For what was now beyond an uncountable number of times, Celestia paced around the dark void of Discord’s creation.

The guards had since been moved from the grand hall, taken to the medical pavilion by the orders of the princess of the night. The hall housed only the green clad warrior, the elements, the princesses, and this dark portal to the stars’ know where.

It appeared, as it was, a black hole of swirling darkness upon a floor of otherwise pristine white. Small wisps of ghastly darkness moved beyond the portal, only to be dragged back into the void, lost within it. No sights could be seen with her eyes. No magic could be felt with her horn. No breeze could be felt with her wings. If not for the eyes that saw the darkness at all, should would never had been able to recognize its presence. And without its demonstration… she would not fear its power.

But for the fear she had, a part of her still felt compelled to thank it. Her eyes looked to the one good thing that had come of Discord’s chaotic workings, the warrior clad in green. For the monsters that Discord her land, Luna had brought forth a creature exactly the opposite. She could not call him a man, though it was definitely male. Distinct differences were set between the horrendous Kratos, and this… peaceful warrior Link.

She watched non-too-subtlety as creature attempted to communicate his answers wordlessly, pointing and moving his… claws in manners that proved to be more confusing to her ponies than helpful. It didn’t surprise her. Only the energetic form of the Element of Laughter pieced his movements to words. It was to no small benefit that he understood them, however. A part of her dared to think he only could because of the large ears he had, pointed and stiff, but that was a filly’s idea and one she quickly dismissed.

He stood above all her ponies, save her sister, but he moved as gently as a summer’s breeze among them, almost with practiced ease. The white alicorn’s mouth was pulled into a grin as she saw the exceptionally active pony nudge his gloved hand. Link looked down at the Element of Laughter, smiling with closed lips before he began to scratch behind her ear. The curled pink tail beat the stone ground in joy.

Still, a piece of her noticed the things the Elements did not. Though Link had no desire to harm, he was no less a warrior than Kratos. It was clear through his actions he wished no ill will on any of her subjects, there was little doubt he had gone through many battles before the one prior. Also, for one that had only so recently died, and pulled into a land he knew nothing of, he seemed no less at peace than any of her ponies on a normal day. If anything, he almost seemed joyful about his interactions with the Elements, guards, and her sister as well. Celestia could not tell if Luna had missed such signs, or merely was proving her learned acting skill’s potential.

Those were mysteries she could not answer yet. Celestia knew, both logically and emotionally, that her time should be better spent on the last remnant of Discord’s magic within her castle walls. So again, as she had done for a fair amount of time past, she began to trot around the black portal. But it was to no avail.

No matter how many times her form circled the dark gateway she came no closer to understanding it than she had hours prior. The mechanism behind it was… chaotic, that she had doubt, but did that mean it was random? Perhaps, but it was unlikely that even Discord would so willingly risk pulling in a warrior that would outright disagree with him. Was pulling Link into her realm pure chance? Or was Discord truly pulling the strings of whom or what they brought into the land of Equestria, giving them a false sense of security?

Hours after the battle that still marred her grand hall, and she was no closer to answers than before. Instead, Celestia found herself with only more detailed questions.

“Have you figured the mechanisms behind Discord’s magic yet sister?” She heard the familiar voice ask her. Celestia turned to see her fellow princess approaching her, eyes on the portal instead.

“No, I haven’t. Its mysteries to me are as unknown as the meaning of life itself.” The princess of the sun admitted with a dejected sigh. “I do not know how it draws its power, how it attracts souls, or why each of the warriors that came through it is, well, who they are. The only conclusion I have reached is there is no coincidence for the beings this… gateway conjured. I refuse to believe the chances are so broad that Discord could pull a creature that was hailed as a Ghost while you pull forth a mute warrior of boundless courage. More than that, even I cannot see Discord risking himself to pull warriors that would turn on him.”

The night princess listened to her sister’s words carefully. She was right in her speculations, or at least she agreed. There was no method to tell if they were correct or not.

“So you think some part of us… called to Sir Link?”

“No,” Celestia spoke, “Well… perhaps, but I cannot be certain. I do not know. What I do know from observation alone is that Link is not a warrior who hungers for battle or glory.” She motioned with her golden clad hoof towards the sharp eared male. “Understanding that, I find it difficult to believe that this portal works off of chaotic imaginings alone.  If it truly did draw souls that only wished for chaos, I see no reason why Link would defend us, or for his presence at all.”

“You make good cases sister. Then… we truly do not know how it works?”

“No… Not at all.”

“I beg your pardons your majesties.” A polite voice spoke from behind the alicorns. Both turned to see the Element of Generosity looking up to both princesses. “I truly do not mean to intrude on your conversation, but I have a question that I feel may be dire for an answer.”

“What is it young Rarity?” Luna spoke to the unicorn.

“Well… Discord has never been one to play fair, as he makes his own rules and takes away our advantages.” Both alicorns slightly nodded in agreement. “So why, after his departure, is his portal still here?”

That was a fine question indeed.

Though she spoke in no raised volume, her musings were heard from the other Elements of Harmony. Each of the Elements trotted over to the princesses, some more nervous than others due to the presence of the portal beyond. Link walked behind them all.

“That is a good question.” Celestia admitted. “Discord is not one to offer anything beyond his own rule or will.”

“That darn monster is just playin’ with us is all.” Applejack spoke up. “There ain’t no reason tha’ beast is gonna give us anythin’ but problems.”

“I would agree with you Applejack, if were not for our friend here.” Celestia’s hoof motioned the green clad creature behind the Elements. He opened his cerulean eyes wide at the motion, pointing a sigil digit to his own chest.

“L-Link?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Yes, Link.” The alabaster alicorn confirmed. “I’ve already reasoned that Discord would not risk pulling forth warriors that would bring harmony or order, or else his plot to spread chaos would fail. But Luna’s ability to bring Link into Equestria shows that the portal doesn’t strictly follow his will, otherwise he never would have made it into Equestria.”

The alicorn fell silent, letting the weight of her words work their way through the young ponies’ minds. She valued her wisdom, she trusted her judgment, but she doubted her mind alone was enough for staying chaos this time. She needed to know what the other ponies thought, all of them.

“Honestly your majesty, I think we should just get rid of it.” Rainbow Dash spoke first as she flew above the other ponies. “I don’t trust anything that monster leaves behind, and he’s more than willing to take things from us. I don’t wanna risk pulling out another Kratos. Don’t get me wrong, Link is definitely cool and all, but I don’t think risking pulling out another “man” is a good idea.” The cyan Pegasus crossed her forelegs, wings flapping as she eyed the dark portal.

“I agree with Dash.” Of all the voices she expected to be against the use of the portal, the voice Celestia heard was not one of them.

All eyes turned to Twilight as she spoke, confidence plain on her face.

“Truly, my faithful student, I would think you would want to study this portal.”

“I DO!” Twilight spoke with more force than she intended. “But… but I don’t want to risk pulling something like Kratos out again. I’m not saying we have to get rid of it, but I really don’t want to risk using it. And… and I can’t think of any way to safely test it…” She almost seemed, pained by the idea, losing such a unique chance to study something brand new. Were the circumstances different, Celestia doubtlessly would have encouraged her student. But her kingdom was in peril and her ponies being threatened. Now was not the time to think of acquiring new subjects for studies.

“It... It really would be bad to, um, keep it around. I mean, I don’t want to offend or, um, anything but… but Discord… he isn’t a nice pony… he wouldn’t, um, help us so… so it’s… um, dangerous.” Fluttershy spoke softly, afraid that her admittance for disliking the dark thing would hurt somepony’s feelings. Her fears were needless as many of her friends nodded their heads in agreement.

“We should be terrified of that thing.” Rarity spoke. “It brought something akin to a demon to this realm. It would be selfish to keep it for the hopes it could bring something kind like Link again.”

“So… do you all agree to we should try and remove Discord’s portal?” Her eyes looked across the Elements, waiting for their replies. One by one, their heads began to nod, small confirmations of yes being spoken among them.

They all agreed.

Almost all agreed.

“I don’t!”

The princesses of Equestria, Elements of Harmony, and the Hero of Time turned to the one voice that spoke. All eyes landed on Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie we have to get rid of that thing!” Dash spoke as she flew in front of the pink mare. “It’s too dangerous to just keep around.” Pinkie Pie, however, didn’t let her smile waver.

“But none of you are answering Rarity’s question. Discord let us have it, and he isn’t getting rid of it. Aren’t you curious why that is?”

“Well that’s because… because…” Twilight began, but slowly let her voice die out. She truly couldn’t think of a logical reason for Discord to leave it behind, no different than her mentor. “Okay we don’t know why, but whatever Discord is planning, it definitely isn’t to give us anything. That portal has to be a trap.” She finished with a stomp of her hoof. Pinkie just giggled before responding.

“Nah, it’s just a game silly!” Not for the first time, but arguably the most inconvenient time, no pony was amused by the pink pony’s words.

“Pinkie Pie, darling, I do not think we should play this as a game. Discord isn’t… he doesn’t play games like we normally do.” Rarity patiently tried to explain the Element of Honesty.

“Well of course he doesn’t. Who would want to play a game like Hide-And-Seek with him?” Rainbow Dash failed to suppress the urge to face hoof. “I mean, I don’t like playing with him either, he’s unfair. He’s not trying to play fair at all, that’s just mean of him, but that doesn’t mean he’s not trying to enjoy the game. Really, there isn’t any fun in playing something if you know you the other players don’t stand a chance.”

“Pinkie Pie, are you saying-”

“I just think that mean-old Discord isn’t all that bored and careful. He wants it to be a game, so he’s making sure we have someponies to play with.” As twisted as Pinkie’s mind was, the logic did make an almost odd amount of sense.

“So… so you think he’s going to let us use the portal… to bring in more people like Link, so… so he can have more fun toying with us?” Dash asked the question out loud, but even she was trying to make sense of it. It wasn’t something beyond Discord’s ability, but it was definitely just conjecture. Trying to predict Discord’s mind was a fool’s foolish folly.

“I agree with Mrs. Pie.” Princess Luna spoke, no emotion on her face. “As much as I hate the creature Discord, I don’t think he would find any joy in attempting to slaughter us. He is a foe that would find much more joy in toying with us. He would give us hope, even if it were false. To prove my point, did he not allow thee to search for the Elements of Harmony upon his first coming?” The ponies’ heads nodded in agreement. That did sound like Discord. Show them a path they had to take, only to have it lead to a dead end.

