---

In the ancient writings of Equestria's ancestors, tales of relentless bloodshed, tragic losses, and endless destruction were told...

Long ago, in the Age of Chaos, a dark and cruel shadow remained over the desolate lands of, what would later be known as, Equestria. Within that shadow, countless tales of war, starvation, death, decay, and destruction were all that was told by any travelers who were able to pass through the cruel lands.

One such individual who was able to pass through was a unicorn mage, though not without the aid of a band of human and minotaur knights. Their mission was to find anything that could be used against the Lord of Chaos, Discord... for it was he who brought the darkness over Equestria.

That unicorn's name was Starswirl the Bearded.

He, along with the handful of remaining knights that survived the evils within Equestria, roamed the dark lands for ten years before finally stumbling upon the one source of life that the darkness itself was repelled from: the Tree of Harmony.

After sending word of his findings to the lone King Solaris of Equus, one of the few kingdoms that the darkness hasn't reached, the king sent his beloved daughters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, to Equestria so that they could examine it, and perhaps find the source of its power. Of course, he sent them with only the bravest and strongest of escorts.

Upon arriving, however, they found their unicorn mage bleeding out of his forehead, as a result of the powers of the tree being too much for him to handle. Unfortunately, he lost too much blood before they even arrived, and breathed his last words.

"The Elements inside... are the key... to our freedom."

With a sad heart, the alicorn sisters had his body sent back to Equus, where he and his company would be buried, and a monument erected for all to know of the one who risked his life to save them from the darkness.

Afterwards the princesses, with their alicorn powers, were able to extract the Elements of the Tree of Harmony from the tree, and with them, they defeated Discord, and turned him to stone.

Equestria was saved... but not without the gravest of costs, though.

Due to the nature of the darkness that surrounded the lands, not even the Elements of Harmony were strong enough to keep the darkness from returning... and without the Elements of Harmony in the tree, the darkness was only getting stronger. And if the Elements were to be returned to the tree, then the spell Discord was under would be broken, and he would once again roam freely.

With no other options left, King Solaris sent his subjects to Equestria while he remained in Equus to fend off the coming darkness; sending with them the one treasure that kept the darkness from reaching Equus to begin with... the Rainbow of Light.

With it, the Tree of Harmony was able to repel the darkness once again... but without the Rainbow of Light, Equus mysteriously vanished... and with it, King Solaris, along with the few subjects that chose to remain there to protect their king.

Despite the grief that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna felt for their father's loss, they had no other choice but to co-rule Equestria, and lead their subjects to a better future.

This marked the end of the Age of Chaos... and through the ashes of the old Equestria, new life was born. The Age of Freedom had begun.

With no threats from the neighboring kingdoms, Equestria was able to flourish. New settlements were formed, towns and cities were built, and travelers, pilgrims, pioneers, and settlers from many different countries from across the globe were appearing to either trade or set up new homes. Most of them, however, were focused on the capital city, Everfree.

Everfree was named as a reminder that it was within that city that Equestria's freedom was founded... and it was thanks to King Solaris's sacrifice that it became the prime location for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to build their castle there.

The Age of Freedom lasted hundreds of years. Within that time, however, a bone-chilling wind began to blow from the Northern half of Equestria. Then, at the end of the Age of Freedom, the Age of Ice began.

Equus, in all its glory, was back. Within it, however, was something FAR worse than what the citizens of Equestria had hoped for.

The former king was still alive... but due to the darkness that plagued his mind all those years ago, he was no longer himself...

King Solaris was now King Sombra... and with an iron fist, Equus was transformed into a city of crystal and ice. With his corrupted influence, he was able to send out a plague that was capable of turning loved ones against each other... the Plague of Darkness. Slowly, it built up, and before anyone knew it, wars were declared, blood was shed, and Equestria was doomed to fall under the darkness once again.

With the wars came the cold chill of Sombra's kingdom. For many years, Sombra's kingdom expanded, and the ice soon engulfed most of Equestria. Then, at the last few remaining settlements, Sombra unleashed a group of spectral horse-like monsters known as "Windigos" to finish what he started.

In a final attempt of restoring peace to their kingdom, Princess Celestia and Luna turned to the Elements of Harmony once more, and with its powers, they were able to blot out the plague from their beloved subjects, and establish a rebellion against Sombra's tyranny.

After a huge battle between Equestria and the Ice Kingdom, Princess Celestia and Luna went into the Ice Castle to end Sombra's reign once and for all. The battle lasted for hours, until Sombra was too weak to fight any more.

As a final attempt to bring himself back up to power, he begged for forgiveness and feigned his return as Solaris... and that was where Celestia and Luna believed him... and spared his life.

Then, with their backs turned, he was able to hit Luna with the same curse that slowly changed him into Sombra. Thankfully, though, she survived, and the three battled one last time, before Celestia and Luna were forced to seal his fate with the Elements of Harmony. In doing so, however, the entirety of the Ice Kingdom disappeared again... and with it, their soldiers that went in to aid them were lost in the city to forever remain trapped behind the crystal walls.

The few remaining citizens of Everfree, despite the chaos that took place, survived... and with the help of Celestia raising the sun for extended periods of time, the snow and the ice quickly started to melt.

This process lasted for ten years, until the darkness started to corrupt Princess Luna's heart. Within those ten years, Princess Luna started to grow jealous and envious that her sister was viewed more as a hero, and that the sun, which Solaris originally bestowed upon her sister, was appreciated, while the moon, which was bestowed upon her, was ignored.

Then... she lost control.

With all her might, Princess Luna attacked Princess Celestia, and imprisoned her for one hundred years. During those years, she refused to lower the moon, Equestria was once again starting to turn to ice, and more people were starting to die out...

The Age of Darkness had begun.

Out of fear for their safety, many citizens fled from Everfree, and the few remaining inside it slowly died out, until Everfree was nothing more than a ghost town, which would eventually become a forest.

Finally, after the one hundred years of imprisonment, Celestia was able to narrowly escape the dungeons beneath the Canterlot Mountains, but was greeted with the ruins of her once beautiful city in the distance. The only thing that stood out from it was the castle... and even that was barely noticeable.

After confronting her sister, and hoping for her to still be inside her persona "Nightmare Moon", Celestia was eventually drawn to battle, where she nearly lost her life. During the one hundred years that she was gone, Celestia's powers were far more weaker than her younger sister's... and so, she was left with one final option...

The Elements of Harmony.

With the Elements of Harmony, Celestia was able to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon... but in doing so, she also banished Princess Luna, who's heart was still deep inside her.

Thankfully, though, Princess Celestia still felt her sister's presence, and chose to limit the time that Nightmare Moon would be banished to one thousand years... more than enough time for Equestria to recover, and for her powers to grow again.

After looking through Everfree, it was clear to Celestia that there was no hope for it anymore. The darkness was too powerful there, and the evils that it brought were still at large. So, she had to leave Everfree, and find a new place to establish a capital for Equestria.

First, though, she had to lower the moon and bring the sun back once more.

She climbed the top of Canterlot Mountain, then flew high into the sky. From across Equestria, the few towns and settlements that remained all watched in awe as she lowered the moon, then raised the sun back up once again.

With that as a sign, the citizens of Equestria cheered, as their loving ruler has returned. They were able to repopulate the lands, and establish a capital city over the mountain where their ruler raised the sun over. Named after its mountain, Canterlot City was built, and that day was marked as the first ever Summer Sun Celebration.

At long last, the Age of Darkness was no more.

For one thousand years, the Age of Light has been going strong. Though a few battles have broken out over the years, and a war between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, Griffania broke for ten years mid-way, no huge terrors have risen. A peace treaty between Equestria and Griffania was made, and with it, the kingdoms allied with Griffania became friendly with Equestria, and the Dragons were granted land in the far south of Equestria, which eventually became known as the Badlands.

To this day, many stories have been made about that fateful night when Nightmare Moon was banished; all of which were shouting praises to their princess who saved them all from certain doom...

But despite the praises, Celestia never once was able to smile at them, for to her, it always was just another reminder of the losses she had to deal with, as well as the memories of her sister's agonizing cry, as she had to banish her to the moon.

It wasn't until the 982nd year of the Age of Light when a small ray of hope for her sister's return was born. A young unicorn filly was born... one who reminded Celestia of her own sister when they were fillies, themselves. When she came of age, Princess Celestia took her under her wing as her personal student, with the permission of her family.

That filly was Twilight Sparkle.

Like Starswirl the Bearded, Twilight showed much potential in magic... but the raw powers that she had as a filly was, and still is to this day, unheard of.

While the mages of Canterlot were able to master a few combat spells with years of practice, Twilight was able to master every kind of spell in the matter of days. Though the signs were vague to some in Equestria, Princess Celestia cast aside any and all doubts about one fact...

This filly is a descendant of Starswirl the Bearded.

While Twilight grew ever more powerful, however, Celestia noticed right away that she was always so caught up in her reading and studying that she never socialized with anyone. This became a problem in Celestia's mind, for she knew that isolation was the key to the darkness finding its way into one's soul.

Her father died in his kingdom alone.

Her sister's jealousy made her feel abandoned by her subjects.

And now, her student was at a risk of falling into the same dangerous category, if not attended to.

This brings us to the day prior to the Summer Sun Celebration. Twilight noticed the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and sent a letter to Princess Celestia addressing the issue.

For her student's safety, however, Celestia never answered directly, but knew that Twilight would need friends, if she were to resist the darkness that Nightmare Moon was corrupted with.

Like Starswirl the Bearded, though, she would need to find someone who could also guard her student while she lives in Ponyville, the town that was chosen to be the one to hold the 1,000'th Summer Sun Celebration.

Unfortunately, though, Twilight always turned down the ones who offered to be her guardian. And so, at that time, she had no choice but to take a risk, and send her alone with the young drake that was hatched as a result of Twilight's Magic Exam.

Despite the knowledge of Nightmare Moon's return, however, Celestia felt a magical disturbance coming from Everfree... and considering the fact that Twilight was far from ready, she had no choice but to send a small band of volunteers to scout the location of the disturbance for any signs of Nightmare Moon possibly returning earlier than planned.

The one in charge of the small party was a brown-coated earth pony named Magnificent Eye. He had a black mane, and on his shoulders, the markings of an eyeball was shown. He wore a white laced shirt beneath a brown vest, black breeches, khaki-colored boots over his hooves, and black gloves over his hands. Of course, he was no warrior, though... he was just a mere archaeologist, and only had a shortsword over his left hip to protect himself with.

He was sent under the additional protection of a noble human named Justus Heartstrings. Justus was on the strong side, and served as a knight for the Elite Canterlot Guards. He had no hair, but a long black beard, brown eyes, and had pale white skin. He wore a set of enchanted golden platemail armor with the Canterlot Logo on a tabard he wore over it; a white background with a sun emblazoned in the front. Rested over his left hip, a golden-handled longsword rested in a marble-white sheath with golden corners. Hanging on his back, he had a white kiteshield with a golden border, and the Canterlot Logo in the center.

With Justus was his wife, a unicorn mage named Lyra Heartstrings. She had a bright green coat with a mint-colored mane, and piercing gold eyes. Despite being a mage, however, she wore simple silver chainmail armor with a yellow cloak over her shoulders, and a Canterlot Tabard of her own covering her chest, and lowering midway down her legs. Across her back, a white staff with a golden handle and a round diamond at the tip rested on a clip attachment built into her armor.

Despite just having two soldiers to protect him, Magnificent knew that bringing a huge army would be more risky, so he was okay with just the two. Besides... they weren't mere rookies. They've seen their fair share of battle before.

They set off earlier that day to investigate... but little did they know that the one they were seeking wasn't Nightmare Moon.

In fact, this entity was even far more unexpected than what Celestia had hoped for... it was a human. And since humans couldn't learn or use magic, this human must've been the target. With that in mind, they had no choice but to try waking him up to find this source of magic.

---

---

---

Smoke still filled the air deep inside the Everfree Forest. Magnificent Eye and his party, Justus and Lyra Heartstrings, were heading towards the source of the smoke.

"How much farther do you think it is, Mag?" Lyra asked Magnificent.

Magnificent hummed before checking the map in his hands, as they rode on a carriage being pulled by a pair of horses. "If my calculations are correct, I would assume that it should be somewhere just up ahead."

Justus shrugged his shoulders and turned his head to the right at the sudden sound of rustling in the distance. "Whatever the case may be, I only pray that whatever it is that we find isn't hostile."

Lyra nodded her head in response. "Agreed, Dearest... but what if it is, though?"

Justus looked her way and winked at her while gripping the handle of his sword with his right hand. "Don't worry, Love. I'll protect you if it tries anything!"

Lyra giggled at his statement before leaning back and smiling amorously at him. "Ooh, my hero!"

Justus chuckled at her while Magnificent rolled his eyes out of annoyance. "Ugh! Save it for when we get back to Ponyville, you two!" Regardless of his annoyance, however, he still couldn't help but chuckle at his two friends.

Lyra shrugged her shoulders at him before turning towards Justus. "So, Justus! Are you looking forward to tonight's Summer Sun Celebration?"

