10:00 am Aephoceria Master Bedroom Ash's P.O.V.

I woke up with a pounding headache and sore body that demanded that I not move at all and just stay in bed. But unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for today because of the royal duties of a king. So rising from the bed I began to crack my stiff and sore joints before noticing my wife and mates weren't here. I then grabbed a set of clothes and left to take a shower in our personal bathroom.

I was currently drying myself off with a towel when suddenly there was a knock at the door."Your Majesty, are you there?" the voice of Feather Duster asked.

"Yes Feather, I'm here. I'm almost finished," I said.

"Ah good both Mr Kibitz and Miss Raven Quill have been waiting for you and have asked me to fetch you," Feather Duster said.

"Thank you Feather, could you tell them I'll meet them in the dining room after I grab something to eat?" I asked.

"Already ahead of you Your Majesty. I brought with me a blueberry muffin complements of Perfect Serve," Feather Duster said before I stepped out fully clothed and my hair once again in a pony tail.

"Has anyone told you and Serve are legends?" I asked with a smile before I took the muffin and bit into it and hummed happily at the taste.

*giggle* "You can say that," Feather Duster said.

"Now I believe I have a kingly duty to perform today," I said.

"Indeed Your Majesty but might I suggest you wear you're royal garments," Feather Duster said.

*sigh* "You're right, guess I was wrong to hope I would get away with that," I said before I shook my head.

"I'll leave you to it Your Highness," Feather Duster said before she left the room.

3:00 pm Aephoceria Throne Room

I was sitting on my throne, wearing both my coronation armor and crown, looking over document after document: signing off the most important and ones making requests for the most important resources while leaving the junk and not important requests to the side. Even after my death and the fact there is a war going on beyond the forest separating us from the rest of the world, nobles will still complain about the most petty of things. One of these request that I form a team of street cleaners, which isn't a bad idea, but the request implies that they clean the street to the point it looks like polished white marble. 'Seriously, just who exactly can do that' I wondered. With a final signature I sat back and relaxed and handed the signed documents to Raven to document and file away.

"I swear this job does a better job of killing me then any weapon anyone can think of," I said as I rubbed the bridge between my eyes to show how tired I was.

"Well look at the bright side Your Majesty, you've completed most of the tasks today. Just got one last thing to do for today," Raven said.

"And that is?" I asked.

"Miss Granny Smith and Mr Grand Pear have requested that you come to Paradise Acres to assist their children Bright Mac and Pear Butter with their memories," Kibitz said as he looked at a pocket watch. "Should I send them another letter explaining that there is nothing you can do for them?"

"No I need to get some movement into my system, I've been in here almost the entire day. I think I might even make a stop to see how the neighbouring rulers are," I said.

"Sir with all due respect to the rulers and you, that is not part of the schedule," Kibitz said.

"Kibitz, it's the last task of the day. I'm pretty sure we can mix things up a bit. That will be all from you both for the day," I said before I left the throne room.

First stop was the newest arrivals: King Dawnclaw and his sons who were in the spectators area of the training yard. Next to them was Shining Armor and Rage while down in the yard itself was Tempest and Apollyon and the both of them appeared to be training what looked liked to be recruits.

"I miss anything?" I asked as I approached the males.

"Oh Ash, perfect timing. We just got in some recruits and Apollyon and Tempest insisted on training them. Oh and get this, their all spoiled foals of nobles," Shining said.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah apparently their parents insisted on them applying, thinking that if they become heroes in the war they'll bring glory and more social standing back to their noble house," Rage said with a roll of his hand.

"Oh this I've got to watch," I said before I turned my gaze towards the yard.

I then saw Tempest order the recruits to put on some armor and each one of them put it on so horribly it hurt to watch. Both Tempest and Apollyon were so mad they decided to make the recruits do all the planed exercises for the day in their armor starting by running laps. Despite the obvious pain they were in that didn't stop Rage, Shining and the two young princes from howling in laughter while I could only facepalm.

"I fear this lot won't see the end of the war," Dawnclaw said.

"I believe you may be right...so how are you finding it here Dawnclaw?" I asked.

"Oh it's wonderful Ash and it's hard to believe my ancestors swore fealty to parents who ruled over this place," Dawnclaw said.

"That indeed," I said.

"I only wish my beloved were here as well," Dawnclaw said before he looked down sadly before I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be alright my friend, I swear I will bring her back to you," I said before Dawnclaw placed a talon on my hand and smiled at me.

"I refuse to carry on like this!"

"Ooo here we go, our first drop out," Rage said as he leaned closer to watch what happened next.

"Already, not even 20 minutes in? That's gotta be a new record," Shining said as he too leaned forward.

"And what exactly seems to be the problem? Is m'lady dissatisfied with her armor because it's all dirty or is it because she's tired and chipped her nail and she wants to rest in the shade so she can tend to it?" Tempest mocked as she walked towards the recruit.

"How dare you, do you know who I am!" the recruit demanded.

"No and quite frankly I couldn't give two shits. As far as I'm concerned you're all recruits that are too dependent on mommy and daddy's money," Tempest said.

"I am Ebony Helm, the daughter of Emerald Sword and Diamond Shield; proud warriors of our fair land and I refuse to be treated this way by some low class whorse like you who thinks she's worth something just because she spreads her legs for that damn hairless ape every night!" the recruit shouted causing every spectator to freeze up. Hell I would be scared for what the mare said but considering who she said it too and who she mentioned in her little speech, I couldn't give two shits what happened to her now.

"Oh well it appears we've got one here that's either got balls or is just incredibly stupid and has a big mouth. What do you want me to do with her Your Highness?" Tempest asked as she began to crack her knuckles while turning to face me.

And ever so slowly, every recruit turned to look at me. Pure fear written all over their faces, especially the recruit that opened her mouth.

"Do what you will, just don't kill her," I said before I turned to the griffon king. "Dawnclaw, I must bid you adieu. As you know duty calls."

"Of course," Dawnclaw said.

"Rage, Shining, little princes...and as for you lot have fun and good luck cause you're gonna need all the luck you can get," I said as I gave a brief wave to the recruits as I took my leave.

Walking around I soon stumbled upon the Queen of The Diamond Dogs and Ex-Queen of the Caribou, along with her lover Pita, all sitting in the relaxation room enjoying some tea and...dog biscuits and standard biscuits.

"Afternoon," I greeted with a nod as I entered the room.

"Oh Ash, it's so good to see you," Diamond Cutter said with a smile.

"All's well I trust?" I asked.

"Most defiantly," Diamond Cutter said.

"Well I'm not satisfied," Pita exclaimed causing Shye and Diamond to look at the griffoness in nervous horror.

"Is something wrong Pitta?" I asked.

"Yeah there's something wrong. Everywhere we go Shye here gets the stink eye and ridiculed for that bastard tyrant of a king's actions, all because she's a caribou, no matter if she's a female or not. It's not just her, the other caribou who have sought sanctuary here from Diann," Pitta said.

"Don't listen to her Your Highness, I assure you every-," Shye began but stopped when I raised my hand.

"Shye is what Pitta saying true?" I asked simply but using a tone that a parent would use upon their child to make them think about what they say before saying it.

"Uh...Yes Your Majesty, what she says is true," Shye said as I approached her.

"And you didn't tell me because?" I asked when I stood in front of her.

"Because I did not wish to burden you with my own problems," Shye said before she went to look down. I used my right index and middle fingers to gently tilt her head upwards to look me in the eyes.

"Shye the way I see it here is that you are a guest in my home and as my guest you do not deserve this treatment. Believe me I'll be having words with my subjects about this," I said as I removed my fingers and stepped back.

"Thanks your majesty. It's nice to see there's some royals who like to help out those in need" Pita said.

"I try and speaking of helping I have an appointment to keep. So I hope I shall see you all at dinner," I said before I left.

Once I left the room I then proceeded to make my way to Paradise Acres. Upon arrival I gave a brief knock upon the door which was soon answered by Apple Bloom.

"Uncle Ash, ya came!" Apple Bloom cried.

