.
>You couldn't believe it almost, as you hadn't been sailing for too long.
>But sure enough, the more you sailed, and the closer you looked, there it was.
>The small fishing town, just as it was not only maybe a week or more before.
>Seeing the small village made you feel happy.
>It was a marker, but more than that, seeing it still unscathed made you feel glad.
>You didn't know what the changelings would do, to their own, or to small towns like this in search of you or even those who followed you.
>As much as the small group of supporters loved you, you still weren't exactly popular with everyone else.
>You were sure that, even though Celestia was going to clean you of your 'crimes', there were still going to be others.
>Like Dash
>Who would think otherwise.
>Who would still want to see your head on a pike.
>But that didn't bother you.
>What mattered is what you were doing, was right in your eyes.
>Righting the wrong, that so desperately needed to be done.
>The small town eventually passed up on your left side, and then, began to fade behind you.
>No stops today, unfortunately.

>Moment by moment passed.
>Hour by hour.
>The scenery on the shore slowly began changing from it's grassy hills, to it's rocky, icy tundra.
>You told everyone to steer closer to the shore so that you may have a better sight of where to land the ships.
>Eventually, even the hills began to flatten themselves, into a long a stretching rocky tundra that made the coast as far as you could see.
>You decided that you were going to drop off right here.
PULL UP THE SAILS! LEAVE OUR SHIP AT HALF.
>The orders were barked from ship to ship, your ship began to slow down as did theirs.
>You threw the wheel to the left and began to make headway for the coast in the close distance.
>The other ships had come to a complete stop and anchored down as you ship began to come up close to the shore.
Bring all sails up!
>The remainder of the sails began to curl up as your ship began to slow itself.
>Slower and slower your ship became before it eventually creaked to a stop.
>The beast halted itself just off the shore.
>You turn your head over to the navigator standing next to you.
Looks like my stop is here. I'll get the army ready, I'll be back soon. Don't move the ships.
>"Will do, Captain. Anything else before you leave?"
>You take you hands off the wheel and motion for him to take you spot.
Be a good captain. That's all I ask.
>He gives you a small smile.
>"I shall try my best, Captain."
Hey, I'm not the captain any more, you are.
>You smile and point at him before walking down the stairs to the helm.
>You turn around and enter the small captain's quarters.
>You walk over to the wall where your shield had perched itself against the wall.
>You pick up the hefty shield and toss it over your shoulder, securing it on your back.
>Once it sat comfortably on your back, you walked out the door and made your way to the edge of the ship facing the shore.
>The crew gives you a loud cheer as you stand on the side railing of the ship.

>You gave one last wave to everyone on the ship, before turning around and jumping into the water.
>You touch your feet off the floor of the ocean and shoot yourself up.
>You grab a deep breath before wiping the water off your face.
>You're surprised when you feel you can plant your feet in the dirt and have it not be above your head.
>The water was only up to your shoulders, which would make it easier for you to get to the shore.
>But despite that, the water was fairly chilly, and you didn't want to stick around in the water for long.
>You trudge yourself through the water slowly but surely.
>The water also slowly declines around your body the closer you reach to the shore.
>Step by step you makes your way before eventually, the water is only up to your waist, and then your knees, making running through the water incredibly easy.
>Your feet splash in the last bit of water the shore had before you made it to solid land.
>Even though you loved the sea, it was nice to be on solid land again.
>You give yourself a good shake, making sure to get as much water off of you as you can so you aren't weighed down.
>After you get a decent bit of water off of you, you got a good look of your surroundings.
>Nothing much but tundra in all directions, but you remembered the forest that you and Nightingale traversed would be just over the horizon.
>You decided that the land wouldn't cover itself, and began trudging across the rocky terrain.
>The water made you feel significantly colder, especially since you were in a colder environment now.
>The clouds in the sky still have not left, keeping the sun from warming your bones as well.
>But hopefully walking and not paying attention to it would make the cold wear off.
>You wish you could walk fast as well, but the big shield on your bag was preventing you from doing so.
>It was like carrying an extra set of armor.
>But if it worked, and it saves your life, it's worth the struggle now.

>It wasn't long before you saw the forest that you remembered in the faint distance.
>It was quite the walk away, but seeing it reassured you that you were in the right area.
>But to make sure you made it back to the spire without getting too lost, you got an idea.
>Once you get near the forest, you'll go up the edge until you hit the small bonfire ashes that you and Applejack and Nightingale slept around.
>You knew if you reached that small makeshift fire pit, it would be easy to make it back.
>But for now your focus had stayed fixated on the forest in the distance.
>The crunching of the rocks underneath your shoes, like scratches that kept bringing your attention back to the objective at hand.
>Step after step brought the trees closer to you.
>But the more you walked, the more your back began to ache with the shield being on your back for quite some time.
>After getting within a fair distance of the forest, you manage to find a large rock to toss the shield up against and sit on for a small break.
>You sit on the rock and bend your back so it cracks a few times, releasing some of the pressure, making it feel lively again.
>You let out a sigh of relief at the back cracking, and lay yourself on the rock, looking at the cloudy sky.
>Time was of the essence, but for now, you think a little break wouldn't kill you.
>You laid down, and watch the clouds slowly move overhead.
>The breeze was less of that than it was on the ocean, which was nice, as you had started to warm up.
>You didn't want to sit around too long, but long enough so that your back wasn't aching as much any more.
>Once the pressure had subsided, it was back up on your feet with you.
>You slung the shield over your shoulder, and began to trudge your way to the forest once more.
>Hopefully you would reach the edge of it before your back began to hurt again.

>Step by step brought you closer to forest, and soon enough you could see the individual trees that made it up.
>After you came close to the forest, you began to follow along the length of it.
>The trees were tall and fairly scattered as you remembered it.
>But you couldn't get distracted by that, you had to keep an eye out for the small pile of ashes and logs to mark your way.
>You kept sweeping the horizon for anything that you could remember, careful not to have your mind wander.
>But it was hard, as there was nothing but gray and rocks in all directions.
>Although it felt relaxing, a change of atmosphere wouldn't hurt.
>You keep scouring the landscape, when you suddenly found something that caught your eye, something standing out on the bland rocky surface.
>It almost seemed like a small pile of logs, but yo couldn't be sure until you got closer.
>You picked up the pace, jogging as fast as you could without having the shield hitting your back too hard.
>The crunching of the rocks under your feet started to give you a headache, almost like nails on a chalkboard by now.
>But you tried to shake off the head ache and you reached closer to the thing in the distance.
>You could now make out what was a small pile of logs and sticks, most likely the same ones you used.
>As it came up in the close distance you saw something closer to it.
>A small pile of burnt ashes and half burnt logs sat near the small pile.
>This was it.
>As you approached next to the fire, you even remember the rocks you guys had sat upon.
>It was a big relief off your shoulders to know you were heading in the right direction.
>Now all that was left was to head into the forest and find your fort.
>And hopefully you could do it before the sun fell.
>And if you did it before the sun fell, you hoped you could attack before the night ended that same evening.

>All that was left was the trek through the forest.
>After a short break, sitting near the extinguished fire, you began to head into the forest, trying to follow trees and landmarks that remembered on your walk.
>The forest was a nice change of atmosphere as well, the greenery and assorted leaves and grass on the ground made it a lot easier on your eyes.
>And the lack of rocks crunching under your feet was a plus too.
>So far you've followed the path you took as good as you can.
>Walking past tree after tree, up and down short inclines.
>As you started walking, you felt a drip on your head.
>Maybe it was some moisture on one of the trees?
>You look up to the sky, as another drop finds it was on to your cheek.
>You sure hoped it wasn't going to rain...
>But the more you walked, and the more you moved on, the more frequent the drops came.
>Until they started to form into a small drizzle.
>And just when you were almost completely dry too.
>You let out a sigh and try to start walking fast through the forest.
>Not that keeping as much rain off of you would matter, as you were most likely going to be outside until this was all over.
>But you wanted to move fast anyways, trying hard not to trip and slip over wet leaves that lined the ground.
>It was harder than it sounds, especially with the heavy shield on your back.
>You had to switch your vision from the ground to the terrain in front of you, careful not to trip, and careful to hopefully not miss any clearings that may lead to the Spire.
>Eventually, the rain started to become even harder, becoming a steady rain now.
>Even though you were moving faster in hopes of reaching the Citadel sooner, you were going to get soaked either way.
>Seeing that defeat, you sit down to catch your breath underneath a somewhat dry tree.
>You lay the shield down against the tree and you sit yourself next to it.
>You make a mental note of which direction you needed to go, and started to catch your breath again.

>A few minutes of puffing and forehead wiping later, and you managed to climb yourself back up to your feet again.
>Your legs were beginning to tire, but you tried your best to shrug it off.
>You began your trek again, on the wet leaves that litter the ground of the forest.
>You kept careful footing and a watchful eye in the distance of the forest.
>The rain kept finding it's way to your face, which was bothersome wiping it off over and over again.
>As you went to wipe it for what felt like the hundredth time, you see something ahead of you.
>A clearing.
>Finally, the moment you've been waiting since you got off the boat.
>You begin to run as fast as possible to the clearing in the short distance.
>And it wasn't a moment too soon, the skies were beginning to darken, night was soon to come.
>You run past the last few trees and find yourself in the open, on the bottom of a small hill.
>And beyond the hill, the fort.
>You kept up your pace and ran towards it.
>You didn't care that your legs were aching, or how tired you were.
>You hit the top of the hill and run a short ways, before you find yourself at the gate of the citadel.
Hey, anyone operating the gate?
>You look up to see a changeling peer over the gate.
>"Hey, it's the human, open up the gate!" One of them yell.
>Slowly the gate is lifted up just enough so that you can walk inside.
>You duck down under the gate and get back up as it slams down behind you.