Justus nodded his head before replying, "Only a fool wouldn't look forward to it! After all, it is the biggest holiday out there, isn't it? I hear the marketplace is loaded with many people from Griffania and Minotopia." He then looked both ways before inching closer to Lyra's ears. "I even heard rumors that a few Drakes from Drakensonia are planning to visit... though that could very well be a lie." he whispered to her.

Lyra nodded her head in response before whispering, "I bet it is. After all, the chief of Drakensonia's Northern Tribe is so busy dealing with repairs for their last runaway hurricane, that he's even had to request aid from the Southern Tribe!"

Justus rubbed his chin in thought. "And considering that Drakes are naturally stubborn bastards, that must say a lot about the conditions there. Good thing that Drakensonia's on the other end of the globe though, eh?"

Lyra nodded her head and looked away with a weak frown on her face. "Yeah... but I wish there was something we could do to aid the poor fellows. They did help us with the Equestrian Griffin War, after all."

Justus gave her a quick peck on the cheek before gently patting her back. "There's my beautiful Lyra. Concerned for others' well-being. What did I do to deserve such a beautiful little angel?"

Lyra giggled before gently rubbing his back in response. "No idea, dearest." Then her hand started moving down his back. "But maybe you can show me what you can do after the Summer Sun Celebration? You could always show me more of your impressive human strength, your stunning human endurance, and then later... your amazing human speed!"

Magnificent groaned, "Hey, get a room, you two! I can still hear that!"

Justus and Lyra chuckled, but went silent after the sound of distant noises. "Hold on." Justus said before drawing the pure white blade of his sword out of its scabbard, and pulling his shield from his back and into his left hand. His action caused Lyra to draw her staff, while the two of them stood up in the center of the carriage.

At first, the only sound that could be heard was the wheels of the carriage and the clopping of the horses' hooves. Then, the distinct sound of more hooves clopping came into hearing radius. By the sound of the hooves, though, it was clear they were in a hurry towards their direction.

Lyra closed her eyes and raised her staff in the air. Then her horn and the diamond ball at the tip of the staff began to glow a golden color for a few moments, until her eyes shot open. "Bandits!"

---

As if on cue, an arrow whooshed right by Justus's head just inches away from his right eye. If he weren't wearing his helmet, then his right ear would've been nicked by the arrow.

He raised his sword and shield up defensively while Lyra raised a magic shield bubble around the carriage, and Magnificent whipped the reins forward, which sped up the horses' movement speed.

Before they knew it, a band of three bandits riding on horseback appeared from the trees.

The first bandit was a buff shirtless human wearing a red-painted animal hide cape and harness over his chest, with a brown hide pair of shorts, and boots and bracers made out of fur. He was carrying a large hand-axe over his head with his right hand and giving the travelers a big, menacing, toothy grin.

The second one was a black-feathered griffon with the same kind of clothing as the human. Instead of an axe, however, he was carrying a thick club.

The third one was a blue-coated minotaur with a red mane, though he didn't have a harness or boots on. He was holding a bow in his hands with another arrow drawn... though this one was on fire.

The minotaur bandit let out a battle cry, followed by the other two. Then he released the arrow, and sent it flying towards the carriage. Thankfully, though, Lyra anticipated the attack, and doused the arrow with conjured water before it could even land. Then she began charging a fire spell so that she could strike the minotaur.

While she was charging the fireball, the griffon took that as his cue to leap onto the carriage. He then attempted to strike Lyra with his club, but Justus managed to deflect his shot with his shield and slice the griffon in the stomach.

The griffon yelped out of pain before Justus kicked him out of the carriage. If the stomach wound didn't kill him, then the fall would.

Seeing his comrade fall to his death caused the human to glare before looking at the minotaur and pointing at Justus. The minotaur nodded his head and put his bow away, then pulled an axe out of his mount's saddlebag. Then he sped up his horse just enough to be mere meters away from the carriage before leaping onto it directly in front of Justus, who had his shield raised. Then he raised his axe over his head to end Justus quickly, but by the time he landed, Lyra's spell was ready. She cast it into his stomach, which left a huge scorching hole in the center. Justus then used his right boot to send the minotaur down to join his friend in the road.

The final bandit growled before jumping onto the carriage. Instead of attack directly, however, he picked his fallen comrade's axe up with his left hand and swung the right axe towards Justus.

Justus blocked the axe attack, but was momentarily stunned by the impact of the blow.

The bandit then attempted to strike Justus in the neck with his left axe, but Lyra managed to deflect the attack with her staff.

Lyra quickly blasted the bandit with a burst of wind, but the bandit managed to regain his footing before attempting a double-smash attack on Justus.

Justus managed to block that attack, though the impact of the force caused him to fall to his knees.

The bandit grinned before raising his left axe in another attempt to hack Justus's head off of his shoulders.

Lyra blocked the attack with her staff, but due to the angle they were in, her right leg was slightly nicked by the axe, which caused her to yelp in pain.

Justus's eyes widened, and a bloodthirsty glare was all he gave the bandit before kicking the left axe out of his hand, and shield-bashing the other axe out of his right hand. Then he impaled the bandit in the stomach with his sword, causing the bandit to growl in pain and fall to his knees. When he did so, Justus pulled the sword out of the bandit's stomach and did a clockwise rotation with his sword extended out. Then, when the blade collided with the bandit's neck, his head flew out of the carriage, while his arms flailed out. Justus then kicked the body in the chest, sending it out on the road for the vultures to pick from.

---

After the bandits were dead, Justus quickly sheathed his sword and ran up to Lyra, who was lying there with her right leg tucked in her arms. "Are you alright, my love?" he asked concernedly.

Lyra giggled before hissing in slight pain. "Just a flesh wound... I'll live!"

Justus, however, shook his head and reached towards her leg. "You shouldn't just call it that, love! You're bleeding out too much for it to be a simple flesh wound!"

Lyra sighed before relaxing her leg, and allowing Justus to look at the damage done.

When he raised her tabard out of the way, he grimaced at the three inch gash that sunk into her right thigh horizontally, and one centimeter in. He shook his head and looked at her. "It will have to be stitched shut, I'm afraid... but first, it will have to be disinfected."

Lyra winced at that thought, as she saw him reach towards the chest that held their supplies, and opened it. Then he searched inside it, until he found a small brown pouch. Looking Lyra in the eyes, he said, "You may not like seeing this, love. Please don't force yourself to watch."

Lyra nodded her head and closed her eyes, while Justus opened the pouch up and poured the contents over the cut... maggots.

For a minute, the maggots crawled inside the wound and peeled away at the damaged tissues inside Lyra's leg. Then, once they were done with their job, Justus used a dagger from the chest to slowly and gently scoop the maggots out of the cut before they could dig inside her any deeper.

Justus then sheathed the dagger in the scabbard that he found it in and placed it back in the chest, before pulling out a sewing kit.

He looked up at Lyra and frowned. "Now... I think you know what comes next."

She nodded her head. "Y-yeah... please be quick, so that it doesn't hurt too much."

Justus nodded his head before picking her left hand up, and placing it on his shoulder. "I want you to know that I will not enjoy putting you in this pain. If you need me to stop, then let me know right away, and I'll stop immediately for you."

She opened her eyes to look at him. Then, with a smile, she replied, "Dear, I'm not that fragile, y'know. I can handle the pain!"

Justus weakly smiled at her and nodded his head. "Understood... though remember that my offer still stands. Okay?"

"Okay." Lyra replied with a nod. She then turned her head to her right again, and closed her eyes.

Justus looked at the sewing kit and pulled the needle out, followed by a black spool of thread. He then threaded the needle and hovered the tip of said needle over the upper half of Lyra's cut.

After taking a deep breath, Justus slowly but carefully started piercing the needle through Lyra's flesh and fur.

For the first few holes, Lyra winced and hissed at the pain. Then, when the needlework was halfway complete, she was starting to get used to it, but breathed heavily nonetheless.

Finally, when the threads were over her entire wound, Justus took her hand and turned to Magnificent, who had the reins of the horses tied on the corner of the carriage, and was now with the two of them showing concern. "Magnificent. Do you think you could do the honors, while I keep Lyra restrained?"

Magnificent nodded his head and took the needle from Justus's hands. Then he shook his head and added, "I just hope she doesn't think up a fire spell."

Justus and Lyra both weakly chuckled at him before looking each other in the eyes. Then Justus took her left hand with both of his and told her, "This will be the worst of it all... but after that, I promise I'll make it up to you later on in the day."

Lyra giggled before letting out a sultry growl. "Frisky, are we? Even at the sight of your wife's own blood!"

Justus merely chuckled before tilting his head in mock confusion. "And yet you did the same when I was struck in the shoulder by an arrow? I'd say we're about even, then."

The two shared a laugh while Magnificent rolled his eyes. "Hey! Don't forget Lyra's still injured here!"

Justus and Lyra nodded their heads to their friend before staring into each others' eyes. "Okay... on the count of three, I want you to squeeze my hands, and try focusing on something other than the pain. Understood?"

Lyra nodded her head and closed her eyes. "Y-yes, Dear."

Justus nodded his head and looked at Magnificent, who nodded his head in response, before looking at the stitched wound. "One..."

Lyra's grip intensified, which caused Justus to wrap his right arm behind her shoulders, and pull her slightly closer to him for a hug.

"Two..."

All three of them took deep breaths, while Justus closed his eyes, already knowing what to expect.

"...Three."

From miles away, anyone with ears would've been able to hear the agonizing screams that Lyra made.

---

Five minutes have passed by when the source of the smoke was a short way past the treeline. Lyra was still holding onto her leg, while Justus was embracing her to help her ignore the throbbing pain. Magnificent was holding onto the reins of the horses again, though he had a look of confusion on his face.

"I still don't know why the Red Furs were here! Aren't they normally on the roads, rather than Everfree Forest?!" Magnificent asked his friends.

Justus nodded his head and replied, "Indeed. It would seem that whatever this anomaly is that Princess Celestia sent us to investigate, it didn't just catch her attention. That's why we should proceed with complete and total caution, lest we end up ambushed once more."

Magnificent nodded his head and gulped nervously. Then his eyes widened when he saw a clearing up ahead, where dirt was flying from. "Lyra! Justus! We're here!"

Justus looked up and nodded his head before slowly releasing his hug from Lyra. "Keep your head down, Lyra. I don't like the looks of this, and you're in no shape to stand."

Lyra nodded her head and replied, "Be careful, my love."

Justus responded with a quick kiss on her lips before nodding his head and drawing his sword. "Always am, dearest."

Magnificent leaned forward and squinted his eyes to get a good look at whatever could be in the dirt. Then he stopped the horses from moving and tied their reins to a tree, before jumping from the carriage. Justus followed him closely, while Lyra continued to lie down in the back of the carriage to keep pressure from reaching her leg.

---

When they reached the end of the treeline, Magnificent gasped at the sight before him. Justus, once within range, raised his eyebrows in shock.

Within the clearing was a huge crater that sunk well over ten feet in the center. Around the center, the dirt continued to rise. Despite the amount of dirt in the air, however, there was one thing that stood out... the shadow of a figure lying in the center of the dust.

The figure appeared to be a human male with lightly tanned skin, short brown hair, an inch-long beard, and bluish-green eyes, though the eyes were closed at the time. On his chest, he wore a blue long-sleeved shirt, and on his legs he wore dark brown pants made of denim. On his feet, he wore a pair of light brown boots with strings tying the flaps of the front halves together. He also appeared to be slim around the waistline, and the size of his arms made it clear that he wasn't that strong.

"A human? How could the magic anomaly be coming from a human?!" Magnificent asked before turning towards Justus.

Justus shrugged his shoulders before replying, "Well, considering the fact that humans can't learn magic, I'd say he must've been the target?"

Magnificent's eyes widened at that statement. Then he quickly drew his shortsword and began stepping in circles in case they were being watched.

"Ease up, Mag. That was just a guess... though now that I think about it, if it were an ambush spell, then wouldn't there at least be a trail leading up to the fellow?"

Magnificent paused his worried examination before sighing and nodding his head. "You do raise a point, Justus. Still, though... who could have possibly done this from above? Unicorns can't fly, and pegasi can't use magic. Unless..."

Suddenly, both of their eyes shot open. "AN ALICORN!"

Justus turned towards the fallen human and began walking towards him. "We better take him to Ponyville, then. If he were ambushed by Nightmare Moon, then he would be a witness! Come, help me move him back to the carriage. Perhaps the scientists could examine his memory, and then we could send him back to his people for a proper burial."

When he placed his hands on the other human's arms, however, he froze in place when he saw the stranger turn his head and mumble. "Sweet Celestia! Mag, this man is alive!"

Magnificent gasped before rushing towards the two. "Really?! But how?! Alicorn magic is the most powerful magic in the world! No mere mortals could even think of surviving a blast from such power!"

Justus shook his head while continuing to stare at the unconscious man. "I haven't the slightest clue... but whatever the case, this man must be an exception. We should rush him to Physician Redheart, so that she could check for any injuries."