"Yeah I figured I'd come personally and see if your parents memory had improved," I said.

"Come in," Apple Bloom said before she opened the door up wider to allow me in.

Upon entering the house Apple Bloom led me into the lounge room.

"Want something to eat Uncle Ash?" Apple Bloom asked.

"As tempting as the offer is Apple Bloom no thanks," I said.

"Kay ah'll go find ma and pa," Apple Bloom said before she went off into the house. I sat down on the couch and waited and when the filly returned she was followed by the rest of the family that lived respectively at Sweet Apple Acres.

"You're Majesty," Grand Pear greeted with a bow.

"Now Grand Pear I told you there is no need for that," I said as I stood up.

"If that were the case then why're you here all fancy like?" Mac asked with a grin.

"Don't even start, I feel so out of place in this. Not to mention it's hot in here," I said as I looked down at my attire.

"Well why wear it in the first place?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Mr Kibitz and Raven Quill say that if I'm to tend to my subjects needs I must look appropriate to do so. Civilians need a guiding hand to help them on their path in life. Someone who inspire's confidence and strength. Someone they can look to as a leader and part of that means I have to look the part as much as I play the part," I said.

"Huh?" Apple Bloom asked with a tilt of here head.

"Sorry sugarcube but what you're saying sounds like it's something Rarity might understand," Applejack said.

*sigh* "I don't blame ya," I said.

"Well if you're not comfortable you are welcome to remove that fancy getup if ya wish," Granny Smith said.

"Thank you but Kibitz said I have to keep it on till my duties as the king for today are done and if I took it off now he'll know about it," I said.

"Can't ya just order him not to tell ya what to wear?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I could but I don't for three reasons: One is that if I ordered that that would make me seem spoiled or unjust. Reason two is that when ponies see these clothes and this crown and the one wearing them it comforts them, saying that person has earned the right to wear these so I can trust his words and know he'll aim to help me. Finally arguing with Raven and Kibitz is like having an angry mother staring you down, ya just don't do it unless you know what you're doing is right. It's like any doubt you have about something, that stare will intensify it and make you rethink you're decision," I said.

"Ah know the feeling," Apple Bloom, Applejack and Mac said with a shudder before they looked at Granny Smith out of the corner of their eyes.

"Anyway I came by to see how you're progress was going, anything new?" I asked as I looked at the two parents of the Apple siblings.

"Uh a few bits'n pieces here and there but nothing substantial," Bright Mac said.

"We've gained a lot of memory about our family but our personal lives seem...empty," Pear Butter said.

"Well let's see if I can spark anything," I said as I approached them both and placed a hand on each of their heads. I then began to scan their minds to see if I could help their memories but my search was in vein before I cut the spell and removed my hands "Sorry everypony but there's nothing I can do here."

"Are you sure maybe you weren't trying hard enough" Grand Pear suggested.

"Grand Pear don't you think he's done enough. Ash has said it many times now, he tries any harder he'll do a lot more harm then good. Besides he, out of anyone of us here, has a better idea of what our kids our going through on account of losing his own memories some years ago," Granny Smith snapped at the old stallion.

"Ah, ah'm sorry Your Majesty ah-," Grand Pear started.

"No Grand Pear, I'm the one who is sorry. Despite all my power, returning one's memories should be easy but I'm not practised in that form yet. If anything I got lucky when I was able to restore as much as I did when you all were reunited," I said.

"And we appreciate it more then you know Ash," Bright Mac said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Uh if only there was somepony who could tell both of us about what we were doing when we weren't working on our family farms," Pear Butter said.

"Hmm...*gasp* I think I have it. Granny when you told me you're story about how Bright Mac and Pear Butter met you mentioned a stallion who was best friends with Bright Mac, uh...a Burnt Oak I believe. While Pear Butter and Ms Cake were just as close. Maybe they can shed some light here," I said.

"Hey yeah good thinking Ash," Applejack said.

"I'm honestly surprised I thought of that when the whole friendship thing is your and the other mares speciality Applejack," I said causing the cowpony mare to lamely chuckle and rub the back of her head.

"Guess it slipped our minds," Apple Bloom said.

"Eeyup," Big Mac said.

"Well let's rectify this shall we. I can have Ms Cake and Burnt Oak over here asap with a single letter," I said.

"Actually let me and Big Mac get them," Apple Bloom said.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah we can make it a surprise for them. I mean, since they don't know about them being alive it'll be funny to see how they'll act," Apple Bloom said.

"Apple Bloom...I like you're thinking," I said with a smile.

And without another word the two siblings ran out of the house and into the city. So with nothing to do now I made myself comfortable in a plush chair and summoned a book to read while the others went back to what their doing...all except Applejack, who was sitting in a chair and rubbing her pregnant belly but was occasionally looking at me.

"Wanna ask about what happened yesterday?" I asked not even looking away from my book.

"Uh...Well yeah," Applejack asked.

"And I can only imagine Dash is just itching to find out what happened huh?" I asked causing Applejack to chuckle.

"Sure is each one of ya that stayed behind at The Citadel figured you should be the one to explain it," Applejack said.

"I see," I said

"So?" Applejack asked.

"So," I said as I finally looked up to face Applejack.

"When exactly do we get to hear bout what happened along with that thing that attacked you?" Applejack asked.

"Hmm...how about after dinner but I'll spoil something just for you. That thing that attacked me...that was Giff," I said.

"WHAT!" Applejack shouted.

"Everything alright in there?" Bright Mac asked as he peeked his head into the room.

"We're all good in here don't worry," I replied calming the muscular stallion before he left.

"Ya mean to tell me that...monster, was your friend once upon a time. Just what kind of dark magic were ya messing around with at the time?" Applejack asked.

"Oh yeah none of you mares have seen one of the others when the're like that," I said.

"Honestly sugarcube I've never been more terrified in my life breaking a Pinkie Promise to Pinkie herself ain't got nothing on whatever was controlling your friend...are you sure it's gone?" Applejack asked.

"Honestly I'm 95% sure," I said.

"That's good enough and I appreciate you're honesty there," Applejack said.

"Doesn't matter, you could just sniff it out if I lied," I said causing us both to chuckle before I went back to my book.

After about twenty minutes of reading and Applejack falling asleep I hear the front door open up. I quickly vanish into a room right beside the lounge room which looks like the dining room of the house and look through the doorway that connects the two rooms. Suddenly I see Apple Bloom and Big Mac walk in and rouse their slumbering sister and behind the recently returned siblings were a pair of ponies. The first one was a mare with a chubby but beautiful figure like Pinkie Pie. She had blue fur and magenta mane and tail and her tail was styled as swirl like the icing of a cupcake. Finally she was wearing white-pink pearl earrings, a dark violet-pink sleeveless dress stopping above her ankles and a bright yellow apron. I knew this mare as Ms. Cake, co-owner of Sugarcube Corner along with her husband Carrot Cake. The other pony was a stallion with burnt brown fur with a silver mane and tail and a fabulous silver moustache above his lips. He was wearing some old faded blue jeans and a white shirt with a jacket that matched his fur and finally an old tan cowboy hat and old tattered blue bandanna around his neck.

"Oh Hi Ms Cake, Hello Burt Oak. Sorry, musta dozed off," Applejack said when she saw the two ponies.

"Think nothing of it dearie, as a mare who has gone through the same thing you're experiencing rest is important," Ms. Cake said with a loving smile that only a mother could achieve.

"Thanks for understanding Ms. Cake," Applejack said before she looked at the chair I once occupied. "Hey anyone seen Ash about?"

"Hey you're right, where'd he go?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked around.

"Perhaps he had to go back, you know what the royal life is like," Big Mac said.

"Yeah can't say ah envy the poor fella having to listen to boring problems and signing all that paperwork," Applejack said.

"It's a shame he wasn't here I would have liked to thank him for providing us a place to work and live," Ms. Cake said.

"Maybe you could send him some of you're famous cinnamon swirls Ms. Cake, I know Ash loves them," Apple Bloom said causing me to almost start drooling at the thought of those treats.

"Hm perhaps I might," Ms. Cake said.