>You weren't entirely sure where Nightingale or the others were, but you would bet they were in Avarice's old corridors.
>You continue your walk forward toward the citadel entrance.
>The few changelings walking around in the rain gave a variety of looks at you, those of fear, and some of those as amazement.
>None of them particularly interested you, you were soaked and just wanted out of the cold rain.
>You climb up the flight of stairs and into the stone citadel where you finally have cover from the rain.
>Your hair was still dripping wet and well as your armor and your pants.
>You shake as little bit to get a bit of the moisture out and continue around the circle of the spire.
>You take the left and keep walking around until you reach the door you remembered was the one to Avarice's corridor.
>You climb the small set of steps once again before reaching the small entryway that was left open.
>Inside yo saw all sorts of assorted tables and chair, with papers strewn about the place, almost like a makeshift workplace.
>On one of the chairs next to one of the tables, you saw a familiar little changeling.
Knock knock, I'm home.
>He looks up and over at you and gets a huge stupid smile on his face
>"Sir Anon!" He yells, jumping out of his chair and running over to you and hugging your legs.
What's going on Night?
>"Same old, maintaining the fort, nothing out of the usual."
Sounds fun, but the assault is going to be soon, and I want every able-bodied changeling ready to fight in a half hour, can you do that nightingale?
>"I'll get right on it!" He says, giving you a firm salute.
One more thing, bring me the fastest changeling pegasi you can. I have a message that needs sending.
>"I know exactly who to talk to! I'll get right on it!" He says, running past and behind you and down the stairs.
>He sure had a lot of spunk in him.

>You shifted you attention to the old man and you jail mate sitting on chairs on separate desks on either side of nightingale's.
How goes it you two?
>The prophet sits back in his chair and looks over to you.
>"It's going pretty well. Been helping manage this place while you were gone. I've also been learning quite a bit of the gemstones being mined underneath here."
You truly are a seeker of knowledge, aren't you?
>"By nature." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
Well, we're planing an assault on the keep to the north, you're daughter will be joining us. I was wondering if you wanted to join.
>A small smile found it's way to his lips.
>"I would love to, as long as you won't make me fight. These old bones aren't as strong as they used to be." He said, letting out a small laugh.
I won't don't worry.
>You shift your sight over to you jail mate.
And what of you? How goes things.
>He shrugs s little.
>"About as good as they could be. Could be worse. Nopony seems to mind me and you being in charge, probably because it's what Avarice told them. But myself? I'm just glad I'm not being worked to the core any more."
I can see why things would look up after going through that. I don't believe you ever told me, how long were you there?
>He rolls his eyes around a bit to think.
>"I didn't necessarily keep track, but I'd reckon about 3 months or so. Ponies have been there for years from what I've heard."
>As he finishes his sentence, you hear hoofsteps making their way hastily up the stairs behind you.
>You look behind you to see Nightingale with a Pegasus changeling.
>"I brought you our fastest flier here, Anon." He says quickly, as he begins to catch his breath.
>"I'm the fastest flier you'll ever see, what is it you need doing?" He asks eagerly.
>You take in a deep breath.
There's a collection of 4 ships to the south-east of here. They're under my command, I need you to get there as fast as you can and let them know that the assault is ready.

>"I get on that as fast as I can!" He says, saluting you before running back down the stairs.
>"I've let the guard captain know. He's taking every last possible body that we don't need here over to help the assault. He said there would be about 100 or so joining us." Nightingale said.
Not the most, but we have the firepower from the sea to make up for it.
>"Tell me, Anon, what exactly is that you have on your back?" He asked curiously.
>You had almost forgot you have that shield on your back.
It's a flame-proof shield I made. Seeing as we're going to be fighting an embodiment of flame, I thought a shield to combat it would be something i would need.
>"Smart thinking there, who knows what kind of power he has at his hooftips." He says, a little frightened.
I'm sure whatever it is, I'll be able to take him down.
>"You mean we. I want to go with you during the fight." Nightingale said boldly.
>He certainly got a lot more braver since the last time you were with him.
As much as I appreciate it Nightingale, it's something I have to do by myself.
>He gets a sad look on his face.
>"You sure boss?" He asks.
I'm sure. I appreciate it, but it's something I must finish alone.
>"I understand. While the captain gathers the men, is there anything you need of me?" He asks, trying to make him feel useful in the downtime.
>You didn't think of anything off the top of your head, but there was something you were wondering would work.
Tell me, is it possible for you to turn into just a larger version of yourself, one that i may be able to ride?
>He gives you an odd look.
>"An odd request, but I certainly can see."

>A black mist begins to form around Nightingale, and as soon as it came, it was gone, leaving a much larger version of himself before you, easily up to your height.
>"Go ahead, hop on my back, let's see if I can carry you!" He says eager, crouching down.
>You walk over and pull yourself up on his back like you would a horse, and he raises himself up slowly.
>"You're heavier than you look, that's for sure!" He quips.
If i'm too heavy I can get off.
>"Oh no, it's fine, as a matter of fact, this is kind of cool." He says with a smile on his face.
>He trots around a bit, getting a feel of you on his back.
>You have to lean yourself forward a bit so that you don't fall off.
>"I like this! We should do this on our way to the enemy citadel!" He exclaimed.
>Hell, you weren't going to argue, less strain on your back from the shield.
Sure thing, as long as it doesn't hurt you.
>"Not at all!" Nightingale said, bringing his trot to a stop.
>You hopped off of him, allowing him to envelope himself in the black mist and return back to his normal size.
I was only curious because back where I'm from, where have giant versions of you guys that we ride around, and it's been a while since I'be done that, wanted to see if it was possible with anyone here.
>Nightingale seems intrigued.
>"Oh really? I can see why they do it, they must love it!" He says.
I'm not entirely sure, they don't speak like you guys unfortunately.
>"So they're just like regular animals?" He asks, his curiosity un-sated.
More or less.
>"That's kind of cool." He says.
>"I must say Anon, I am quite curious of your home world as well, perhaps after the fight you can tell me more about it." The prophet speaks up.
I most certainly will, I'm sure there is much we can learn from each other's worlds, similarities and differences.
>The prophet was about to speak up when you heard hoofsteps coming from the stairs once more.
>You waited for a couple seconds to see a changeling show his face.

>He walked past the top of the stairs and bowed down before you before raising his head again to speak.
>"The army is ready at you command human, just give the order, and we'll march out." He says in his stern and raspy voice.
Thank you very much. How's about we go see our army nightingale?
>"I'd love to!" He exclaims.
Alright, we'll follow right behind you captain, lead the way.
>"Very well." He said, cowing his head down once more before backing up and making his way to the stairs.
>You and nightingale slowly followed behind the guard captain.
>You walked down the set of stairs and around the circle that encompassed the inside of the spire.
>You walk halfway around before you reach the second staircase leading to the outside.
>You look out to see the rain hasn't given in yet, but where there was no changelings before, now stood quite the expansive army of them
>The three of you reach the bottom of the stairs and look at the army of changelings standing still and in formation.
>Assorted swords, bows and arrows, and all sorts of other odd and mystical things were wielded by them.
>"Quite the army, huh?" You hear a voice say from behind you.
>You turn around to see the prophet taking the last few steps off the staircase.
I'd say so. I'm more than happy to have such a force.
>"It certainly is a great power at your hands," He said.
>He shifted his sight over to you before drawing in a large breath.
>"Listen Anon, I never properly thanked you for helping me before you left. Your words of encouragement of seeing my daughter once more gave me the strength to endure my injuries. I can't thank you enough."
>You let a small smile find it's way to your face.
I'm just glad I can help.
>You drew in a big breath to speak, but were interrupted by hoofsteps rapidly running toward you.
>You turn back around to see the Pegasus changeling approaching, trying to slow himself down from the flight.
>He manages to bring himself to stop in front of you.
What news do you bring?

>"Good news, the fleet is moving toward the spire, they said once they make sight of it and come in range, they'll clue up and wait for your signal for the bombardment, which I already assume you've told them what the signal was." He says.
I have. So, our navy is on the move, there is little light left to burn, I say we get this show on the road. Nightingale, you can make yourself larger again. As for you, Pagasus, I thank you for the help, you can fly ahead over us and let us know of any unusual activity.
>"Will do, Anon!" He said, giving a salute before jolting himself back up in to the air.
>Nightingale engulfed himself in the dark mist once again, and plopped back down as a larger version of himself, kneeling, waiting for you to hop on his back.
>You walk over and lazily fling yourself on to his back.
>Once you steady yourself, Nightingale raises himself off the ground.
Captain, Prophet, you both can travel beside me. Give the order to march captain.
>He nods at you before turning to face the army.
>"ATTENTION!' He yells, all the changelings stomp their hooves in unison.
>"TURN" He yells, as the army turns itself 180 degrees and faces itself to the gate which was left wide open.
>"MARCH" He barks, the changelings beginning their walk.
>The Guard captain, the prophet, and yourself positioned yourselves in the back, following the army.
Do they know where we are headed?
>"They know exactly where we're going, Anon." The Captain says with stern optimism.
Very well.
>You nod to him before turning your focus in front of you.
>Slowly, line by line the army marches itself through the gate.
>Eventually, the army and you and your partners make it to the other side of the gate, before it's slammed shut behind you.
>"TURN" He yells, as the army slowly begins to shift it's course to the left and into the forest to the north-east of the Spire.
>This was it.
>The army was marching right to the lion's den.
>All that was left now was to close the distance.

>The army began to march and weave itself through the the forest.
>The rhythmic stomping of the hooves in the dirt was almost relaxing.
>It was either that, or the fact you didn't have to walk.
>Either way, a good easy feeling before the assault would surely do you good.
You sure it doesn't hurt your back with me on it?
>"Not at all!" Nightingale replies.
Just making sure, I don't want to make you feel like I'm making you do this.
>"Oh no, I love this! It's cool being able to have such a powerful hero on my back!" He said happily.
>Hero.
>That was a first.
>Sure you prided yourself in you stature and height.
>Maybe even a bit in your skills.
>But a hero?
>A hero wouldn't run from a mob.
>A hero would be able to defend everyone.
>And you weren't that.
>Just a human who has had his turn of back luck.
>You're jolted back from your daydreaming to the ear-imploding yell of the guard Captain.
>"TURN" He yells.
>The army begins yo sway slightly to the right
>"We're coming up on the Citadel, sir. I recommend you send someone to let your ships know." The captain states.
Will do.
>You put your hand to your mouth and let out a loud whistle.
>You wait a few moments, looking up above the canopy of the forest.
>You see the changeling figure flying over head come closer and closer to the treeline.
>Finally he shoots down through the leaves and hits the ground next to you.
>He was practically soaking wet from the rain.
>"You call me?" He asks.
Yes, go signal the ships we are ready. Let me know when they are in position so I can set the markers.
>"Will do!" He said, before rocketing back up through the trees.
>Nightingale was right, he was pretty fast.
>You shift your attention in front of you, and look past the army of changelings.
>There was a clearing leading up a gradual hill.
>And beyond the hill, the fort, that sit on the top of a cliff, over looking an the ocean.
Order your men to stop just before the tree line.
>"Will do. HALT AT THE TREE LINE" He shouts.

