Mid-Morning
March 27th, 71 BNM
Equestria, Midlands
Everfree forest, outskirts

As the Sun’s trickling light crept into the dense covered forest canopy, what few creatures, magical or otherwise, scurried around the undergrowth and canopy, unaware of the building warfare in the mountains far to the north west.
Not all were unaware however. Far from it, the looming shadow of war pressed on the minds of a select few more than anything else of recent.

The tangling undergrowth was nothing to him, the vines and prickling thorns barely moving as he weaved through them with the ease of a snake, and the speed of a rabbit.
Beyond the confines, the snarls and cracking twigs and leaves sounded as a pack of creatures pursued him around the bramble bush forest, through less confining forest on a longer way around.
But he himself was like a ghost as he slunk through the forest, not a thorn grazed his amphibious skin, only the slightest of movement from some vines as they were soundlessly moved by the wind of his swift passage.
Dashing through the narrow confines of the vine and thornbush maze, the Salamander, devoid of his armour and wearing only his longtime sword, dove through the last gap, rolling to a stop in a clearing before him.
Coming to a stop, he saw a Hedgehog give a loud squeak of surprise a few feet from where he landed, as it curled up into a ball to hide from this sudden attacker, and the ones clearly on the way as well.
In the distance, he heard the howls of the Timberwolves, and their frenetic footfalls, before their wooden and green glowing hides burst through the undergrowth, slowing to a methodically walk as they saw Chack standing before them, crouched low, hand on his sword handle.
With a small smirk, he stood up slowly, as the Wolves merely growled in irritation t him:
“A valiant effort, but this time I beat you.”
The pack of Timberwolves slowly slunk past him, ignoring this denizen of the forest that Everfree himself had labelled as not-prey. The Salamander gave a scoff as one of the Wolves brushed him roughly as it passed:
“No dignity in defeat…”
Shaking his head, Chack glanced down at the still cowering hedgehog, one of the Timberwolves giving it a cautious sniff before turning its nose up to follow the others down their usual trail. Casually striding over, the Salamander knelt down, poking its spines gently with a finger:
“A forest path is no place to cower.”
Seeing as the hedgehog wasn’t going anywhere willingly, Chack rolled his eyes before he picked it up in his hands gently, wincing as a few spines pricked him slightly. Depositing it in a small bush’s undergrowth roots, the Salamander went on his way.
After a few moments, the Hedgehog unfurled, its tiny black eyes glancing at the Salamander as he leapt and climbed effortlessly into the trees above, its small nose sniffing in interest before scurrying back towards the bushes it was headed for at first.

Climbing to the treetops, Chack peered out from the canopy, clambering up a branch to sit atop it, a view of the borders of the Everfree Forest stretching before him.
The Forest was massive, and he had been here 4 and a half months, by his counting of the sunrises and sets, and the lunar cycles he glimpsed through the treetop gaps. And yet, like his frequent solitudes in Salaman during his wandering days before Starswirl found him, he was at peace, content. The war in Equestria seemed almost a world away.
Almost.
But there was something off about the forest recently. Being a nexus of magic in its uncontrolled state trailing from the more controlled areas of Equestria, rumblings of what went on outside crept in through whispers in the night from the more magical denizens of the forest, from the lowly parasprites, to the phoenixes in more secluded sections, and to the Forest spirit Everfree himself.
Reclining on the branch, Chack gazed out, seeing the distant snow-capped mountains far beyond Everfree forest’s depths. A single speck flew high overhead, circling slowly, an eagle of some kind.
He relaxed for a few moments, noting the leisurely circling the bird far overhead seemed to take in its hunting.
As he stared up however, something in the back of Chack’s mind made him wary. That eagle was not behaving normally, not out hunting. It was staying in one place too much, watching.
A gust of wind suddenly picked up over the forest canopy, as Chack then saw a large barrage of leaves carried too accurately to be normal high and upwards in a circling manner.
A spy of the Savant, it won’t escape this time.
Everfree’s voice echoed from below, unseen, as Chack saw the flurry of leaves shoot upwards on the breeze, the Eagle so enamoured far overhead in watching him on the tree branch for the last few minutes that it didn’t see the flurry of enchanted leaves come up to reach it.
As if suddenly made drowsy, the Eagle began to circle downwards fast, towards a clearing in the forest not far from Chack’s current tree top perch.
He was climbing down and on the ground before it even reached the tree top level.