Magnificent nodded his head and turned around. "I'll go let Lyra know, then. Mayhaps she could also keep him under stable conditions?"

Justus nodded his head and replied, "Though doubtable, it's worth a check. Make haste, though."

With that, Magnificent ran back to the caravan to deliver the news to Lyra, while Justus remained next to the unconscious human. As time passed, however, Justus couldn't help but grow ever more curious about the other human. He then started having a mental battle with himself on what his next course of action should be. The human didn't appear to have any injuries on him, so perhaps he wasn't injured? On the other hand, he was probably hit by an alicorn, so he would be lucky if he would even wake up at all.

Finally, after drawing mental straws with himself and his consciousness, Justus decided to do what he felt uneasy trying to do... he placed a hand on the other human's chest, and started shaking him back and forth.

---

Perspective Change: ??? (Unconscious Human)

---

Leoni was sleeping peacefully for, what felt like, several long hours. When he woke up, he was woken by the feeling of a hand on his chest shaking him. Shortly following the hand, a man's voice began to echo through his ears... but whatever the man said was incomprehensible.

Leoni couldn't help but squint his eyes open to investigate the source of the voice. When he did, however, the sudden appearance of sand entering his eyes and nose caused him to close his eyes once more and cough profusely. Shortly following him, the source of the other voice did, also.

At first, Leoni tried to open his eyes again, but no matter how hard he tried, the dirt kept him from doing so. Finally, after fifteen seconds of holding his breath, a huge gust of wind brushed past him, and cleared the dust away in an instant.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Leoni opened his eyes, and was finally able to see again, without anything sealing his eyes shut. When he did, he noticed multiple things at once.

One, he wasn't in his home anymore.

Two, there was a bald, black-bearded man with brown eyes and golden armor staring right back at him.

Three, he couldn't remember a single thing before waking up, besides his own name, and basic things like how to speak... something that he felt he should do at that moment.

"Um... hello?" he asked.

The other man raised an eyebrow and tilted his head before replying... in an unrecognizable language.

Leoni tilted his own head in confusion before sighing. "I'm sorry. I can't understand what you're saying."

The stranger groaned before turning around. Then he gasped and began speaking again, though concern was in his voice as he did. Leoni turned towards whatever he was talking to, and instantly froze when he saw, what appeared to be, a pair of nonhuman creatures heading towards them... though one was limping, rather than walking. They appeared to be equines of some kind, but their faces were too rounded to be considered horses. If anything, they highly favored ponies. The one that was limping, however, had a horn on its head, and was staring at the other human with, what appeared to be, a sheepish smile.

Leoni reacted in the most normal of ways, in such a foreign situation... he panicked.

---

Perspective Change: Justus Heartstrings

---

Justus gasped when he saw Lyra limping towards them. "Lyra! What in Celestia's mane are you doing up?! You could stir the wound up again!"

Lyra smiled sheepishly at him before replying, "S-sorry, Justus... but I figured I should see this for myself, also. After all, if the human is too injured to move, you would've needed me here, anyways, correct?" She turned towards the said human and raised an eyebrow. "Though it looks like he's perfectly fine, though."

As if on cue, the human panicked. He yelped and backed away, only to trip on the dirt behind him, and fall to his butt with his eyes still glued on Lyra, but jumping towards Magnificent and Justus, as well. Then he began speaking more of the gibberish that he was saying to Justus.

Justus groaned before turning towards Lyra. "Lyra, I don't want you to do things like this, okay? You're too injured as it is! Come, let's just take this man and bring him to Ponyville under restraints. I'm certain we could find out more about him when we find a way to get this language barrier out of the way."

Lyra giggled before shaking her head. Then she looked at the panicking human and replied, "Actually, I already know a spell that could translate any language into Equestrian... though we have to get him to calm down, first."

Justus nodded his head and turned towards the panicking human, who at this point was breathing heavily, while staring at the group with wide eyes. Then he began walking towards the human, which only caused him to back away a little more. Finally, Justus backed up a little and figured he'd try signing his intentions out through body language.

He drew his sword out, causing the human to gasp and back away even more. Then he aimed the blade of the sword at the other human, causing him to flinch and close his eyes. Justus then rotated his arm around until the blade was angled in his right direction, and released the sword. The clattering noise caused the human to jump slightly and look at the cause of the noise.

The human's breathing began to get easier when he saw Justus was no longer armed. Then Justus hooked his shield on his back and lowered to one knee, and fanned his hands downwards in a calming manner.

Finally, the human's breathing was regular, though his expression was still uneasy. Justus took note of that and calmly said, "Don't worry. We're here to help you." Though the human clearly couldn't understand his words, he appeared to be calmed down by the tone of voice that Justus was speaking.

It wasn't until Justus was directly in front of him when he started to flinch even more. He then began speaking once more, but Justus shook his head and weakly smiled before patting him on the shoulder. Looking up, the human noticed that Justus was pointing at his own ear with his left finger, and shaking his head.

The human sighed, closed his eyes, and looked down, while burying his head in his knees. Then his head was engulfed in a golden aura, but due to his eyes being closed, he couldn't see it. Regardless, he began wiping his ears and groaning, before the aura faded. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked from Justus to Lyra. Then he sighed and asked, "Damn it. How the hell am I gonna get through to these people?"

Justus chuckled again before replying, "Well, you could start by calming down, and telling us who blasted you from up above."

The human's eyes widened at that comment. He looked up at Justus and backed away a little more. "W-what the- YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Justus nodded his head and replied, "I do now, though I didn't a few seconds ago. Lyra simply cast a translation spell on you, so now you can speak Equestrian."

The human just sat there for a moment, petrified. Finally, he looked around, and noticed the anthro unicorn slowly limping towards him. Even though she was completely alien to him, however, he felt calmer around her, mostly because she was limping, and could've easily been outrun, should she be dangerous.

Then his eyes widened again when he heard her speaking to him. "It's nice to meet you, stranger! Are you lost, perhaps?"

Again, the human sat there silently. Finally, with no other words to say, his eyes rolled up, and in the blink of an eye, he was unconscious again.

Lyra tilted her head in confusion before looking at Justus again. "Um... is he alright?"

Justus shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I honestly haven't the slightest clue, love... but we can't just leave him here. Please head on over to the carriage, while Mag and I carry him."

Lyra nodded her head and weakly smiled. "Don't be too long... it gets lonely up there!"

With a light chuckle, Justus quickly walked up to her and gently lifted her up from the ground bridal style. "Don't worry, my love. I'll be just a few minutes. In the meantime, why don't I make your trip less painful?"

Lyra giggled before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and gently pecking him on the cheek. "Sounds like a plan, dear!"

Magnificent groaned before turning towards the unconscious human. "Dammit. Why am I the only one who does any labor around here, again?"

Justus and Lyra turned to him before smirking. Then Justus quipped, "Perhaps because Lyra and I were hired to be your guards, rather than your workers?"

Magnificent merely rolled his eyes and began heading towards the unconscious human while Justus carried Lyra out of the area, and towards the carriage.

---

Perspective Change: Leoni

---

A little over a minute has passed when Leoni finally regained his consciousness. When he did, however, he noticed that there was something tugging on his right arm. Looking up, he noticed that he was being carried by the brown-coated pony thing with a black mane.

Under normal circumstances, someone may try fighting for their survival, and run as far away from their potential abductors as possible. In this situation, however, Leoni knew he was no fighter, nor was he aware of the environment, so trying to fight his assailant would more than likely lead to his own death. Regardless, however, he knew that if he were to not do anything, then the growing pain of the dirt on his back would only increase. So, he did what his mind told him to do, should such an occasion occur... he screamed.

The scream caused the horse to release his arm and cover his ears, while Leoni quickly picked himself up and started to run away from the stunned stallion... only to trip over something blunt on one side, and sharp on another. Looking at his feet, he noticed the sword that the other human dropped earlier was still lying on the ground. Instinctively, he picked it up and raised it towards the stallion, who stopped trying to move towards him, and raised his arms over his head submissively.

"Whoa! Easy there, lad! We mean you no harm!" the stallion stated.

Leoni shook his head and intensified his grip on the sword. "T-then... answer me this... who are you? What are you?! Why are you dragging me by the arm? A-are you... are you trying to abduct me?!"

The stallion's eyes widened, before he shook his head left and right. "Good heavens, no! We just found you in this crater, and wanted to take you to the nearest town to make sure you were okay!"

Leoni's frightened expression didn't change, but he did lower the sword a small bit. "S-so... you aren't trying to harm me?"

Again, the stallion shook his head. "Nay. You were just lying there, and we felt we should help!"

Leoni's expression slowly began to soften. Then, after blinking once, he sighed before lowering the sword completely. "Sorry... I have no idea what's going on, and..."

The stallion smiled at him before shaking his head again. "No worries, lad. You mustn't blame yourself for defending yourself from the unknown. Honestly, I would've done the same, even, should the situation have been reversed."

Leoni weakly chuckled before nodding his head. "W-well, then... my name's Leoni... or... I think it is, at least. It's nice to meet you, Mr... um..."

Nodding his head, the stallion replied, "Magnificent Eye. Archaeologist from the humble town of Ponyville. The lad you saw earlier was Justus Heartstrings, and the lassie was Lyra Heartstrings."

Leoni raised his right eyebrow up out of confusion. "They have the same last name... are they related?"

Magnificent nodded his head again before replying, "Indeed. They are both wed to each other... and honestly, they even tend to be a little too open about it, if you ask me."

Leoni nodded his head and decided not to press on the subject any more. "Alright, then... so where are we, exactly?"

Magnificent blinked confusedly. "We're in the Everfree Forest, of course! Didn't you notice it before you were hit by the blast?"

Leoni's eyes widened at the realization. He woke up in the center of a crater, after all. Even so, he had to ask something just to clarify what he was hoping and praying wasn't true. "Um... what blast?'

Magnificent's eyes widened in shock. "You mean you really don't know?!" Leoni shook his head in response. "Oh, no... lad, where are you from?"

Leoni opened his mouth to reply, but paused for a moment. Then his eyes opened widely, as yet another realization hit him. "Oh, shit... I don't know!"

There was a moment of silence before Magnificent sighed deeply. "Damn it... are you suffering amnesia, perhaps?!"

Leoni closed his eyes and began lightly pounding his forehead with his fist. "I... hope not, but... y-you might be right, though! I can't even remember my family name!"

Magnificent was about to reply, when the sudden sound of bushes rustling caught his attention. Turning around, he gasped when he saw a pair of glowing green eyes coming from the shadows... followed by another three pairs. "Oh, no... that can't be good..."

Leoni tilted his head before turning towards the area that Magnificent was staring at. Then, once he noticed the eyes, he quickly lifted the sword back up defensively... though out of nervousness, the blade shook rapidly.

"W-w-what the hell are those things?!" he asked while his eyes remained glued to the wolves.

Magnificent drew his shortsword before replying, "Timberwolves... damned beasts are everywhere, nowadays!" He then turned towards Leoni again. "I hope you at least know how to use that!"

Leoni gulped before turning around, only to notice another four of the pairs of glowing green eyes to approach from the other side. "Shit... we're surrounded!"

Magnificent nodded his head before standing back-to-back with Leoni, while the creatures revealed themselves from the shadows. As their names suggested, they were wolves made out of wood and timber... though their brows were made of leaves of different colors, with the dominant color being green.

Breaking from the pack, one of the wolves on Leoni's side decided to leap ahead and attempt to strike down its prey... but before it could even get close, Leoni closed his eyes and looked away while the wolf was engulfed in a golden aura, and tossed into another one, causing the two of them to scatter into pieces after letting out a loud yelp. That caused the remaining two on Leoni's side to dash towards their targets and crouch onto the ground; bracing themselves for a leaping strike, while the four on Magnificent's side spread apart in a formation to reduce the possibilities of escaping from the gaps created by the loss of their other two pack mates.

Magnificent, having been startled by the sudden magic use, had his back turned when one of his four opponents broke from behind and leaped onto his shoulders; clawing at his back, and biting into his right shoulder.

He let out a loud yell, while the other three moved closer to join in the ambush. Leoni, however, quickly dropped his sword and rushed towards the timberwolf on Magnificent's back and used both hands to pry its jaw open. Then it shifted its weight towards him, and caused him to fall on his back. His reflexes, however, made him reach his right foot up and kick the timberwolf off of him before it could even bite him.

As soon as it was off of him, Leoni quickly stood back up and, after noticing another one of the timberwolves dashing towards him, kicked the timberwolf in front of him in the skull; sending it flying back several yards, and causing its body to rush past him in pieces.

From behind Leoni's back, Magnificent sliced one of the timberwolves' skulls in half, horizontally from the jawline. Then one of them pounced on him, but he was quick to buck it to pieces with both of his hooves, and then kick his way back into a standing defensive position. Afterwards, he stabbed his shortsword into another one's skulls vertically.

Looking around, he quickly did a headcount on the timberwolves. "Looks like there are only two more left!"

Leoni nodded his head and replied, "Y-yeah! I t-think we can-" before he could finish his sentence, however, one of the timberwolves managed to leap from Leoni's right and claw at his back with its jaw wide open, and its fangs ready to sink into his neck.