>The army's trudge slows and slows before eventually coming to a stop near the tree line.
>The sky had darkened substantially, leaving very little light to see.
>On top of that, the rain wasn't helping..
>"The army is ready to move in, sir, when the time is right."
Very well. I better set the markers.
>"Be careful, sir, it is not quite entirely dark. Make sure to approach un-noticed, and put the beacons where they will not be easily seen."
Will do.
>Easier said than done.
>Not only did they have to be in sight of the ships, but they also had to be out of sight of the enemy.
>But first you had to think of what to use for the beacons.
>After some short thought, you decided, even in the rain, that some sort of fire would be the best way.
>But you couldn't do it with magic, as they might notice you a hell of a lot easier.
>Thinking of what to do, there was only one thing that stood out in your mind that would work.
>You climb off of Nightingale and start to untie your cape.
>Nightingale engulfs himself in a black shroud before plopping back on the dirt as his normal size.
>You throw the cape over your shield and grab a small rock that stood by your feet.
>"What are you planning, Sir anon?" Nightingale asked eagerly.
I'm going to set my whole cape alite and throw it at the most crucial part of their base, the gate.
>He gives you a concerned look.
>"That's not the most subtle or safe way to go about that Anon, are you sure it would work?"
>You hesitate for a moment.
Well, there's only one way to find out, now is there.
>You dawn a hearty smile of assurance.
>"You sure are a brave one, that's for sure!" He says happily.
Not brave necessarily, just passionately seeking justice is all.

>It was only moments later the fast flying Changeling came back through the top of the trees.
>You landed beside you with a heavy thud, trying to slow himself down.
>"The fleet is moving in and should be ready to fire whenever you want."
Thank you, Your efforts are much appreciated.
>"It's nothing, flying is what I do!" He gloats.
>You turn away from him and faced the hill i front of you, stone in hand.
>It was time.
I'll be back.
>You take your cape off the shield and lay the shield on the ground.
>You didn't want it to weigh you down during this.
>You keep the cape on your shoulders, and ready yourself to run.
Wish me luck.
>You give the trio one last wave as you being to run through the army.
>They stand still, only giving you odd looks as you run straight through their ranks.
>As you pass the last line, you break off of the forest and find yourself at the bottom of the small hill.
>You kept up your pace, running as fast as possible toward the citadel without trying to provoke much attention.
>As you made your way up the hill, you gazed off to your left out on to the ocean.
>You saw only the faint flickers of lanterns on the ships in the distance.
>They were close enough to fire when you so willed it.
>You pushed up and up toward the hill, the citadel coming closer in reach.
>You don't believe you've been spotted yet. no noise or anybody coming from the citadel.
>As you crest the hill, you jump and slide along the wet grass just enough to knock yourself into the wall that surrounded the citadel.
>Now you had to light your cloak.
>You crouched, making sure to stay firmly against the wall in order to remain unseen.
>The gate was only a couple of yards away which would make it easy to toss.
>You pull your sword out slowly, as not to make too much noise doing so.
>You lay the moist cape on the ground and dry out a small area of it as best as you can.

>You hover over it to try and keep it from getting any more wet, and begin to strike the rock against your sword to create sparks.
>Strike after strike, sparks fly on to the cape.
>Nothing but a little bit of smoke.
>Between the cold and your hands going numb, it was starting to aggravate you.
>You give the sword a couple of firm strikes, creating quite the bit of sparks.
>This was enough to spark a small flame on the cape, but by no means enough to keep one going.
>As much as you hated to do it, you had to use magic.
>You readied yourself on your feet while still crouching to ensure you could run away as fast as possible.
>You concentrate, and begin to condense the air around the cape.
>The fire slowly begins to engulf the cape, growing more and more violent with each passing second.
>Eventually the fire reaches a big enough point to where you needed to chuck it before you yourself become covered in flames.
>Before you pick it up to throw it, you gather a small bit of fire from the cape with your magic, and hover it in the palm of your hands.
>You put your sword in your sheathe with the other hand, and grab one of the small portions of the cape that wasn't engulfed in flames.
>And with one, swift motion, you give the cape a mighty chuck to the gate and begin to haul off into the distance.
>As you begin to run away from the Citadel,. you condense the air around the fireball in your palm to create a massive fireball the size of your head.
>You then pull your arm and and throw it up as hard as you can to send the flame s high into the air as possible.
>You return your focus to your sprinting, only to see several magic bolts fly right past your head.
>They weren't happy.
>You threw yourself back so that you were sliding down the hill, making it harder for them to hit you.
>Bolts upon bolts of who knows what kind of energy whizzed passed you.
>And as you began to reach the bottom of the hill and slow down, you use your moment to throw yourself on your feet.

>The bolts ceased around you, as you began to sprint the rest of the short way to the forest.
>You're greeted by smiles and waves of approval, but no noise.
>There was no room to let them know an entire army was here.
>You lean yourself forward and begin to catch your breath, and as you do so, another sound begins to find itself to your ear drums.
>Distant pops. And lots of them.
>You felt a smile come to your face.
>All you had to do was wait for the fireworks.
>You turned around and began to stare at the Citadel.
>And just in time, as the first explosion finds itself on the wall facing the ocean.
>It blows an enormous chunk out of it, sending debris into the ocean.
>Then another right in from of the wall next to the gate.
>And then, one that lands, right on the middle of the gate.
>The explosion snaps the section of the wall above the gate right down the middle, creating a pile of rubble and causing the steel gate to fall over on top of it.
>Explosion after explosion found it's way to sections of the wall, blowing chunks after chunks out of it.
>Fires were beginning to form where the mortars had hit as well.
>The rain was letting up, but only slightly, maybe even just enough to keep the fires going.
>As countless rounds pound their way into the base, you decide that it was time to move in.
>You take the residual magic energy from your hand and begin to condense the air and create a small fire.
PREPARE TO CHARGE ON MY COMMAND
>You grow the fireball bigger and bigger in your palm, enough so that if you threw it, the ships would see it.
>As the countless rounds continue to hit the Fort, you run out past the trees.
>You pull your arm back and throw it as high into the air as you possibly can.
>You run back into the woods before what was left of what was in there decided to fire at you.
>The distant pops slow down to a stop.
>You pull your head up and face the army.
>You draw your sword high, and point it at the Spire.
CCCHHHAARRRGGEEEE!!!

>At the end of your shout, the army of changelings behind you begin to bold forward in a ravenous horde.
>Dozens upon dozens run around and past you, as you hold your stance, pointing your sword toward the spire.
>They break out of the forest, just barely maintaining their ranks.
>The last of the changelings run past you, and shortly behind them, your friends take up beside you.
>"I brought your shield, Anon, shall we take up the fight ourselves?" Nightingale asks eagerly, taking the shield off his back and laying on the ground next to you.
Of course, there is no greater honor than fighting by your own soldiers.
>You pick the shield up and put your left arm in the straps and hold it.
Let us go, nightingale, will you join us Captain?
>He shakes his head.
>"I am too old for combat, I won't let my potential death get in the way of our victory." He said firmly.
Very well then.
>You nod your head and shift your focus back to the hill.
>You ready your legs, and begin to run to the edge of the forest, nightingale right by your side.
>You run the short distance and break through the forest line and look up to see the army of changelings at your command rushing through the opening at the gate.
>Several fires scatter their way around the wall and on the spire itself.
>The fort was already half in ruin from the mortars.
>You kept your pace as you ran up the gradual incline, the sound of yells and clinging metal drew ever closer.
>"Sounds like one hell of a fight!" Nightingale says, almost seeming a little worried now.
That's why we need to be there, to help however possible.
>You kept your pace up until you broke the crest of the hill, right behind the last group of changelings climbing over the gate's rubble.
>You slowed down and took your spot behind the slow moving group.
>The yells and clanging metal were now very audible.
>Slowly but surely the group pushed until you and Nightingale found yourself climbing up and through rubble.

>The rubble crumbled and moved underneath your feet, making it a rough climb.
>But as the group slowly moved, you found yourself at the top of the rubble pile.
>You peer out into the expansive courtyard to see the scattered fights and groups going at each other's throat.
>The group you were behind was pushing back a particularly large group of changelings that made their way to the gate.
>The changelings under your command kept pushing each other so that the maximum amount of force could be put on their line.
>One by one of their soldier fell to the trample of the group in front of you.
>You decided to wait on the top of the rubble pile, and do what you have done several times before.
>Instill so much fear into their heads that the fighting will cease.
>As the group in front of you finishes their push off the rubble and into the courtyard to assist their fellow soldiers, you began to channel your magical energy.
Get off this rubble pile Nightingale, it's going to get ugly!
>He didn't hesitate before running into the courtyard and off the rubble pile right behind the group.
>And not a moment too soon.
>Rock by rock, the rubble began to lift around you and attach themselves to your body
>Rock by rock piled on top of them before you became twice as tall as you were before, covered in rocks like a rock golem that you had full control over.
>Once the last of the rocks found their way to you, you lift your right leg and crash it down in front of your for intimidation.
>The force shakes the ground so hard, nearby changelings lose their footing.
>You let out a loud roar before taking small step after small step, staying right behind the group.
>You could see the occasional changeling begin to run back to the random buildings that scattered the outside perimeter of the courtyard.
>But it wasn't enough to deter all of the them.
>You had to set and example.
>You see a small group of your soldiers fighting off about 7 or 8 of the enemy.