“But then… um… wouldn’t that… ah, mean the portal was a trap?”

“Usually yes, but there must be something that we’re missing.” Celestia spoke again, irritation beginning to creep into her voice. “As we have agreed, I cannot see Discord allowing for chance to harm himself. There must be something, some way to use the portal that we are missing. Something so subtle, so minute, but so important that it acts as the deciding factor for what soul the gateway summons.”

It was rare for any pony to see the princess of day so flustered, but it would be uncommon for any pony to be anything less than confused in the current situation. An eternal enemy had returned promising terrors beyond what they thought him capable of. Warrior and creatures from beyond their entire world, maybe even space and time, were coming to Equestria by methods Celestia could so far only speculate. To top it all off, her hall was ruined in what Discord non-too-subtlety said would be a minor conflict compared to his grander scheme. Nothing was going right.

“I simply hate asking such questions,” Rarity began as the alabaster princess continued to ponder to herself. “But Princess Luna, what possessed you to use the portal as you did?” The dark alicorn gave a sigh. Had she not already answered this question?

“I was desperate young Rarity. That monster Kratos was destroying our castle near effortlessly and coming far too close to ending our subjects. It was a risk, but I was willing to harm myself before letting my inaction harm other ponies.”

“So you were thinking clearly then.”

“No… No I was not.” Luna admitted to the Element of Generosity. The princess’s had began to hang low at the admittance of what she believed was weakness.

“I was so afraid.” Those words made Celestia’s ears perk.

“I… I was afraid when I used Discord’s portal. All I saw was the monster in the hall, swinging those blades of fire with a war cry worthy of dragons and-”

“Luna, my sister.” The alicorn spoke as she trotted to her dark sibling. “That’s it. That’s it!”

“Princess,” Twilight spoke from behind her mentor, “I… I don’t understand.”

“You must have emotion and feeling, Twilight! That’s the secret, that’s how the portal works, it has to be!”

“Beg yer pardon yer majesty,” Applejack began, “but ah’ don’t quite see how ya’ came ta’ tha’ mindset.”

“I don’t have anything conclusive, but it fits well. It is impossible for someone to simply stop feeling something by force of will, and I know of no pony who feels nothing at all. If there were ever something Discord would be proud of, above his love for chaos, it would be his knowledge of emotion. I truly apologize for summoning the memory, but I’m assured that you six remember your first encounter with the mad draconequis.” She could see the shiver work through them all. She felt a pang of guilt as a tear escaped Fluttershy. “He knows how emotions work in all ponies, and I don’t doubt that he works this portal by emotion.”

“So if the portal is affected by emotion, how?” Dash spoke as she scratched her mane with her hoof. “It’s not like I can just say, ‘I’m the happiest mare in Equestria’ then pull out Pinkie Pie’s double.”

“You want to double me?”

“There is little way to know exactly how the portal operates based upon emotion and feeling, if at all. It just… appears to be the best option at the moment.” Celestia resigned.

“Perhaps we should ask our new friend.” Rarity spoke as she turned to Link. Every pony followed suit. Realizing he was the center of attention once more, the green clad hero straightened himself.

It was a fine idea. The princesses gave one another a small glance at the idea, before Luna motioned her head to her sister. A nod of her own and solar princess trotted to the Hero of Time.

“I doubt you wished to come here Link.” Celestia spoke with a tone of authority and peace. “It is clear from your ability to survive against one such as Kratos that you had seen many battles before.” The Hero of Time gave no sound or motion for her to stop. “Yet when the fighting is done, you quickly found peace, in a place I know you alien to. I cannot say anything of the lands from which you hail from, but I can speak for what I know through my immortality.” Raising herself to her tallest, lavender eyes above the hylian’s own sapphire orbs, the alabaster alicorn spoke her conclusion.

“You were prepared to die, weren’t you?”

It didn’t take a moment for Link to nod in response.

No pony gasped, screamed, or fainted. An evening of all three had made the ponies rather durable to the emotions. However, pity had yet to weaken its hold. They all knew life could be hard, cruel, and certainly random. But no pony could imagine a way to accept death, not with one who appeared so… young.

“I apologize again for your death, Sir Link.” Princess Luna spoke as she trotted next to her sister. “But I feel questions must be asked.” A nod from the hero, and the lunar princess began.

“Did you die in the face of battle or in the company of friends?” Oddly enough, Link didn’t immediately answer. Rather, his face took a look of contemplation, wondering how to answer. This lead to no end of confusion for Luna, who was sure the question, was either yes or no. The confusion was answered, however, when the Hero of Time raised both of his hands, palms up, in front of him. Celestia recognized the sign immediately.

“Both. You died in battle, but with friends near.” Now he nodded in response. “Was it your friend that… killed you?” The nod turned into a fierce shake, and the princesses released breaths they felt themselves holding.

“So… the battle is what ended you, but your friend’s presence brought you peace…” Again, the hero nodded in reply.

“Shoot Link.” Applejack spoke before her fellow Elements of Harmony. “Do ya… do ya think tha’ maybe yer peace o’ mind was wha’ drew ya in here?” The hero only shrugged in response.

“No, I refuse to think even the mad Discord would rely on such an unpredictable ploy.” Princess Luna spoke in reply. “I know from prior… experience how the last moments of your mind are not always suiting to what you hold dear. A brave pony may fall to cowardice in her final moments, or a scoundrel may pledge a life of piety in return for his life. It is a cruel piece of knowledge that we are not always ourselves at… our ends.” Her refusal to meet anypony’s eyes was enough to show the weight of her words upon the princess’s own soul.

“Then, um… could it be something, different ah!” Fluttershy lightly squeaked as her voice grew in volume, giving herself a small jolt. “Oh I-I know it’s something, ah, different, but, oh, like, um, deeper maybe?”

“Exactly how deep, sugar cube?”

“L-Like our Elements, maybe, I may be wrong, but I just thought-”

“Correctly…” Twilight spoke over the canary Pegasus. “If Princess Luna is right that Discord would want assurance that he drew out what he wanted, then it would have to be something about ourselves that doesn’t change, at least easily or quickly.”

“We are all rather tied to our Elements, I believe.” Rarity spoke in agreement. The other said Elements of Harmony nodded their head in agreement. Turning to the hero in green, Twilight asked him.

“Link… is there anything about you that defines, well… you?”

All the ponies eyed Link carefully. None of them expected him to speak, so they waited for him to start to move his hands in sign. But he never did.

Instead, he looked about himself. Examined his arms, flexed his fingers, adjusted his long pointed hat, things a pony might do when they were confused. Did he not understand them? Before Twilight was able to voice her question, Link looked to her, a clear expression of an idea on his features.

The Hero of Time raised his left hand to the ponies, palm facing him. On the back of his glove was a design the lavender unicorn was not familiar with. The outline of three golden triangles stood on the center of his glove stacked with one on the tips of the other two. They were all identical except for one triangle. It sat on the bottom row, furthest to the right of the three. While the other triangles were just outlines, glowing upon the glove, the bottom was solid and filled, outshining the hollow pyramids. As always, Dash spoke first.

“That’s. Awesome.” Not the exact words the other ponies would use, but none disagreed.

“Link, what does that mean?” Twilight asked with a tilted head. She already doubted there was a sign he could give that would properly explain it, but without knowing what the symbol meant, all it was to the Elements and princesses was an impressive light show.

The need to explain was plain on Link’s face. Somehow he had to tell them, he had to explain what it meant. His azure eyes looked about the hall, hoping to find anything that could explain what the symbol meant, and a way to convey the secret he was unintentionally hiding from them. Said eyes widened as they settled on something near the throne.

With the gentle grace the alabaster princess had already granted him capable of, he moved past the Elements of Harmony, approaching the large stone throne with haste. Just before it, he reached his arm out and grasped something that sat just within hand’s reach. When Celestia caught eye of what it was, she fought the urge to groan.

A quill and paper, the very two items she had left by her stone chair to write reminders and letters.

“How could I, the Princess of Day and Ruler of Equestria, forget such a simple method to communicate without words?” She spoke it as a whisper to herself, but her keen ears caught Luna chuckling beneath her breath. She grumbled in return. From the few audible taps she heard beyond her vision, more than a few of the Elements had acted out their own feelings with a face-hoof.

Link got to work with quill in his left hand, paper in the right. Beyond the view of the ponies, he began to sketch and write across the parchment, working with practiced ease. For a time, the only sound the filled the air was the scratching of his quill against the rough texture of the paper. For one specific unicorn, it tested her patience. As her friends could agree, she never was quite good at tests. Stretching her cyan wings, she took to the air just behind the green clad hero, eyeing the paper critically.

“What the hay, why are you redrawing the symbol?” Dash asked from her aerial position. Her response was given with a single raised finger.

“Fine, fine.” Rainbow grumbled as she back winged away into the air.

The quill continued to scratch along the paper for a few more moments, filling the air with rough sound. When he was finished, he passed the parchment off to the purple unicorn. It was quickly surrounded by the mare’s telltale purple aura. Once it was before her eyes, she began to read.

“The entire symbol is called the Triforce. The Triforce represents the powers of… the goddesses?” Twilight read louder, giving a quirked eyebrow to the green clad hero. He gave an eager nod in confirmation. The nod only made the unicorn’s gut twist.

“The same gods… as… Kratos?” The knot undid itself at Link’s quick dismissal, given by a fierce shake of his head. He had to readjust his hat. She heard Fluttershy give a sigh of relief from behind her. Twilight continued.

“Each one represents one of the three. The top is Din for power. The bottom left is Nayru of Wisdom. The bottom right is Farore for courage.” The paper finished, she looked back over it, then looking up to Link. As the hero raised his left hand again, showing the symbol on the back of his hand, the pieces slowly fit together in her mind.

“Courage?” Twilight read from the paper. “Courage! You’re the Element of Courage!”

“Did ya’ think of somethin’ Twi’?” Applejack asked her unicorn friend, although the unrestrained smile and near hopping of the lavender mare was answer enough.

“He’s courage!” She spoke again, pointing an excited hoof at Link, who now had raised his arms as if he was being accused. “Courage is a synonym for bravery, which is an antonym for fear or cowardice. Don’t you see? This explains how that portal works!” When confusion met her words, Twilight drove the point home.

“He represents the opposite of what Princess Luna was feeling!”