Magnificent gasped and ran towards it... but before he could even take another step, Leoni quickly leaped backwards and, with a loud crash, landed on his back, with the timberwolf shattering to pieces below him.

Groaning in pain, he tried to stand up, only for the last timberwolf to leap towards him for an attempt to strike him down.

Suddenly, the timberwolf was sent flying in the air by an all-too-familiar white and gold shield that was thrown from a distance. When Leoni and Magnificent turned towards the source of the projectile, they sighed in relief when they found Justus running towards them. From a short distance behind him, however, Lyra was quickly limping towards them from behind.

Justus then proceeded to run down the crater while breathing heavily. "Oh, thank Celestia you're both safe! What happened here?"

Magnificent, after helping Leoni up off the ground, looked from him to Lyra with an angry frown on his face. "We were ambushed by bucking timberwolves! At least Lyra was there to stop the first one from attacking, but where were you, Justus?!"

Justus tilted his head in confusion before turning towards Lyra, who was also staring at him confusedly. Then he turned back towards Magnificent and replied, "Lyra and I were dealing with some bandits near the carriage! And Lyra was casting a protection spell over it, as well as myself... what do you mean stop the first one from attacking, though? Did someone use magic?"

Magnificent looked from him to Lyra, and froze for a second. "W-wait... you didn't cast a levitation spell on the first wolf?!"

Lyra shook her head and replied, "It's like Justus said! I was in the carriage casting protection spells... though I also cast a few fire blasts on some of the bandits... but no levitation spells, as far as I know!"

Magnificent then gulped before eying the edges of the crater nervously. "T-then... there must be another magic user nearby!"

Justus's eyes widened at that statement before he turned around and began joining in the scan for any unknown figures. "Damn... and Lyra is in no shape to be casting any more combat spells, as of yet!"

From behind their backs, Leoni cleared his throat and asked in a nervous tone, "U-um... guys? Is... is that normal?!" When they turned towards him, they gasped when they saw the twigs, the branches, and the leaves of the timberwolves move on their own, and gather into a large pile. Then, when the pile was completed, the pieces started shaping up into a massive timberwolf that was three times Leoni's and Justus's heights, six times their depths, and twice as wide as them.

Justus instinctively reached his right arm towards his left hip, only for his eyes to widen when he remembered that he left his sword at the crater... and his eyes quickly fixed onto his sword... which was coincidentally right there behind the behemoth of a timberwolf.

"Damn it! It's an Alpha Timberwolf!" Magnificent yelped.

Justus growled at it. "And my sword is out of reach, too!"

Leoni, however, backed up nervously and stared in horror at the creature that towered above them. "Um... guys? T-think we should run, now?!"

Justus shook his head and replied, "We have to find a way to get rid of this thing, first! Otherwise, it'll just catch up to us and endanger the whole town!"

Before anyone could say anything else, however, the alpha decided to dash towards them. Lyra quickly created a shield bubble around the group, and managed to deflect the timberwolf's attack, and stun it just enough for Justus to run out of the bubble, dodge the alpha's incoming swipe, and reclaim his sword.

"Justus! What are you doing?!" Lyra shouted in a panicked tone.

Justus swiped his sword onto the alpha's chest in a right swing, blocked its second attempted swipe, and bashed it in the snout with his shield before replying, "Distracting it! You three go! Get to the carriage!"

"Not without you!" Lyra retorted.

Justus shook his head and turned towards Magnificent. "Mag! Take them back to town, and send reinforcements! I'll be fine, now go!"

Magnificent gave him a sad frown before nodding his head once. "Celestia guide your path, Justus."

Justus looked back at him and weakly smiled with a nervous look in his eyes. "And to you both, as well." Then he turned to Lyra. "If I don't make it out of this... know that I will forever love you, Lyra!"

Lyra nodded her head and, with tears in her eyes, replied, "D-don't say that, Justus! Y-you'll be fine! We'll be swift!"

With that, the two of them began to run, while Leoni stared wide-eyed at Justus and the alpha. Justus was quick to notice. "I may not know you... but I want you to guard them with your life, boy! You were able to defeat the pack of timberwolves... clearly you are familiar with the blade, at least!"

Leoni nodded his head and joined Lyra and Magnificent in their run, while turning around, and sighing uneasily. He had a bad feeling about Justus's skills. Something had to be done quickly.

---

When the three of them returned to the carriage, Leoni gasped when he saw a pile of five human corpses, with additional corpses of three ponies and two minotaurs, lying next to it. One of the humans, the skinniest of the group, was in his undergarments.

Lyra winced at the increased weight that she put on her leg while she sat in the back of the carriage. Then she turned towards Leoni and motioned for him to come closer. "That one had armor that was still in decent condition. We figured we could take it to sell... but maybe you should put it on."

Leoni looked at the very back of the carriage. Right away, he noticed a brown leather left glove and right armband, a pair of long leather boots that, when put on, would rise halfway up his thighs, and a leather vest. On the sides of the vest, a pair of steel shoulder guards were sewn into it. Next to the vest was a metal left bracer that would attach to the glove.

With a nod, Leoni quickly strapped the armor pieces over his torso and switched his boots out for the longer pair, while placing his hiking boots inside the carriage. Then he looked at the pile of corpses and sighed, before rushing up to the nearest one and unlatching an iron longsword and its sheath from his belt. Afterwards, he strapped the weapons onto his own belt and ran back up to the carriage.

"We can't delay! We've got to move quickly, before Justus gets overwhelmed!" Magnificent stated.

Lyra nodded her head and continued to stare uneasily at the location where they just came from. The sound of the battle could still be heard going on in the distance.

Leoni looked between the two uneasily before shifting to a fetal position. Then he felt something pressing into his left leg from the leather boots' pressure. When he felt for the source, he noticed that something was in his left pocket. Quickly, he pulled what was out of it, and eyed the object curiously.

It was a thin red tube with a metal tip, a rigid pair of wheel-like devices in the center of the metal tip, and a plastic button on one end of the metal tip. On the other end of the metal tip, there was a hole that led into the metal tube, but was also blocked by something inside the metal.

After staring at the object for five seconds, Leoni gripped onto his head with his right hand, and groaned in pain... which caught Lyra's and Magnificent's attention.

"Sir? Are... are you okay?" Lyra asked worriedly.

Leoni opened his eyes widely before muttering, "Lighter..." then he turned towards the chest in the carriage and quickly opened it up. Lyra gasped and gripped onto his left shoulder. "Hey! What're you doing?!"

Leoni looked towards the inside of it and noticed a bottle of liquid amongst the other junk. "Sorry... just need something to help with this headache... do you happen to have any alcohol?"

Lyra released her grip and looked uneasily at him. "Wait... you drink?" Then she turned towards Magnificent, who shrugged his shoulders and stretched his right hand towards the chest. "Well... we do have Dragon Bourbon, but that stuff is very strong for humans. How much do you need?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders before picking the bottle up from the chest. When he looked at the label on it, he smiled when he saw that it was exactly what he needed. "Um... may I try the whole bottle?"

Magnificent smirked before turning towards the horses to move forward. "Sure, it's your funeral!"

Leoni shook his head before gripping onto his right sleeve. Then he pulled down on it, and ripped the entire sleeve off before ripping a strip off of the sleeve. Lyra and Magnificent turned towards him confusedly, while Magnificent pulled on the horses' reins to keep them from moving while he wasn't looking forward.

Leoni then proceeded by removing the wooden cap from the bottle and stuffing the top of it with the strip from his sleeve. "It isn't my funeral." He then sealed the cap on top of the bottle again, with the strip of cloth hanging from the tip of it. "It's that wolf's funeral."

After taking a deep breath, Leoni stood up from the carriage and leaped off of it, landing with a roll, before kicking a dust trail behind him. Lyra and Magnificent reached out to stop him, but before they could even say anything to him, he was already out of sight. "Wait! Don't fight that thing, Leoni! Timberwolves can't be killed! We've already tried for many generations!" Magnificent complained before groaning and turning towards Lyra. Then the two of them nodded their heads and following Leoni, albeit at a slower pace due to Lyra's injury.

---

Justus breathed heavily while the alpha continued to try clawing at him. His sword was now lodged into its back, but unfortunately, it wasn't as effective as he had hoped. Now all he had left was his shield and his fists... though only a fool would use their fists against a timberwolf.

"Come on, you wooden bastard! You bite worse than a newborn infant!" he jested, which only made the alpha even more angrier at him. It howled before trying to swipe at him once again. This time, however, when he blocked its claw, it ended up swiping again in the opposite direction; disarming him of his shield, and leaving a long and thin cut on his left gauntlet and his chest plate.

Before Justus could react, the alpha swung at him again, and sent him flying backwards. When he landed, his helmet flew off, and his forehead was now bleeding. The alpha snarled and crouched to pounce on its prey.

Suddenly, a large stone flew into the air, and bashed the alpha in the back of the skull, causing it to yelp and jerk to the side. As it jerked, Justus's sword flew from its back, but it seemed unfazed by that.

Justus, out of confusion, turned towards the source of the stone, and gasped when he saw Leoni standing where he ran from mere moments ago. He didn't gasp at the sight of Leoni, however. He gasped at what Leoni was doing... taunting the alpha.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BOY?! YOU CAN'T FIGHT A TIMBERWOLF ALPHA! THAT'S SUICIDE!"

Leoni merely ignored Justus's complaints and continued waving his hand over his head like a madman. "THAT'S RIGHT! OVER HERE, FIDO! FRESH MEAT, TWELVE O'CLOCK!"

The alpha continued to glare and snarl at him before crouching into a pouncing position. Then, once it started to inch closer towards him, he stopped jumping and flailing his arms, and lowered to the ground and picked the bottle of bourbon up from behind his right foot. Finally, he lifted it in front of his chest and began flicking the lighter on, while the alpha began dashing towards him. Then, once the strip of blue cloth was lit up, he did something that made Justus stare at him like he was even more crazier than he thought... he ran towards the behemoth.

Regardless of the image he was painting for himself, there was one phrase that Leoni was thinking as he ran towards the hulking behemoth. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!"

Finally, when the alpha dug its claws into the ground to make yet another pounce, Leoni slowed his running pace and arched the bourbon behind his back, and took aim. Then, when the alpha leaped into the air, Leoni threw the lit bottle towards the behemoth and rolled to the left to avoid getting flattened.

As soon as the glass broke, the liquid splashed all over the alpha, and shortly following it, the entire beast was engulfed in the flame. It let out a series of loud yelps and whines as the flames only intensified with it blindly running in circles.

Leoni was still sitting on the ground when he saw the creature light up even more. Then he turned to his right and noticed Lyra and Magnificent walking into the scene with looks of sheer amazement on their faces. He turned towards Justus and saw that he, too, was amazed at the sight before them. Then, when Leoni turned back towards the alpha, his eyes widened when he saw the fire turning green, and a huge amount of smoke started gathering around it.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Justus, Lyra, and Magnificent continued to stare silently before Justus replied, "I... don't know! This never happened, before!"

As if on cue, the green fire began to loudly crackle, until it loudly popped. Then, as quickly as the pop occurred, the flames dissipated, and all that was left of the monster was a large pile of black ashes.

---

Justus slowly walked up to the pile of ashes and cautiously poked at it with his sword. Seeing that it was nothing more than ashes, he backed away from it, dropped his sword and shield, and fell onto his knees.

Leoni raised a confused eyebrow and was about to ask what was going on. Instead, however, Justus answered it for him.

"Countless generations... these things have been a major threat to us for countless generations." He shook his head and chuckled. "I've lost countless men to this thing... even the most trained soldiers have fallen at the claws of timberwolves!" Then he turned towards Leoni with a smile on his face. "And now... we have the one person who was able to actually kill the bastards!" He stood up and slowly walked towards Leoni, who was still sitting down. Then Justus reached his right hand down for Leoni to take. He did so, and was quickly pulled back onto his feet... and was now caught in a bear hug, which made his expression change from total confusion, to slight discomfort.

"You have no idea how much this means to us, lad." Then Justus released him and lightly chuckled when he saw Leoni grasping onto his chest, trying to regain his breath. "Tell me... who are you? And where are you from, exactly?"

After relearning his ability to speak, Leoni wheezed, "My... name is... Leoni... but... I... don't know where... I'm from."

Justus's smile slowly started to lower into a frown. "Wait... you don't know where you're from? How can that be, when you remember your name?"

Leoni's breathing soon became normal again before he replied. "I can't say for sure. All I remember is waking up in a place that feels... different from where I'm used to. A little alien, if you know what I mean?"

Justus hummed before scratching on his beard. "Amnesia, perhaps?"

Leoni nodded his head and replied, "Unfortunately... I think it is. I can't even remember my last name, even! Just my first name, a few small basics, like how to talk and what-not... and that's about it." He then lifted his lighter up and added, "Oh... and I also know how to use a lighter again... though I don't think I was able to remember it until after I simply looked at it for a little bit."