>You raise your right arm, and send it crashing to the ground.
>The ground shakes violently, a small tremor making it's way to the small group of enemies.
>The shakes begin to slightly subside, before a rock pillar shoots up in the middle of the group of enemies.
>A couple of the changelings are sent flying into the air, and a few others are caught off guard.
>After that, display, plenty others were beginning to run now.
>Perfect.
>The small group you followed through the rubble had dispersed, allowing you to trudge right to the main entrance of the citadel.
>Step by step, the ground shuddered underneath you.
>The fighting had almost completely ceased, the changelings under your command that weren't were lined up of either side of you, watching in awe.
>Some even bowing out of respect.
>You make the last few steps, before you are faced with a rather ornate door about the height of you and your golem.
>You bring your right arm backward underhanded, and give the door a hard sucker punch.
>The force was enough to bend the door significantly.
>You pull your arm back for another swing.
>As you begin to bring your arm into the entrance once more, it explodes open, sending door pieces and scrap metal flying, tearing your golem apart from around you.
>The rocks and random assorted metal scraps making your golem up fell around you, until all that remained was you, standing on your pile.
>You shake the dust off your face, and look up.
>Before you, stood an enormous changeling in the doorway.
>His eyes were made entirely of flame, with dark black pupils at it's center.
>You take a few steps back, surprised at the sigh before you.
>He opens his mouth wide open, and begins to gather fire in his mouth.
>You realize what he's doing, and you quickly raise your shield in front of you.
>As soon as the shield covers your body, you feel the heat hit the shield Like a tidal wave.

>The heat is almost too much for you to endure, even though the flames never hit your flesh.
>It felt like you were in an oven, but you held tight and kept your shield raised against the fire breathing monster in front of you.
>You do nothing but hold your strength and stare at the back of your shield.
>As you hold and hold, you felt your arm beginning to sear a little.
>You grit your teeth at the pain, and look down.
>The nails you had put into the shield had been heated up to the point where they were bright orange and setting fire to the leather straps.
>The fire grew bigger and bigger on your arm, searing your flesh.
>You let out a yell of pure pain, you had to stop this.
>Without thinking, you use your magic to pick up a rock off the ground and hurt it in front of you.
>You do this several times, hopelessly hurling rocks in front of you as your arm begins to burn into a pitch black.
>Just when you think, you were going to give up, the flames stop, and you throw the shield off your arm..
>You topple over in pain, and look at your arm.
>Two fried, black streaks down your forearm where the straps were.
>You let out another scream of pain, wishing it would go away.
>But your scream was cut short, as you feel the enormous changeling plow his head into yours, knocking you back and making you roll a bit.
>The blow caught you so off guard, you almost didn't realize what happened.
>You laid there on the ground, facing up into the rain, the water finding itself to random parts of your face.
>And then, your face is met with that of your enemy.
>He puts his hooves on your arms and pins you down.
>You can't move no matter how hard you try.
>He gives a large grin, staring into your soul.
>He lets out a short chuckle, before charging the flame in his mouth again.
>This was going to be the end.
>The flame in his mouth grew brighter and hotter by the second.
>He pulls his head back, and gets ready to unleash the fire.
>"NNOOOOOO!"

>You hear a familiar voice yell in the short distance.
>The enormous changeling if caught slightly off guard, and looks over to his right.
>His eyes jolt open, as you see another smaller changeling headbutt into his side.
>The fore stops the flames in his mouth, and knocks him over.
>You can hear struggling, and decide to act quick.
>You scramble yourself to your feet as fast as you can.
>You hastily pull the sword out, leaving your left arm to limp lifelessly from your body.
>You look over and just barely catch a glimpse of what was happening.
>And you could finally make out who the other changeling was.
>It was Nightingale!
>But what happened next sent shivers down your spine.
>The large changeling uses his hind legs and kicks Nightingale off of him.
>And not only a split second later, while Nightingale was still in the air, he spits out a heavy fireball, that catches him right in the chest.
>You didn't have time to think, only to act.
>You bring the sword up, and jump over to the large changeling.
>And, with all the force you had in every fiber of your being, you bring the sword down, as fast as possible, right on to the beast's neck.
>The force is just enough to go all the way through his neck, leaving a lifeless head rolling down a small pile of rubble.
>And as the head rolls down, it slowly begins to crumble into dust.
>You look back over at the body, and the same thing was happening.
>His body began to crash and fall, like ashes of a cigarette into nothing but a pile of dust.
>He was dead, but not at a cost.
>You look over to your left, and see a pair of changelings huddling over your friend.
Nightingale!
>You drop your sword and stagger over the rubble as fast as you can.
>You can hardly move your left arm to balance yourself, and trip over a couple of rocks in your path.
>You climb down over the last bit of rubble and fall down beside your friend.
>You can't bring words to your mouth to speak.
>He lay there, struggling to breathe.

>He could barely keep his eyes open, blinking them rapidly.
>He let out a sharp cough, that was labored and painful.
>You didn't have much time.
W-W-Why would you... how.. why?-
>He shushes you with what little breath he has.
>I..saved... your life friend..." He barely manages to sputter.
You didn't have to do this! You're not going to make it!
>The water in your eyes began to build up and stream down your face, undecipherable from the rain that had already found it's spot on your head.
>"You... gave me... more than...I could ever ask for. A friend... and... that...-"
>He lets out another labored cough, before taking in a sharp breathe.
That what?
>"To give... so... much... to he who has... so little... my life is only a small favor..... in......return......"
>The last word slips from his mouth, as his eyes close.
No! You can't do this! NO! i WON'T LET YOU DIE!
>You screams and pleas could not change a thing.
>You close your eyes and begin to weep uncontrollably.
>Your breathing becomes staggered and you can't even tell up from down any more.
>You had lost one of the closest things to you since your journey began.
>You didn't want it to happen like this.
>Justice, revenge, all fulfilled, but at the price of what?
.You draw in a deep breath, and wipe the tears from your eyes.
>You open them up to see only white around you.
>And a short distance away, stood a human.
>He wore a full military outfit, and he had a look of sorrow on his face as he looked upon you.

>"There's noting you can so... he's dead..." He murmurs to you.
>You can't think of words to say, only thoughts and feeling left entwined in your head and chest.
>He lets out a soft sigh, before walking over to you, and putting his hand out to you.
>"Come on man, let's get you up. We need to keep moving."
>You hesitantly put your right hand on to his.
>You look up and see him give a small smile to you, before his figure begins to decay and fade into dust, flowing in the wind.
>Particle by particle his body drift away, until the very last part of him was no more.
>And as soon as the last part of him faded, you were slammed into your body again.
>You were dizzy, and you couldn't see anything until you shook your head a bit.
>You were greeted by the victorious screams of your allies and soldiers.
>And what lay before you, was a pile of nothing but ash.
>He was gone.
>The rain had stopped entirely, making you wonder just how long you were out for.
>It couldn't have been long if people were still cheering screams of victory.
>But you, you just stood there and stared at his ashes.
>You couldn't believe he was gone.
>Another person out of your life that you could have saved.
>But you weren't going to let him go, without a proper burial that he would have wanted.
>Not this time.

>You wipe the last few tears from your eyes, and raise your left arm to your right shoulder pad.
>You begin to untie the straps underneath your shoulder pad with your mangled arm.
>It's almost painful to do it, but for your friend, anything.
>After some uncomfortable fiddling with the straps, the shoulder pad finally comes off, and falls beside you.
>You put it up with your left hand, and hold the pad next to the ashes.
>With your right hand, you begin to sweep them into the shoulder pad, bit by bit.
>There was surprisingly very little ashes, despite Nightingale being your average sized changeling.
>Just enough to fill your shoulder pad as much as it could go.
>You hold it as steady as your shaky and burnt arm would let you, and bring it to your right hand, where you could hold it a lot steadier.
>You slowly bring yourself to your feet, and look over to the gaping entrance at the front of the fort.
>Changelings throughout the fort under your command were shouting and cheering for you.
>But this was no victory.
>Not to you, and not at the cost of your friend.
>But you half-assed a smile and waved with your charred arm.
>And through a small group of the changelings, emerged the guard Captain and the prophet.
>"Congratulations, Anon. Victory is yours today." The captain says with a firm smile.
Yes... but not at a cost.
>You motion your head over for them to look at the shoulder pad full of ashes you held in your right hand.
>A look of sadness befalls the both of their faces.
>"I am... sorry for your loss." The Prophet says, he too also grieving by the looks of it.
It's okay, you couldn't have done anything.
>He takes a deep breath in and lets out a large sigh.
>"I know... but it still hurts to lose someone so close to everyone of the fort." He says sadly.
>A short silence falls between you two.
>"Well, I better get to a head count of these men, I need to know who made it and who didn't. I'll leave you two alone. Once again, congratulations, Anon."

>He nods his head, and walk away from the two of you.
>The prophets gives you a saddening look.
>This was a time to grieve, indeed, but you had an idea that may, at the very least, ease his spirits.
Well... how's about we go see your daughter, Prophet?
>The sadness on his face slowly turned back into a smile.
>"I would love to. But isn't she on a ship out there?" He asks curiously.
I can tell you, knowing her, she's heading to shore right now to see if I made it okay. She's always been attached to me.
>You both laugh a bit.
>"Well then, let's go meet her there!" He said, turning to his left and heading to the gaping hole in the citadel's wall.
>You gave the ashes in your hands one last hard look, and began to follow him.
>You both walked to the open entrance, and looked out to sea.
>And sure enough, you could see a set of lanterns in the sea breaking off and heading to shore.
>The cliff came to an end a short ways downward through the ocean.
Shall we follow the cliff until we reach the sea level?
>"But of course, let us not waster any time!" He said, before turning to the forest and jolting off.
>Before you followed him, you stared out to the ocean for a few seconds.
>You saw a little bit of orange begin to peak itself over the calm sea.
>The sun was rising soon.
>Maybe then you could dry yourself off from this cold, damp armor.