Understanding and joy began to flood Celestia’s and Luna’s faces.

“The portal draws the soul that is most akin to the opposite of what we express within.” Luna repeated, in a far more cryptic tongue than the unicorn had. “So when I dove into it, I felt pure fear, and I drew forth a warrior that is the embodiment of courage.”

Link could hear the praise and hope on her words. His hand scratched the back of his head sheepishly for it. For all of his deeds, he was unused to such high praise from any new face.

“Good thing you’re such a timid, quiet, little bundle of shyness Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she hugged the canary Pegasus. “You helped bring us the most courageous, brave, heroic, hero of them all! That can be the title of his party! ‘Welcome to Equestria Heroic Hero of Heroicness!’”

“Mighty glad we figured tha’ one out, huh Rar’?”

“Oh indeed,” Rarity agreed to her apple-farming friend. “That answers how it works, but… but it still doesn’t tell us why Discord left that dreadful thing here.” Her white hoof pointed to the portal again. “Even if it was for us to ‘play his game’ as he would so cruelly say, I cannot see the Spirit giving us such a fair chance. It tells us nothing of his plan.”

“It actually does reveal Discord’s ploy.” Luna spoke as her mind began to near audibly buzz with thoughts. The ponies, plus Link, turned to her as she did. “He hoped we would use the portal in the method he did, simply draw forth creatures in the hopes that they will aid us in preserving harmony. Then when we attempted to, we would only be summoning minions who would be eager to abandon us for him.” Her eyes lit with an emotion split evenly between understanding, anger, and shock.

“We would unintentionally build his army, and in doing so, destroy hope for ourselves.”

“Wow… that… that is evil.” Dash spoke. The plan was as devious and cruel as it was intelligent and clever. “We should thank… well, your highnesses, that Link came through at all. If it weren’t him, we would have been pulling out monsters left and right…” Rainbow Dash let her rump hit the stone floor with the thought, imagining herself pulling out a creature that moved faster than herself, faster than sound, so fast that couldn’t stop it from reaching her friends, couldn’t stop it from reaching Twilight...

The thought made her wings shiver.

“So… do we use it?” Twilight asked aloud.

“Beg yer pardon?” From the expressions of her friends and mentor, the lavender unicorn knew Applejack was not alone in her confusion.

“I mean… do we use Discord’s spell? Now that we know how it works, we could theoretically use it against him. The greatest downfall for pony leaders in ancient times was often instruments of their own designs…”

“No.” Princes Luna spoke, cutting off the Element of Magic. “Whatever wisdom you believe your words to hold young Twilight, do well to remember that power corrupts, and using the absolute power of Discord would corrupt absolutely.” Her stance and posture made it clear her position was not one for discussion.

“I understand your fear, dearest sister,” Celestia began, “But… even I fear that we will not be enough to stay off Discord without outside aid, now more than ever with the Elements of Harmony missing and Discord giving us no clue as to where to find them.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie cheered for the alabaster alicorn. “And besides, now that Mrs. Smarty Pants has figured out how the portal works, we can pull out all sorts of amazing ponies! Think of all the friends we can make. I bet we can have a party big enough to give the wedding run for its money.”

“Oh, no. No nononono,” The nervous chatter of the shy Pegasus drew more than a few pairs of eyes.

“Fluttershy?”

“I-I don’t think we should pull any more ponies out from th-th-there.” She pointed with a shaking yellow hoof. “It’s so dark, and cruel, and evil, and monstrous, and-and-and…” The inevitable tears began to slide down her muzzle.

“Wouldn’t pulling ponies out mean that they are dead?”

Celestia did not miss the look of pain cross Link’s eyes.

“Um… yeah, I guess they are. But it’s not like we’re the ones actually, well, you know…” Dash motioned with a wave of her hoof. “Besides, wouldn’t most of these guys want to help us?”

“I don’t know about that Dash.” Twilight spoke, her eyes glued to the portal. “There’s no kind of guarantee who we could pull out of the portal. What if it is somepony that just wants to rest after a long life? Wouldn’t asking them, maybe even forcing them, to come here just be cruel?”

“I-I didn’t think about it like that…” The rainbow manned Pegasus muttered guiltily; hoof rubbed the back of her head. Slowly, the other elements began to voice their opinions, agreeing or disagreeing with the usage of the tool. It could save Equestria, possibly all of existence, but at the possible cost of the peace the souls may very well deserve. It was no longer a debate of yes or no, but right or wrong, just or unjust, needed or wanted. But as the voices of the elements and Luna conversed about the tool of Discord, Celestia continued to watch the only non-pony among them.

At every mention of death, he had flinched.

It was never any more than a bug bite; a small twitch of a muscle, but it was too constant to be anything but a reaction to the conversation that now surrounded him. Millennia’s worth of wisdom rested inside the princess of the sun, and she knew full well how to use it.

“Once more,” Princess Celestia began, trotting up to the green clad hero, “I think we must look to our honored guest for an opinion in this matter.” The light conversation around her ended as she spoke, lavender eyes trained on the ocean blue orbs of the Hero of Time.

“Link, as a warrior we have pulled from this portal that crosses space and time, as a life that has witnessed the cruelty and terror of Discord, and as… as an innocent victim of circumstance within this struggle you knew nothing of, what do you say to the use of this device.” Celestia watched as the green clad hero’s sky blue eyes hardened into sapphire orbs.

“Knowing that any soul we pull forth is one that has already passed, and knowing that each soul may wish to remain at rest, would you risk robbing these souls of their due peace, for the chance and need to end Discord and his rising chaos?”

The Hero of Time was silent and motionless to her words.

He looked into alicorn’s eyes with more feelings than Celestia could keep track of fluidly. At one moment, she saw anger swim in his orbs, only to be drowned beneath a pool of sorrow. A blink of an eye later, her soft irises caught compassion, only to be released at the sight of thoughtfulness. If nothing else, she had to give Link credit. He was not taking this decision lightly.

Slowly, however, his hands found their way to the quill and paper again, and his own eyes fell to watch his writing. The familiar scratching of his quill could be heard again, as well as a soft groan from a cyan Pegasus among the other Elements of Harmony. Not once, however, while he was writing, did the Hero of Time look up to them.

He finished with a pull of the quill, pushing the paper forward for the monarch to receive. Celestia enveloped the paper in her magic as she levitated it before her eyes, reading over the words carefully and aloud.

“Destiny is often a force described as ascending beyond all logic and reason. It works beyond the veil of time and far past the boundaries of space. I have traveled far in my past life, and I have seen much, but all that I have seen has eventually come together, whether they are magnificent sights or horrific endings. All things are connected in life and the boundary of time and space is nothing that can stall destiny’s hand.” The alicorn let her eyes fall on the hero once more as she took a break from the paper. She looked into his eyes again hoping to see a sign of just how long he fought, for how long he lived in his past life. But through either practice or talent, she could see nothing more than emotions flickering through his orbs. Looking down she continued.

“I agree that many lives, many I have known would find using this portal as an act against their will, or the will of others who it may draw out. However, Destiny rarely calls upon us in times of our own need, or a time that we expect. If the lives that are drawn forth from the portal are done so, they will have come by a force of destiny. Some may be angry, other resentful, but in the end, they will know that they have one more purpose to fulfill before they rest. For some of them, it may even be a chance for redemption.”

Celestia rolled up the parchment as she finished, eyes looking down as if she were still reading the page. His answer was far more detailed and elegant than she gave him credit for. There was logic in his words, as well as emotion. It was a hard choice, as all conflicting opinions usually derive from, but Link had given her an answer that not only satisfied, but explained. It convinced her.

“Who else agrees with Link?” She asked the Elements as she turned to face them. She saw the hooves of the elements hesitantly begin to rise, one by one lifting them in the air. Only the ever-energetic Pinkie Pie shot her hoof into the air as if it were on fire.

“I too agree with Sir Link.” Princess Luna spoke as she raised her darkened hoof into the air.

“Me too!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she hopped with three hooves, holding the last above her puffy mane. Celestia looked amongst them with a growing smile across her muzzle.

“Very well,” Turning to the portal, she motioned with her head towards two of the ponies in the crowd of seven. “Sister, Twilight, please aid me in this endeavor.”

“Of course.” Luna agreed as she joined her sister’s side. Both alicorns stood tall next to each other, towering over the Elements that surrounded them.

“I… I have no idea what to do… Princess I’m sorry, but… what do we do?” It was difficult to tell if the pain in the unicorn’s voice came from her lack of knowledge or fear of disappointing her mentor.

“Do not stress yourself Twilight Sparkle.” Luna spoke just beside her. “Thou must have faith in thy self. Your deeds precede your name, and we know thou shall aid us immensely.”

“T-Thank you Princess Luna.” The unicorn began to trot forward, her hooves still unsure of the weight she bore. But she was stopped by a cyan hoof.

“Hey Twi’.” Rainbow spoke to the mare as she turned her friend. “Just relax, alright. I know the feeling; it’s like getting ready for a big race that you haven’t prepared for. I know, it sucks.” Twilight’s muzzle just hung open dumbly.

“Dash, what are you talking about? I’m fine, I have the princesses helping me, and-”

“C’mon Twi’, I can tell when you’re nervous. It’s almost as bad as when you forgot to send a report to Princess Celestia.” Dash caught the glare quickly. “Almost. My point is you can do this. Just stay calm, take deep breaths, and do what you do best.”

“Okay… okay… I can do that.” The lavender unicorn spoke as she nodded her head. She raised her eyes to look at the Pegasus, who had a content, and slightly smug, smile on her muzzle. Twilight gave her one as well. “Will do Dash.”

“That’s our Element of Magic.” The Pegasus cheered as she gave a quick beat of her wings. “Do us proud Twilight!” She yelled once more as she descended next to the rest of their friends. Every last one of them cheered as well.

“Go get ‘em girl!”

“Show the meanie Discord what really magic is!”

“Keep a stiff upper lip Twilight.”

“Yay.”

The unicorn gave a small hidden laughter at her friends’ antics. Even in one of the most dangerous situations, they proved they really were the best friends she could ever have. Then again, there really wasn’t a better way to prove otherwise.

“Alright,” Celestia spoke softly as the alicorns and Element of Magic gathered around the portal.  “There is no specific spell that can counter act Discord’s magic, at least not one to this degree. However, I believe if we use a combination of memory suppressant and restoration, we may be able to “trick” the portal into working for how we are actually feeling, and not the opposite there of.”