Coming into the clearing, the Salamander saw the Eagle cawing angrily as it struggled on the ground. It had fallen into a large maze of thin vines, not thick enough for bigger animals but enough to tangle the Eagle as it thrashed to get free.
The breeze of enchanted leaves and litter from the forest circled, and without warning, Chack saw the Eagle’s eyes flash a bright silver as they stared at him.
“Seems he got careless, sent one of his bird spies too close looking for me.”
“So it seems. Before I free this misfortunate bird from his enslavement, let us see what it, and others like it in service, have to show. Any details on the rumblings of war that have come from the north.”
As Chack approached, a section of tree bark on a large oak behind him morphed into the aged Alicorn stallion head, a few moss sections giving it colour and shape as well. All the while, a faint white magic flowed through the vines the Eagle was tangled in, its thrashings ceasing as its silver glowing eyes lit up like stars.
Staring at the Eagle, Chack felt his mind empty, as the mind of the Eagle, and what it and other spies knew, was shared.

-Allies moving on Tartarus, armies on the move.
-Once Tartarus falls the Royalists will have no more strongholds, and the Nationalists become the enemy too. Scout out Nationalist cities in detail.
-All Seven servants will be under control and perfected, then the time to strike comes.
-The Grey Wizard shall not be an issue at Tartarus, but scout for the last of his allies in the old forest.
-Maintain watch on the Sixth Servant, so she is turned back to service with ease when the time comes, otherwise betrayal is likely.

As has been whispered on the winds and in the trees, war is growing in ferocity once again.
Scowling at this, Chack thought to himself, taking a moment stood back as the vines glowed white again, and the Eagle’s silver eyes faded, revealing a rather bleary looking Eagle looking and struggling slightly now in the vines.
“They cannot seem to make up their mind whether to battle hard of fall back and gather themselves.”
Clearly the Savant is the instigator this time, rather than simply bolstering fighting already going on. He is making his decisive actions now, and the repulsion of his efforts must be in place to meet his efforts head on.
Seeing the Eagle now free from Siral’s enchantment, Chack used his sword to cut the vines loose, freeing the bird to hop for a few moments before wearily taking flight through the canopy above, its freed caw to the air less hostile than before. Hearing this news however, Chack looked down, thinking with some hesitation:
“You heard the messengers… Starswirl is not a threat, I hate to think what has become of him.”
From what is gathered, he faced Siral head on, alone. But he was overwhelmed by some of the servants aiding Siral. Fortunately, his death would have been noticed by those attuned to these things, such as myself. I have not felt it, but I have felt the brewing aggression from the Savant. He is instigating this violence, the catalyst has become the cause now, or he will be once the battle of Tartarus begins.
Chack stood there for a moment, looking down at his Katana sword, his one relic from home he never took off, even as he stripped his armour and clothing for easier comfort in the forest. The sword held many memories, and lessons learned, before and after he was banished for disobeying his later ill-fated master to serve his wishes more efficiently.
“Warriors do what they are told, loyalty is their motivator. While it is not guaranteed, sometimes removing the cause is the most efficient way, or undermining their power. Many Diem I met in Salaman lost and gained their power by the loyalty of their followers.”
The Savant’s power is great, but it is laid upon the foundations of his unique servants, 6 of which exist. Their existence is an experiment to him, what is learned from them bolsters the others to come, and himself. But their unity is also their weakness. Weaken only one, and they all unravel.
“If Starswirl can’t stand against Siral’s creations, how am I to stand against any of them?”
The Wizard charged in without a solid plan, corrupted by his guilt and sense of duty. He engaged them on their terms, their territory. This is a war, and war is not the way of Wizards, is it?
Chack’s grip tightened on his sword, as a small smile came over him:
“No, it isn’t. If one of the Six falls, everything Siral has built becomes weak, or even fall apart.”
His stance slacking suddenly, Chack replied to Everfree, whose Alicorn visage was still shifting slightly in the Oak tree’s bark face before him:
“That still doesn’t mean I can face them and live, even one on one.”
You have less stake in Equestria, you have a serenity and peace to yourself that makes you ideal.
“Starswirl didn’t believe that. He said I was a cruel warrior and not much more beyond an ally. If it weren’t for the prophecy he’d have likely viewed me with disdain.”
Cruelty is a way of life, as much as compassion is, it is only natural, and you merely decided to embrace this. I have existed for centuries in this form, abandoning Equestria’s long history of trying to maintain control, especially in wake of Alicorns following my own ascendance. But the greatest cruelty one can inflict is the loss of one’s self, to be controlled without submission, as the Savant intends to ultimately.
With you, I saw a being that had the serenity, the balance of this knowledge, devoid of naiveté, not plagued by outside ties and possessing an uncorrupted willingness to improve one’s self to be in tune with the world. With you, I saw someone I could act through by your actions.”
“Act through? You don’t mean control I take it?”
Hardly. In the depths of the forest, the alcove you came to when we first met directly, there is the deep well of water you saw. In its depths, there lie the greatest power in the forest, power Starswirl is not yet ready to wield as his own. In its depths, you will find something I can provide, power I cannot wield myself, but power that can be used outside my forest boundaries. Power, to match that of a servant of the Savant’s, before their power, and his own, grows too great.
The Salamander saw the Alicorn spirit’s face vanish, the Oak tree’s bark morphing back to its normal state before his green eyes. Blinking slightly, he stood there in deep thought for a moment, before he turned to scramble up a tree trunk, heading deeper into the forest.
His passage through the forest was much faster than when he’d first come here with Starswirl, as he knew the layout, and could move as swiftly as any animal now. A few months learning the environment had served Chack well.
Before the mid-afternoon, he had passed the path where he and Stasrwirl camped, on the fateful night they both encountered their dreams, and Everfree in each of their places.