"Not that it isn't nice to see you all but what's this all about?" Burt Oak asked speaking up for the first time since entering. His voice was deep but smooth at the same time.

"Oh yeah you guys aren't gonna believe this but you need to close your eyes first, don't open them till ah get back," Apple Bloom said before she left leaving the two new ponies to close their eyes.

Upon her return she was guiding both her parents because they too had their eyes closed. She placed each stallion in front of each other before doing the same to the two mothers before she stood on the side with her siblings.

"Okay open them," Apple Bloom said with barley suppressed glee.

Once the four ponies opened their eyes they looked at the pony in front of them in confusion till finally all eyes widened in shock before the tears fell. They all embraced each other in a hug both Oak and Ms Cake spluttering questions on how.

"You gonna step in to tell them what happened."

Looking to my left I saw Granny Smith on the opposite side of the doorway watching the scene before looking at me.

"Nah this is their moment and I wasn't really needed after AB and Mac left, just stuck around to see their reaction. As for their memories, I had confidence they'd remember their friends faces just like those two knew their friends faces," I said.

"You even been in that situation, remembering a friend's face after so long?" Granny Smith asked.

"Once; it was at a book signing, ran into each other when we were standing in line," I said.

"And how'd you recognize him?" Granny Smith asked.

"It was his haircut and his freckles," I said with a smile causing Granny Smith to smile with me.

After watching the scene for a little bit I decided to take my leave by teleporting back to the castle before one of the group noticed me.

7:00 pm Aephoceria Dining Room

"Aw man that was a good meal," I said after I wiped any food that might have been on my lips after I finished eating. I then looked around and saw who was at the table and saw all the foreign rulers weren't here, along with Apollyon, leaving only ponies here...well that and Gilda, Spike and Rage while Elisa and Evan went to dine with their own group from their world.

"Quite so, another wonderful dish served by Perfect Serve," Dream Catcher said.

"Okay, we've had dinner. Now are you gonna explain to us what went on yesterday?" Rainbow asked as she stood up so fast she knocked her chair back.

"Impatient as ever I see, but I suppose you've all waited enough. First let's get these dishes sorted," I said before I clapped my hands and some maids and butlers came and took our dishes. "Thank you all...Now I suppose I should explain what went down when the Pale Horse left."

And so, with a brief explanation and even throwing in a first person view from my helmet video recorder, the group was in awe.

"Damn, that tank thing looks like something out of an action movie," Gilda said.

"Yeah, it kinda was. It was like making a reenactment of that scene from A-Team," Rage said.

"Wha-?" Everyone asked.

"Looks like we know what movie we're watching next," I said.

"Wait you based your survival on a movie stunt?" Dream Catcher asked.

"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time and also that regret line made by Sargent Johnson Rage did when we went to rescue Shye was also from Halo 2, if you'r gonna have a go at us for that," I said as I pointed at Rage.

"I noticed," Luna said.

"Hey it was the perfect opportunity and if I didn't say it I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. So I ain't gonna apologise for that," Rage said.

"Damn, why do you guys get to do all the cool shit," Rainbow huffed as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Uh we're either very fortunate or very, very, very unfortunate," I said with a shrug.

"Okay but I gotta question, at the end there when you were fighting...Giff, what exactly did you do?" Twilight asked.

"You're gonna need to elaborate for me here Twi," I said.

"Where was all that magic coming from!" Twilight shouted.

"Twilight brings up a valid point darling. That was more power then every pony in Equestria, if my memory from Tirek is correct. I personally wouldn't believe it if I wasn't present for both situations and felt them myself," Rarity said.

"Not to mention you just obliterated that horde of demons with one blow," Rage said.

"One blow...Is that what you thought that was?" I asked.

"Wasn't it?" Rage asked.

"You weren't watching closely enough mate," I said as I shook my head. "Well I think I should start with the massive power increase you all either saw or felt...that was me tapping into my true power as a God."

"True power?" Nightmare asked astonished.

"Yeah well, as you can see when you look at me now I'm bout the same as ever before my death a few years ago. But during that time in heaven, when I ascended, my mana pool expanded and grew giving me new power. A power that's...uncontrollable at this time. You see my school days up there were there to teach me how to harness and control it. Hell even my armor plays a part in it," I said.

"You're armor?" Faust asked.

*exhales a deep breath of air* "After I became a god...my magic started going haywire at random points. At first there was nothing to worry about but my magic was getting stronger and stronger. So the gods had...inhibitors placed on my body to keep my magic contained while I worked to control it," I said as I snapped my fingers and suddenly bright golden marks, like tattoos, appeared over my arm along with a pair of metal arm and leg bands clamped over my fore arms and around my ankles. Each one having runes carved into them and glowing white with power.

"What are these?" Twilight asked zipping over to me faster then Pinkie and looking over what I showed her.

"Suppression charms and containment runes all to keep my magic in check while I learned how to control it. My armor also works the same way cause, you see, I can't wear my armor while wearing these so my armor has been turned into a...containment suit if you will. The only reason you've never seen these is because of the illusion I placed over them that make you all see and feel what I want you to see and feel," I said.

"But if that's true why didn't you tell us?" Spitfire asked.

"I didn't want anyone to worry and make a big deal out of nothing," I said.

"We still deserved the right to know," Tempest said almost shouting.

"You're right and I'm sorry. I guess I also thought it wasn't worth mentioning," I said.

"Then why hide them?" Rage asked.

"Looking at the damn things all the time kinda makes me feel more like a prisoner I guess," I said.

"So when you went all powered up on Giff was that when you took these off and took off you're armor?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, I only took'em off so I could stop Giff cause it was the only way to beat him," I said.

"I think I saw that too. He had some kind of darkness that shielded him from Ash's holy magic, even we had difficulty is just scratching him. I managed to impale him only because he was focused on Ash," Rage said.

"I see," Faust said.

"Wait, I wanna know something. Rage said you took out a small army in one blow yet you said you didn't. What's going on there?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh that well...that was a sword skill I invented," I said.

"Really what is it?" Tempest asked as she, Gilda, Rainbow, Rage, Nightmare and Spitfire leaned closer to me.

"Well, if you want to know, I believe actions speak louder then words. So I'm gonna show you all when I first invented it, which was when I was in school in heaven. But I believe I should go back in time a little bit further to where I left off," I said as I sat back in my chair and began to think back to when I was in the hospital after my wings, arm, necklace and ring were taken from me.

Flashback

I was sitting on the edge of my bed inside the school's infirmary with my back to the door staring out at the sky outside my bedroom window. The bandages that once hid the bloody stumps my wings had been reduced to were where I left them after taking them off. I was given a new arm of flesh and blood courtesy of the goddess Iris however there was nothing she could do about my wings. Suddenly the sound of rushing footsteps reached my ears and was getting louder and louder, meaning whoever it was, they were approaching quickly. Suddenly I hear the sound and feel the wind from my room's door slam open but I don't turn around because I already know who it is from the pair of gasps. Before I turn around the two individuals appear on both my left and in front of me. The figure in front of me kneels down and I see it's my father and next to me, judging by the sweet scent of lilies, is my mother. It was then I couldn't help but start to cry and as many parents do, they comforted me by bringing me into a hug. No words were said between us till my tears ran dry.

"Feeling better?" my mother asked.

"Yes...sorry you had to see me like this," I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Ash, look at us," My father said causing me to look them both in the eyes. "You...have nothing to be sorry for. But the ones who did this-," my farther began before trailing off. The room began to rumble and shake and the same aura I saw my dad had when he fought Lucifer had returned only ten times greater and his eyes blazed red with light. "They'll be sorry when I water the ground with their blood."

"Ronsihr please," my mother called calming my father's temper before she looked at me. "Now tell me what has been happening with you here Ash?"

And so I told them about what I've been doing and who I have re-connected with and all the friends I've made leading all up to how I got here.

"My that's quite a lot you're doing," my mother said with surprise.

"A genuine workhorse, that's what you are. Guess all that stamina comes from you're grandfather," my dad said.

"Really, who's he?" I asked causing my mother to elbow his side.