“Princess, I’m confused, don’t the two spells cancel each other out?”

“Ordinarily yes, but this portal isn’t like a pony’s mind. We want to preserve the basic function, but remove the corruption of twisting our emotions.”

“And what if the corruption lies deeper than the usage of the portal itself?” Luna asked her sister now.

“I do not know, but they are the only spells I can imagine we try right now. Do you two agree?” Twilight eagerly nodded her head to her mentor. Luna however, did so with much more caution, thinking of her decision as she began to commit to it.

“Alright then.” Celestia spoke as she placed her hooves just beside the portal. She ignored the familiar cold feeling of the tendrils attempting to wrap around her hooves. They could try, but they would not shake an alicorn’s stance. Neither she, her sister, nor even her faithful student. They were all stronger than that.

The alabaster alicorn watched Luna set herself just beside her, no more than a wing’s span to her left. Turning her head, Celestia saw Twilight to the same to her right, though with far more hesitance. Understandable, she was not immortal.

“Are we ready?” Both dark alicorn and lavender unicorn gave a nod to the princess of the day, both of their hooves steeling themselves against the tiled stone. Determination flooded their eyes and captured their features. Celestia smiled as she knew, they were ready.

“Then let’s begin.”

Hues of lavender, alabaster, and aqua magic began to shine above the dark portal. Each of the different colored forces of magic began to blend into one another. The lavender and alabaster glows combined into a pink hue of warmth, then quickly joined with the near misty aqua hue of Luna’s magic, turning the pink, oddly enough, white.

Small sparks of power dissipated off the growing orb of power as it hovered above the alicorns and unicorn. The three ponies in question did not move or make motion as the ball began to grow, their eyes shut in concentration. The rest of the Elements and Link himself, however, watched on with wide eyes.

They had all seen their friend and princesses cast such magic before, whether in everyday tasks such as raising the sun, or in times of great… well chaos, such as Discord’s initial moment of freedom. Link however, had only seen such powerful magic on the receiving end. His leather gloves cried as he clenched his gloves together, willing himself to hold his ground. These ponies meant him no harm; they already saw him as someone to be trusted. He was going to run from fear, not when he possessed courage.

“Hey, it’s falling!” Pinkie spoke with a raised hoof aimed at the ball of magic.

Sure enough, the large ball of intense white light slowly began to descend from its hovering position. It drew closer and closer to the dark portal, almost beckoning the black tendrils to grasp it. They eagerly complied. The misty liquid reached up from the portal, slowly attempting to wrap themselves around the massive ball of magic. At first, they burned away, dissipating as they came close the intensity of the light. But as the sphere drew closer, the darkness grew in numbers, and the ball was no longer strong enough to burn away the sinister black coils.

Still the ball descended at no faster a pace. It fell into the darkness of the portal as slow as it had begun, and no amount of pull of the tendrils accelerated it. At first, nothing happened. Even as the ball of magic descended halfway through the void, nothing pulled, pushed, or fought against it, nothing the alicorns and unicorn felt at least.

That changed quickly.

In a single moment, the ball was pulled into the void with more force than any of the magic users could prepare for. Even the two who moved celestial orbs had not the strength to fight the pull of the void. In a second the magic had vanished into the dark abyss, leaving behind the silent breathing of two very tired princesses and one exhausted Element of Magic.

The portal of pitch-black shadows began to shine an ethereal white.

“Stand back!”

Celestia put a wing before her faithful student and friends, protecting them with her entire form as the portal began to shine brightly. Luna raised a shield of magic in front of her, eyes shutting as the intensity of the light became too much for her irises to bear. Link raised his own shield of glass, prepared to counter whatever the portal threw at them.

The strength of the light only continued to grow, shining brighter and brighter until it pierced the very lids of the shuteyes in the room. There was no sound, no screams of pain, just a light so bright that it blinded even the blind.

Then, in a moment, it all ended in a flash.

Tentatively, Celestia lowered her wings, turning her head to watch the portal they had attempted to alter. Luna did the same as Link also holstered his glass shield. All eyes, pony and non-pony, met the same sight.

The dark portal was now a white void.

The dark mess of tendrils and mist was no longer present. No dark blemish stained the otherwise white tile floor, and no elements of chaos eagerly beckoned the lives surrounding it to jump in. Instead… it was white as snow.

The dark sinister tendrils were not soft alabaster vines. They did not whip and curl, they floated and entwined. They did not beckon or demand. They were softly, cordially, invited. The once ominous portal of Discord was now a soft inviting door. For all intended purposes, it looked safe, but only Applejack was able to voice the question.

“Is… is it safe?” She asked as she tentatively approached the portal. It took a moment for the alicorns plus unicorn to answer. The purification of absolute chaos was not a simple feat.

“I can assume so Applejack by change alone, but that again is only an assumption.” Celestia answered lightly beating her wings to cool herself. “But unfortunately, there is now way to ensure that it works properly.”

“No method but one, dear sister.” Princess Luna spoke her wings mimicking Celestia in pushing the air around her. Only once before had Twilight wished she had wings as much as now.

“True.” Turning back to the Elements and Link, Celestia finished. “The only way to test the portal is to… use it.”

All eyes looked down at the now white gateway, clear against the marble flooring only by its unblemished features against the trotted on stone. Compared to the dark workings Discord had left behind, this new portal seemed peaceful, warm, almost inviting to the ponies that slowly approached it. That did not mean they were willing to use it. Even Link, the now dubbed Element of Courage, put a glove to his mouth in thought.

For the numerous times he found the puzzles he encountered dependent upon “guess-and-check” methods, he was no fool to jump blindly towards a goal. There had to be a plan, a sequence of events, and a small riddle to solve even. Though none of those options were clear here, and he doubted anything similar would present itself, he still wished against the idea of reaching blindly into an unseen abyss.

He was not alone. Despite the near magnetizing aura of warmth the portal projected now, no pony found it an inviting idea to jump into what Discord had initially laid.

No pony but one.

“Me first!”

Not even Dash was fast enough to stop Pinkie Pie from dumping her head into the portal of white.

Begin

“My friend, Go!” The shout echoed off the metallic walls. Screeching steel and unnatural war cries soon followed it. Two figures ran down the compact halls, grabbing corners as they turned, too afraid to possible slow themselves.

As they both turned a corner, they came to what appeared to be a dead end, metal on all three walls. Both slowed for only a moment, but then sound of banging metal behind them reminded them that stopping was hardly an option.

“Make way!” The larger of the two figures shouted.

SLAM!

The smaller of the two quickly put his body against a different wall, just fast enough for his monstrously larger companion to barrel past him. As his body made contact with the far wall, it gave way under his weight, opening up a much larger area before them. Without wasting a moment, he tore the remaining steel from the floor, wedging it into the hallway from which they had just escaped. The cries were muffled, but by no means gone.

“God I’m glad you’re a Super Mutant, and it looks like we’re back at the atrium.” The small companion spoke as he ran into the new room. “Give me a second, I’ll find out how to get out of here.” He immediately began pulled his left wrist close to his face. A small green terminal began to work before his eyes, outlaying their current location, and the many halls that surrounded them. His fingers began to dance across the controls.

“A second may be… too long my friend.” The larger figure spoke, turning to face the hall they had come from. The pounding of metal and cries of bloodlust grew louder even with the new steel wall in place. “The beasts grow closer!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Big mistake for ever coming to a vault just because it had a lucky number on it.” The younger companion dismissed. His blue garm brightened as he adjusted the lighting on his wrist. “I’m just glad my Pip-Boy marked the Death Claws before they really jumped us.”

“No, my friend,” the larger companion disagreed, rolling his enormous green arms. “Be glad that I was able to save you from them! It would have been a very… poor death for one such as you.”

“Right man.” The smaller man agreed. He slowed his pace across his wrist bound computer for just a second, letting his eyes drift to his faithful and powerful companion. But just before he could voice his thanks, screeching metal tore the air.

The enemy was very close.

“Fawkes, I owe you, but can you please distract the hell out of those monsters?!”

“With pleasure!”

Not waiting for a response, Fawkes pulled out his weapon from his back. A large contraption that was a powerful as it was fearsome. Even for the being that had plowed through solid steel to find the new room, it required both hands to hold up. It had all the power and weight of a Gatling gun, but all the accuracy and speed of a laser beam.

“Come, wake up… and die!”

The creature pulled down the trigger of his weapon.

Instantly, streams of high-density light tore from the gun, ripping through the steel and impacting the beasts on just the other side. Cries of pain from the nightmarish creatures echoed through the air, no longer muffled by the steel between companions and monsters. The rails spun under Fawkes’s guidance, sending molten hot streams of death at the creatures that now attempted to escape the halls.

“We take that hall, follow it to the ground floor, then we can take the stairs to surface.” He spoke as his hand traced the path they had to take. Giving only a grunt of understanding, the Super Mutant put his weapon away, following his human companion.

“Just another vault I said.” The human companion spoke as they continued their mad dash. “Just looking around some more old ruins I said. We’ve already seen the FEV factory, what could be worse?” He cursed as they turned a corner. Not wasting anytime, he jumped the stairs before him, his green skinned companion doing the same.

“It could be worse, friend.” Fawkes could see his companion take it as a joke, even as they sprinted down the hall to the fast approaching atrium.

“Worse? Oh obviously,” he responded back with sarcasm. “Instead of highly agile, vicious, bullet resistant, territorial predators after us, it could be Liberty Prime mistaking us for communists!” He shouted as they broke into the atrium. “Oh I bet The Brotherhood would get a kick out of watching the iron giant chase ‘The Last Best Hope for Humanity’.” Even in their run, Fawkes gave a loud yell of approval at the title.

That however, was all he could have given.

Just before the two reached the door leading to the stairs the needed, a monster dropped in front of them.

On its hind legs, it stood tall enough for its head to graze the ceiling above it, sharp spikes along its back and neck effortlessly tearing the metal. Jagged teeth grew along its jaw, no lips or covering to hide their sharp and vicious nature. Despite its sheer size, the claws that hung from his sides still scrapped against the ground. The talons were long, the ends were sharp, and their reach was great. Each one treated steel like a well-placed plasma rifle treated flesh. The massive creature also fought the notion that a good defense was a good offense. Scales as thick as Power Armor covered every inch of its body, layering it with enough protection to keep it safe from anything short of a nuclear bomb.