Justus tilted his head in confusion before reaching his hands out. "May I see this... lighter thing that you speak of, please?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head before placing the lighter in Justus's hands. Justus lifted it up to his eyes and examined it curiously... something that took Leoni all of his willpower to keep from laughing at. It wasn't until Lyra and Magnificent joined him in staring at it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, that his built up laughter caused him to smirk and cover his mouth.

Justus looked up at him and pointed at the lighter. "I do not understand. What is this thing supposed to do, exactly?"

Leoni reached his right hand out, and waited for Justus to pass him back his lighter. When he did, Leoni cleared his throat and pointed at the metal tip of the lighter. "Well... think of it like this. This device is pretty much a mix of flint and steel that operates from a liquid called 'butane'... are you familiar with that?"

Lyra nodded her head and replied, "Yes. That is what some of our ovens work with... though that's normally up in Canterlot, or rich businesses, because of how rare it is to come by, and how difficult it is to keep it in liquid form. There are a few in Ponyville that use it, though... but nowadays, we just simply use artificial fire, created by magic."

Leoni nodded his head and pointed at the red tube of the lighter. "Well, inside this plastic container is plenty of butane to keep this thing lit for a good while. By placing my thumb on this rigid part on top, and sliding it down while pressing this button here, the lighter sends out a spark, while holding this button allows the butane to flow from the bottom, and catch the spark. When it catches it, it stays lit up until I release this button, which would essentially make it close up the hole to keep the air from getting into the butane within the lighter." As Leoni explained the basic functions of his lighter, he also lit it to demonstrate. When he did, his "audience" literally jumped back and gasped in awe at the foreign device.

Justus reached his hand out again. "This kind of tool... it could make all the difference in the world! Why, this could be a major breakthrough in our soldiers' safety! Please, Mr... Leoni, was it?" Leoni nodded his head. "Please, Leoni, allow us to examine this tool? We shall not damage it at all... just a simple harmless magic examination? It won't take long, and might even aid you in finding out where you came from?"

Leoni thought for a moment before nodding his head and passing him the lighter again. Then Justus offered it to Lyra, who eyed it carefully while her horn started glowing gold.

Leoni still wasn't sure how magic worked, but after all that he encountered since waking up, he felt it would be best to just avoid questioning it. Instead, he just stood there silently and eagerly waited for any clues on where he could've come from.

After thirty seconds of tirelessly examining the lighter with her magic, Lyra's spell stopped in an instant, her eyes shot open, and she let out a loud gasp. Justus was the first to ask, "What is it, dear? What did you find?"

Lyra stared at the lighter confusedly before offering it back to Leoni. "It's made entirely of resources that we have... that much is true... but the source of your... lighter's resources... I can't seem to find the location the materials came from!"

After Leoni accepted the lighter and placed it back in his pocket, Magnificent stared at Lyra incredulously. "So you're saying that he isn't from Equestria at all?"

She shook her head and replied, "Actually... it gets even stranger than that!" She turned towards her friends and, while pointing at Leoni, stated, "He isn't even from Asgalon! It's almost like... he's from a different world altogether!"

The three of them slowly turned their heads towards Leoni, who was scratching his chin, deeply lost in thought. "And you got this from simply looking at my lighter?"

Lyra nodded her head and, with a worried look, replied, "Yes... I... don't know what to say."

After a moment of silence, Leoni's confused expression became a cheerful one. Then he looked at Lyra and nodded his head. "That's amazing!"

The three of them tilted their heads in confusion, while Justus spoke. "If you're from another world, though... aren't you worried that you may never see it again?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders while looking around at the crater. "Honestly, I can't remember a thing about it, besides how to use a lighter. Also, I know the land between this crater and your carriage over there. That pretty much means I'm more familiar with this one than the one I'm from... so I don't see any reason to worry."

Justus, Lyra, and Magnificent looked at each other again, before smiling and nodding their heads at Leoni. "Well, when you put it that way, perhaps it would be best that we start over?" Justus stated. Then he reached his right hand out and said, "My name is Justus Heartstrings... though I'm sure Mag over there ran his mouth again, and introduced us, already. Honestly, he wouldn't be able to keep his snout shut, even if his life depended on it... but he's a good friend to have around."

Magnificent glared at him and spat, "Oh, and you have room to talk? In case you didn't notice, you and Lyra tend to be a little too open with your 'bedroom conversations', if you ask me!" Then he smiled and turned to Leoni. "Oh, by the way. I hope you don't mind their... couple-related conversations. They've been married for a few months now, after all... and they tend to still speak as if they were home, even when they are in the public!"

Lyra, on the other hand, closed her eyes and, with the golden glow from her horn, the two males were pulled down to her level by their ears, while she complained, "Guys! In case you didn't notice, you're making him feel uncomfortable! Besides, I don't think we should be chatting here of all places!" Then she released their ears from her magic grip and smiled at Leoni while the other guys rubbed their ears and groaned out of minor pain. "Please, don't mind these guys' words. Despite what Mag said, Justus and I are more restrained in our conversations when we're around others. If it makes you uncomfortable, we won't speak that way when in your presence."

Leoni nervously closed his eyes, nervously grinned, and rubbed the back of his hair with his right hand. "Um... it's quite alright, really!" Then he opened his eyes and smiled warmly at the three of them. "I can see that the three of you are trying to help me feel more comfortable... and for that fact alone, I'd like to say thank you. Also, please don't feel restricted around me! I'd rather you guys be yourselves, rather than put on an act, y'know?" Then his eyes widened in realization. "Oh! And... my name is 'Leoni', by the way. It's an honor to meet you three!"

Justus chuckled and patted Leoni on the back. "Well, Leoni, I think the four of us are going to get along nicely! If ever you need to know anything at all, feel free to ask us! We'll do what we can to answer your questions freely!"

Leoni nodded his head and replied, "Thanks! I actually do have a few questions."

Magnificent cleared his throat. "Well, perhaps we should return to the carriage, first. This place isn't really a good location to converse at, after all."

They nodded their heads in agreement and headed back to the carriage, where the hour-long trip to Ponyville would begin.

---

When they reached the carriage, Leoni eyed the horses that pulled it curiously. "Um... I take it those are horses, correct?"

Justus nodded his head and replied, "Indeed, they are. Oftentimes, one would mistake a pony for a horse, either by lack of knowledge, or as an insult. I'm surprised you didn't make that mistake, Leoni! Being from a new world that must've had horses would make that mistake a very likely thing to happen!"

Leoni nodded his head and smiled nervously. "Well... the facial features are way much more different when you look at the two up close... that plus the fur colors."

Lyra smiled and nodded her head at him. "Very good way of putting it! Most other races don't even look past the fur colors when it comes to dating a pony! They just turn them down because of how much like a horse they think they look like... despite us having hands and stuff."

Justus chuckled at her statement. "Yes, but when it comes to feet, you have a tendency to be a fanatic, though."

Lyra giggled at him before nodding her head. "It's true. Sometimes I do tend to go overboard, like how the toes act as secondary fingers!"

Leoni scratched the back of his hair nervously. "I take it that must be what Magnificent called 'bedroom conversations'?"

Justus shook his head and chuckled. "Nay, that one is just an open fact, actually."

Lyra nodded her head and winked at Justus. "Though I'll admit, those secondary fingers can be handy when it comes to massaging more than two areas on a mare's body!"

Justus laughed loudly at that statement. "And that one would be a bedroom conversation, there!"

Leoni coughed a couple times while hiding his face in his hands, attempting to hold back laughter. Lyra, however, was able to notice it right away, and giggled. "Ooh! Looks like someone has something in their mind!"

Leoni cleared his throat before smiling sheepishly at them. "Um... I... have no comments on that."

The three of them chuckled while Magnificent rolled his eyes, but before long, he also chuckled, though only lightly. "Great. We have three dirty minds in this damned carriage, now..."

When everyone settled down from the laughter, Leoni asked, "So... about the questions?"

Justus and Lyra nodded their heads with their friendly smiles still on their faces. Then Justus replied, "Of course! What would you like to know?"

Leoni thought for a moment before asking, "You guys mentioned a 'Ponyville' place... what's it like?"

Justus nodded his head and replied, "Ah, Ponyville! A wondrous place, it is! I know you'll love it!"

Lyra chipped in, "And don't let the name fool you. It's only named 'Ponyville' because it was built many generations ago by all three races of ponies; the earth ponies, the pegasi, and the unicorns!"

Leoni's eyes widened at that statement. "Wait... there are other kinds of ponies?"

Lyra nodded her head. "Of course! Which would you like to know about first?"

"Well, you're a unicorn, so I guess we should begin there?"

"Of course! Unicorns are, by nature, far more capable of mastering magic than the other two... though with special methods, the other two can know magic, also! Of course, they would require staffs and wands in order for their magic to work. Unicorns, however, can easily cast magic without tools! All they need is the horn on their foreheads!"

Leoni eyed the staff that she was carrying curiously. "And yet you carry a staff? How come?"

Lyra giggled before replying, "Staffs are good for channeling magic... but when a unicorn uses a staff or a wand, it increases the power that the staff channels immensely! Of course, in doing so, it would lower the capabilities of the other natural elements."

"Natural elements?"

"Yes. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Darkness. If I were carrying a Ruby Staff, then I would be able to cast powerful fire spells... but I wouldn't be able to cast any of the other spells. The same goes for Sapphire, Emerald, Glass, Gold, and Jasper Staffs. The only exception would be the one I carry now... a Diamond Staff."

"I'm guessing a Diamond Staff is the most powerful?"

She shook her head and replied, "No. It's actually fairly weaker than the others! It simply gives a small boost in every element. If I were to get in a fight with a Fire Staff user, and we both were to cast fire spells, then the opponent would have the upper hand... and while I would be able to defeat them with water, if they are strong enough with fire spells, the water will just evaporate, and I would still lose the battle."

Leoni nodded his head and rubbed his chin in thought. "So staffs channel magic for combat... what about wands?"

Lyra shook her head. "Wands are meant for supporting your friends or yourself in combat. Its uses could vary from person to person. Perhaps the user would want to increase their friends' immunity to the certain element? Or they could enchant their friends' weapons with that element, and help them deal more damage to their enemies! The exception to that one would be Nature Wands. Instead of increasing immunities or dealing damage, they are used to heal wounds quickly, at the cost of the user's energy."

Leoni hummed in thought. "So in other words, Nature Magic is good for healing, but nothing else?"

With a shrug, Lyra replied, "As far as I know, yes... though if you ask me, that kind of magic is still very helpful!" Then she looked at her right thigh, and winced in pain as she poked on it a little.

Leoni nodded his head in understanding. "Understood..." Then he rubbed his chin in thought. "So the unicorns are masters of magic... would that make pegasi masters of flight?"

Lyra nodded her head and smiled. "Indeed! They even have the ability to manipulate weather! Also, pegasi are the only ponies that can stand on clouds... it would be wise to remember that, also. Some accidents have occurred when curious people tried walking on clouds... and I'm sure Mag here can relate to that!"

Magnificent huffed, "No comments! It was for science, and discovery!"

Lyra chuckled at him before adding, "You were lying in bed for weeks, telling yourself that clouds are evil!"

Leoni lightly chuckled before shaking his head. "Anyways, so pegasi can fly, manipulate weather, and walk on clouds... what else can they do?"

Lyra hummed before replying, "Well, considering the fact that they are pegasi, it should be obvious that they are naturally immune to wind and water magic. There hasn't been a single unicorn capable of lifting a pegasus with a levitation spell completely. They would have to grip them by the tails or the mane... but even that takes a lot of skill to manage."

"Levitation spells... that's Wind Magic, isn't it?"

Lyra nodded her head and smiled. "That's correct! My, you're pretty perceptive, aren't you?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders before replying, "Eh, it just seems like common sense to me. Things floating in the air, must be carried by the wind, y'know?"

"Indeed! I bet if you weren't a human, you would've been a master in the making!"

Leoni tilted his head in confusion. "If I weren't a human? What do you mean by that?"

Justus was the one to answer that one. "Humans aren't capable of casting magic. Usually, we are the balanced forces of the land... though oftentimes, we can be more stubborn than a minotaur!"

"This world has minotaurs?"

Justus nodded his head. "Indeed! As well as griffons, drakes, dragons, satyrs, foxes, goats, changelings, cows, harpies, sirens, and several more sentient creatures!"

Leoni hummed out of interest. "Huh... that's quite interesting... and now that I think about it, I saw a few non-human and non-pony bandits back there near the crater. I'm guessing the minotaurs were the big guys, and the griffons were the bird-like people?"

Justus nodded his head again in response. "Indeed! I'm guessing your memory must be coming back to you?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders and smiled weakly. "I can't say for certain... though it looks like some of the things I knew are still there, thankfully."

Justus chuckled and patted him on the shoulders. "Don't worry. I'm sure your memories will come back to you eventually!"

Leoni nodded his head. "Thanks." Then he turned back to Lyra. "So the pegasi control the weather, and the unicorns control magic the best... what about earth ponies, though?"