"Uh...a different time Ash, I'll tell you about them," my father said

"Okay and thank you both, I appreciate you two for coming to see me, I really do, but I think I've done enough moping around here," I said as I stood up and began to look for my shirt before spotting it.

"Ash you should be resting," my father said as I grabbed my shirt.

"Should, but I can't. I need to complete my goal as soon as possible," I said as I put my shirt on.

"You're goal can wait a few days can't it?" my father asked.

"Nope. Besides I want to meet whoever was bold enough to come into my tomb and take my things before I beat the ever loving shit out of them," I said.

"Such stubbornness, where does he get it from," my father asked.

"Gee, I wonder?" my mother said as she looked at me with a playful smile before gesturing with her head towards my father causing me to smile.

"Anyway I best get on with it. I'll keep in touch," I said as I made my way to the door and opened it; only for a wave of girls to fall in, shocking the three of us before I let out a lame chuckle.

"Uh...I kinda forgot to mention that I'm really popular with many of the girls here," I said.

"Sounds like that's something you picked up from you're mother," my father said as he looked at my mother who stuck her tongue out playfully at him.

*chuckles* "Okay I'll call you both later," I said before I jumped over the girls and ran down the halls.

"After him girls!" one of the girls shouted behind me before giving chase.

Suddenly I saw someone walking in the opposite direction of me so using my legs I weaved around the person and saw who it was.

"Hey Hannah," I said as I dodged the amazon like woman before I kept on running.

After managing to run around the school, I managed to get into my room but just barley before slamming the door.

*sigh* "Damn they are persistent," I said as I lay on the floor.

I then got to work on getting ready for school, getting into my school uniform and making sure I had everything I needed. I then silently went over to the door and listened through it where I hear girls whispering on the other side.

"So this is his room huh?"

"Perfect now we know where he sleeps it will make him easier to catch."

"I wonder what he keeps in here."

"Forget that, I want to see what he keeps in his pants."

"Okay this is starting to get dicey," I thought before I teleported out of my room and right outside my assigned class, which happened be my magic class with Merlin. So with a knock on the door I waited for a response.

"Enter," the voice of Merlin replied.

Opening the door I then walked inside before giving a bow to my teacher.

"Forgive me for being late sir I uh had to take a bit of a detour today," I said.

"Ash...This is a surprise. I was informed you were in the infirmary," Merlin said in surprise.

"I was but I got out to come to class because I was bored of just lying down," I said.

"Well if you're feeling better, feel free to have a seat then Ash," Merlin said as he gestured to the seating area.

"Yes sir. Oh and sir I need to discuss something with you after class," I said causing Merlin to nod before I made my way over to my usual seat. As I did many of my classmates whispered to each other asking if they knew why I was in the infirmary. I just sighed before I took my seat and smiled at my friends who were glancing at me in concern.

"Ok everyone quiet. Now Ash as you know our last lesson consisted on the theory of teleportation. Today we were going to be practising this and so far only one has succeeded, Lady Saba," Merlin said as he gestured to the demigod behind me before looking at me with a knowing smirk. "Would you care to give it a try Ash?"

"No problem sir, this'll be a piece of cake," I said causing everyone to mutter at my choice of words when suddenly I appeared at the head of the classroom startling everyone who were all fixated on where I was once sitting. While Zyt and Merlin only smiled before I let out a whistle. "I'm over here."

This seemed to spook everyone before I reappeared somewhere else and again and again and again before I was back beside Merlin once more.

"Very well done Ash, most impressive. Now does anyone have any questions for Ash?" Merlin asked causing a large number of hands being raised before I pointed at a random student.

"How did you teleport without creating a spacial discharge and how were you able to teleport so many times when Lady Saba could only achieve it twice before looking tired?" a student asked causing Saba to silently growl at the student with a harsh glare added in

"Well the type of teleportation magic I used was a simple one known as Blink. Basically the teleportation spell you described forces your body though space to be where you want to be. Where as Blink just wills yourself to be where you want to be. Both spells work the same way but in order to use Blink mind, body and spirit need to co-operate with the spell. The best way to describe it for this experiment is like this; say you want to get from point A to point B but there is a massive piece of paper twice your size blocking your way. Now if you use the spell the way Lady Saba uses, all you are doing is pushing through the paper, tearing a temporary hole in space in order to get to B. But with the way I showed you, I am going around the paper without breaching it and getting to where I need to go without problem and this way also takes less mana then the way lady Saba showed you. Now was there any other questions?" I asked after I gave the class a miniature demonstration before looking to see no one else had any questions.

"Thank you Ash for that splendid and informative explanation," Merlin said before I teleported back to my seat.

"Now were going to go outside to practise on a flat lawn and from there we will split into two teams. Both teams will be led by both Saba and Ash since they were the only ones who could teleport and the rest of you will listen to their instructions. And Ash," Merlin said.

"Yes sir?" I asked.

"I want you to teach your team the standard teleportation for this exercise just so everyone is on the same page," Merlin said.

"Understood sir," I said.

"Alright then let's begin," Merlin said.

Flashback End

"So how'd it go Ash?" Twilight asked.

"Hm as well as one would expect, Took a few tries but they all managed in the end and almost every single girl in the class was practically begging to go on my team," I said.

"Seriously?" Spike asked.

"Like did they get on their hands and knees or something?" Thunderlane asked.

"Uh not quite. They did get on their knees and put their hands together and begged me, The only ones who were not begging were Zoa, Washu, Alice and Karen while every other guy wanted to be with Saba...Well, except Zyt and Saniel," I said.

"Wow you must have been popular with the guys getting all the girls like that," Spitfire teased.

"Hey it's not like I was looking for that kind of trouble thanks. Besides I think they were a bit too eager to get a private lesson from Saba to care at the time," I said.

"Lecherous perverts," Luna and Moon muttered.

"Yeah I wouldn't put it past guys like that," I said.

"We meant the girls," Moon groaned.

"Oh," I said.

"So when are we gonna get to you creating that sword strike skill," Rainbow asked impatiently.

"Okay okay sheesh...Well it was about two months after my tomb was plundered that the entire school's classes had come together to form a tournament full of all kinds of activities from carnival games to large scale arena matches. The grand finale being a good old fashioned game of Capture the Flag with two teams with participants from every clas making up at least 1590 players total. I'm pretty sure you two would have enjoyed it," I said as I looked at my two alicorns of the night.

*whistles* "Lot of players," Rage said

"Why's that?" Luna asked.

"It was like that game you play all the time, uh 'Ponies Unknown Battleground' I think it's called. Only with two teams and also we can use any tactics we wish along with weapons. Plus the opposite team wasn't the only thing we had to worry about," I said.

Flashback

I was walking uphill through a thick, lush green jungle decked out in full armor carrying both a camping backpack and Whispering Wind on my back and my newly made folding shield on my left arm. Birds cawed and squawked in the trees as I hiked through the dense foliage pushing aside massive leaves and vines till I saw the end of the treeline. So I pushed on till I made it out of the trees and beheld a breathtaking sight; for there before me, in beautiful blue skies surrounded by clouds, were dozens of floating islands. Each one covered in lush vegetation and some even having crystal blue water sources on them and a few had decaying temple like ruins on them.

"Well...here we go," I said before I got in a running position then jumping off the ledge of the island I was on.

As I fell out of the sky I couldn't help but reminisce on how it felt to fly. Suddenly I feel a shadow over me before I hear a rather loud screech before I look over my shoulder and see a Roc diving at me with it's talons out.

"Oh no you don't," I said before I created a rune circle platform below me, which I used to jump towards the Roc. I went past it before I made another rune circle and jumped back towards the Roc and hooked my right leg around it's neck. "Sayonara tweet, tweet," I said before I kicked the giant bird down to the island below while I followed suit, creating a set of shadow wings to slow my fall. I landed on the ground safely before taking in my surroundings when suddenly I feel a rush of air below me. When I looked I saw a giant hole next to me and then notice the surface I was standing on wasn't made of dirt, I could also hear some kind of rhythm of rushing air and that's when everything clicked. I slowly turned around to see I was actually on a very long snout and at the other end of the snout I was greeted by a pair of eyes glaring at me. It was then I realized I was standing on a giant goanna (Komodo Dragon).