The Lone Wanderer summed up his feelings for the creature in four words.

“I hate Death Claws.”

It shrieked back at him in response.

Fawkes acted quickly. His signature super sledge un-holstered itself from his side as he charged towards the beast. The steel hammer slammed into the creature’s side, sending it off balance in a daze. But despite his strength, the creature still stood.

“Run Fawkes, now!” The human shouted as he dashed past the creature. The Super Mutant quickly followed, but not before delivering one more heavy blow to the Death Claw, pushing the mutated lizard to its knees. Just as his massive green form made it into the tight metallic hallway, he saw the familiar shape of a rusted tin can fly above his shoulder. He knew what that device was as he watched his friend make hundreds of them before.

“Burn you bastards!”

An explosion of blue and orange caught the Death Claw at the bottom of the landing. It burned with the warmth of radiation and the heat of fire. The beast wailed in pain as the scales that once protected its thick hide curled upon themselves, sending the creature into agony.

“God I love those Nuka Grenades.” The wanderer spoke without ceasing his run. Fawkes only laughed in agreement.

They reached the top of the stair well quickly, opening and shutting the door as quickly as the two could manage. It wouldn’t much for slowing the Death Claws, but every little bit helped. The central hallway of maintenance came into view as the Lone Wanderer and moral Super Mutant reached the highest level of the Vault. From memory alone, the human guided his companion to the exit.

“Alright, if we’re lucky, we can shut the vault as we try and escape. Not even those monsters will get through that door. Nuclear god damn bombs lost that fight.” He turned another sharp corner, Fawkes doing the same. “Last door, good. Now we-” His head slammed into the steel. It didn’t hurt, not anything compared to bullet wounds or dog bites, but it did shake him a little. Confusion set in quickly. He put his hand to the control pad, trying to open the door again. Nothing happened but a small squeal of protest. The Lone Wanderer cursed.

The door was stuck.

“Fawkes! Buy me some time!” The green behemoth gave a nod of understanding moved closer to the doorway they had just come from. The Death Claws were fast approaching, or so the sound or screeching steel was evidence to. He wouldn’t be able to kill them all, no matter how wonderful the idea sounded, but he could so them down. Gripping one of the metallic support beams with his large hands, the Fawkes gave a mighty pull, snapping the steel.  The metal above gave a groan in protest as the weight of thick material grew without the support.

He tore one more, than two, than three, and was finally rewarded with the result he wanted. The metal above began to crack in a web like pattern, the stress of the metal exceeding all Factors of Safety. As the cracks grew, they became more numerous, faster and faster, until, as they used to say, the damn finally broke.

All at once, the thick steel of the Vault’s many walls came crashing down upon the hallway, wires, tubes and layering all at once. Dirt and grime came with it, sending a billowing cloud of dust into Fawkes’s eyes, momentarily blinding him to the fruits of his labor. As the dust began to settle, he let himself smile inwardly. A great amount of the vault had collapsed in on itself, and the Death Claws were barely audible through all of it.

“The hell did you do?” He heard the Lone Wanderer ask behind him, coming around the corner.

“I believe the best saying is… ‘I brought the house down.”

His human companioned nearly killed himself laughing. Fawkes easily joined in.

If there was ever one sign of madness throughout the wasteland, it was the ease at which its citizens were able to forget the presence and grip of death for the sake of a little humor and joy.

“I would… smile, could my mouth, allow it.” The Lone Wanderer continued to laugh at the joke.

“Awesome job though, that’ll buy me like… a few minutes maybe.” He spoke as he returned to the still unopened door. “It’s probably just a faulty wire. Problem is I think said wire is on the other side of the door. But if I’m lucky, a quick bypass through the AC port will allow the default DC current to arc just fast enough to open the door.” His words were lost across Fawkes like waves on a rock. They were there, but then they were gone.

BAM!

The sudden boom startled the human and mutant alike, eyes both swirling to the collapsed ceiling keeping them from death.

“Was that-?”

BAM!

“Yes, yes it was!” The question he was about to ask answered, the Lone Wanderer returned to his work double time. Fawkes stood behind him, Super Sledge ready to go for anything that attempted to harm his companion. The cries were quickly accompanied by the sound of slicing steel as the Death Claws began their assault on the barricade.

“Dammit!” The Wanderer cried as a shock of electricity forced his hands away from the control panel. The green Super Mutant gave a look to his friend nursing a small burn on the outside of is hand. The vault door had yet to open. The cries of the Death Claws grew louder.

In a second, nothing more or less, something clicked in Fawkes mind.

“Move!” Fawkes shouted as he roughly pushed his friend aside. Any protest the Lone Wanderer had was lost when he saw his Super Mutant friend grip the edges of the steel door, veins pulsing across his arms.

“YeaAAAARGH!” Using all of the strength the FEV virus gave him; Fawkes lifted the metallic doorway up from its locked position, hinges screaming in protest as they were fought against. The screeching was by far louder than the cries of the Death Claws, but by no comparison anywhere near as dangerous. The door slid up a good foot before it stopped, Fawkes’s strength used up and unable to progress.

“My friend, go!” He shouted for the second time that day, motioning with his head for the Last Best Hope for Humanity. Taking the hint, the Lone Wanderer rolled beneath the doorway, making it onto the other side with ease.

“Alright, give me second here man and I’ll have that door open.” The one time vault resident spoke as he worked at the controls for the doors. “There’s gotta be a short somewhere, and if I can just do a quick bypass in the circuitry, I should generate enough of a command to the system to tell it to op-”

SLAM!

The sound of pounding steel was unmistakable, and it drew both a look of horror and feeling of dread from the Lone Wanderer. It only a glance from his eyes to confirm what he heard.

The steel was embedded into the ground of the floor, any mechanism to hold the thick material gone with that move, gone with any hope to open the door for the Super Mutant.

Fawkes had shut the door, permanently.

“Fawkes!” He shouted as he jumped to the door, fist pounding on the steel uselessly. “God dammit Fawkes! Open the door! I know you can hear me! Fawkes!” Pulling out a well-preserved plasma rifle, he fired the device at the door several times, hoping to melt the steel of the doorway. No such luck graced him this time. Vault-Tech built their doors to last.

“Dammit Fawkes! Open this goddamn door right now!” Said Super Mutant could hear his friend, his onetime savior call speaker. If his lips could move, the green Super Mutant would have smiled. The Death Claws were fast approaching, but they had a lot of material to get through first. There was time, just enough time. Fawkes moved to the speaker, placing his oversized hand against a dusty red button.

“No, my friend, this is where my destiny has brought me.” There was no doubt in the green Super Mutant’s mind that if he could smile, he would be with genuine joy. “You once… attempted to give your life for… your father’s work. Now… now I am giving my life, so that you can… continue your righteous path.” The silence spoke volumes to the Super Mutant.

“My friend, it has been an honor to fight beside you.”

His thumb unclicked itself from the speaker.

“Dammit Fawkes! No! I lived through that and that gives you no right to die like this! I can save your ass and you know it!” His voice was muffled but the words were clear. However, so was the desperation in his voice. The Death Claws were fast approaching. The collapsed hallway could only slow the terrifying creatures for a few moments, and that was all he had. Giving a sigh, he pushed the button down again.

“No, my friend, you cannot.” Fawkes heard the fist pounding on the door fruitlessly. It felt… good, in a “Super Mutant” kind of way. “I am not… as skilled as you are with technology, but I know broken things when I see them. Either, we both die here, or I die here. You… you are a messiah to the Wasteland. It is my honor, and my destiny, to give my life so you may continue to help others.”

He was done now, in more ways than one. Pulling out his Gatling Laser, low on power and ammunition, Fawkes knew it wouldn’t last long. Through the muffled steel, and screeching metal, he heard the door to the Vault open, and he knew his friend had left.

“Thank you, for everything, my friend.” The words were spoken in solitude, but it brought a near alien emotion to the green Super Mutant.

He was happy.

This was good day for Fawkes, one time companion to The Last Best Hope for Humanity, the Lone Wanderer.

“Alright beasties!” he shouted at the Death Claws, their terrible talons finished ripping the steel apart. “Come and DIE!”

Not a soul heard his shouts of triumphs, his grunts of movement, his brief cries of victory… not even his screams of eventual pain.

But he was happy.

End

Needless to say, the ponies gasped as Pinkie drew her “catch” from the purified portal. It was large and bulky, shapeless and white, but by all means far too large for her to ever be able to normally carry. With all the grace she forever lacked, Pinkie dropped the mass of moving white on the stone tile besides her.

“Wow! That was a doozy woozy.” She spoke as put a hoof to her head. “Usual it takes a full day with the cake twins to make my head this fuzzy.”

“Pinkie!” Twilight directed at the wavering pink pony. “What were you thinking?!”

“Hmm… I thought of something willful! Don’t want any pony in Equestria getting mopey on me.”

“No, not that… well that’s helpful too,” Twilight noted as she looked to the rather large blob of white. “But what I meant was what were you thinking jumping in like that?! You could have seriously hurt yourself.”

“Oh, but it wouldn’t have been fun to just wait around and… oh…” Her hooves began to shake beneath her.  

“Take it easy girl.” Applejack spoke as she put a hoof on the wavering pony. “No need to stress yer’self out like tha’. How ‘bout we welcome… wha’everya’ pulled.”

Those words were all it took to put the life of Equestria back into the pink earth pony. Without a word, Pinkie jumped to the still covered figure, putting hooves down upon it as fearlessly as she had drawn it.

The pony took to freeing the unseen figure with a near alien amount of joy. The ponies surrounding her watched enraptured as they imagined the figure that was slowly be revealed to them. Link stood behind them all watching arms crossed as the energetic pony took to freeing the new soul she had conjured.

All feelings of hope died when they saw the creature beneath.

It was grotesque. A sickly green that was associated with nothing except disease and illness. Its skin seemed to agree, as it was ripped, charred, sliced, and cracking from what no soul present could imagine. Whatever apparel it was wearing suffered no less damage, torn with great force and burned by items that both unicorns and alicorns present knew from no magical force. But those were just the small details.

Its size was enormous, larger than that of even Kratos before it. It doubtlessly would stand above both alicorns, possibly even if they were stacked atop one another. By appearance alone, it looked as if it weighed more than an entire herd of buffalos and with just as much strength as well. Looking closer, more than one pony, Link included, could tell that the ripping of his clothes hadn’t come from any kind of battle.