Lyra cleared her throat and replied, "Earth ponies are more capable of speed and Nature Magic! Unlike unicorns and pegasi, they don't have anything unique that distinguishes them from the rest. No horn, and no wings. Naturally, though, they can grow taller than the pegasi and the unicorns, so they can occasionally grow stronger, also. One of Ponyville's strongest stallions is even able to beat a minotaur in an arm wrestle!"

Leoni's eyes widened. "Whoa... that guy must be huge!"

Lyra giggled before nodding her head. "Well, they don't call him Big McIntosh for nothing, y'know!"

Justus smirked before looking at Lyra. "Hey, Dear! You aren't fantasizing about him now, are you?"

Lyra's cheeks suddenly turned red when she looked his way. Then she shook her head and, with a sheepish smile, replied, "N-no! Y-you're the only one in my mind, Love!"

Justus chuckled before shaking his head and wrapping his left arm around her. "I jest, love. It would be wrong for me to control what you think, after all. Besides..." He then pressed his lips into hers for five seconds before pulling back from it. "That doesn't mean I can't manipulate those thoughts through actions, does it?"

Lyra sighed deeply before shaking her head and smiling warmly at him. Leoni, on the other hand, couldn't help but look away at the couple to give them their space.

"So, Leoni! Is there any more questions you'd like to ask?" Justus asked once he took his seat next to him again.

Leoni thought for a moment before nodding his head. "I was wondering about the griffons. Are there any unique things about them that I should be aware of?"

Justus nodded his head and replied, "Indeed there are. Like the pegasi, they are capable of manipulating weather. Instead of immunity to water and wind, however, they are just as vulnerable as every other element, and are even weak towards Light Magic."

"I take it that would be lightning and stuff like that?"

Justus chuckled. "Indeed, it is! And they also have a slight weakness to fire, though not as badly as the pegasi."

Leoni nodded his head again. "Understandable. What about magic abilities?"

Justus scratched his beard in thought before turning to Lyra. "Care to explain that one, Dear?"

Lyra nodded her head and replied, "Gladly!" Then she turned to Leoni. "Griffons, though capable of manipulating weather, aren't able to cast spells directly. Rather, they rely on enchanting their weapons with an element to increase their capabilities in combat. Say, for example, a griffon gets in a fight with a Tree Spirit... monsters that are usually found in White Tail Woods. They would slide one talon over the blade of their swords, or the ends of their clubs, while imagining a large fire in their minds. Then, when their talon slides down the blade to the tip, a fire engulfs the blade, and makes it powerful enough to burn their foes!"

Leoni thought for a moment before turning towards Justus. "Wait a minute... what about timberwolves? Didn't you say that they've been a threat for so long? Couldn't you just light them on fire with magic?"

Justus shook his head and sighed. "Unfortunately, there's a difference between natural and magical fires. We've been relying on magic fires for generations... and as it turns out, timberwolves happen to be immune to magic, regardless of element. And I can assure you, if it were to strike at Lyra's shield bubble one more time, it would've broken through, had I not intervened."

Leoni nodded his head and hummed. "So fire made from magic is more controlled, correct?"

Justus nodded his head. "Indeed. That's why we rarely use normal fires anymore. Nowadays, all we use normal fires for is fine cooking, and occasionally alchemy... and even that is starting to be replaced by magic."

"I can see why. Without proper care, fire can still be very dangerous." Leoni replied before turning towards Lyra. "So, I guess the knowledge you gained from my lighter might affect the outcome of combat with fire?"

Lyra nodded her head and smiled. "Indeed! I'll also be sure to throw in a good word to the one who taught us how to slay timberwolves!" Then she paused for a moment. "By the way... how did you know that bourbon was able to combust like that?! Nobody would've even figured something like that out, even if they were the smartest beings in the land!"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders before replying, "Eh, to each person, their own knowledge, I guess... though I can't say for sure. I... kinda figured it out when I looked at the lighter, also."

"Well, whatever the case, that knowledge will be helpful for the tavern keepers to know! If for any reason, they were to run into normal fire... their businesses would burn down quicker than a manticore chasing after its prey!"

Leoni tilted his head in confusion. "Manticore? What's that?"

Lyra shook her head and place a hand on his shoulder. When he looked at her, she had an amused smile on her face. "You don't want to know."

Leoni gulped and nodded his head, deciding to change the subject. "I might ask more about the other races later... but for now, I'd like to know more about Ponyville. What kingdom is it in?"

Magnificent decided to answer that one. "It's the same kingdom we're in now! Equestria. It's ruled by Princess Celestia, who also happens to be the one who raises the sun and the moon!"

Leoni blinked at that comment before smirking. "You can't be serious... she raises the sun and the moon?"

Magnificent tilted his head in confusion. "But of course! Someone has to do it! Otherwise, the lands will either be charred into desert sands, or frozen into winter nights! Why do you ask?"

Leoni shook his head and replied, "Sorry, it's just that... I kinda figured they already did that on their own... and that the world rotated around the sun!"

Lyra's eyes widened at that comment. "What makes you say that, exactly?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders before replying, "It's just another one of the facts that I recall from my world... though I can't say for sure how that is."

Justus hummed before scratching his beard in thought again. "Be best to avoid that subject when we make it to town... but I won't say that it's impossible, knowing that you must be from another world, and all of that."

Leoni lightly chuckled before nodding his head. "Right... and I'll just go with it, regardless of any doubts." Then he looked up at the clearing directly in front of them, where the light began to shine brighter.

Magnificent chuckled before stating, "Finally! We've made it out of the Everfree Forest!"

---

As soon as the bright rays of the sun entered everyone's eyes, Leoni had to close them in order to let his eyes adjust. Then, when he opened his eyes again, he smiled at the large ocean of green at his left, the distant apple orchard at his right, and the lone cottage just past a small creek nearby... also at his right. Around the cottage, several animals were roaming out and about, and ranged from simple little mice to large dogs, wolves, and even a bear.

What surprised him the most was the fact that even the bear seemed tame, because it wasn't causing a raucous with the smaller critters.

"Um... what's with the house over there?" Leoni asked before pointing towards the lone cottage.

Lyra giggled before replying, "That's Fluttershy's house! As her name implies, she is very shy! You'd have to either be a friend of hers, a friend of her friends, an animal lover, or an animal in order to be able to approach her... and even then, she would get nervous."

Justus added, "But hey, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Regardless of how shy she is, she's also one of the kindest individuals I know."

Lyra nodded her head. "Yeah! She never puts herself over others' interests, and will more than likely keep herself from eating if someone close to her were to tell her not to! It's just that the poor mare is even scared of her own shadow... literally! I even saw her running away from it one day, thinking someone was out to get her!"

Leoni rubbed his chin in thought. "Really, now? Did something happen to her, or someone she knew?"

Lyra nodded her head and replied, "Yes. Unfortunately, she was bullied in the past. As a result, she was always so secluded in her cottage, she doesn't even have many friends. In fact, besides Justus, Mag, and I, she only has one other friend."

Leoni looked towards the cottage again. "I think I can relate... other than you guys, I can't even remember my own family... and what's worse, with this amnesia, I doubt if I'd even be able to tell who would be my family, if I were to return."

Lyra frowned in response before gently patting him on the back. "Hey, like Justus said, I'm sure you'll get your memories back over time."

Leoni weakly smiled at her and nodded his head in appreciation. "Thanks... I just hope whoever it is that I left behind aren't upset."

Justus also patted his back and shook his head. "If the humans of your world are the same as the ones here, then I'm sure they will eventually recover."

Lyra smiled and nodded her head. "Also, if we happen to find a way to send you back, we'll be sure to let you know, should you get your memories back!"

Leoni looked at the two of them and lightly chuckled. "Thanks, you guys. I'm glad it was the three of you who found me, instead of those timberwolves... or those bandits."

Magnificent turned towards him and replied with a smile, "Any time! And for the record, you could always talk to any of us if you need any more help with anything! Just... y'know... maybe not in the middle of the night, or something like that, unless it's an emergency!"

Leoni turned towards Magnificent and nodded his head again. "Thanks, Mr. Magnificent."

Magnificent chuckled before shaking his head. "Please, don't worry about formalities around any of us. You can just call me 'Mag', if you'd like!"

Leoni nodded his head again before turning back towards the cottage. "So you said she has one other friend... does she live here?"

Justus was about to reply, but before any words could come out, a distant brash-sounding female called out, "Hey! You guys are back!"

Curiously, Leoni turned his head towards the source of the voice... but then, his jaw dropped when all he could see was a distant cyan blur with a rainbow streak following behind it.

Lyra, however, smiled and waved at the rainbow maker. "Good day, Rainbow Dash! We've got a newcomer over here!"

Leoni continued to stare at the distant blur in disbelief. Then, in the matter of seconds, the blur was literally right in front of him, merely one foot from his face.

He gasped and jumped back at the sudden appearance of, what appeared to be, a pegasus mare with a cyan coat, purple eyes, and a rainbow mane. Her outfit was a light blue sleeveless shirt, a pair of dark brown pants, a pair of black flat-bottomed boots (since ponies have hooves for feet), and a pair of black armbands that began below her elbows and ended at her wrists.

When Leoni landed on the floor of the carriage, he groaned in minor pain while the pegasus gripped onto her snout and attempted to hold back her laughter. Unable to do so, she fell on her back and burst into a fit of laughter, while Leoni deadpanned at her and tried to stand up to get back on his seat.

Before he could even stand up more than an inch, however, the rainbow-maned pegasus was already hovering over him with her right arm stretched out. Leoni hesitantly took it, but smiled when she helped him back to his seat. "Wow, thanks sir! I needed a good laugh!" she commented before taking a seat next to him. Then she held her right hand out and said, "My name is Rainbow Dash! What's yours?"

Leoni shook her hand with his smile still on his face. "My name's Leoni. It's... a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Dash."

Rainbow sat there silently for a moment, then burst into laughter once more. Before Leoni could even ask why, though, she already answered for him. "Sir, you do not have to worry about formalities around me! Just 'Rainbow Dash', 'Rainbow', or 'Dash' will do! Kay?"

Leoni nodded his head and sheepishly replied, "Um... okay. Sorry..."

Rainbow tilted her head in confusion before asking, "There's no need to apologize. What are you even sorry for?"

"Um... sorry?"

Again, Rainbow burst into a fit of laughter, before standing from her seat. "Hold on! I have got to get Fluttershy over here! I think I've just found her perfect match!"

Magnificent, on the other hand, replied, "Sorry to cut a meeting short, Dashie, but we really need to get to Ponyville. We're running a little late as is, and must ensure that the arrival of Princess Celestia's student is met without any problems! Also, we will need to find a place for Leoni to stay."

Rainbow sighed and nodded her head. "Eh, maybe later, then!" Then she winked at Leoni before taking flight once again. "You're alright though, Leoni... I'll see you around!" And like that, she was off in another rainbow-trailed blur.

Leoni continued to stare at the direction the pegasus flew off from confusedly. His attention was quickly caught by the sound of feminine snickering. When he looked at the source, he noticed Lyra was trying to hold back her laughter.

"Um... did I miss something?" Leoni asked.

Lyra regained her composure, though with a smile still on her face. "Oh, nothing... though if I didn't know any better, I'd say she kinda likes you!"

Justus couldn't help but nod his head in agreement. "Indeed. Normally Rainbow Dash doesn't even fly that close to a stranger, and if she does, it's to look them in the eyes to question their motives." He then chuckled and looked towards where Rainbow flew off to. "I would prepare for a lot of upcoming mischief if I were you."

Leoni nodded his head, but paused for a moment. "Wait a minute... she mentioned Fluttershy's name... was she that other friend?"

Lyra nodded her head. "Indeed, she was! In fact, it caught us all by surprise when the two of them met when they moved in!"

"What happened, exactly?"

Lyra cleared her throat before facing the distant cottage behind them again. "Well like I said, Fluttershy was always bullied in the past. Rainbow actually related to that for a time... but she managed to get popular once she showed her flying speed off to the public. Now, she holds the title of 'Fastest Flyer in Equestria' with pride."

Leoni nodded his head before turning towards the cottage, also. "So what does that mean about her and Fluttershy?"

"When the two of them were being bullied, Rainbow was always the one who stood up for Fluttershy. Though she never admitted it, Fluttershy told us that Rainbow would oftentimes return home with a bloody nose... and bloody knuckles, though the knuckles part was what Rainbow admitted. Even though Fluttershy never resorted to violence, and even avoided it at all costs, she was very thankful to Rainbow for standing up for her. And so, the two of them hit it off as best friends... though on the final day of Flight Camp, that was when things got bad."

Leoni turned towards her and asked, "What happened?"

Lyra paused for a moment before sighing. "When it came time for Rainbow to take flight, she went so fast, that Fluttershy fell from the airwaves... though Rainbow didn't notice at the time. And when a pegasus gets scared or startled, their wings lock up, which stops their ability to fly... knowing how timid Fluttershy is, I'm sure you can guess what happened next."

Leoni gasped, and his eyes widened. "Wait... how did she survive, though?!"

