It took about an hour to gather enough mages and guards together, but now we're flying towards Whinniesberg, I hope we make it in time. The Galleon has been repaired since the orc battle on Terra.

The flight only took an hour or so at full speed. I can see the town and hear the screams from up here. There's a human down there firing beams of life energy at the five hundred or so undead attacking the town with some guards protecting her, but they're completely outnumbered. I can also see some people being eaten by the swarm.

Not waiting for the ship to land, I cast my fast gliding wings and jump over the side. Luna follows behind me along with ten pegasi snipers.

I land beside the mage who yelps from my sudden appearance. "Oh bloody hell! Don't scare me like that! I'm shitting myself enough as it is!" she yells at me and fires another life beam into the advancing swarm.

"Sorry, but we're here to help," I reply and face my right palm at the swarm.

She looks at me strangely due to the echo in my voice. "Well thanks! I'll welcome all the help I can get!" she says.

I channel mine and Gaia's mana into my hand and start firing off bolt after bolt of life energy at the undead.

Arcane energy violently blasts out of the undead when hit, also blowing off their limbs and chunks of flesh. What has me worried is that there are some Terran races amongst them.

I fire off a beam and slowly sweep it across the front of the swarm. Their screeches echo throughout the town as they begin dropping to the ground.

'Focus, Adrian. You're wasting mana again. Relax and cast your spells slowly,' Gaia tells me.

'Alright,' I reply.

I gather the mana slowly this time cast bolt after bolt at them. The pegasi snipers are shooting at their heads from the air.

"We must admit, these guns are so much more effective than a bow or crossbow," Luna says as she watches the snipers.

Over the next hour, I just kept shooting bolts and beams into the swarm as we're being pushed back slowly. Though, with as many of them as there are, they're getting closer.

'You'll have to use a wave. Remember, gather mana in both of your hands and then just push it out in front of you.' Gaia tells me.

I do as she says and gather the mana in both of my hands. Once I've gathered a significant amount, I push the mana out. The energy expands and rolls down the road towards the swarm like an ocean wave.

It hits the swarm and the gods awful noise they let out as it washes over fifty of them deafens us. I open my eyes once it died down and look at the swarm. Only half of the original horde remain, but from the training this morning and the mana I've pumped out so far, only three of the twenty flowers are left.

More grotesque noises sound out around us as undead pour out from the alleyways and surround us.

"Oh shit. What do we do?" the mage asks with fear in her tone. I can see the staff in her hands shaking.

I can hear the sounds of life magic being cast to our left and see the ten mages we brought with us trying to carve their way through to us, but they're moving slowly, even with the guards protecting them.

'You're going to have to use the rest of my mana and cast a large nova, but there is a chance you'll be hurt doing it as you are not yet accustomed to using so much power,' Gaia tells me.

'I haven't done a nova that big before... even during our training and the one I did in Terra was with your help,' I reply.

'You have no choice. You either cast a nova, or you get overwhelmed. I don't have the mana to assist you right now, and there's a high chance you will pass out or worse if I try,' she tells me firmly.

I look to Luna who's firing bolts of her own magic at the swarm. 'Fine,' I reply and gather as much mana into my chest as I can. Once I gathered it, I release the mana with a shout and a blast of life energy engulfs the area around us for a good twenty metres. I can feel a strain in my chest and cry out in pain as the vines wilt and drop off.

I kneel on the floor and grasp my head as a large headache begins to start. Luna is instantly beside me.

"Adrian! Are thou alright?" she asks.

I look up at her. "I'm fine... just a headache," I tell her.

I glance around to see only a few of the undead still moving, but the guards and mages are making quick work of them.

"Hahahahahahaaa. So, you are the one interfering with my plans," a voice that sounds like they've got water in their throat to our right says.

I look to see an undead pony man grinning at me with blood dripping out of his mouth. Most of his flesh on the floor and arcane energy leaking out of him. "Who are you?" I ask.

"I am Grogar Vilethorn, and you have been causing trouble for me as of late. If I wasn't so drained from my escape from that infernal stone prison those two wenches put me in, I would have dealt with you myself. You may have defended Elysium from destruction for now, but it won't be standing for much longer," he replies and glares at Luna. "I shall take great pleasure in turning you and your sister's corpses into my loyal servants," he says with a chuckle that sounds more like he's choking.