"Oh hi there," I said before I leapt off the giant goanna's nose before it could flick me into the air leading to me becoming a snack.

Once I was on the ground I began to run away while the giant lizard gave chase and because of it's large size and four legs I had to move in between giant tree roots to avoid the giant creature. I was forced to run again before the beast managed to destroy the tree I was hiding under. With a look over my shoulder I noticed the goanna was almost close enough to turn me into a snack but I quickly thought through on what I could use before I remembered my rope launcher. So extending my left arm out, the rope launcher built into my hidden blade then launched itself into the air and latched onto a branch before the rope began to retract, pulling me into the air just before the lizard could clamp down on me. But because of the weakness of the branch it snapped off from the tree leaving me to still be catapulted through the air and out of the treeline into a wide courtyard like area with a coupe of statues and a fountain, giving me plenty of room to maneuver around and fight the giant monster. So once I landed on the ground I skidded to a stop before I turned around to face the treeline when suddenly the trees were knocked down and, instead of the goanna, was met with a giant octopus at least twice the size of the lizard.

"Wha- *scoffs* are you kidding me!" I shouted as I spun around to flee because there was no way I could take this thing head on all on my own.

As I ran away from the octopus I heard a skittering sound coming from up ahead and when I looked I saw it was a scorpion which was about the same size as the goanna from earlier and it was heading towards me.

"Damn that thing is big!" I shouted before I saw it reach out to me with one of it's pincers causing me to lean back and slide underneath the arachnid, but because of the loose stones beneath me I was sent tumbling and skidding across the ground. When I pushed myself up, I saw the scorpion had already sliced off some of the octopus's tentacles. The octopus seemed to know it couldn't win and tried to make a break for it but the scorpion just used it's stinger to pierce the octopus's brain before flinging it away. The arachnid then climbed atop the larger then normal fountain, but big enough to support the scorpion, before the arachnid let out a clicking sound as if celebrating it's victory. When suddenly the scorpion was flung around and smashed through the fountain, creating a massive dust screen. The scorpion was then flung onto it's back and thats when I saw a massive gorilla that could only remind me of King Kong step out of the dust. It pick the scorpion up in a bear hug, making sure the pincers and tail were pinned, before it suplexed the arachnid; I kid you not the gorilla gave the scorpion the suplex. Once the gorilla released the scorpion I saw it was done before the gorilla stood up and roared in victory while pounding on it's chest.

"They just keep on coming one after the other...just what the hell is up with this place?" I asked as I just sat there and watched these titans of the animal kingdom have at it.

Suddenly the gorilla began to sniff the air before it turned to look at me causing me to tilt my head at the massive animal before he began to charge at me.

"What you wanna piece of me now!" I shouted as I leapt to my feet and reached for Whispering Wind.

As the gorilla got closer I unsheathed by blade, releasing a massive crescent shaped blast of compressed energy at the gorilla but the gorilla leapt over the blast and appeared over me with tremendous speed despite it's size. The giant ape then sent me flying into some trees with but the palm of it's hand.

"Dammit...I keep forgetting just how smart these guys are...You'd think living in Equestria would have helped me learn that they're not only seriously strong," I groaned before I looked at the gorilla.

I then sheath Whispering Wind onto my back and flexed my right hand's fingers before I sucked in a breath. I then sent a charge of magic through my body, making it faster, before I dashed out of the trees towards the giant ape while charging my right arm full of holy magic. Once I was close I leapt at the ape and with one punch to the chest I sent the gorilla flying into a statue, knocking it out before I landed on the ground and relaxed my body where I then collapsed onto my back.

"Damn, I guess this is why they call this place 'No Man's Land', cause here the animals rule," I said before I levitated my pack over and took a drink from my canteen before I took out a massive paper map and placed it on the ground. It showed the layout of each island and also our attack strategy which brings up my task and that is to sneak into the enemy team's base from behind by crossing 'No Man's Land' while the main unit attacks from the front diverting the fort's defences. A simple and easily predictable tactic if not for the simple fact that 'No Man's Land' is near impassible for anyone who doesn't know what's in it, how to deal with it and have the ability to deal with it; all of which I do have. I then looked towards the sky and saw the sun beginning to set so I gathered up everything and began to make my way to set up a camp for the night.

Flashback End

*shudder* I remember my first Roc encounter, they're relentless," Spike said.

"Aye a pain in the ass to be sure," I said.

"I-I've never heard animals act so ferociously before, it's like they held no reason for fighting," Fluttershy said almost whimpering.

"They were magical constructs designed for that Flutters, all made from magic to give us a challenge just like the terrain we fought on," I said.

"Who, wait a second, you said you were about to make a camp just a few seconds ago and what's this about designed," Twilight said.

"Well simply put to make the event exciting for spectators all the players were put into a real life scenario were we battled against each other that spans over a total of five days. The terrain, weather and creatures in it are all designed by the gods and if you get killed in there you are out of the game, no re-spawns or anything," I said.

"Sounds like fun," Moon grinned.

"So what happened next, you spent the night in 'No Man's Land'?" Soarin asked.

"Yep," I said.

Flashback

I was settling into a small room of an old Indonesian styled temple near the courtyard where I fought and was chased by those giant animals. When I looked up I was greeted by the night sky for there was no roof to shelter me and an entire corner of the room was gone, not that I needed them. Tonight the sky was clear and the air was warm which is more then I can say for other islands, which were being soaked by thunderstorms if the distant rumbling of thunder was any indication. I then set to laying on my back upon a bedroll looking up at the millions of jewels that made up the night sky before I began to make as many constellations as I could when suddenly I see smoke drifting up through the canopy of trees. So getting off my makeshift bed I grabbed Whispering Wind, my dagger, some bombs I made and a couple of throwing knives before I began to make my way towards the smoke dressed in my assassin armor which also made it here with me.

Using the trees to cross the terrain towards the smoke I soon came across a small camp with six girls surrounding the fire pit keeping their eyes out on their surroundings for any animals. It was then I saw these girls belonged to the enemy team if the red on their tents and arm bands was any indication. I looked at the tents and saw there were two more tents here then six, each tent was designed for one person only so the two other girls must have been in the tent or somewhere else. I decided to check so I pulled a rock out of my pocket and then tossed it into some bushes near the camp causing the six girls to stand up and grab their weapons before moving towards where the sound came from. I also saw another girl step out of her tent in only her bra and panties causing my face to heat up before I quickly looked away.

Once I managed to stop my blush I debated on how to handle this when suddenly the girls returned to the camp and the girl in nothing but her underwear went back into her tent before stepping out in an everyday set of clothes and sat down at the fire. I then realized no one came out of the last tent so that would most likely mean the final member of this group was either asleep, not here or there is no one else at all. So seeing how all my targets were in one place, I then changed my vision to infrared before I took out a smoke bomb and aimed it at the fire pit. Upon impact the bomb exploded and I was not too far behind the bomb with both my hidden blades out and managed to take out two of the enemy troops before I pulled out a pair of knives and took out another three before I lunged at the last one and took her out. Suddenly something hits me in the side of the head hard enough to knock me off my feet and stumble over some camp gear before I leapt onto my feet and readied myself by drawing Whispering Wind.

Suddenly the girl from before who ran out of her tent in her underwear came out of the smoke while fanning the air in an effort to disperse it before she noticed me and quickly took a battle stance before she tensed up and her face went as red as Big Mac's fur.

"H-hey did you um...see me in my underwear?" the girl asked as she relaxed her stance and looked bashful but her question had also made me blush as well.

We stood there in an uncomfortable silence while I thought over what I should say next when it hit me. I took a breath before I stood up straight and then bowed at the waist.

"I did and I sincerely apologise for that," I said while holding my bow.

"Oh...It's alright, if anything that was my fault for running out without thinking," the girl said as she averted her eyes from mine. "So...how did I look?"

Okay that question just threw me for a loop. I mean, what the hell is one supposed to say to a question like that.