Mid-Afternoon
Everfree Forest, Deep chasms
Vine alcove ‘well’

Standing inside, within the very same chamber he’d found that night last November, Chack saw that small pouch Starswirl had abandoned that same day when he stormed off elsewhere was still here, utterly undisturbed. Clearly animals big and small didn’t intrude in this sacred area of the forest.
Ahead, he saw the pool of water, the white ethereal fumes almost like fire as they rose, less bright in the mid afternoon sun beating down through the cracks in the vine structure rising like a dome over them.
Gazing down, Chack slowly placed his sword near the pouch on the stone and vine covered ground, clad nothing as he approached, his black moist skin tingling as he neared the pool.
Taking a breath, Chack felt air rush his system, as he readied for an underwater stint. Unlike non-sapient Salamanders, his kind lost their gills as adults. It meant they could not stay underwater forever, but they could use their skin to ‘breathe’ in oxygen rich water. Given this shortcoming though, he could still hold his breath for a very long time.
Stepping a foot into the water, his tail slinking on the ground behind him, he was surprised at how still it was, yet also its lukewarm temperature for a water body in such a darkened place.
Slipping down, his entire body underwater, he took a gulp, the adjustment to underwater a breeze for him. Glancing around, the white light from above seemed to make the water glow slightly, as below him a long tunnel went further down, the rocks all around reflecting the white glow as it rose from the source further down.
Turning facedown, he swam, his stout arms and legs beating water away with webbed digits to swiftly pass down into the darker length of the underwater tunnel.
After a good number of meters, he found the shaft opened up into a much wider expanse. Blinking slightly, Chack was beholden to the spectacle of what he saw.
A large submerged chamber, with what looked like a starry night sky all around him in a circle. The faint white glow came from all around him in hundreds of small white lights, as the dark blue/grey stone forming the rounded chamber revealed itself to be coated in crystals, most of them dark, some glowing in small fragments.
The water pressure was somewhat hard on Chack, but he was too in awe to care. The very rock that was everywhere in Everfree Forest, the blue/grey Quintessenite, crystallised in this chamber in ways unseen except in a few odd ‘tree’ saplings he’d seen, or a few veins on the side of some caves he’d explored last month.
A few whispers arose in the back of his however, as the Salamander saw one crystal almost winking repeatedly, glowing brighter than the others. Curiously, he swam the 20 metre distance to the glowing crystal, seeing a rather small crystal compared to the darker, but larger ones it was nestled between. Its fierce white glow was unmistakably calling to him however.
Reaching out, as soon as his hand touched it, he felt a rush of energy, a white glint in his eyes that quickly faded. Pulling, the small crystal shard broke away, still glowing as he held it.
Looking at it, the shard was the size of a large wood nail, as long as a butcher knife, but remarkably smooth, the white glow obscuring the blue/grey colour of the crystalline rock it was made of.
His eyes blinked as he stared, mystified by the shard, before Everfree’s disembodied voice in his mind sounded from higher up, unseen but everywhere:
You have what you need.
Not sparing a moment, as he stared around the massive geode cave interior, he swam upwards, the cavern growing darker as he approached the shaft he’d swam through. He kept the strange narrow crystal in hand, its shining blue/grey colour a light in the dark water tunnel he swam in through to get here.
Finally, he came to the mouth of the shaft he’d dived into, and turned to swim towards the shimmering white surface. As he approached it, he felt the crystal growing in his hand, gaining in size.
Stopping short, he saw it was glowing stronger than ever before, and now had expanded to a perfectly round cylinder in his hand, and a jagged spike beginning to extend out one end.
Trusting this strange crystal, he swam up, feeling it change as he broke the surface, as if being taken from its hidden place altered its form forever.
Water splashing as the Salamander pulled himself from the shaft, he gripped the rock and tree root covered surface with both hands, hearing a distinctive clang as something long and almost metallic sounded.
Hauling himself slowly out, Chack saw what the Crystal he’d recovered had changed into.