Luna glares angrily at him. "We defeated thee before! We shall do it again!" she tells him.

"My power was weakened by that damned mage Starswirl when I was banished here, and I only had a small army of undead back then little girl. This time, not even you, your sister, that mismatched abomination, or that child will stop me now," he says, pointing at me when he said child. "Both Terra and this world shall fall before me!" he says and the undead man just drops to the floor unmoving.

I glare at the body while Luna holds me up. I feel like jelly right now.

The other mages and guards arrive and surround us. I lazily look around and see just a few undead shambling towards us with various wounds and missing limbs.

I start to feel light headed and my vision begins to blur. I'm also panting lightly.

'Adrian, don't use anymore of your mana. Casting that nova has left your mana in a state of flux. If you should try to cast a spell now... it could tear you apart,' Gaia warns me.

Well shit. 'And how do I fix it?' I ask her.

'You can't, you'll have to wait until I've recovered enough mana and I'll repair the damage. So just get some rest and let your body relax, it will calm the fluctuation down,' she tells me.

I sigh and close my eyes. 'Alright, thank you,' I reply and fall asleep.

---

---

Adrian goes limp in my arms and I begin to panic, but I sigh and calm down once I hear and feel him still breathing.

'Thank our stars, he's just sleeping,' I think to myself and teleport his armour back to the ship. I then lift him up and we walk back to the ship as the guards and mages stay behind and comb the town for any more undead.

I place Adrian on the bed in our cabin and tuck him in the sheets, he's just sleeping peacefully.

I smile and kiss his forehead. "Rest well, our love," I say to him and head back out to the town.

I help the town with clearing the dead and keeping watch as the mages use their life elements to heal the wounded.

After a few hours, I have dinner and then check up on Adrian. He's still asleep and I just snuggle up beside him and get some sleep myself.

---

---

I wake up next to Adrian who is still sleeping. The clean up is going well and I've requested supplies and builders from Canterlot to repair the town. I've also told my herd mates what has happened.

For the next six hours, we clean up the roads of debris and corpses. Sixty-two ponies died and two-hundred more injured during the attack. Grogar will pay for this pointless massacre once we get our hands on him! And this time, we won't just simply seal him away.

I checked up on Adrian every hour, only to find him still asleep. I'm starting to get worried about him. I head up to our cabin and lay beside him, I then place my arms around him and rest my horn on his head. I channel my magic and enter his dream.

---

I open my eyes to see a lush looking forest with a pond in the middle as wildlife is running around carefree and ignoring me.

I see Adrian laying on the grass with Mother Gaia kneeling beside him. Her hands are glowing green above his chest.

"There, the fluctuations have ceased. You should be able to cast your spells again with no ill effects," she tells him.

"Thank you, Gaia," he replies and sits up. He stretches his arms and then stands up.

"You're welcome. Just take the next couple of days to rest as you will most likely feel weak when you wake up," she tells him.

"Alright," he says with a smile. I can feel him start to rouse, so I exit his dream.

---

---

I yawn as I wake up. I slowly raise my right hand and channel a single life element into it. Feels just fine, but I feel like I've ran for hours non-stop.

"Adrian, art thou feeling well?" I hear Luna ask me.

I look to my left and see her hugging me. "I'm fine, I just feel tired," I reply and she nuzzles me.

"That's good, thou hast been asleep for a whole day. We were getting worried," she tells me.

I smile and kiss her lightly. "I'm sorry for making you worry," I tell her.

"Thou art fine now, tis all that matters," she says and cuddles up to me.

I sigh and hug her closely. "How is the town?" I ask.

"A lot of ponies died and many more injured, but the town is being repaired as we speak," she tells me with a sad tone.

"I see," I say and frown.

So Grogar is truly out there and getting stronger by the day, and he said Elysium has only escaped destruction for now... does he plan to attack it again? I'll have to warn Vortigan... perhaps I should visit him and see how he's doing lately... wait, does this make him the master Orthos mentioned? It would make sense, only a large group of necromancers could raise a giant, but he may be able to do it by himself.

Luna and I just lay here for some time, enjoying each other's company. After a while, we get up and head out for lunch. Luna helps me up and lets me lean against her as I don't trust my legs just yet.