Pinkie Pie, whether positive or negative, had no fear or contempt for the creature she was freeing from the white tendrils of the portal. Her hooves continued to push the misty material from her “catch.” Her energy and smile didn’t even begin to fade. Not even as she brushed the final remains of the mist off of the creature’s face.

Fluttershy let out an eep of fright.

For all intents and purposes, it appeared as if an explosion had taken place close to the creature’s face. So much was… missing. There was no skin covering its teeth, its large mandible stuck in a permanent growl with the missing lips. Al that was left to indicate the creature could hear were small holes on either side of its head, the ears that seemed so prominent on the other ponies and warriors now gone. Hair was well was missing from it. No fur, not even a small tuft of it like Link sat upon the creature’s head. As horrible as it would sound to be called, there was only one word that many of the ponies could use to describe the thing: Hideous.

“Wow, he’s so big!” Pinkie pie squealed. “Wonder if he’s the only one who’s that big back where’s he from. Do you think they have bigger parties there because of it? That would be awesome! A Pinkie Party of his size would be a Mega Pinkie Party! That’s a new party idea right there. I almost feel like Rarity today!” Her energy was only met with confusion.

“Pinkie, you… aren’t concerned at all?” Rarity spoke to the energetic earth pony. “It…

“He Rarity, he’s a colt. Or man. Probably a stallion if anything…” An exasperated sigh escaped the white unicorn.

“HE doesn’t look that… kind.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Mah problem is tha’ he looks to darn much like tha’ villain Kratos.” Applejack’s words were met with a few nods from other ponies. “I know it’s wrong ta pass judgment based on looks an’ all, but… I don’ know…”

“You are right to be cautious, young Applejack.” Luna spoke, eyes still on the creature. “We have not received a… consistent type of creatures from this portal. As young Twilight Sparkle has also said, we have no means to test this altered device, so we have no means of knowing if the creature is truly just, or unjust.” A short moment of silence followed the princess’s words.

“Why isn’t he waking up?” Said unicorn asked, as she looked the large green thing over. “Link was able to rise with just some coaxing. This… he is sleeping through all of us talking, and Pinkie Pie bouncing on him.”

“A good question, but I hardly find that relevant compared to the larger matters at hand.” Rarity spoke next.

“But it could be important,” countered Twilight. “We don’t know how this portal works, and as long as we have similarities in anything, we have to ask why.”

“Quite true, but we won’t know those answers while he is still asleep.”

“Should we wake him up then?” Dash’s words earned a quick gasp from the unicorn beside her. “What? I’m just saying, it’s not like we’re gonna learn anything from him while he’s lying on the ground.”

“Well that’s true, but it does seem awfully dangerous.” Twilight spoke. “Isn’t there one thing that can happen that we can test?” The lavender unicorn asked with a small bout of anger. She heard the cyan Pegasus chuckle in response.

“H-He does look rather, um, mean.” Fluttershy spoke softly, changing her position so Link was between her and the new creature. “Couldn’t we send him back?”

“I’m afraid the only method I know of to do that, at this point, would be to use the same means by which he got here.” Celestia spoke to the Elements.

“So… the portal?”

“No. Death.” That caused hitched breaths.

“No! I-I didn’t mean that! I wouldn’t! N-Never, I-I would n-nev-” Her voice began to fail with the misery and weight of what she thought she implied.

“There there Fluttershy.” Rarity spoke with a gentle tone. “We know better than that. You cannot hurt a blade of grass, let alone any kind life. However, this is one position among us that I believe carries a great deal of weight, if we are all to agree.” A minor amount of confusion followed her words, until the unicorn turned to the only non-pony in the group still conscious and friendly.

“Link,” Rarity asked a she trotted over to the green clad hero. “What do you think?” Her horn was already aglow with the quill and paper close behind. Link took them both from the air and began to write.

The familiar patience for his writing filled the air as the quill scratched across the surface of the parchment. Dash had yet to quell in her innate curiosity.

“We seriously gotta find a better way for you to talk.” She grumbled as she crossed her hooves, hovering bored through the air. Link paid her no mind. His quill finished its final scratch as he handed the parchment over to the white unicorn. She took with a civilized nod of her head.

“If we judged him based only on his looks, we would be doing him an injustice.” Rarity spoke as her eyes scanned the pages. “Just because he looks the way he does, does not mean that it is an accepted appearance in his world.”

“Do you speak from experience Sir Link?” Luna spoke with curiosity upon her voice. He replied back to the princess with a simple nod of his head. The smile across his lips hanged between sadness and acceptance.

“Y-You were, um, o-ostr-tr-tro… bullied t-too Mr. Link?” Fluttershy spoke up from behind the green hero. His cerulean eyes gave the canary pegasus a look of sympathy. It nearly brought tears to the young Fluttershy’s eyes.

“Don’t righ’fully mean ta inner’upt,” spoke Applejack. “But ay’ think it best ta stay focused on our jolly green giant he’re.”

“Yes, yes, of course Applejack, but that is all he wrote, and I think it speaks quite clearly the side Link wishes to take.” Rarity rolled up the parchment, handing it off to Link. “What matter most now is the final decision. I doubt any of us ponies have the desire, let alone will, to… permanently harm this… this…” She finished with a wave of her hoof towards the unconscious green form. Pinkie Pie still eagerly worked around it.

“Waking him would be best, I agree,” Princess Celestia spoke, “But it must be done with caution. We do not have the fight or flight situation as we did with you or Link. So we must be careful. After all, this is all new to me, as well as my ponies. I will not allow them to come into harm’s way, not if that road can be averted.”

The ponies nodded in return to her words, Link giving his own head bob of approval and understanding. Said alabaster alicorn then turned to the newest guest of the battle-worn Canterlot Castle, as well as the pink pony who had yet to stop examining the creature.

“Miss Pie,” she spoke in her most soothing voice, “I request you step aside. I’m going to try and wake him.”

“Okey-dokey-loki Princess!” The party pony cheered as she hopped to the side, resting just beside the frightened Fluttershy, still hanging behind Link’s legs.

Celestia took in a deep breath as she prepared herself. The spell was not difficult, and required little magic, but the subject she was performing it on was anything but ordinary, or predictable. He could be a ferocious warrior no different than Kratos, ready to tear apart any of her precious subjects, in which case she would need to be quick with her magic and force. He could also be calm and calculatin waiting for the perfect moment to strike against them. Or he could be the best option of the three, like Link, peaceful in approach and intention, hoping only to not harm a single life around him. She wished upon every star her sister had created that he was to be much like the Hero of Time.

“Here we go.”

The large royal white horn began to shine with the brilliance of the sun. Its glow slowly surrounded every object with the royal hall, allowing its warmth to seep into them, become one with them. It was neither forceful nor hesitant. The act was done as simply as breathing in the air.

Every pony present basked in its presence, even the princess of the night allowing her eyes to flutter shut in bliss. Link himself was perturbed. The sensation was alien, something he knew he had never experience before, but it all at once felt familiar. It was not close to his death, not like his final farewell to Hyrule, but rather like his ascent into the Holy Realm. It was like entering the domain of the Triforce.

It was as if he was standing in the presence of the goddesses themselves. He lowered himself to his knee, bowing to the alicorn princess. No one saw his action, too blinded by Celestia’s light or too engrossed by its warmth.

The alicorn princesses slowly lowered her head down to the large creature, careful and patient with the energy she was commanding. The tip of her horn hovered above the green thing’s head, flooding him in the bright light. Celestia’s horn carefully touched itself to its forehead, letting her magic flow from around her, and into the creature itself. The warmth and glow of her horn slowly left the room as its energy faded.

The creature’s scream pierced the air next.

Celestia back trotted away in shock, head raised and wings flared. More than one of the Elements gave an eep of fright at the sound. Link readied his sword and shield, already expecting the worst.

The green skinned creature rolled to its side, arms raised defensively above its head. When a moment passed with no action, he raised his head to look around.

His chest moved with great heaves of air. Despite his size, he remained on the ground, staring at each of the ponies that came into view. His eyes, dis-proportioned to the rest of his body, looked to each one of them carefully. Fluttershy was not able to suppress her shaking hooves. Pinkie Pie was not able to suppress her excitement.

“Hi there!” The bubbly pony shouted as she jumped in front of the large creature. It instantly backed away further against the stone floor, raising itself from the ground as it did.

The princess was right. It truly was an enormous creature.

Even hunched over defensively, Pinkie Pie barely made it past the creature’s mid thighs. His large hands were flexed at his sides, balling into large fists that doubtlessly could crush the pony that stood fearlessly in front of it. Though a thin layer of blue fabric covered its legs, they hid nothing in the amount of muscle they possessed as well. He was a walking titan of a creature.

“My name is Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” The earth pony spoke with a raised hoof. The creature acted as if he was being threatened, taking a step back.

“Pinkie, I don’t think-” Dash’s words died in her throat.

“What… are you?” The thing spoke with a voice not unlike Vergil. It was not the same, not at all, but it didn’t have the malicious intent to kill that the cries of Kratos had. It… It didn’t sound evil, and it certainly wasn’t acting threateningly. If anything, it was more afraid of where it was.

“Oh silly, I’m a pony of course! Don’t you ponies were you come from?” The question jogged something in the creature’s mind. His head began to move around to look at more than just the occupants of the hall. He looked at the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the tiles, the glass, the pillars, and everything else. There was nothing in the room he didn’t try to see more of. The ponies plus Link hesitantly let him do so, still cautious to his true intentions.

“It’s… it’s so bright! Where am I?” He looked down at the pink earth pony.

“WHERE AM I?!” His roar shook the pony where she stood.

A bubble of magic surrounded Pinkie before she could answer.

She was instantly moved back away from the creature, besides the lavender unicorn, horn already aglow. The other Elements of Harmony flared their wings or lit their horns, pushing their hooves against the floor defensively. The creature did not calm down. His eyes continued to wander the hall, jaw opening and closing as if debating to scream. That silent argument was quickly won.

“My friend, Where are you?!” He yelled into the hall. Immediately, his arms began to pump as the large creature began to run from the crowd of ponies. Princess Celestia, however, would not risk such a creature running through her halls.

A small shine from her horn and a barrier appeared before the hall’s exit. The creature impacted it without a single force to cushion his fall. It grunted in pain as it stumbled back from the barrier, hand against his face in pain.