A perfectly straight sword, and a four pronged cross guard, complete with a knotted bulge on the end to mark the end of the sword from the grip. Feeling it in his hands, Chack felt it was a perfectly balanced weapon, lightweight but not too much, and it felt very strong, whatever the blue/grey metal it was made of was.
Scowling, Chack noticed the blade had no edges, it was a blunt weapon. Swinging it slightly, he then noticed the round ‘bar’ of the sword’s shaft morph, a blade edge emerging to perfectly cut through the air in whatever direction he swung.
A sword that would slice edge on, no matter his swing angle, and remain safe and dull when not in use.
“Very impressive…” Chack mused aloud.
More than that, it will give you the ability to match, even counter the magic of whomever you may face, and more. It obeys your will, and you will know what it can grant you, and its limits. Its power is limited by your resolve.
Looking around, Chack saw Everfree’s Alicorn visage materialise from a set of vines and leaf undergrowth, reaching out from above with a tangled foreleg to touch the crystalline sword with a vine covered hoof, as the sword glowed white for a brief moment, then a faint green, and then faded.
Taking a breath, Chack looked at Everfree’s visage, before he then got into a kneeling bow, asking in a respectful tone:
“What do you wish me to do now?”
At this, Everfree actually recoiled, a wistful look in his eyes as he seemed to speak in an almost windlike voice now:
Me, wish of you? You misunderstand, it is not I who wishes this service to be done by you. I was never who you were learning from, merely one who wished to learn, and become attuned, as you are, though not to my extent of course. No, I was merely the voice, a soul at peace with their place in the world, as you can become.
Looking up suddenly, Chack asked in a confused tone: “But, then who are you really? Who do I carry out this nigh impossible task for?”
A faint chuckle carried on the wind as Everfree recoiled back, and a few hundred eyes in the forest lit up, and a few noises from animals of all shapes and sized echoed in the forest. Everfree replied as he gestured an Alicorn hoof all around:
All you see before you, those with no voice to be heard as forces to battle that would harm their domain, their existence. That, is who you must do this for. Like you, even if you had a façade among a side on Starswirl’s behalf, we have no ties to any of the forces. But their fighting will affect us, it will affect everything.
A rustle of leaves came, as a single breeze carried a forest of leaf litter through the vine ‘cathedral’ Chack stood in, a whisper in the air as Everfree’s Alicorn visage appeared in the white ‘fumes’ of the pool Chack had dove into the crystal cavern depths of:
A single ripple can change an ocean’s state. A single close servant of the Savant is all it takes. Great power requires unity, strength, and foundation. Be that ripple, spread the disunity in the Savant and his followers.
Promise me, promise us, you will not allow such great power to arise, to pose a threat to life’s existence itself. Death is natural, to lose one’s freedom is a tragedy.
Listening to Everfree’s words, Chack’s face hardened, as he stood up, looking around as he saw the myriad of creatures watching from outside the vine walled alcove.
Looking at the sword in hand, Chack then turned to head towards his longtime Katana sword, and picked it up in the other. With a brief pause of contemplation, Chack replied:
Taking on these servants, some of them will be present at Tartarus when battle commences. The chaos of battle may help, if I don’t get killed first that is.
You’ll have your own army, but your enemy is a mere handful. Take out one, and the others will fall. Use any means necessary, sow the seeds of disunity by finding a weakness, and exploiting it. Sow distrust, harm or kill to make them lesser and grief stricken, anything to take down the Savant.
“And of the others fighting?”
If the Savant falls, the greater threat will be gone. What comes after is unforeseeable, but certainly less dire. A better future is better than no future.
Everfree then faded, and fell silent, as Chack glanced around to see the animals still watching him from outside the vine cathedral. The Salamander glanced at the crystalline sword in hand, and then back to his old sword.
With but a thought, he saw the crystal sword shift in shape, to become a sword of similar make to his Katana he also held, the only difference being the round edge that was sharp no matter which way it waved.
Glancing around, Chack saw his eyes drawn to the pouch of 5 memorabilia that lay there undisturbed still, of Starswirl’s encounters before him. An item he felt was not his to pry into more than he already had done.
He had his own priorities now, to succeed where Starswirl had yet to.