>You turned back to the forest to see the prophet had already gotten a good lead on you.
>You began to run up behind him and try to catch up, careful not to spill Nightingale's ashes.
>After you ran a short ways down the hill , you hit the forest and began to run and weave your way through the the trees, trying to keep up with the Prophet.
>For an older pony, he sure was able to run pretty fast.
>The slight incline never ceased, making it hard to keep yourself from going too fast and spilling the ashes.
>Every so often, you would look to your left and out on to the ocean through the few trees that would block your vision.
>With every step the ocean grew closer and closer to your level.
>As you turn your attention back in front of you, you are caught off guard to see yourself break into a clearing in the trees.
>The forest was clear leading all the way down the gradual incline to the ocean, which was not much farther down at all.
>The ship in the distance was closing in fast as well, and as it came closer, you began to make out the sails, and the body of the ship, as well as the patchwork repairs up and down the hull.
>Yup, that was lotus's ship alright.

>A few more minutes of running later, you and the Prophet found yourself at level with the sea.
>And not a moment too soon.
>As you and him reached the beach that ran up the coast as far as you could see, you came upon the ship that already had plastered itself up on the coast with it's ramp leading into the water a few feet from the shore.
>The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, making your surroundings visible now.
>The water was as calm as you remembered it when you had left your ship, not only half a day before.
>You shift your focus on to the ship, and up past the rails, where you see a blue mare making her way across the deck.
>She was trotting pretty fast, she must have been eager to hear of how it went.
>She appeared past the railing and walked down the ramp and into the water.
>She began to run towards, splashing water all around her, with an enormous smile on her face.
>She slams into you, giving you the biggest pony hug you could ever imagine.
>"It was great! Everything went perfect!" She said excitedly, before backing off from you and looking up at you.
Well, almost perfect...
>You shift your sight over to the shoulder pad you held in your right hand.
>"What's that?" She asked curiously.
>You had forgot, she never met Nightingale.
>You draw in a steady breathe.
Just a friend who didn't make it.
>A small frown made it's way to her face.
>"I'm sorry to hear Anon." She says sadly, putter her ears behind her head.
But... it is as much of a time to celebrate as it is to grieve. I have someone here I would like you to meet.
>You put your hands out and motion her to look over at the Prophet.
>Her eyes grow wide, and her mouth drops.
>"I-Is that who I think it is?" She asks in a hushed tone.
>The Prophet had an enormous smile come across his face, as tears of happiness began to well up in his eyes.
>"Yes... It's me, my little bugaboo." He said, his smile nearly ripping off his face.

>Lotus herself began to grow an enormous, stupid smile on her face, and even a few tears began to show up in her eyes before she threw herself at the Prophet and gave him the second largest pony hug you had ever seen.
>"It is you..." She said, her words muffled into his shoulder.
>He began to pet her mane a little, it was as if it was a moment he had waited centuries for.
>"I am, everything is alright now." He said, before Lotus broke off from him and the both looked at each other, tears in their eyes and smiles wider than you had ever seen.
>"Come on! We have to get heading back to the other ships! They don't want to stick around too long, let's go, I want you guys to come with me!" She said, running back to the ramp leading up to the ship.
>"Well, I don't see why not!" He said, eagerly running up behind you.
>You jogged right behind them, up and on to the ship.
>The crew members of the ship greeted you like they always had, with roars of vigor and excitement.
>You couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm, and wave around to all the familiar faces.
>The ramp was pulled up and slid into the side of the ship, before the few unicorns that manned the ship began to slowly use their magic to push the ship off the shore.
>"Full sails!" You hear lotus yell from the helm.
>You decided not to take your spot up next to her, but instead, sit down where the ramp was, feet hanging off the side of the ship.
>The ship began to kick forward and turn off from the shore, gaining speed with each sail that fell into place.
>You give the ashes in your shoulder pad a good look, before look up at the ruins of the fort you had just conquered.
>Flame was no more, and it wouldn't have been possible without the help and sacrifice of the young changeling.
>And now you would give him the burial you knew he would want.

>The ship had reached it's full speed.
>You believe it was time to let your friend go.
>You held the shoulder pad with the ashes in it.
>You game it one last look, looking back on all the great memories you had.
>From your time in the everfree, to your shenanigans in Canterlot Castle.
>As the memories flood their way back in to your head, you can't help but feel the tears well up in your eyes.
>As a few of the tears make their way down your face, you mutter one last phrase to him.
Goodbye, friend. I'll see you again sometime.
>As the words leave your lips, you throw the shoulder pad with his ashes, right into the ocean.
>The place that he had mentioned he so eagerly wanted to visit, was now going to be his final resting place.
>And perhaps, maybe he can now know peace, that you could not.
>You let out a small sigh, and give one last wave to your friend as he sinks into the water.
>A final tears makes it's way down your face, and you close your eyes, and let the sea breeze flow through your hair once more.

>You let the sea breeze course it's way through your hair.
>The only thing that accompanied you right now was the soft crashing of the small waves against the ship.
>You took in a deep breath and calmed yourself down.
>You bring your arm up and wipe the last tears from your eyes before opening them again.
>You stare out into the ocean.
>The calm water is kissed with a layer of orange on the top as the waves ripple and flow.
>The sunrise over the water made for quite the sight.
>You look all across the ocean, before your sight is brought over to the front of the ship.
>You see the fleet in the short distance.
>You knew they would want to celebrate, even though you weren't particularly in the mood.
>You lazily brought yourself to your feet and awaited the approach to the ships.
>As the ship comes closer and closer to the ships, the roars of the victorious on the edges of the ship become louder and louder.
>The ship comes to slow down as the sails are brought up one by one.
>As the ships slows down to a stop, the cheers of those on the other ships greet you.
>You give a smile and wave to the sailors and captains alike.
>They all give you cheers and roars of approval and victory.
>But now, it wasn't the time to celebrate, not for you at least.
>As the ships in the group begin to lower their sails in unison to the ship you're on, you decide that you should probably get some sleep.
>It had been almost 2 days since you had last slept.
>You and begin to walk to the helm of the ship, and motion at Lotus to get her attention.
Lotus, I'm going to head to bed, I haven't slept in almost two days!
>"Fine by me, but don't try to get me to go to bed with you!" She teases at you.
>You didn't find it particularly funny, and shrugged it off.
>You turn around and pull up the hatch heading to the hull of the ship.

>You climb down the ladder leading into the ship.
>The familiar settings in the ship put you a bit more at ease.
>You take a deep breath and begin to walk down the ship to the front.
>You walk past the hall where all the ponies gathered.
>There wasn't a soul to be found in the area, everyone must have been asleep or on deck.
>This didn't bother you much, as your eyes are getting ready to close shut for a good while.
>You begin to walk more lazily, as the burns on your arms began to act up once more.
>You approach the door leading into the captain's quarters.
>You slowly open the door, and see the two beds on either side of the room still there where you had left them.
>You walk over slowly to you bed on the left side.
>As you approach, you fall over into the bed and plant your face firmly into the pillow.
>It was only a matter of seconds before you fell asleep on the comfy bed.

>You open your eyes slowly as you come awake.
>You're laying face down in your pillow, and you can feel something on your back.
>You turn your head at an awkward angle to look up at your back.
>You see Lotus sprawled across your back, belly up, and head almost hanging off the bed.
>How the hell does this pony sleep.
Hey, get up!
>She lets out a groan and shakes her head a bit.
Get up or I'm gunna chuck you off of me!
>"Ugh... fine..." She says.
>She pushes her hooves into your side and slowly slides off you back and backwards on to the floor.
>What even.
>At least she was off of you.
>You turn over and sit up in your bed.
>You pull your left arm up to look at the burns.
>They were still there, and they were all black and blue and red, not very pleasant.
>But you could move it a bit more, which is what mattered, you didn't want your arm to be useless forever.
>"Why you always gotta wake me up during a good dream.." She says, rubbing her eyes with one hoof, and punching your shin with the other.
It's what I do. So are the ships parked right now?
>"No, I had the navigator take the wheel, before i came in to sleep with your for the night."
>For the night? You were out that long?
How lang ago was that?
>"Hell, I don't know, let's head up to deck and take a look see."
>She promptly hopped up on her hooves and began to make her way to the door.
>The Prophet was asleep in her bed, sleeping soundly under the covers.
>That explains why she threw herself n top of you.
>But it was no mind to you, she walked out the door and you followed closely behind.
>You walked the short way into the main dining area, only a couple of scattered souls were among those around.
>A short further away you found yourself climbing up the stairs on to the deck.
>When lotus opened the hatch you were greeted by a sunny, clear sky.
>You must have been out for more than a day.
>You didn't even think you worked yourself that much.

>You looked off into the horizon and saw the sun had just barely peaked over the water.
>You turned your attention to the rear of the ship.
>The three ships were still following closely behind.
>The waters had roughened up a bit, the waves were larger and the water a bit more wavy.
>But it made for a relaxing ship ride none the less.
>But now, that everything is said and done, what came next?
>Maybe you could settle in the cove?
>Or maybe you could let Celestia know that a major enemy of her empire had been defeated by your hands.
>Or maybe both.
>You think letting Celestia know Twilight's killer had been brought down would put her a little more at ease.
>That, and letting her know you lived wouldn't hurt either.
>While you stood there looking at the other ships, Lotus had made her was to the helm of the ship.
>You decided to join her and talk a little while.
>Since you were asleep for almost a day, the town would be in the near distance.
>You walked up the short set of stairs and took your spot next to Lotus on the helm.
How far until the town?
>"Not much longer, we just passed Philydelphia not too long ago. Seas are a little rough though." She responded
So I saw.
>The waves were a decent enough size that when the ship hit the bottom of one it would send water on to the deck.
>The crew members didn't seem to mind the little showers.
>It seemed refreshing.
>"So what the hell happened to your arms? And where did half your armor go?" Lotus asked curiously.
The shield was destroyed, and the burn on my arms is from that. I used the straps of one of my shoulders to make that shield.
>You draw in a deep breath.
And the other shoulder pad, I carried my changeling friend's ashes with. That's what I was holding....
>"I'm sorry to hear... You look better without your armor anyways." She says, not shifting her sight off the ocean.