Lyra giggled before replying, "This may sound strange, but... Fluttershy told us that she was saved by a huge swarm of butterflies."

Leoni's expression went from shocked to downright confused. "Wait... butterflies? Seriously?"

Lyra shrugged her shoulders before replying, "Well, yeah! I wouldn't believe it for myself if it weren't for the fact that her cutie mark happens to be those butterflies that saved her."

"Um... cutie mark?"

Lyra chuckled before removing her right shoulderpad and rolling her sleeve up. When she did, Leoni noticed the mark of a golden lyre on her shoulder. "When a member of the equine race happens to find their special talent, these appear on their shoulders... and somewhere else, though I'd rather not say it."

Justus leaned towards Leoni's other ear and whispered, "They also appear on their flanks... and those ones even act as a pleasure point!"

Leoni didn't see it, but he certainly heard the pop come from the back of Justus's head, followed by Lyra's annoyed whispering. "Justus! He didn't have to know that!"

Before anyone else could say another word, Magnificent cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone's attention. "Hey, everyone! We've made it to Ponyville!"

The three of them quickly turned their heads forward and smiled at the approaching wooden gate and walls. From both sides of the gate, a pair of white coated pony guards wearing golden armor similar to Justus's stood to attention. The one on the left was a unicorn, while the one on the right was a pegasus. When they saw Justus, they stomped their right hooves on the ground and saluted him with their right hands.

"Commander." the two of them said in unison.

Justus returned the salute before replying, "At ease, gentlemen. Anything to report?"

The unicorn guard shook his head and replied, "Nothing other than the anomaly in the Everfree."

The pegasus then asked, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Justus nodded his head and replied, "Permission granted, soldier."

"What exactly was the anomaly, sir?"

Justus hummed before turning towards Leoni. Then he turned back towards the guards and replied, "Thankfully, it wasn't anything to be afraid of... even something we should be rejoicing for, actually!"

The guards' eyes widened at that statement. "R-really?!"

Justus nodded his head before patting Leoni in the back. "Indeed. The anomaly happened to be none other than this lad right here!"

The guards turned towards Leoni and eyed him warily. "Um... with all due respect, sir... how come we should be rejoicing about this man?"

Justus chuckled before replying, "It isn't simply him we should be rejoicing for! Rather, it's what he is capable of doing!"

The guards looked at each other before turning to Leoni again. "What... can you do, sir?"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders before looking at Justus confusedly. "Um... I..."

Justus patted him on the back again before replying, "Simple! He actually vanquished a pack of timberwolves!"

The guards' jaws dropped at that statement. "T-timberwolves?! You actually vanquished them?!"

Leoni shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I... guess so?"

Justus shook his head and replied, "Not just that, but this crazy lad even went head-first towards an alpha... and slayed the beast!"

The guards continued to stare slack-jawed at Leoni for a moment longer. "Is it true?"

Leoni nodded his head before smiling sheepishly at Justus. "Um... yes, sir... but I don't really see why it's such a big deal, really. I mean... I'm sure pretty much someone would've done the same, eventually."

The guards continued to stare at him in disbelief. Then Magnificent whipped the reins of the horses, making the carriage move past the gate, and into the town.

---

---

Leoni stared in awe at the sights around him. All around the dirt and stone road, countless ponies of all shapes and sizes, a few minotaurs and griffons, several goats, a couple foxes, many satyrs and humans, and a small handful of drakes (dragon-like bipeds that stand up to a maximum height of ten feet tall) roamed around, headed to and from multiple buildings. A majority of them wore simple white shirts with brown overalls, black boots, and brown gloves, while others wore multicolored garments that highly resembled "medieval" fashions.

On the direct left side of the entrance was a high-rising tower that housed several more guards. On the top of the tower were even a few unicorn mages wearing chainmail armor similar to the one Lyra was wearing.

Directly to the right was another tower, only the guards on the top of this one were humans and earth ponies wearing leather beneath their tabards. The tabards, of course, bore the Canterlot Logo on them, also.

Next on the left and right were houses of varying shapes and sizes. All of them were made of wood and stone, with yellow straw roofs. They each had wooden postboxes near their doors, with names on the postboxes that told the households' owners names to the public.

Shortly following the houses on the left, a smithy was conveniently placed in a larger gap between the houses and the wide open area known as the town square. The smithy, instead of being a full building, was partially built with one wall missing. On the three walls that were there, countless sharp blades and armor pieces hung to show the pubic the blacksmith's talents.

The blacksmith, a strong minotaur with white fur, a black mane, and piercing yellow eyes, was wearing a pair of black trousers, black leather gloves, and brown leather boots, but he wasn't wearing a shirt. In his right hand, a large steel mallet was firmly gripped, while balanced between his left hand and the large anvil in front of him, a sword with a glowing red blade was being flattened.

After giving the sword a few clean and solid strikes with his hammer, the blacksmith dipped the sword into a barrel of water. As the blade went in, a loud hissing noise followed, and a huge amount of steam rose from the barrel. Then the blacksmith lifted the sword back up and examined the tip of the blade. Finally, with a smile on his face, he turned towards another figure who was working in the smithy; a griffon with white feathers, black talons, a short black beak, and a pair of emerald green eyes. He was wearing a light yellow shirt with sleeves that protruded into a bell shape midway before sinking back in at the area his elbows were. The tips of the sleeves were tied down at the ends to keep the clothing from getting in the way. He also wore black overalls, brown leather gloves and boots, and a black apron.

The minotaur said something to the griffon, but due to the endless waves of sound from the town's activity, his voice was washed away. Regardless, however, the griffon appeared to have heard him clear enough and nodded his head before taking the sword from the smith and carrying it over to a bald human who was sitting on a stool next to a grinding wheel. The human was wearing the same types of clothes as the griffon, only his shirt was light brown, and his gloves were black. He was also wearing a metal mask over his face that hid his face from public eyes.

He nodded his head to the griffon after accepting the sword from him and began turning the grinding wheel to sharpen the blade. Meanwhile, the griffon turned towards the interior of the shop and headed towards the shelves to straighten out the layouts of the hanging items, or to hang any up that may have either fallen over, or were recently crafted.

---

From the opposite end of the smithy, there was a huge park with a few groups, couples, or individuals of mixed races roaming around. In the center was four young children; an earth pony female, a griffon male, a human female, and a pegasus male. All four of them also wore medieval-like clothes, but due to the distance they were at from the road, it was difficult to tell what they looked like.

The human and the griffon stood side-by-side, while the pair of ponies stood side-by-side. In-between the two was a net that rose up twice as tall as the children. The griffon was also holding a ball in his talons.

The griffon threw the ball in the air and punched it over the net while the pegasus ran up to it and lightly punched it in the air, though a little too short for the ball to pass the net. The earth pony took it as her cue to run up, and so she punched it higher, but it flew slightly backwards. The pegasus then decided to use his wings to his advantage.

He flew up in the air and did a back-flip kick that sent the ball flying towards the human girl on the other side of the net. The griffon, however, managed to get in front of her and punch the ball in the air to decrease the momentum.

The human gave him an appreciative nod before punching the ball in the air, so that the griffon would be able to repeat the pegasus's stunt. Instead of blocking the incoming ball, however, the earth pony managed to punch it with her own hands, while the pegasus punched it high into the sky.

The griffon quickly took flight and did a front-flip kick, which sent the ball skyrocketing towards the human girl.

The human girl, with a determined look on her face, leaped into the air at an alarming height while doing several twirls, and rotating until her feet were over her head. Then, with all her might, she nailed the ball so hard, it flew over the net and landed in-between the ponies in a newly formed crater.

---

Leoni stared wide-eyed at the sheer power that the children had, and began to fear that maybe all children were insanely strong compared to him. It didn't help that the children were laughing after that incident like it was normal, either.

---

Shortly ahead from the park was a generic-looking school building. Inside its playground was a multitude of children of different races, as well. They were all playing on different amusement objects, such as see-saws, slides, swings, and monkey bars. There wasn't really much out of the ordinary there that Leoni to put his finger on, other than the fact that several non-human children were there as well.

---

Finally, after the carriage made it across the entrance road, Magnificent turned the carriage sharply to the left, where a stable rested near another gate. Then, when the carriage was no longer moving, he turned towards the others and said, "Well, this is where I must depart, I'm afraid." He then turned towards Lyra and chuckled nervously. "You know how your sister can be when I'm late getting home."

Lyra giggled before nodding her head. "Yeah, well Minuette is often home late, herself! Maybe you aren't too late!" Then the two of them gave each other a polite bow before Magnificent turned towards Leoni. "Leoni, it's been a pleasure! Mayhaps we can meet at the local tavern! You won't be disappointed!"

Leoni chuckled nervously before nodding his head. "We'll see, my friend... though I doubt if I'll be drinking much alcohol. I gave that bottle of Dragon's Bourbon a small sniff, and now I think some of my brain cells already died!"

The three travelers laughed at his joke, and Magnificent patted him on the shoulders. "My friend, I think you'll fit in with this community perfectly! And now that I think about it, Pinkie Pie may very well enjoy your company, as well! You'll find her in Sugarcube Corner a little ways over in the town square! She even helps out around the tavern next to it at night!"

Lyra looked at Leoni and nodded her head. "It's fairly easy to notice, considering it's the only building that looks like it's edible... though don't let the looks fool you! It's still made out of wood and stone. Believe me... I've tried."

Justus chuckled before shaking his head. "Doubt if anyone wouldn't have given it a curious lick, unless informed by a former victim."

Leoni chuckled before nodding his head to them. "Thank you... um... where should I go to find you all, exactly?"

Lyra and Justus looked at the towers near the entrance. Then Justus replied, "Usually when we're on duty, we will be stationed in the towers over there at the South Gate. That's the one that we just came through."

Lyra then chipped in, "But if we aren't on duty, we'll either be roaming around town, visiting Sugarcube Corner, or we'll be at home! It's the second one on the left when facing the South Gate!"

Leoni nodded his head and smiled. "Thanks! I'll... try not to disturb the two of you if you're at the house."

Justus chuckled before shaking his head. "As long as it isn't late at night, you wouldn't be disturbing us at all!"

Lyra, however, decided to add something else to that statement. "That is, unless we're busy making love! Then you might want to give us an hour!"

Justus merely laughed at that comment while Magnificent shushed the two of them. Leoni, however, coughed nervously before turning away from the couple. "*COUGH* Anyways... I guess I'd best be on my way, then! Have a nice day, you three!"

He walked a few steps before stopping and turning around. Then he asked, "Um... where should I go from here, exactly?"

Justus hummed before scratching his beard in thought. "First, you may want to meet up with the mayor. She should be in the Town Hall at this time, preparing for the arrival of Princess Celestia's personal student."

Leoni's eyes widened at that statement. "Wait, the princess is sending one of her students over here?! How come?"

Lyra giggled before shaking her head. "Sorry, we forgot to tell you! The Summer Sun Celebration is coming up tomorrow, and since this year marks the first one that her student, Twilight Sparkle, is eighteen on, she allowed her to be the coordinator! She'll be busy making sure everything is in order, while our party planner, Pinkie Pie, helps us set her home up!" Then Lyra turned towards her left, and nodded at a distant house that, from the looks of it, was completely built inside of a tree. "She will be moving into that building over there."

Leoni followed her gaze, but scratched the back of his hair in confusion. "Um... that tree over there?"

Justus nodded his head and smiled warmly at the tree. "Indeed. Honestly, I'm quite glad to see that old library will finally have an owner again. The last one was ambushed by a group of bandits several years ago... she was a good lass. Always made a trip to the library worth the efforts for those from across the town."

Leoni nodded his head and replied, "I'm sorry for your loss. I hope the princess's student can fill that gap."

Magnificent nodded his head in response before replying, "You wouldn't be the only one. We could all use more excitement around the town... and books are no exception, either! Not to mention the education for the kids."

With another nod, Leoni turned towards them again. "So I go to the Town Hall to meet the mayor... then what?"

Lyra shrugged her shoulders before replying, "I'd suggest finding a place to stay. Maybe you could check with the local tailor! There aren't many out there that could match how generous she is! Perhaps she would be willing to let you move in with her, at least until you have a better place to stay?"

Justus nodded his head in agreement. "Indeed, that does sound like something Lady Rarity would do. She even tailored the clothes that I'm wearing underneath all of this armor, as well as most of what the townspeople are wearing! Not only that, but the materials she used for mine are quite rare... and yet she gave it to me for free!"

Leoni hummed before nodding his head with a smile. "Sounds good... where can I find her, exactly?"

Lyra pointed at the distant huge white stone building that appeared more regal than the rest, with multiple windows on the sides that had several mannequins of different races dressed in several different uniforms that ranged from casual to regal. "She lives and works there most of the time. Otherwise, she would more than likely be seen in the bathhouse just straight across from it."

Leoni nodded his head again before replying, "Sounds good. Thank you all!" He began walking away, but stopped and turned towards Magnificent. "Um... Mag?"

Magnificent, who had turned his back when Leoni was walking, turned back to him and raised his eyebrows in attention.

"I never really caught where to find you, should I need you for anything."