---

---

The supplies Luna called for have arrived along with the builders. My muscles still ache, but I can now walk on my own just fine now. I've just been reading a book about zebrican magic while laying on the bed. I wonder if it's true that they can speak with the dead...

The door opens and Luna walks in with a sigh. "You okay?" I ask her.

She smiles at me and flops onto the bed with her head on my lap. "We art fine. Just a lot of organising had to be done, but we are done here now and the rest can be managed on its own. We have left six of the mages and some of the guards here just in case any more undead are still here or arrive," she tells me.

"So we can go back to the Castle now?" I ask.

She giggles. "Yes, we can go home now," she says and gets up. "We shall inform the helmspony to depart," she leaves the room and I go back to reading.

A few minutes later, she returns and cuddles up to me. I put the book down and return the affection.

---

---

We arrive at the Castle and dock the ship. Luna and I head back to our room where Celestia, Shella, and Cadence are all waiting for us sitting on the bed. I can hear Mavis babbling to herself in her room. I smile and walk over to them and lay on the bed. I'm then swarmed by them as they all start massaging me.

"What brought this on then?" I ask them with a relaxed smile.

"Luna told us of what you did to protect Whinniesberg from the undead. This is just our thanks for risking your own life to protect our ponies," Celestia replies and then slaps me lightly on the forehead. "And that's for making us worried sick about you afterwards," she tells me.

I chuckle as lean up and kiss her softly. "I'm sorry about that, but Gaia told me it was either that, or... all of us die," I tell her.

"Well. It turned out for the best, but it doesn't mean I can't worry for our mate," she replies and sits on my lap. Her horn glows and her clothing is gone. "and I want to feel the touch of my mate," she says seductively and licks her lips at me.

The others also remove their clothing and for the next few hours, they all took turns having their way with me.

---

---

I've rested for two days where my parents said they were proud of me saving the town, but I could see the relief in their eyes at my safe return. They've also adopted Jasmine during the last two weeks, she goes everywhere with them and they treat her like a daughter... I guess that would make her my little sister now.

Gaia told me once I'm rested that we'll begin my training for growing and controlling plants, and the first was growing them. With her help, I'll even be able to alter the structure of a seed to change what it'll grow as but she said that isn't for a long while yet.

I went to the archives to look for a book on flowers. I spent three hours looking and found what I was looking for, a book on rare or extinct flowers. I'm planning to grow a rare flower each for my wives and Cadence. I can't wait to see the look on Luna's face when I give her an extinct Moon Lily, a Solar Rose for Celestia, a Sapphire Orchid for Shella and a Passion Tulip for Cadence.

After washing up and breakfast eaten, I feel normal again, so I'm now standing in the field in my aspect form near the Training Grounds to begin the next lesson in my life aspect training.

Gaia is floating a foot off the floor to my left. "Today, we shall begin your training in the control of plant life, but first we shall start with simply growing a flower," she tells me. She presses a seed into the soil and places her hand on the ground. It glows with a faint green aura and a sunflower sprouts out of the dirt and grows as tall as me.

She then turns to me and holds her hand out, on her palm are some seeds. "Take these and plant one. Once done, you simply need to pour our mana into the seed and help it grow," she tells me.

I do as she told me and press a seed into the dirt. I then place my right hand on the ground just in front of it. I gather both our mana and mix them together. Once done, I pour it into the ground and to the seed.

The sunflower begins to grow, but half way through, it starts to wilt and dry out.

"Can you tell me what you did wrong?" Gaia asks me.

I frown and look at my right palm, I flex my fingers in thought. What did I do wrong? "Did I use too much mana?" I ask.

She smiles and nodded. "Correct. The amount of mana you used would be required to grow a small tree. You basicly grew the flower too fast and it died. Try using only a fifth of what you just did and pour the mana in slowly," she tells me.

I repeat the steps and place my palm in front of the planted seed. I pour only a portion of the mana I did before and the plant starts to grow slowly. It took me a whole minute, but now the sunflower is standing tall and healthy. I hear the gasps of my lovers as they watch from a few metres away.

"Much better, simply growing plants is the easy part. Making them move is the true test, but first, I want you to grow each and every one of those seeds in your hand for practice," she tells me.

"Alright," I reply and start planting them.

Next Chapter: Chapter 56: The Power of an Aspect Part 3 Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 21 Minutes