>It was probably not even an hour later you saw the town in the distance.
>You're glad the ride wasn't long.
>You loved the ocean, but being on it for a while makes you want a little change of scenery.
>"Just about there Anon. I'm sure there will be quite the welcome party."
I wouldn't doubt it, I know how much you guys love your drink and party.
>"And nothing less!" She says with a smile.
It sounds like a merry life, but I don't think that would be the life I want for good.
>Lotus looked over to you
>"Well what did you have in mind?" She asked curiously.
I want something simple. A house in the forest, away from others. A peaceful living.
>"Sounds like a wimps life. You aren't going soft on me, are you?" She teased.
>You gave a small laugh at her comment.
Maybe. I never was one for fighting in the first place. But when someone is forced to. Put in a position where they have to fight, they do cruel things. That's not me.
>She gives a small chuckle as well.
>"So you are going soft on me?"
Not going soft, necessarily, it's who I have always been. I can just show this is of me now.
>The town was closing in, and the docks were ready for you and the ships to dock upon.
>The closer and closer you came, the more people you saw coming to the docks to greet you and your fellow shipmates.
>Cheers could be heard as the ship began to slow down and the sails began to be brought up on by one.
>The ship was turned into the dock with the help of unicorns positioning.
>The cheers and whistles did not cease when the ramp was lowered on to the dock.
>"How's about we go greet the crowd?" Lotus said letting her hooves off the wheel wand walking behind you and down the stairs.
>Well it's not like you had a choice.

>You begin to make your way off the ship, the crowd cheering and waving their hooves.
>You walk slowly off the ship waving and smiling at the ponies in front of you.
>You walk through the center of the dock, ponies on either side, cheering you and lotus on.
>You would almost to think it to be a parade
>You approach the end of the dock, where there were a few pirates making song and singing while ponies around listened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5gH0NNm4yw [Embed]
>"Come friend, let us dance now!" You hear a voice say to the left of you.
>Suddenly, your right arm is grabbed by a burly pony with quite possibly the manliest mustache you could possibly imagine.
>Next thing you know you two have your arms hooked and are doing a jig in a circle.
>He's laughing and kicking his feet while he's doing it, so you decide to join.
>You trow your arm around, and kick your feet like he does.
>You remained dancing in a circle, arms hooked for a bit before he broke off and began to dance a jig, kicking hid feet wildly around.
>You weren't sure what to do, so you joined him and randomly jigged your feet around as best you could.
>You crowd was stomping their hooves in junction with you and your new found pal's dance moves.
>He quickly stops his dance moves and grabs your arm and stand beside you.
>He raises his hoof up, and brings it down and brings it down, bowing with the motion.
>You quickly do the same, before he pulls you into the crowd of happy onlookers.
>"You are quite the dancer, pal!" He says with a great smile.
I don't think myself much of a dancer. You got better moves than me!
>"Haha, it matters no who is better, but rather who has more fun!" He says heartily.
>"I see you made a new friend." Lotus said, coming up to your other side.
Yes, I have.
>The gentleman lower his head and bows to Lotus.
>"I did not know you were friends with such a beautiful young mare! To whom do I owe the pleasure, miss?" He asks.
>Lotus's face is visibly red.

>"Er... the names Lotus..." She said hesitantly.
>"A pleasure to meet your acquaintence, fine lady." He said, raising his head again.
>"How's about we go fetch ourselves something to eat? An empty stomach should not be something to worry about! Haha!" He says, trying to pull you away.
>You resisted, as you wanted to get to Canterlot as soon as possible.
I must heartfully refuse your offer, I need to be somewhere.
>He tips his head to the side a bit.
>"Well why didn't you just say so! I don't want to keep you waiting now!" He says happily.
>He sure was a friendly fellow.
>"Mind if I ask where it is you need to be?" He asks curiously.
I need to make it to Canterlot fairly fast.
>He lets out a small laugh
>"Well why didn't you just say so lad! Come Come, follow me! I have a little something up my sleeve!" He says, pulling you in the opposite direction.
>Lotus follows you shortly behind.
>He leads you through the crowd and down the dock a short ways before he pull you aside and in between two small houses.
>There was a tiny alleyway that lead to a bulkhead at the end.
>"This little, seemingly normal basement entrance has your answers!" He says, pointing his hoof at it.
>"What exactly does that lead?" Lotus asks curiously.
>"Why no where else but right over by ponyville!" He said happily.
Thank you very much. Is it a long walk?
>"No more than an hour or so, be careful though, it gets muggy down there! Try to get a good huff of fresh air while you can!" He says with a smile.
I appreciate it good sir. I'll be sure to repay you when I get back.
>He laughs and raises his hoof up.
>"No need to repay me. A good dance and a hearty laugh is good enough for me!" He says happily.
If you insist. I must be going now, friend! Drink and be merry for me in my absence!
>He raises his hoof high.
>"I shall do it for us all! I shall keep you no longer friend! Good luck on your travel!" He says, waving and returning to the crowd of the ponies.

A kind man. I like him.
>"He's kind of creepy..." Lotus responded.
Oh come on, the man is friendly, you gotta give him that.
>"If you really think so." Lotus says.
You need to lighten up, like him.
>"And you need to grow a spine." She says, kicking you with her hind hoof in the leg.
>"So, we gunna go or not?" She asks, walking over, and pulling the top of the entrance up, revealing a small set of stairs.
Did I say you could come along?
>"Pffft. You didn't say I couldn't" She said, walking down the stairs.
>You chuckle to yourself. This mare would be the death of you.
>You quickly make your way to the entrance and walk down the stairs.
>They lead a short ways down, leading down a straight tunnel.
>Despite it being a secret passage, it was fairly wide and tall, enough for you to stand up straight with your hair brushing the rocky ceiling.
>Torches lined their way down the path, they were fairly scattered, maybe every 200 feet or so.
>"Hey look, it's large enough to fit your freakishly large body in!" Lotus quipped.
I know. It's actually nice not having to duck and walk oddly.
>"You're weird." She said.
>You decided to throw a curve ball at her.
You're beautiful.
>She turns around gives you and odd look, as her face slowly gets red.
>"You're just saying that to make me blush in awkwardness you weirdo." She said harshly.
I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true!
>She shakes her head to herself.
>"Weirdo..." She says under her breath.
>You laugh a little to yourself.
>This was going to be an enjoyable walk.

>The only thing keeping you company in this tunnel was Lotus, and the repetitive clops of her hooves on the stone floor.
>It was fairly jaggedly cut into, which made it awkward for your feet.
>Hardly the worst thing to happen to you this week.
>The air is thick, just as the friendly stallion had pointed out.
>It was like breathing in water.
>It reminded you of your time in the everfree.
>You weren't going back in there even if someone forced you.
>That place was something else.
>"Hey, you wanna quit staring at my flank?" Lotus yelps at you.
>You snap out of your half-zombified state of day dreaming.
Sorry, I was day dreaming.
>She rolls her eyes.
>"Of course you were..." She says, turning her head to face forward again.
>"Just make sure to contain yourself, I know how irresistible I can be." She said, shaking her fanny a little.
Oooohhh... Of course, miss Lotus. Who could ever resist such a fine mare such as yourself?
>"Not you apparently." She said, turning around and giving snide grin.
>You shake your head to yourself and decide not to fuel the fire.
>"Come on! You can say it! Go on! Say 'oohh, I love you soo much Lotus... I wanna get married and have kids!'"
>She begins laughing to herself.
Well in order to have kids we would need to get pretty funky with each other. I know you couldn't resist my devilishly good looks and my obviously large-"
>"Oh shut up!" She interrupts you.
>You start laughing hysterically to yourself.
>You hit your head off of a rock in the ceiling because you weren't looking.
>Maybe this mare was going to kill you.
>Wouldn't be the worst death, more preferable to dying a slave at the hands of changelings.
>You calm your laughing and focus on the path ahead.
>You and lotus march down the seemingly endless hallway.
>Step by step, breath by breath.

>You felt like you were going insane, the endless hoof-clops and footsteps echoing on either side of the extensive path.
>The occasional torch to make sure that you weren't completely in the dark.
>It was like walking through the tundra, only damper, and crowded.
>But your endless march began to come to a close, as you could see a set of stone stairs leading upwards next to a torch.
>"Ugh, finally! We can finally get out of this horrid tunnel and i don't have to worry about you raping me." Lotus says.
It's not rape if we both like it.
>"You're so weird!" She shouts, not turning her head to you.
>You laugh a little to yourself as she begins to climb the stairs.
>You follow shortly behind her, climbing up an equally mundane set of stone stairs.
>It wasn't long, however before you reached the cellar door leading outside.
>Lotus lifts it up and throws one of the doors to the side and hops out.
>You can make out the canopy of trees in the distance.
>You climb up and out of the cave and take in a deep breath of fresh air and relax for a second.
>The door was hidden well behind and almost inside a rock right next to the Everfree.
>After a few lung fulls of fresh air, you and lotus walk off to the side of the rock, and look off and see Ponyville in the near distance.
>How has this hatch gone un-noticed for so long?
>You weren't one to argue with a good thing, but with good things come bad things as well.
>You weren't sure what to expect from the masses of Ponyville after Celestia spread word of your innocence.
>The only way to know for sure was to head into the proverbial hornets nest itself.
Ready to go?
>"Yeah, let's get going!" She said, as she ran off into the short grass.
>You jogged right behind her, eager and afraid at the same time.