“Calm yourself.” The princess spoke as she approached the still stunned creature. “We mean you no harm and intend to keep no secrets from you. My name is Princess Celestia, and you are in my land, Equestria.” Her mighty wings flared as she spoke, being sure to attract all of the creature’s attention. He did not seem bright, but he could definitely understand her. All she needed to do was make sure he was listening.

“This is not the Wasteland.” He spoke more to himself than the princess. “This is not my home.”

“No, it is not.”

“How…” He began, hand still against his head. “How did I get here?” The creature’s small eyes looked back to her own large orbs, neither pain nor hatred within his eyes. Only confusion was present in what Celestia could see.

“You were summoned from the portal of white, just over there.” She motioned with her hoof. The creature’s eyes followed her, ending at the still swirling vortex of frosty color.

“So then…

“I know not the situation you were in before your arrival here, only that, if our theory is correct, I did not save you from whatever fate fell upon you.” Confident now, Celestia trotted closer to the creature. It noticeably flinched when it saw her approach, but she only slowed herself. She did not stop. She could hear the Element of Laughter bouncing excitedly behind her.

“So I did… die.” He did not ask the comment; he spoke it. He was already well aware of the answer.

“I am sorry.”

“No… you do not have to… be.” It was odd. There existed no skin across his dermal or epidermal layer of his facial features to allow it, but Celestia could feel, feel more than see, the creature smiling at the thought.

“You’re happy?”

“I gave my life… if I remember correctly… so my friend my live. He… was a good friend. Saved me from my confinement and allowed me to see the world, or… what was left of the world.” Celestia stored his words away for later conversation. There was much to discuss for the matter at hand.

“Tell me, what is your name?” She asked gently, looking up to creature. The princess ignored the felling of unease that came from looking up at the creature. She was too used to standing on stairs above her subjects, or remaining entire body lengths taller. Her courage, however, was rewarded.

“I… I am called Fawkes, companion and guardian the Lone Wanderer, ergh.” His breathing had yet to calm, but his arms had now relaxed, as well as the rest of his body. The princess was more than thankful to feel the tension leave the air.

“You are… a strange creature, Princess Celestia.”

The rest of the ponies felt the tension come right back.

“I beg your pardon?” She spoke as kindly as she could to the creature, amazement more than embarrassment coating her words as she spoke. She was the odd creature here? Compared to he who stood entire pony heights above her? Quite obviously now, there were no ponies where this thing came from.

“Please do not… uh, take offense. I have seen… I am one of those creatures as well. Even among my own brethren, I am seen as odd.”

“What do you mean?”

“You must not be… familiar with my kind, are you?” The white alicorn shook her head in response. “Ah, I see. Well… my kind is called, Super Mutants. We are a powerful force throughout the Wasteland. Usually, we enjoy the slaughtering of others for sport.”

Celestia didn’t need a sixth sense to feel the ponies behind her tense and flare their wings and magic. Fawkes, as he was called, continued regardless. Maybe he didn’t notice them.

“My friend from back home, uh…The Lone Wanderer, as he was partial to being called, fought them. He found me in a prison during one of his, many adventures. For all purposes and intentions, he was my savior from my own people.”

“How was this… wanderer a savior to you? And why were you in a cell?” Celestia asked her questions carefully. She wanted to hear of good deeds from a kind soul, not of some misplaced mayhem or chaos.

“Ah, one question answers the other. You see, my brethren, my kind, are violent by nature and born through… unnatural means. The pain of being… uh, born is enough to break all of our minds. But I…” He spoke with pride in his voice. A large hand pounded his chest to signify further his self-respect. “I was able to endure the pain. Because of it, I did not wish to harm others when I became as I am now. To punish me for my, inability to hunt, I was locked in a room for… uh, um… I can’t remember how long.” The princess opened her mouth to speak, but the creature did not finish.

“I used to keep track of the days, but then it became easier to count the years. My angered brethren destroyed my means of… counting the years when I passed one hundred.” That brought more than a spark of curiosity to Celestia’s mind.

“You have lived for over a century? How are you able to do so?”

“I do not know. I… am not that smart. I can memorize things well, and I have still retained the semblance of my mind that allows me to… judge. But this mutation of mine,” Fawkes gestured to himself as he spoke, large arms floating in front of his form. “It did not leave my mind unscarred. I was actually because I was able to… judge my actions, that is what my brethren imprisoned me. My friend freed me from my confinement, and I have traveled with him… ever since.”

“At least, until recently.”

“You said before you died to save him.” Celestia repeated what he said. “You don’t regret that?” Again, as before, though his face was unable to show emotion, she could see the flickers of feeling beneath his small eyes.

“No, no I do not.”

“You are both a selfless and kind hearted po… life then, and we will have to discuss your endeavors in full when we have more time on our hooves. But for now, I think you should meet the rest of my fellow ponies.” Her wings began to relax to her sides, her head turning behind her. With small wave of her hoof, she gestured for the Elements to join her.

It did little to surprise the princess of the sun that her faithful student approached first.

“It’s nice to meet you Fawkes, my name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student to princess Celestia.” She held out her hoof to the large green creature with a smile as brilliant as her mentor’s sun. The Super Mutant looked down at the lavender unicorn before lowering himself to a knee extending a hand as he did so. It easily encapsulated the pony’s entire foreleg.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well!” Fawkes spoke proudly between oblivious and happy as his rough hand/hoof shake literally lifted the unicorn from the ground. She steadied herself as she returned to the marble floor. It wasn’t hard for her to place who was giggling behind her. However, her mind was far more focuses on the creature she knew nothing about than the enigma she had given up on.

“There are so many questions I have to ask you! Like what is your world like? Or what other kinds of life do you live with? How do you speak Equine without lips? Are you as strong as you are large? What kind of-“

“Easy there Twi’.” The voice of one Applejack spoke above the now rambling unicorn. “As curious as ya are, it ain’t proper manners to shoot off questions like tha’.” Looking up to Fawkes, the orange earth pony pushed her signature hat back before extending her own hoof up towards the creature.

“My name’s Applejack, pleasure ta meet ya Fawkes.” Just as before, the green giant wrapped his gargantuan hand around the pony’s hoof, shaking the poor earth pony off the ground.

“It is my pleasure to meet you as well! Ha ha!” His rough laughter was put between welcoming for some ponies and polarizing for others.

“Mr. Fawkes,” The white unicorn began as she trotted to the Super Mutant, letting the orange Earth Pony rebalance herself. “My name is Rarity.” She gave an elegant bow to the already kneeling creature. “Just so introductions do not last us the entire night, allow me to introduce to you the rest of my friends.”

She turned around to look to the other ponies in the room, Fawkes following her gaze with the same placid face, unable to show the joy of meeting new forms of life that did not wish to possess his own. Extending her hoof out, she began by pointing to the large dark alicorn, standing just beside the white portal.

“This is Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night and sister to Princess Celestia.”  The alicorn gave a practiced bow to the green giant, he returned with a small nod. “Beside her is Fluttershy, whom I will be more than impressed if you can convince her to say hello.” Said canary pony quickly fled behind the only other non-pony in the room.

“The man she just fled behind is actually another new guest, quite like yourself. He is named Link, though we have yet to have a proper conversation with him.” The green clad hero raised an arm to his side giving a proper and practiced royal bow to Fawkes. Just as before, the Super Mutant nodded from his kneeling position.

“The brash pegasus above him is Rainbow Dash. She’d kill me if I didn’t say this, but she’s the Fastest Pegasus in Equestria.” Said cyan pegasus nodded her head in agreement. “Lastly we have-”

“Really Rarity? You would introduce me last?” The pink earth pony spoke as she quickly put herself in front of the white unicorn. “Now that’s just rude. Ruder than rude! That’s like super rude!” She gave a small huff to the bewildered unicorn, turning instead to Fawkes.

“Hi there, my name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s your favorite flavor of cake?” She asked the question without a hint of hesitation.

“What’s a cake?” Fawkes asked in return. To the party pony, he may have well as asked what color the sky was.

“You don’t know what a cake is?!” She practically screeched to the giant. He stood straighter on his knee as the earth pony zipped right up to him. “How can you be so old and now know what cake is?! That’s just horrible! Maybe even the worst. Possible. Thing!”

Rarity gasped.

“I, uh… apologize. I have not eaten much in quite some time." Fawkes’s large hand rubbed the back of his head guiltily.

“I truly do wish we could spend more time now talking with you Sir Fawkes.” Princess Luna spoke to the large green man. His gaze turned to her, the pink party pony doing the same. “But we are in the midst of… a predicament of sorts. Please trust us that we will tell you all that we know in time. However, time is an element we do not possess enough of, and we must make do with what little we currently have.”

“You have been… most kind to me, Princess, uh… Moon,” he heard the pink mare just in front of him stifle a giggle. “More so than others I have met. As long as I am not asked to… leave, or I am not attacked, I will wait patiently. It is a skill I have grown quite good at doing.” Fawkes leant back from his knelt position, sitting himself on the stone floor as he watched the ponies in front of him. More than just one pony continued to watch him as well. Still, even sitting, he stood taller than any of the Elements.

“You guys go on ahead.” Pinkie Pie spoke to her the other ponies. “I wanna chat with Mr. Fawkes some more. He needs to learn a whole lot more about cake.” Without waiting for a reply, the pink earth pony eagerly bounced next to the large green man, stopping only when she landed on his outstretched legs. Fawkes didn’t appear to mind.

“That’s Pinkie Pie.” Dash’s words spoke for the entire group.

“Well c’mon girls, time’s a’ wastin’.” Applejack coaxed as she returned to the portal, now appearing far more eager than she had before. She was not alone in her change of mood.

Watching the energetic party pony pull out a creature as kind as Fawkes, in spite of his size and appearance, had completely replaced any skepticism in Twilight Sparkle. Instead, her mind was rushing with ideas of what she already knew. The portal before had worked on twisting their emotion into summoning something opposite. From what she had observed, it appeared as if the princesses and herself had reversed the process, a double negative. Now it drew on what they really were feeling. If that was the case, they could bring in souls and life forms that embodied the very elements, just as they did…

Just as they did…

For some reason, the thought seemed far more terrifying to her than she expected.

“Um, does anypony mind if I go next?” She asked her friends as she trotted next to the portal. Her fellow Elements all shook their head, as well as the princesses.