"Uh...well um...I'm not the best to ask when it comes to that," I said.

"Just be honest," the girl said.

"Uh well...you looked nice," I said causing her to smile.

"Uh so what now?" the girl asked.

"Not sure I've never been in a situation like this," I said before I felt something bounce against my cheek before I heard the sound of clanging metal below. When I looked I saw it was a small throwing knife before I looked back at the girl. "The hey?"

The girl also seemed just as shocked before she took a stance, reached behind her and charged at me while she drew a wakizashi from behind her. When she was right in front of me she slashed at me but I dodged backwards and managed to catch the blade with both my hands clapped together against the blade, holding it in place.

"Well I guess we're doing this now," I said before I curled the fingers on my left hand around the blade before bringing my right hand up before I went to slam the the palm of my right hand into the blade, breaking it with ease. I then used my right foot to kick the girl into the fire pit before I drew my dagger and rushed at the girl as she quickly went to work getting out of the fire pit and douse the flames on her. I used the log the rest of her camp was sitting on as a spring board to leap and flip over her. While I was above and in mid flip, I jammed my dagger into the back of her neck before I landed into a roll when I touched the ground. I then looked at my opponent and saw her begin to disappear as she collapsed from my strike.

"No hard feelings," I said as I got up and went to retrieve my dagger.

Once I had sheathed my dagger I began to look around the camp for any intel I could use in my operation and I found out that this lot was actually a small stealth team that was sent to steal our flag while we were away on the big attack, fortunately they didn't count on me taking them out. With the intel I needed I snuffed out the flames of the fire pit before I went on my way back to my camp. Once I arrived at the temple I decided to just climb up the walls and was almost to the room where I was sleeping when I suddenly heard the sound of moving rocks within the room where I set up camp.

Climbing up a bit further I peeked into the room through the broken wall and saw it was another girl wearing the enemies colors and she appeared to be rummaging through my gear before she went and picked up my new shield and then moved towards my armor before finally my bag. She pulled out my map and some food and began to chow down on the food while going over my map when I pulled myself up and crept up behind my opponent while drawing my dagger. I was standing directly behind here were she began to stop chewing.

"No one told you it's wrong to go through someone else's things?" I asked as my opponent began to reach for something.

With a sudden twirl my opponent spun around and tried to hit me with my shield but I grabbed her arm and stabbed my blade into her arm pit. She then went to punch me in the face with her other arm but I just ducked below her swing and stabbed her in the leg before I moved behind her and wrapped my arm around her neck and snapped her neck with a sharp twist before I collapsed on the ground while her body faded away.

Next Day

I was once more in the jungle in full armor. The enemy base that was protecting the flag was a massive fortress so with a quick check of the wall to see if anyone was watching my side I began to climb my way up and into the fortress with a quick change into my robes. I then began to explore the fortress mapping out a route so I could leave and also find the flag till I came across a large open courtyard with the flag dead in the center but the only problem was that the damn thing was being guarded by monstrous sized beasts like the one in 'No Man's Land'. But these ones were of different shapes and sizes each one a mish mash of different creatures like Discord, only these ones seemed more in touch with their animal instincts but there was a sense of sentient mind within them.

I've never seen any creatures like this," I whispered as I gazed at the creatures before me.

"They are familiars," Epsilon said.

"Familiars?" I asked.

"Surly you've heard of familiars during your life Ash. They are often seen as spiritual assistants to those skilled in magic. Some what in a way how the dragon Spike is the assistant to the alicorn Twilight Sparkle only Spike is a being of scales and blood not something conjured from raw magical power. Each familiar is different depending on who their master is but the main priority of each familiar is to protect the one they are linked to especially to those that are awakening to their magic for the first time," Epsilon said.

"I see, certainly would have helped when I first started learning magic when I was in Equestria. Discord would have killed me if it weren't for the elements back then," I said.

"I apologise for that Ash but as you know Rage's influence had corrupted me since he first existed," Epsilon said.

"Why the hey are you apologising Epsilon?" I asked.

"Is it not obvious Ash. I am you're familiar and I failed in my duty to protect you as you came into you're new power," Epsilon said.

"What!" I shouted before I moved away from the door before one of the familiars saw me. I left the courtyard and went to find an empty room and once I had arrived at one I bolted the door behind me and summoned Epsilon onto the palm of my hand so I could look him in the eyes. "Let me get this straight ,you're my familiar but you are not a beast like those ones."

"As I said familiars can take on many different forms, a human form is not out of the question and ,"i'm even able to change my form at will Epsilon said.

"But Faust and Amalthea refereed to you as an active subconscious," I said.

"A name the Equestrian's developed for us in the early days and theoretically, we are an extension of your own subconscious, but we have our own wills to add our own opinions to things of topic," Epsilon said causing me take a seat.

"And the whole take over thing back when that nightmare demon returned and corrupted the girls?" I asked

"Ah well you see, when you saw that demon stab Rarity I sensed you're mind enter a state of shock that would have left you with serious brain damage. So I did the only thing that I could do to save you, take over you're body and push you away from the controls, so to speak, and lash out at the ones who posed a threat to you. But because of Burning Rage's anger issues with the world and people around you, he wanted to lash out and destroy everything and unfortunately that influence spread to me which is why I lashed out at your friends and lover," Epsilon said causing me to sit there in silence while I processed what he was saying.

"Tell me something Epsilon, if you've been in my head longer then Rage then what was it that formed him?" I asked.

"You're anger and hatred against humanity itself," Epsilon said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Remember during World War 2 that mother who tried to hand you her child but was blown to pieces by the Japanese forces?" Epsilon asked.

"I wish I didn't remember," I said sadly.

"Well you remember that killing spree you went on afterwards...Because of your rage and your wish to have the power to hurt them your true magic responded to grant your request and started to leak out of the seal keeping it contained. But it couldn't break it and because you were in a primordial state of rage the magic that did leak out was wild and without control or purpose and so started to take shape fuelled by your anger. This is just one of the incidents during time you've had similar situations and each time a little bit more magic was added to the swirling mass of hate and spite that would make up Burning Rage." Epsilon explained.

"Whoa," I said.

"Yeah whoa," Epsilon said.

Flashback End

"Whoa," everyone muttered.

"Yeah," I said.

"So what happened then?" Pinkie asked.

"We stayed hidden till the attack began and while we waited Epsilon taught me how to physically summon him when I needed him even going so far as to show me his preferred form.

"Preferred form?" the mane six asked causing me to summon a projection of Epsilon's form.

Resume Flashback

My eyes were closed so I could let them rest but they snapped open upon the sound of a massive boom that shook the room.

"Bout time," I said as I got up and pressed my ear against the door for anyone passing by. I soon heard dozens of armor plated feet run past the room. I sat still and waited for the group to leave and after a minute of silence I unbolted the door, peeked outside and saw the coast was clear. I reached behind me and tapped the rune on a sheet of metal that unfolded my armor before I made my way back to the courtyard that had the flag which was still being guarded by those familiars.

"You ready Epsilon?" I asked.

"Always," Epsilon said.

Focusing my magic onto a spot on the floor in front of the familiars, suddenly a summoning circle appeared grabbing the familiars attention. The summoning circle then grew larger and larger till it was the same width as the familiars. Suddenly star like lights then began to rise out of the circle where it began to collect and take form. Then there was a burst of light and where the circle once was there now stood a massive wolf like creature but this wolf had wings as black as night folded on it's sides with bird talons like a griffons and on the wolf's forehead was a curved horn. The eyes of the wolf glowed white and hummed with power and as for it's fur it was a galaxy like blue and floated as if it were submerged in water but it was all facing the same way, which was flowing backward towards it's tail. The fur was decorated with those star like lights from before making it seem like this creature was made out of a galaxy. This was Epsilon's new form.

Epsilon growled while bearing his bright white teeth in challenge to the other familiars who growled in return. The air was filled with tension as the familiars faced Epsilon till finally they pounced but Epsilon used his talons and pushed himself onto his hind paws before extending his wings and gave them a mighty flap, sending his opponents flying back. Suddenly Epsilon's horn lit up and a beam of magic shot out of it and struck one familiar and went through him before going to strike another then another and another until all of them were hit by the beam before they vanished into nothing, just how a player disappears from this game.