>It wasn't long before you and Lotus found yourselves at the edge of town.
>You began walking past some houses and stands of a few market owners.
>But it wasn't at all like it should be.
>There was nopony anywhere.
>Not a soul to be seen.
>None on the road, none at the markets, and a good portion of the houses were closed up tight.
>"This place is dead, you sure this is the right place?" Lotus asks curiously.
This it it... but this isn't right... there should be ponies around, this is odd...
>"Maybe you scared them off?" She said snidely.
>You ignore her comment and look around carefully.
>No signs of fighting, no signs of anything but a town that just up and vanished.
>"Hey look, some ponies over there!" Lotus yells.
>You snap your head back to the road leading to the center of town.
>Your eyes are met by a rather large group of guards running across the street in the far distance.
What the hell is going on...
>"I don't know, but if you want to find out, we better follow them."
>You didn't like the feeling of this.
>But if something serious was happening, you had to help.
We best go meet up with them and figure out what's going on.
>You begin to run to the place where the guards were running across the street.
>Lotus was having a hard time trying to keep up with you.
>But you knew she'd keep up as best as she could.
>You just wanted to see what was going on.
>The last of the guards ran into the scattered houses in the near distance.
>You kept up the pace until you finally approached the hoof prints in the dirt that led across the road.
>You stop and look to your left and to see where they led.
>The prints weaved around the various trash cans and trash that littered one of the alleyways.
>It was time to follow the tracks.

>You fast walk, carefully following the tracks.
>You go down the first alleyway, weaving around garbage and assorted junk cluttering the area.
>You reach an intersection at the end of the alley you ran down.
>It split off to both the left and right, a majority of the hoofsteps leading to the right.
>You decide to go with the majority and go down the right hand side.
>You see the path lead a short ways before turning to the left.
>You quickly jog down the short ways and run around the corner.
>You look off down the alley, it leads a very long ways down. the hoof prints went all he way down despite there being many other branches off.
Lets go, we have to be close.
>You continue your jog down the long alley way.
>This alley is a bit more cleaner than the others you went down so it made it easier for running.
>Step by step brought you closer to the exit out on to the main road once more.
>But as you kept running, you saw a guard retreating down the street.
>Then another.
>Then a couple more.
>What the hell was going on to send these ponies running like a dug with it's tail between it's legs?
>More and more began to run back.
>Then you saw two of them being flung at the retreating forces.
>This couldn't be good.
>"What the hell is going on?!" Lotus yells.
I don't know, I almost don't want to find out.
>You came closer and closer to the end of the alleyway.
>No more guards were retreating, you wonder where the rest of them were.
>As you broke out into the street, you saw something floating to your left catch your eye.
>You were almost frozen in place by what you saw.

>In the sky, you saw what maybe looked like hundreds of changelings flying toward ponyville.
>But that didn't scare you.
>You saw fires in the distance, slowly closing their way into ponyville.
>But that didn't scare you.
>But this thing, floating a few feet off the ground, above you.
>It was a large changeling, with long, black and grey robes, and a hood drooping over his face so that you couldn't see a single part of it.
>His enormous ornate scythe he wielded in his right hoof, the blade nearly scraping the ground.
>And his enormous, opaque green wings, sending a gust of wind in your face with each flap.
>That scared you.
>Without warning, he raised the scythe up, and slammed in in the ground to his beside him.
>He grinded it sideways through the dirt with the most sickening scratching noise you thought you ever heard.
>As the scythe ripped the ground in two, a green glow formed in the deep rift he was creating.
>Suddenly, a bunch of distorted, green and blue faces began come up and swirl themselves around him.
>"A-A-non..." Lotus barely manages to spit out.
RUN!
>She was frozen in place, barely managing to back herself back into the alleyway.
I SAID RUN
>She gives her yes a couple heavy blinks and begins to back up a little faster into the alley.
>The changeling looks over and sees lotus trying to slowly back up away from him.
>He raises his hoof that he has free, and and brings it down sharply.
>A ball of energy begins to form in front of her, rapidly growing larger.
>Without even thinking you run over to her and shove her as hard as you can backwards into the alleyway.
>You recover from the shove, only be thrown forward by the magical explosion.
>You stagger and trip forward, and almost fall down, but manage to regain your footing.
>Lotus got back on her feet, her senses coming back to her once again.
Come on we gotta get out of here!
>You quickly help her to her hooves and you both begin to book it down the alleyway.

>You and Lotus only made it a short distance before you were met by a wall of the greenish-blue, almost soul-looking material.
>"Where do we go now?!" Lotus yelled, almost freaking out.
>You look behind you to see the changeling making his way to the alleyway.
>The souls around him growing more violent and restless.
Not much to do but try and get past this wall. on the count of three, we both charge into it, okay?
>Lotus looks up at you, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
One.
Two.
THREE!
>You both throw yourselves into the amorphous wall of souls.
>You both stick to it and slowly sink through it to the other side like quicksand.
>You feel like whatever it is in the wall is trying to keep a hold on you.
>Like the hands grasping you, preventing you from fully reaching through to the other side.
>Suddenly an explosion from behind you sends a ringing through your ears and launches you farther past the wall.
>Finally, you pull your legs out and fall forward.
>"ANON, HELP!" You hear Lotus yelling from behind you.
>You shoot back up to your feet and see Lotus halfway through the wall, slowly being pulled back to he other side.
>"HELP!" She yells again, trying to keep her front hooves on the ground to resist the pull.
>You run over to her and grab her hooves and begin to pull her.
>She grits her teeth as she slowly starts to come over to the side you were on.
>You lean back while you pull to put your full weight into your tug.
>Slowly but surely she slips through to your side.
>As her hind hooves begin to make their way through the wall, it becomes easier to pull her, and she eventually comes out to your side completely.
>You both fall backwards, and she lands right on top of you, making you let out a sharp cough.
>"THANKYOUTHANKYOU!" She started yelling and hugging you.
Now is not the time for it, we have to keep moving, that thing is right on our tail!
>She hopped off of you and began to run down the alley.

>You get up on your feet and begin to follow shortly behind, running as fast as you both possibly can.
>Scattered small explosions blast the walls and the ground behind you as you try to outrun the monstrosity following you.
>Bricks and wood splinters litter the air above you and fall behind you as you come across the corner turning right.
>You and Lotus rocket around the corner and run the short distance to the left turn and begin to run back to the street you found yourselves on when you first arrived.
>The explosions have stopped for the moment while he had lost sight of you.
>You and Lotus were heavily panting from your running, but resting was of the lest of your concerns right now.
>You ran and weaved through the garbage in the alley, almost tripping on a piece of scrap wood laying across the ground.
>You finally break out into the street and sharply turn to the right and run down the street.
>"Where do we go to!?" Lotus asked.
>This was a good question.
>Going to the cove would just endanger them, and there was no chance of getting to Canterlot any more.
>And with such a beast on the loose, you could only think of one solution.
>You didn't want to do it.
>You REALLY didn't want to.
>But to stop that thing from wreaking destruction like it is now, it had to be done.
We're heading back to the tunnels for now!
>"Don't have to tell me twice!" Lotus shouted back.

>You both kept running down the road as fast as possible.
>Even if that monster was nowhere to be seen behind you, you weren't going to give him a chance to find you.
>You had been running for so long your chest began to hurt.
>But you kept up your ragged breathing and running.
>Step by step brought you closer to the edge of town.
>You look behind you again to make sure he isn't following you.
>But you saw something very odd following you.
>It was a couple opaque, green-blue ponies lazily trotting to you.
>You and Lotus were faster than them, but you kept your eye on them, you wanted to make sure they didn't have anything up their sleeve.
Lotus we gotta keep going, we got some... things following us.
>She looks behind her and a confused and frightened look.
>"What the hell is going on here?! I thought this was just a peaceful town!"
IT is! Well, not any more apparently
>You both reach the grass at the edge of town and run through the brush.
>The rock that hid the tunnel entrance was right in front of you,
>You both run around the rock and make your way to the rear where the entrance is.
>You stop for a quick second to catch your breath, your chest is hurting even more than before.
>"What do we do now?" Lotus asks.
You need to go home, I need to do something to stop all this.
>A sad expression comes over her face.
>"No, I've stood by long enough, I need to help you with this! We can do it together!"
>You draw in a deep breath.
I don't think I'll make it back, Lotus. I don't want you to die either...
>You see a confused and scared look come across her face, and tears begin to follow suit.
>"You... you can't die... what about the cove? What about me?! I won't let you go without me!" She yells, before throwing herself into you and giving you an enormous hug.
>You pick her up in your arms and hold her tight, and slowly walk to the cave entrance.
I'm sorry, Lotus. I have to do this...
>You give her a small kiss on the forehead.
I love you.

>You quickly pull her off of you, and in one swift motion, throw her into the stairs leading to the cave.
>"NOO!" She yells as she flies back and down the stairs, rolling and tumbling.
I can't live knowing I let you die too!
>You quickly grab the door entrance and slam it shut.
>You hear her muffled yelling behind the door, but you needed to move.
>You had no time to grieve or worry.
>Whatever those things were that were following you were probably getting close and you didn't want to give them a chance.
>You turn and begin to run along side the forest, looking for the entrance to the Everfree that would lead you to the castle.
>You look over at the town to see the soul-like ponies still walking to you.
>They were still lumbering slowly and lazily, you kept a steady pace to make sure they would not catch up.
>The forest was rather calm, and despite the changelings and fire in the distance, so was the town.
>They must have decided to invade after you had killed flame.
>And that enormous changeling, death maybe?
>You didn't know, and you didn't care, you just wanted to make sure that not only Lotus, but others as well wouldn't fall prey to them.
>And after you jogged a fair distance, you reached the road entering into the Everfree forest.
>You felt your nerves go on edge, and your chest knot up.
>This was it, it was going to end by your hands.
>You take your first step into the Everfree, and begin the march down the path.
>You wanted to take in your surroundings as much as possible. The canopy of the trees, the lively green plants that littered the ground.
>You wanted to look at it all, because it may very well be the last time you do so.
>And so you marched.