“It is hard to argue against the idea of the most intelligent Element of Harmony using this portal, young Twilight.” Luna spoke to the lavender unicorn, a smirk clear on her face. Said unicorn flushed with embarrassment.

“Don’t tease the poor dear Luna.” Celestia cajoled her sister. A small admission of ‘Huzzah’ was her only response. “Go right ahead Twilight, we will be here. But be careful and sure that think of something just and harmonic as you reach inside. Be sure that no emotions of doubt or confusion enter your mind.” Twilight nodded in agreement.

She approached the portal as confidently as she could… with shaking hooves and biting her lip. This was just an experiment, that’s all it was. Pinkie Pie had used it almost effortlessly and she pulled out a creature that was… well a gentle giant. She could do the same, at least close to it. She was the Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, the very embodiment of magic. She had challenged some of the most powerful creatures in Equestria with her magic and come out on top. Together with her friends, she had saved Equestria more times than she had hooves. She could do this. She can do this.

None of it helped still quivering form.

“Twi? Are ya sure you’re alright sugarcube?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright. Just a bit nervous is all. It’s like taking a test I haven’t studied for.” She laughed lightly to herself at the joke. It still didn’t help. Honestly, Twilight expected one of her friends to volunteer to go before her, or for her beloved mentor to give a helping hoof or wing. What she did not expect was the soft pat of rough leather against her back.

Her neck craned to see Link looking down at her, his blue eyes looking into her own lavender irises with kindness. Where he a pony, she might have blushed. Her eyes only averted from his gaze when she saw the parchment he was holding in front of her. Did he write her a message? She never even heard the quill scratch. Twilight silently cursed herself in Celestia’s name; she must be more of a wreck than she thought. Grabbing the parchment in her magic, she levitated it to her eyes.

“If you find it difficult to concentrate on the matter at hand, think of something that always brings peace. When you’re at your calmest, you think the clearest.” The unicorn finished the words with an admiring glare. If it wasn’t written on the parchment the way it was, she would have sworn it had come from an ancient textbook.

“More prior experience Sir Link?” The moon princess’s question with met with a confirming nod from the green clad hero.

“Well, it’s worth a try.” Twilight muttered to herself as she gave her body a light shake. Link stood back from her, crossing his arms as he did so. Every other pony watched as their friend shut her eyes in concentration.

’What does bring me peace?’ The question was harder to answer than the unicorn gave it credit for. ’Books inspire me, but can also captivate me. My friends are dependable, but also dependent. What… What do I do to find myself at peace?’ She lightly bit her lip at the teasing question. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. It was supposed to be an answer as simple as the Star Swirl’s Thesis.

’Maybe…. Maybe I haven’t been at peace yet before. Maybe I’ve been spending my whole life in a state of rushed stress.’ No pony could deny her claims within her own mind. ’I’ve always been just one trot away from insanity and the only thing keeping me from jumping is the need to learn more. Is there really no peace in my life? Oh Celestia…’

In her mind, a lantern lit itself.

’Celestia.’  The name filled her mind. It brought such a euphoric sense of warmth to the unicorn filly. Her muscles relaxed as the vision of her mentor’s grace filled her senses. Her mind emptied as the power of the alicorn overpowered her imagination. Her soul relaxed as the alabaster wings wrapped around her protectively, giving her the shield and knowledge of the ages.

“Celestia.”

She quickly snapped her eyes open, putting a hoof to her mouth in shock. The confused looks from her friends gave her more relief than she realized. They hadn’t heard her. Good. Her relieved eyes looked said mentor, only to drop again.

Said Princess had heard.

Celestia looked at the lavender filly with a raised brow and lightly parted muzzle. Her pupils had dilated slightly more than what would be expected with the given lightening, most distressing of all; she saw her mentor’s wings twitch.

She had heard and she had understood.

This was either going to be really good… or really bad.

As elegant as only an alicorn could be, Princess Celestia trotted beside her personal protégé, leaning her head down to the unicorn’s neck. She nuzzled the purple unicorn in a way she had done so many times before, during hard training sessions or stressful nights. Just like before, Twilight could not, and tried not to, suppress the feeling of harmony that passed over her.

“Go on Twilight Sparkle. I believe in you.” The words gave the unicorn all the faith she needed. Straightening herself, relaxing her form, and letting the idea of her mentor’s grace filler her mind, the pony gave a nod.

“Okay.” With her mentor’s name in mind, she gave her head a dip into the white pool of the portal.

Begin

The flames danced with death and darkness.

The gray robes about his body hung to him with the sweat of heat and fear. Moving through the Mines of Moria proved to be as dangerous and fool hardy as he had predicted before the decision was made. No servants of Saruman clung to the pillars, nor any demons of Sauron. No, a worse kind of evil infested these now dead mines, and the ancient wizard watched it approach.

The flames danced with death and darkness, and their master stepped through them without hesitation.

A beast of darkness and unparalleled fury. A demon the likes of which even the All Watching Eye hesitated to gaze upon. Stature as tall as the Kings of Old, coat as black as the winter’s night, covered in flames made to smelt Mythril, and with eyes of hunger not even the goblin’s could match.

The Balrog roared

“RAAAAAAAAGGGGH!!”

He knew a fool’s challenge when he saw it, and he knew facing the demon now would be just that. Turning from the fire and demon, he fled to reach the rest of his companions ahead. Already they were crossing the Bridge of Khazad-dum, so close to the exit from these dreaded mines. He ran with all the speed his tired and weary legs could muster, unwilling to let himself fall in flight.

The weight of the creature chasing them shook the very stones he ran across, telling of the monster’s fast approach. Of the dark cloud that approached them, there was only one silver lining. The goblins were gone, no longer an issue to worry of. It was not nearly enough to compensate for the impending doom just behind the fleeing Fellowship.

The aged man watched as the men hobbits crossed, the only elf among them already far above the steps, firing arrows uselessly at the beat. The dwarf was fast behind him, standing upon the stone his own people had carved. That left only him. He was the only one remaining on the bridge. Good.

He stopped, turning to face the demon. Upon a slim sliver of stone, holding him above a near endless chasm below, the wizard of grey held his ground.

“You cannot pass!”

“Gandalf!” Frodo yelled to the wizard, watching as his dear friend stood upon the bridge.

The Balrog ceased his chase, standing before the wizard with a pose and stature that would send dragons in fear. His mighty wings pushed the darkness of his smoke aside, lighting his cloak with the dark fire from which he was born. The heat drove the stone to scream, but the Gray Wizard did not move. Instead, he raised his staff above his head, letting the light grow from its end.

“I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you,” flexing his arms as much as his tired muscles would allow he finished. “Flame of Udun!”

The Balrog raised his arm, forming a sword of flames within his hand. Its length was greater than four steeds and heat comparable to the Forge of Mordor. It had no hesitation in bring the blade down upon the wizard.

It cracked against a shield of light.

“Argh!” Gandalf cried as the fires grew close. But they did not burn, not while his magic held. The Balrog stumbled back as his blade dissipated against the shield. Its shock quickly turned to rage.

“RAAAAAAAAGGH!” Its cry held the heat of its sword. But the wizard did not move.

“Go back to the shadows.”

The Demon of the Deep was not finished. His hand moved again, summoning the flames of darkness once more. No longer did a sword of weight form, but now a whip. It turned in the air by its command, cracking like lightening. The Fellowship watched with mute horror as The Balrog stepped upon the Bridge of Khazad-dum. The wizard did not move.

“You!” His staff rose.

“Shall not!” His staff and blade met.

“PASS!” He sent his staff into the bridge.

A pulse of light flashed across the stones giving the mighty beast pause. It watched Gandalf carefully, hesitant to attack again. The wizard held his ground. So the beast took another step upon the bridge, raising his whip to strike the man in gray… on for the bridge to give under his weight.

It let out a mighty cry as its body began to fall.

Like a waking nightmare, the Balrog fell into the deep, his dark fire vanishing into the dense shadows below. Only his cries of spiteful rage echoed across the tomb of Moria now.

Finally, the wizard relaxed.

A bit too early...

He felt the whip before he heard it, wrapping about his leg in a quick pull. It sent his footing to the unfelt winds as he dropped his staff and blade. Both fell into the deep, and he was not far behind.

“No! No!” He heard above him. “Gandalf!”

His companions were fighting one another to get to him, with only a few having the courage and mentality to stop them. They were the leaders, they were the men. He grabbed at the stone, attempting to raise himself from the stone. One handful, one arm length, one at a time he gained ground. But it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.

Gandalf’s eyes watched Frodo fight against Boromir, desperate to reach him. He slowly turned to see Aragon looking at him with silent surprise. If they were to come and save him, if they were to try and rescue him… they would doubtlessly perish under the coming goblins. There was truly only one path for the wizard to walk, and he chose his paths well.

End

“Fly you fools.”

He let himself fall into the void.

The fall itself was almost peaceful. No force but the passing air pushed against him in his descent. No flames, no fire, no heat, nor death made its approach on him as he moved effortlessly.

But as he descent quickened his target came further and further into view. The Balrog still flailed helplessly against the pull of gravity, no room to fly and no ground to push against. The Grey Wizard turned his fall into a dive, aiming for the dark demon.

His sword of silver fell besides him, and he grasped it from the air as easily as an elf does his bow. Weathered hands gripped the steel with strength preserved for the youngest of men. Still he continued to descend towards the Demon of the Dark Fire, fearless of the creature’s flames.

Gandalf met the form of the creature with his blade, earning a roar of protest and struggle from his gargantuan foe. The Balrog struggled as the wizard continued his assault with the blade of silver. Flames danced across the monster as their descent continued down the cavern, walls of rock passing their dueling forms.

The wizard continued his assault upon the Demon of the Dark, flames and embers billowing from every wound he caused. Hollers and Roars of pain erupted from the beast with ever slash, but the cavern walls prevented him from retaliating against his smaller foe.

Then the cavern opened beneath the two.

A massive lake, the size of which even Gandalf had rarely seen, fast approached them from beneath. The Balrog’s flames illuminated the massive body of water, glowing now with a light that seemed too dim.

But the wizard was not to be distracted. Even as he descended, he continued his assault against the monstrosity of life. The Silver sword repeatedly slashing the dark flames of the demon. The lake grew closer with every passing blow.

Then it was upon them, swallowing the two without prejudice.

Gandalf met only darkness.

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