March 27th, 71 BNM
Late Evening/Nightfall
Equestria, Midlands
Everfree forest, borders

Donning his dark red armor once more, he looked as if he had never been in the forest at all. What wisdom and abilities he gained were not immediate to anyone who had not seen him in the time he’d been gone.
For the first time in over four months, Chack ventured outside the boundaries of Everfree Forest. Yet he knew where he was headed, north west.
Still, as the forest edges lit up with a few fireflies, Chack paused, looking at the two swords he held, his old plain katana, and the new sword that morphed to resemble his old one.
Glancing around, Chack mused to himself:
“If I have my own army, I’ll be seen. Best I travel alone. It would be too big a…”
Trailing off, Chack had a thought. He looked down at the new sword he held, feeling its power.
“What I will for it to do… I need transport.”
Raising the sword, Chack pointed it forwards, proclaiming as he also pictured the mountain in his mind:
“Tartarus, now!”
Nothing.
Scoffing slightly, Chack swung the sword down and around, as he tapped a small rock impatiently with it, thinking to sit down in an annoyed, but thoughtful meditation. He didn’t see the quick white/green flash behind him.
“What exactly can this thing do…wait.”
As Chack sat, he felt a rock that wasn’t there before where he sat. He had aimed for the ground.
Looking down, Chack saw the rock he’d tapped with the sword had swollen in size to become large enough for a seat. As he stood up, the rock flashed again, and returned to its handheld size on the ground with not even a rattle as it shrank.
Staring at the sword in hand, Chack thought to himself about the limits and uses of it. His mind may give it function, but it had its limits by its inherent magic.
Looking around, knowing he still had to get to Tartarus fast, Chack gave a sniff as a firefly came a little too close to his face.
But as its glowing abdomen passed his eyes, he followed it, an idea springing to mind as he raised the sword once more.

A short time later
20 miles north west of Everfree Forest

The enlarged, Pegasus sized firefly’s wings beat frantically as it stayed aloft, its single Salamander passenger keeping the sword and his willpower active to give it energy to fly on in the night, higher and faster than it could have in its smaller form.
It would be returned to normal size when its role was finished, but Chack needed a ride, and he used what he saw.
Clutching the firefly’s neck for grip, Chack flew on in the night. In the far distance, he could make out a small encampment of an army on the move, heading towards a passage through the mountains, in the same direction he was. Whether Royalist or Nationalist he did not know from up here.
But he did see by the sword’s magic that a few of Siral’s bird and owl spies were watching it, as they undoubtedly were other armed forces converging on Tartarus.
The Ronin flew on, armed and ready, but uncertain as to what the future battle would entail for the future of him, and others.

Author's Notes:

A chapter devoted to Everfree and Chack, before we get into Starswirl’s narrative again.