>The path was long and narrow, just like you had remembered it.
>You kept your pace up, in case something or somepony was following you.
>But it wasn't long at your current pace that you found yourself at the cliff again.
>The same one Twilight hung off of in the show.
>And the same one you created the pillar to go up.
>You slowly approach the cliff and see the same pillar that you created to get up.
>With a quick leap, you hop over to the pillar and stand firmly on it, careful to balance yourself.
>You begin to channel magic through your arms and the pillar begins to vibrate slightly.
>A small whizzing sound could be heard as you lowered the pillar slowly.
>The whizzing grew louder and louder as you began to fall beneath the canopy.
>But as you slowly decline, you notice the whizzing isn't coming from the pillar, it's coming from somewhere above you.
>You turn your head to the right to see changeling flying at intense speeds to you.
>You don't have time to react, or even raise your hands in a futile attempt to defend yourself.
>The changeling nails you right in the stomach, and vaults off of you back into the sky.
>The hit was so forceful, you lose your footing and have the wind knocked out of you.
>You gasp for air as you slowly fall backwards.
>You feel your left leg slip and fall off the rock.
>Your whole body follows suit.
>You try to grab the pillar quickly, but you aren't fast enough, and begin to plummet to the ground.
>Leaves and branches fly past you and hit your back.
>Then your right foot violently hits a branch on the fall down.
>You do almost and entire back flip and hit the ground with a sickening thump.
>You let out a scream of agony as your foot's pain is excruciating.
>You lay there helpless on your back, struggling to breath with a shattered foot.
>And worst, you had enemies searching for you.

>But you couldn't let Equestria down, not after all this work.
>The pain, and your chest.
>It was almost impossible to think.
>You almost have half a mind to think it's over.
>You feel the tears filling in your eyes as you realize your failures to defend Equestria.
>How could Celestia fend off such a beast, such an expansive army?
>You bring your right arm up and reach into the pocket of chest plate.
>You pull out the small orb that you had in your chest plate the whole time.
>You hold it in your palm, the marks on your arm reacting to your touch.
>You bring the orb close to your face so you could see it's azure beauty.
>This small orb.
>It's beauty.
>It's victory.
>So close.
>You wish you could save everyone.
>You bring the orb to your forehead and press it against your head hardly.
>Stupid. Stupid. STUPID.
>You close you close eyes shut and let the tears flow down your cheek.
>You suddenly feel a violent course of energy in your arm and the orb begins to glow.
>You open your eyes to see the air around you being distorted in an odd blue-ish purple color.
>Suddenly a flash a bright white light.
>You're left blinded for a few seconds, you couldn't see anything.
>You rapidly blink your eyes to try and get some sort of bearings.
>You surroundings slowly come into focus once more.
>But it's not as they were.
>Old stone walls, cobwebs and a light mist on the ground around you.
>Could it be?
>You turn your head to your right.
>The throne of the old castle in the forest.
>Did the orb teleport you here?
>Or maybe it was your power?
>You didn't have time to argue, it was time to end this.
>You turn yourself over to the left and begin to crawl to the throne.
>The pedestal behind it... you had to reach it, no matter the pain you went through.
>You crawled and crawled, your head slowly pounding harder with each inch you covered.

>With the pounding in your head came the distorted vision.
>Your surroundings began to morph and turn around you, slowly fading from vision.
>No, not now.
>God fucking dammit, now?
>Of all times it had to be now?
>You fall to the ground and you lay yourself on the ground as your surrounding slowly began to turn into the endless white space you have seen so many times before.
>You close your eyes for a few seconds and look up.
>You see a grimy and battered soldier holding his hand out to you.
>"Come on man, we gotta get out of here! Come on!" He yells at you.
NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! I HAVE TO SAVE THEM! JUST LEAVE ME BE!
>You see a sad expression fall over his face, before he retracts his hand.
>He gives you a staggered salute.
>"We won't forget you. And we'll be back for you. I promise..."
>He broke his salute and began to run into the distance, his figure slowly melting into sand, flowing in an invisible breeze.
>And once his figure was gone, you were slammed back into your body once more.
>You held the orb tightly in your right hand, but something else was wrong.
>The entire building was bright and lit up.
>You could hear crackling around you, and the faint voices of changelings in the distance.
>You slowly bring your head up to see the entire canopy of the forest is set aflame.
>This had to stop.
>Without thinking you begin to slowly crawl your way to the throne.
>The changeling voices in the distance grew ever closer.
>You even think you overheard one of them saying to investigate the old castle.
>You had to pick up the pace.
>You lazily pull out your sword, and use it as leverage to bring yourself up on to your one good foot.
>You hold on to the sword like a cane, and lazing begin hobbling to the throne.
>Your foot burned in agony so intensely, you almost couldn't keep your breathing under control.
>The throne sat up on the top of a couple steps, which were hell to climb up.
>Step by step you barely manage to climb up the steps without screaming in pain.

>You leaned yourself up against the throne to take some pressure off of your foot.
>You slowly slid yourself on the throne until you reached behind it.
>And behind the throne, stood the pedestal that Celestia spoke of.
>The changeling voices were dangerously close, and you could hear their footsteps come up the stairs.
>This was it.
>You held the orb tightly in your hand, and took your two last steps forward.
>"Hey, what the hell is that thing doing?!" You hear on of the changelings yell.
>You close your eyes, and take in a deep breath, you nerves all on edge.
>You slowly reach your arm out, firmly place it in the pedestal.
>The pedestal rotates a little, and begins to glow a bright blue.
>"Stop him!" You heard one of the changelings yell.
>But it was too late.
>Too late for them.
>And too late for you.
>After the glowing of the pedestal grew to an intense white, it flashed brightly.
>You were blinded once more.
>And your pain.
>You chest pain.
>Your leg pain.
>All vanished.
>And as you were there, the white slowly turned to black.
>All sensation, all feelings, slowly left your consciousness.
>And then, darkness.

>You stood on a ship, for the first time that you can think of in centuries.
>You stood at center, looking at a casket, with various offerings and flowers.
>The demeanor of everyone was fairly depleting.
>You are Celestia.
>And while you may not be in the company of those who agree with you, you were all gathered to mourn the passing of a fierce human, heart filled with passion and intent.
>The time had come, to put Anon at rest.
>A small blue pony and who you presumed to be her father walked over, and began to push the casket overboard.
>Everyone, including yourself, raised your hooves in salute to a fallen hero.
>The casket finally tips and falls over into the ocean, and slowly begins to sink in the water.
>The small blue pony raises her hand in Salute, her eyes red and full of tears streaming down her face.
>Her father with the same demeanor.
>Then the first volley of deafening cannons fire.
>Then the second.
>Then the third.
>Everyone lowers their heads in a moment of silence for Anon.
>And after the few seconds, the small pony tells everyone it is okay to speak, and the ship will be brought back to dock.
>She slowly walk over beside you, and stares out on to the ocean with her tear-filled eyes with you.
>"He was going to see you, did you know that?" She asks.
No, I did not.
>"He was going to tell you he had done what he had intended." She sniffled, her words becoming choked are hard.
>"I...n-never knew what it was he sought in that fort, or what his journey w-was about. But I-I didn't have to know, t know w-what he was doing was right," She says, wiping some tears from her eyes.
>You knew exactly what Anon had accomplished.
He was... avenging, A friend murdered by that whom he sought dead in that fort.He was probably coming to tell me of the victory, and that his friend could finally rest in peace.
>Lotus says nothing, and instead prefers to stare out on to the ocean.
>"We're going to have a party. To celebrate his life. Will you stay?"

I would love to, but I have duties to attend to.
>"I understand."
>You pause for a moment, before turning your head to her.
I... understand that we do not share the same ideas. The same ideology. The feelings. And we have both done done stuff to each other, that is unforgivable...
>You extend her hoof to her for a hoof shake.
>She extends hers.
But I cannot thank you enough. For standing by Anon. For standing beside him, through the dark and light. I have no doubt you are a big reasoning behind his motivation.
>She pauses.
>"Maybe I was. But Equestrias victory... HIS victory, was so short lived..."
>She couldn't bring herself to speak any more.
>You take a deep breath.
He knew what he was doing when he used that orb. I told him of it's powers, and I even asked him to refrain against using it, for I did not know the affect it would have on him. The most likely cause would be death.
>You shift your sight out to sea again.
But even in that knowledge, he still decided his life was a small price to pay for the lives of those in my kingdom. He has not only your, but my eternal thanks as well.
>"If only he was still here..." She barely manages to mutter under her tears.
Do not mourn his passing, young pony. Celebrate his life, however short lived it may have been here in Equestria. It is his happy memories that bring us here today, is it not?
>"I suppose you're right..." She said, wiping the tears from her face.
Now I must go. I was a great pleasure to meet you.
>"Likewise, Princess." She said, as you both exchanged a hoofshake.
>You channel the magic in your horn brightly, and in one quick flash, you find yourself on the throne once more, in your castle.
>With one less loyal and kind subject under your protection.



>You are Anon.
>And you
>Are
>Fuking.
>Sore.
>You felt like your whole body had been pelted with rocks.
>You slowly open your eyes.
>You sight is greeted by the blue sky and a bright sun in the distance.
>It was relaxing despite your soreness.
>You turn your head to the right.
>The ground you found yourself on, wasn't actually ground at all.
>It was... clouds?
>You slowly brought yourself to a sitting position, and felt the clouds beneath you.
>They were as soft as cotton candy.
>Where the heck were you?
>You look more to the left, nothing but a scattered expanse of clouds, like rolling hills.
>You look to your right, and you saw a pony running toward you.
>But it wasn't just any pony.
>That purple mane.
>The purple coat that shined in the sun.
>It was Twilight!
Twilight?!
>You stand up and your feet and begin walking to her.
>You close the distance on each other very quickly.
>And when she gets close, she throws herself up in to your arms.
>"You finally made it!" She yelled in excitement, her head buried in your chest.
I... made it?
>"Yes! You made it to where I am! I'm not entirely sure how I got here... but I and so glad you're here!" She says, pulling her head off your chest.
>She looks at you with a surprised expression.
>She looks to either side of you.
What is it?
>"You eve got wings Anon, look!" She said, pointing one of her hooves to your side.
>You look behind you, and sure enough, two large, white wings on either side of you.
>You give them a heavy flap, and a gust and wind blows twilight's hair around on her face.
>You knew where you were now.
>"This is so awesome Anon!" She yelled in incredible excitement, jumping off of you.
>"Come on, I'll show you how to use them!" She said, running off into the distance.
>You smiled, and decided to run behind her.
>Through the cloudy fields, and through the hills.
>Through god's country, you ran.