"Wow that was incredible," I said.

"Thank you Ash but it's best we leave. Someone will defiantly have noticed all that especially those who the familiars were connected too," Epsilon said as he shrunk down to the size of a regular wolf.

"Good point," I said before I went to grab the flag while Epsilon vanished.

Once I had the flag I ran out of the room following my escape route making sure no one had spotted me as I made my way to the drawbridge gate house.

"Hey, you!"

I didn't bother to turn around but instead ran like hell towards the exit, not once turning back. As soon as I was outside a boulder from a catapult or trebuchet struck the wall beside me making the doorway collapse. I didn't stop to figure everything out, I just ran up the stairs leading to the gate house above the main gate and took out everyone stationed there before I went to work on raising the portcullis just enough for everyone to rush through and then dropped the bridge. Just like a flood the army ran in spreading chaos among the soldiers defending the gate house. I then moved to the opening where archers could fire at any ground forces and saw our forces.

"Hey what's the big idea lowering the bridge you-,"

Turning around I saw it was one of the enemy troops armed with a grenade launcher before he took aim.

"Fuck!" I shouted before he pulled the trigger and the explosive impacted my chest sending me flying out of the gatehouse. Last thing I saw was hitting the ground on the other side of the moat and everything went dark for a bit. Slowly I opened my eyes but everything was blurry and there was a ringing in my ears. Suddenly I saw a pair of figures running towards me but my vision was too blurry to make out who the two were until they were right next to me and checking me over did my vision begin to come back. I saw it was both Zyt and Karen, they were saying something but I couldn't hear them because of the ringing till Karen turned my head towards her before she started yelling something and it was then my hearing began to focus again.

"-Ash can you move, say something dude," Karen said as she gave me a brief shake.

"Don't shake him Karen," Zyt said.

"I'm good," I said as I let out a few coughs causing the two to breath a sigh of relief. "The armor took the blunt of the attack."

"Damn I don't know what that armor is made of but I need to get me some," Karen said as she and Zyt began to help me up and put my arms over their necks and shoulders to keep me steady.

"Geeze dude you're heavy," Zyt said.

"It's the armor's fault, it weighs a lot more then it looks. The only reason the pair of you ain't crushed right now is because I'm trying to pull my own weight," I said as I removed my arms to stand on my own.

Suddenly I felt a static like feeling crawl up my spine before Zyt was blasted forward by a blast of lightning before Karen was hit too then me, that knocked me onto my hands and knees.

"Gotta say I'm impressed you managed to defeat my familiar and infiltrate our base by going through 'No Man's Land' but I'm even more impressed you managed to survive my thunderbolt, not bad...for a wild dog."

"Saba," I growled as I got up and looked at where my two friends faded, not even turning around to face the demigoddess of lightning.

"I never liked you dog, I'm pretty sure that has been established. Even though you don't try to steal the limelight it somehow always finds it's way to you and that pisses me off so ba-," Saba said but her words trailed off when my mind finally registered what she had done. I then looked at Zyt and Karen and saw they were looking at me with a look I've seen too many times; the look of that fearful acceptance of death. Countless faces held that same look as I crossed the battlefields and now both my newest friends were giving me the same look as they lay there before they vanished, as if they were never there. Once they were gone I bowed my head and closed my eyes and just sat there till I opened my eyes and growled.

Pause Flashback

"What was going through you're mind at the time?" Twilight asked.

"Well I guess after fighting for so long, the conflict will leave long term side effects like when I saw my friends die. I thought that was it, they were truly dead and that snapped something inside of me. Deep down I knew that they were okay but every signal in my body was agreeing on one thing and one thing only, this wasn't a game...it was war, and when in war you had to do whatever it takes to survive," I said.

Resume Flashback

I could hear Saba was still talking behind me and everyone was still fighting but my mind was drowning it all out and instead focusing on what I should do next. Suddenly there was a voice in the back of my mind, a voice I once knew from a long time ago.

"Doceat illos vera tenebris."

That was when I stood up but kept my back to Saba. I could hear she had just stopped talking and so before she could react I spun around and sent Saba flying with a straight punch from my right hand right into the stone walls of the fortress. The explosion that was created caused everyone to freeze to watch the spectacle, meanwhile I removed the flag from my back and tossed it to Xuthus.

"Get that flag back to base," I said before I unfolded my kite shield and drew Whispering Wind. "I'll deal with this."

With a nod Xuthus began to lead everyone away.

"Don't let them go," one shouted before he began to run after them.

However I just simply teleported into his path and pointed Whispering Wind at him and let him run into my sword. Once he registered what happened he tried to take a swing at me but I held up my shield and used the spikes on said shield to slice his arm off at the elbow. When he went to punch me I slashed at his belly with Whispering Wind before once again using the spikes of the shield to slice his throat open before he collapsed. Once my victim faded away I looked towards the enemy opposition and saw them back up before I raised my blade towards them.

"Next," I said simply and for awhile no one answered.

"C'mon he's just one guy!" someone shouted.

And so three of my enemies charged at me while I took a stance to steady myself for the up coming battle. Every time a sword was swung at me I used my shield to block the attack before I counterattacked with a slash of my own. The injury's I inflicted were light at best but with each attack they dished out I used my shield to defend myself and returned their attack, leaving more and more injuries while I went without nay a scratch. Finally the three's injuries finally took their toll and collapsed before vanishing.

"All of you stand Back!"

Suddenly the crowd parted to reveal Saba and she was miffed. It seemed the only way she'd apease her anger is by defeating me.

"I'll deal with him myself," Saba said as she readied a spear and hoplon shield.

The rest of the soldiers seemed to regain a bit of hope when they saw Saba step towards me to accept my challenge. As I looked at her stance to how she held her spear and shield I could almost see a Valkyrie from the three way war standing before me. The only thing was that her shield was heavy and large, it would slow her down for any of the Valkyrie's quick attacks. Suddenly Saba starts running at me and out of reflex I hold up my shield and have Whispering Wind raised above it at the ready. Suddenly she takes a leap at me, intending to impale me with her spear but I rush forward and use my shield to deflect her attack and thrust Whispering Wind at her, slashing her side, but that didn't stop her. I then went for an over head attack but this caused her to dodge with surprising speed and went to try and pierce my head with her spear but I moved my shield into the spear's path to block her attack before I made a large side sweep slash .She blocked my attack and then broke my guard before she used the blunt end of he spear to knock me in the head before she grabbed her spear by the blunt end and swung it at my legs while she got onto her knees and that attack knocked me onto my back before she went to take a swing at me. I managed to roll out of the way before that could happen before I stood up.

"I see you're using the Valkyrie's from the three way war style of fighting," I said.

"Oh, well done. I congratulate you for figuring it out. Yes, this is the style used by the Valkyrie I guess you're wondering how I'm able to move so quickly on account of carrying such a heavy shield?" Saba asked.

"That would be your strength inherited from your dad Zeus, a trait all demigods and goddesses have Saba, it's not that hard. It's also something to take note of since you're father is a lightning god you also have his power that would allow you to cover you're shield in lightning since it's made of metal and will make it difficult for any normal fighter to breach such a defence," I said causing Saba to growl at me since I read her like an open book before she raised her shield arm into the air and suddenly a bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck her shield. When she brought her arm down I saw the shield was sparking with electricity.

"I was planing on taking it easy on you since this would be you're first time facing me but since you decided to be oh so very cleaver wild dog, I guess I can go all out on you now. But if you wish to apologise and become my pet for a day I may agree to letting you walk away from this," Saba said as she fixed her glasses.

"If that was supposed to be a threat then I'm not impressed. Now if we're done with the chit chat come and get some, daughter of lightning," I said as I took my stance and grinded Whispering Wind against the spikes on my shield creating a shower of sparks.