Magnificent chuckled before nodding his head. "Ah, of course! I'm an archaeologist, so if I'm not in a cave, I would usually be either at the tavern telling folks what I've found that day, or at my home, which is the first house on the left when facing the South Gate."

Leoni nodded his head once more before waving. "Alright, then. Thanks again! You three have a nice day!"

The three nodded their heads in response before waving at him. Then, Leoni was on his way towards the Town Hall.

---

Perspective Change: ??? (Canterlot Castle)

---

From inside the tall throne room with marble flooring, walls, and ceilings, a regal alicorn mare sat on a golden throne with a red cushion. The throne was on top of a large staircase with a red carpet that was spread in a neat line from behind the throne to the entrance of the throne room, which was blocked from the public by a pair of golden doors.

The alicorn was wearing a pure white dress with golden trimmings on the corners of her cuffs. Around her neck, she wore several gold and white pearl necklaces. Resting on her scalp, she wore a golden crown with a purple amethyst jewel embellished in the tallest spike that rose up; the central one. On her chest, a golden breastplate was attached to the dress, with another purple amethyst in the center. Both of the amethysts were shaped like a diamond, and shined brightly.

The alicorn had a pure white coat, purple eyes, and a multicolored mane and tail that flowed freely, despite the lack of wind. Her mane and tail were colored in stripes of blue, green, purple, and pink.

She finished writing a letter with a levitating quill. Then she combusted it into a green flame with her magic. The sparkling smokey remnants of the letter vanished in a yellow light.

She then stood from the throne and slowly descended from the stairs before turning towards the window that faced the town of Ponyville. Afterwards, she gripped her hands behind her back and closed her eyes, while looking down. Silently, she said, "Please be strong, my faithful student..."

Her ears twitched when the sound of the throne room doors opening filled the room. At the time, however, the castle was emptied, and most soldiers were stationed in Ponyville to aid in the preparations, as well as watch for the group that she sent to investigate in the anomaly in the Everfree Forest. Regardless, however, she already knew who it was, and briefly cast a spell towards the moon below Equestria's side of the world... surely when the time was up, her student would know what to do.

"So... I see you took your time to get here," she said before opening her eyes and turning towards her visitor. "Luna."

The figure who entered was another alicorn mare, only this one had a dark purple coat, a foggy blue mane and tail with stars that shined through them, and pitch black armor. Her eyes were emerald green, and were shaped more like the slits of a snake's eyes. Her teeth were shaped like fangs, and her mouth was forming a frown.

Her eyes were deadpanned when she heard her name being addressed. "Thou art a fool if thou thinks that's who we are, Celestia. Now, We are Nightmare Moon!" She glared at Princess Celestia before drawing a black handled sword with a handle shaped like a crescent moon pointed upwards. The blade of the sword shined pure white, and released a purple fog from the edges. "And thou knows what We are here for, too!"

Celestia sighed before shaking her head. "Don't do this, sister... you must resist! Think of what father would've done!"

Nightmare Moon merely chuckled at that statement before shaking her head. "Oh, Celly... dost thou really believe that we would consider father our enemy? It was he who gave us this gift... but surely thou dost raise a plausible point! Father wouldn't slay thee!" Then she gave Celestia a wicked grin before pointing her sword towards Celestia. "He would punish thee, as thou hast punished me! And now, thou shalt surely be punished!"

In the blink of an eye, Nightmare Moon quickly dashed towards Celestia with her sword raised high. Celestia, however, anticipated the attack and teleported from where she stood to the other end of the room, while the blade of Nightmare Moon's sword sliced through a marble pillar, leaving a thin line where the blade cut through. Since the line was horizontal, however, it was still in one piece.

Celestia glared at her sister and snapped her right fingers in the air. Then a rod-shaped light flashed from her hand. When the light was gone, a tall golden scythe with a black blade on the edge appeared. The black blade projected a white mist from its edges.

Nightmare Moon chuckled before shaking her head. "Oh, sister... when will thou ever learn to check thy back?"

Celestia's eyes widened in realization, while Nightmare Moon vanished into a purple mist from in front of the pillar. Before Celestia could react, Nightmare Moon appeared behind her with a spell charged in her horn. Then she spread her left hand out and sent Celestia flying away from her, and into the lower half of the cut pillar. As soon as she landed on it, however, she went through it, and crashed into the wall, leaving a crater, and causing the entire pillar to fall on top of her, along with a portion of the ceiling that it held up.

Nightmare Moon shook her head with a chuckle before turning around. Then, after taking a single step towards the throne, the debris from the pile of marble flew into the air, and in a blurring motion, an enraged Celestia dashed through the air and struck towards Nightmare Moon with her scythe, only for each hit to be blocked, parried, and deflected by Nightmare Moon's sword... all while she merely smiled at her angry sister.

Finally, she gasped when one of Celestia's strikes swished mere inches from her face. Then, after a few more misses, Celestia was able to strike her in the right cheek, causing her to yelp in pain and stumble to her knees.

Celestia then aimed her scythe up and prepared to strike... but despite her anger, she hesitated to strike her sister any more... and the cut on Nightmare Moon's face only made her hesitate even more. "Please, Luna! Don't... make me do this!"

Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and began shaking her head while looking down. Then her shoulders began to shake, and she began to weep.

Celestia stood there for a moment longer before sighing and lowering her scythe down. Then she offered her left hand out for Nightmare Moon to take. "It isn't too late, dearest sister. Please... we can make things right again."

Nightmare Moon continued to weep... but regardless, she took Celestia's hand.

That was when Celestia's suspicions began to kick in. Sure enough, when Nightmare Moon looked up at her, a demented smile was on her face, and she began to squeeze Celestia's hand even harder. "Oh, sweet and innocent Celly! Dost we really have to repeat ourselves?!"

In the blink of an eye, Nightmare Moon turned into the same purple mist. This time, however, it wrapped around Celestia's neck and arms, then bound her to the ground. She worriedly looked back, and noticed the real Nightmare Moon standing there with her sword drawn, and pointed at her neck.

"Surely thou must've seen this coming! Now, dost thou understand why we turned from thy peaceful ways?! Peace shall only make us all weak! And the weak cannot trump the strong!" She then glared at Celestia while raising her sword over her head. "And thy weakness shows even more with the fact that thou hadst a whole millennium to train! And yet, thou hast failed again! Tell me... how does it feel to not have thy Elements of Harmony to save thee this time?!"

Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head with a sad expression on her face. Then a single tear fell from her right eye before she opened them again. "I still love you, Luna... I know you can hear me."

Nightmare Moon's glare intensified before she swung the blade down towards Celestia's neck... only to stop an inch away. "Thou mustn't forget who thou art speaking to! Perhaps if thou surrenders now, I shall spare thy wretched hide again!"

Celestia closed her eyes again before shaking her head. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from striking you, Luna... I shouldn't have hesitated there."

Nightmare Moon growled in frustration before lowering the blade to a centimeter away from Celestia's neck. "Shut thy mouth at once!"

Celestia weakly smiled at her before shaking her head again. "I will not leave you, Luna... I won't give up on you! You can hear me... I know it!"

Nightmare Moon growled once more before lifting the blade up again. This time, she managed to strike Celestia in the left shoulder, which sent a sharp wave of pain down her body. She screamed in pain before clenching her teeth shut and breathing heavier and quicker.

"I'm sorry, Luna..." Celestia began, only for Nightmare Moon to raise her sword again.

"SHUT UP!" She lowered the sword down again, and struck Celestia's right shoulder.

Celestia closed her eyes and hissed in pain, but opened them at Nightmare Moon and gave a weak smile at her. "You can do it, Luna... I know you can hear me! Please! You have to fight it!"

"ENOUGH OF THESE MIND GAMES!" Nightmare Moon shouted, causing the entire room to shake. She then raised her sword up in the air and, without hesitation, plunged the blade into Celestia's stomach.

Celestia let out a gagging noise, and a few thin streams of blood spewed from her mouth. Regardless, she weakly smiled at Nightmare Moon, and even though there were tears in her eyes, she asked, "Come on, Luna... have you suddenly forgotten who it was that even taught you how to fight to begin with?"

Nightmare Moon tilted her head in confusion before the realization hit her. Her eyes widened and her jaw fell open when she realized what was going on. She quickly turned around just in time for the fake Celestia to vanish from the trap, and an unharmed Celestia dashing towards her from behind. Then, when she was within striking distance, Celestia managed to disarm Nightmare Moon of her sword and, with a quick flourish, tripped her with a sweeping kick beneath her hooves.

Nightmare Moon glared before teleporting to where her sword was and, with both hands on the blade, teleported behind Celestia to try slicing at her back.

Celestia quickly vanished before she could take the strike, and reappeared behind Nightmare Moon to attempt another disarming strike. What she didn't expect, however, was for Nightmare Moon to turn around and unintentionally take Celestia's strike in the stomach, instead.

With a look of horror on both of their faces, Celestia gasped and stared frightfully at the blade that was now sticking out of Nightmare Moon's back with blood seeping from the tip.

Celestia's grip on her weapon quickly dropped, and her eyes were now starting to water. "Oh, no! LUNA!"

Nightmare Moon's cheeks bulged before she spat out a thick hint of blood. Then, with a soft smile on her face, she turned towards Celestia and asked, "S... sister? W-why?" Then her eyes closed, and she fell face-first on the floor, where a puddle of blood quickly started to build up below her stomach.

Celestia covered her mouth and gagged slightly before falling to her knees. Then, after shakily reaching towards her sister's face, she gently brushed Nightmare Moon's cheeks to confirm that she wasn't hallucinating. Sure enough, she felt her sister's familiar fur brushing against her hands.

"Oh, gods! W-what have I done?!"

Suddenly, Celestia noticed the blade of her scythe float out of her sister's chest... only the problem was that it wasn't her who was removing it.

Celestia quickly jumped back to her hooves and stared in shock, as Nightmare Moon, along with the blood below her, vanished into a thick purple mist. Worriedly, Celestia looked around, but was unable to find any signs of who could be wielding her scythe.

That was, until she looked down. Her shadow's "eyes" opened up, revealing Nightmare Moon's piercing gaze. "L-Luna?!"

Suddenly, her shadow detached itself from her and materialized into Nightmare Moon. Then, with Celestia's scythe in her right hand and Celestia caught in a magic grasp with her left, Nightmare Moon sliced the scythe downwards in the air at Celestia's left direction. With the sound of fabric tearing, a portal was formed where the blade sliced, and from the other side of the portal, nothing but the bright rays of the sun could be seen below an endless array of darkness, along with the distant stars.

Nightmare Moon's magic grip on Celestia's neck intensified enough for her to be lifted off the ground. She held onto her neck with both hands while gagging and gasping for air. "L-Luna! P-please! D-don't do this!"

Nightmare Moon lightly sighed before bringing Celestia closer to her. Then she walked around Celestia until the portal was in front of her, with Celestia in-between.

Celestia closed her eyes while tears fell from them once more. "L-Luna! Please! Y-you... you can still fight it!"

Nightmare Moon chuckled again before replying, "Oh, sweet little Celly... why can thou not just get it through thy thick skull, already?!" She then quickly dropped the smile and formed a menacing glare. "Luna... is dead!"

Celestia gasped at that comment, before Nightmare Moon's left hand opened up, and raised flatly. Then a powerful blast of wind launched Celestia flying through the portal and towards the sun.

She was able to quickly regain her composure inside the area, but even so, she flew towards the portal in a final attempt to confront Nightmare Moon. "LUNA!"

With a smug smile, Nightmare Moon sliced the portal again, though this time in an upward motion. Then the portal quickly vanished, leaving Celestia on the other side.

---

Nightmare Moon chuckled before shaking her head. "Pity. It would seem the years of peace hath weakened her." Then she walked towards the empty throne and hummed before reaching towards the one thing that looked like it didn't belong... a letter.

"Huh... looks like sweet little Celly had some mail. We believe she won't be in need of this anymore..." She opened the letter and began reading through it.

My dearest teacher,

My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that something really bad is about to happen! For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is, in fact, Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response!

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

Nightmare Moon chuckled before looking towards the same mirror that she saw her sister looking out of not too long ago... but more specifically, towards the peaceful-looking town.

"Well! It appears Celestia hath hired a new student during our absence!" Then she looked at the letter with a glare, before setting it on fire. "And it would seem she was important to her, no less." She rubbed her chin in thought, before a wicked grin formed on her face. "We do wonder how Celly would react if something were to... happen to her student?"

Suddenly the sound of knocking began to echo in the room. Within a few seconds, a unicorn guard stepped into the room and looked around for Celestia... only to find nothing out of the ordinary. Even the debris that was scattered around the room was no longer present.

With a shrug, he stepped out of the throne room, completely oblivious to the black mist over where the damage to the ceiling used to be. Then the mist followed the shadows of the rooftops until it was on the ground level. Finally, it quickly crawled through the grass, and was inside the Everfree Forest in the blink of an eye.

---

To Be Continued

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Next Chapter: Season 1, Episode 2: New Arrivals, Old Enemy (Part 2/3) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 42 Minutes