This seemed to make Saba growl before she rushed at me intending to bash me in the face with her shield but I simply stepped to the side to avoid her attack. She then swung and thrust her spear at me in quick light attacks before she caught me off guard by bashing me in the chest with her shield, transferring the stored up lightning in the shield to me. Saba then grinned and took this as an opportunity to attack me from my right with her spear but I could only smile behind my helmet as I stepped backward to avoid the spear before I steeped forward and hit Saba with an uppercut from my shield, knocking her back and stunning her while I just stood there and waited for her to recover.

"But how, you should still be shocked from my lightning!" Saba cried.

"Normally yes, that would be the case. But you see, my armor has some interesting qualities about it. One of the key facts is that it can shrug off almost any attack whether it be magical, elemental or physical, the trade off though is that it is ridiculously heavy but it seems worth it don't you agree," I said.

Suddenly Saba let out a scream of fury that called down a rain of lightning, forcing me to take cover under my shield. When I had recovered from the vicious assault I saw while Saba and I had been fighting I had been surrounded by the rest of my opponents but a cry from Saba drew my attention to her. She thrusted her spear at me forcing me to dodge before I went to strike back with a light overhead strike but she blocked my attack with her shield and pierced me in the shoulder with her spear, right where the plates in my armor weren't protecting me causing me to stagger back and grunt in the pain while I held the wound.

"So you're fancy armor does have weaknesses," Saba said.

"No armor is perfect," I said with a smirk.

"Well it's certainly nice to know you're weak spot...wear him down for me!" Saba shouted out to the rest of her troops who roared as if they had already seized victory.

"What happened to the one on one?" I asked.

"I've grown board fighting you and now that everyone has seen the weak points in you're armor it will be easy to wear you down so I can finish you off myself," Saba said.

"Rather cowardly," I growled.

"Not cowardly, this is simply how a queen does battle. She arranges the pieces so that they fit her strategy and as the Student Council President of this school I have ultimate authority over everyone in it, including you. But I'd save you're energy for them, I doubt even you can handle the onslaught of so many barrages raining down on you," Saba said with a grin.

"Damn she's right I may be skilled in battle and have taken on armies before but with so many all focused on certain points of my body sooner or later I'm gonna be finished," I thought.

You can just surrender Ash, it's not like you can die anymore then you already are "Epsilon said.

*chuckles* "You're Right there Epsilon, but I really want to knock that smile off of Saba's face. Most of these demigods and goddesses are so damn cocky and will push everyone around just because their parent is a god or goddess and that right there pisses me off," I thought.

"Hm I see where you're coming from...so what's the plan?" Epsilon asked.

"I don't know," I thought.

"Well if you're going to do as you say you might want to think fast. Otherwise we're goingto be brought down hard and quickly," Epsilon said.

I then gave it some thought and decided to reach for the rune on my chest piece above my heart before I tapped it causing my armor to begin to fold away.

"Oh giving up?" Saba asked but I said nothing and just waited.

Saba then gestured to my opponents to either rush or shoot me with either guns or sword but as I held Whispering Wind I felt something something old and primal.

"Allow me."

I suddenly felt a rush of energy from my my blade that seemed to take control of my body, My body twirled my blade around when suddenly the world seemed to slow down in my eyes. Suddenly I could almost feel the world around me. Every breath, every sound, every time a boot hit the ground, all of it. Suddenly I felt my opponents had got within striking distance. My body deflected the first attack coming at me causing it to instead hit one of my opponent's. My body then dodged out of the way of another's pike before it took out a whole wall of enemies with a gust of wind from my sword. My body then parried a sword coming at me from above before it took out it's wielder with a swing of the sword but my swing also took out a whole line of troops. Suddenly an arrow whizzed past my face and I look to see soldiers on the walls taking aim at me. Then I suddenly see an enemy charging me with a poleaxe, intending to impale me with the spear like blade at the top. But all my body did is deflect the attack and use the cross guard on my sword to hit him in the face before I grabbed him and held him in front of me as a human shield as the arrows and bullets rained down, killing my opponent.

I then saw I had three opponents this time. One of them made a swing at me but my body grabbed his wrist that held his sword and moved it into my second opponent's path blocking his strike while my body swung at the third taking him out before moving to the second to take him out but he blocked my attack with his weapon. So my body used the weapon still in my first opponent's grasp which, my hand was still holding onto, to plunge the blade into my second opponent before my cut off the first's head. Suddenly my body dodges to the right while a spear goes past where I once stood but the blade did cut my sleeve. My body then grabbed the spear and lifted it overhead and spun around before pulling it down to my left and kicked the spear out of my opponent's grasp. My body then used both the spear and Whispering Wind to block attacks from two new opponents before my body used Whispering Wind to both trip up and slash my first opponent's legs, before it twirled the spear around in my left hand and hit my second opponent in the head with the pole of the spear so hard it broke, leaving my opponant dazed. Meanwhile the last one was going for another attack while my back was turned but my body just hit him in the face with my right elbow followed by my left before it spun around and slashed at their chest with Whispering Wind.

Suddenly more arrows rained down towards me but just hit the stunned troop next to me causing my head to turn to look at where they came from and saw the archers and shooters were getting ready to shower me in arrows and bullets. My body then threw the spearhead, which was still in my left hand, at a charging enemy before it unfolded my kite shield and took cover behind it, leaving the arrows and bullets to pelt against my shield. Once it was over my body spun around and slammed the spike of my shield into an enemy that was sneaking up behind me before my body once again folded up my shield and managed to catch an arrow that one of the archers fired after the brief volley. My body then twirled the arrow around in my grip, spun around clockwise and slammed the arrow deep into an enemy's chest. Finally my body gripped Whispering Wind's handle with both hands and swung it summoning a mighty gust of wind that took out all the remaining enemies around me and also the ones on the rampart of the fortress destroying the top of the walls in the process. With that the world seemed to return to normal time and I obtained control once more but I was out of breath while all my remaining enemies and Saba were shocked. I then looked at all the remaining troops, the silent message I was most likely asking was 'Anyone else?' because the troops one by one were dropping their weapons before them. It was then I got up turned around and began to leave.

Suddenly I heard the sound of running footsteps behind me so I waited till they got close before I unfolded my kite shield, spun around and managed to block what was a spear and thrusted Whispering Wind into my opponent who was actually Saba. I then pulled my blade out causing Saba to stumble forward but a kick to her leg made her spin around and fall towards me. So I got low and held out my shield where she landed on her back upon it before I brought my blade up to her neck.

"Mala ultro adsunt," I whispered to Saba causing her eyes to widen before I ran my blade along her neck, slicing it open before tossing her from my shield and walked away.

End Flashback

"Whoa." came the collective reply from everyone.

"Ouch that last one sounded like it kinda hurt," Rainbow said as she held her neck.

"What was that you said anyway mala ultra...," Tempest asked with a roll of her hand.

"Mala ultro adsunt, it's Latin," I said.

"Latin for what?" Twilight asked excited at the prospect of something new.

"It means misfortune comes uninvited."

We all turned to look at the new voice and there stood the dark clad female warmonger Apollyon herself.

"Apollyon, what brings you here?" I asked.

"I was passing by when I heard you're story. I had no idea you had taken up the techniques of The Black Prior," Apollyon said.

"And I had no idea you thought it would be a good idea to show the immortals the same tactics," I growled.

"So you did notice?" Apollyon said.

"If you think for one second I'm going to for-," I started as I stood up to face the dark warrior and about to give her a piece of my mind.

"Ash calm down," Luna said causing me to take a deep needed breath.

"And before you go accusing me of going against you're teachings Ash, you're little squad of guards asked me on the methods and techniques of the fiercest knights ever seen and I told them; not even sparing them the bloody details and they asked me to teach them," Apollyon said her voice betrayed no amount of smug or lies. So with another breath of air I began to leave the room but stopped when I stood next to Apollyon.

"All I ask is that there won't be another incident like there was at Eitrivaten," I said, but Apollyon just looked at me and tilted her head making me sigh. "Of course, you were in hell during then."

Without another word I left to gather my thoughts.

Hey everypony sorry for the long wait next one should be up sooner then this one