5 YEARS LATER

Late Morning
1st March, 1008 ANM
Mid Afternoon
5 miles north of Ridgeton village
Mountain slope
Citadel Ruins, Main stairwell

As the earth trembled from afar, an unseen giant outside in the Colossus, Stone Giant home that was the nearby valley, the lingering evil in the Citadel Ruins slashed and clawed in its shapeless lacerating forms, a mixture of black magic and those grown and multiplied demon hoards not sucked into the time warp 1076 years ago, along with most of what was Siral's consciousness.
Now, only an animalistic remnant remained. Powerful, but unguided, hungry.
And recently, with the most recent escape of an old enemy and his associates, denied a chance to feed on magic to fuel their hunger.
As the thousands of hungry screeches of the demon hoards grew silent, the rocking of the earth going away, an unseen Stone Giant having been awakened by a force not belonging to Siral, but originating from their old enemy Starswirl. Yet oddly, it didn't seem to be controlled by Starswirl, but by something borne of him and another's mind, a chaotic mind, mixed with a logical mind.
It didn't care about this though, it only cared about its hunger. Even as it cursed out what seemed to be a former minion up above plugging the hole it could have escaped into the outside world through, it cared only for its hunger.
The hoards slowly seeped through the ruins, sensing no more intruders unfortunately, not even the two that had taken a lower route, both of them bearing the stench of Starswirl's magic, one of them, a strange creature, being much more pure, the other , a mare, more likely imprinted as a follower.
The hoards that made up Siral's remnant, an echo, dispersed, the stairwell chamber falling silent.

A few minutes later, a burst of air filled the chamber, and a green flash leapt from a hole. As the unseen figure leapt from the hole, a screech rang out through the strange realm the figure had all but ripped himself from, shimmering as the hole shrank:
"You will not escape me Ronin, just as my slave didn't in here!"
"CHA-!"
The second scream, a female one, cut short as the strange portal snapped shut, the rush of air silencing as only the weary pants, and perhaps shaky, regretful breaths filled the cavern.
Sat alone in the dark, the figure clutched the green glowing blade as he recognised where he was.
And the noises that gathered at the sound his arrival made were as blatant as the horns of death to him.
Charging the blade, the figure felt the magic build in the weapon, the dark magic pressing on all sides from the Savant's remnant on this ruin not as powerful as it had been at its peak, but enough to cause delay.
But right as the hoards reached him, the Salamander vanished in a flash of green, his eyes turned upwards to the flat slate roof above.

He staggered through the valley, green enchanted katana in hand, seeing the massive uprooted earth and riverbed from where one of the rumoured stone giants in Siral's valley had likely taken a walk recently.
The valley was silent now, as he wandered away from the Citadel.
Alone, in this strange new world, Chack wandered, leaving behind one he'd tried to save, one he'd failed to save despite his best efforts.
She was claimed by him now, and would be his when he returned fully to where they went, for however long he would be in.
Chack's return had been a miraculous stroke of luck, as time wouldn't spit him or Siral, and Teal in turn, out at the same time.
The Salamander wandered east across Equestria, away from this foul place. He didn't know nor cared right now where or when he was, only that he was away from that wretched abyss he'd clawed his way out of.
So he wandered on, alone. Yet life gave him another chance here, and he would adapt as much as he could.
Chack ventured further into the wilds, heading east, into his unknown future. His return known only to him and the one he escaped from, and the one he left behind.
But soon, he would gain followers, who would be drawn to him as one of their own damaged kin would be drawn to another of a different virtue.
And unlike in prior times, Chack wouldn't turn away kinship, no matter the shape or form.

1st April, 1008 ANM

The remnant sensed it, as it festered deep in the ruins.
Ever since its whole was taken, where that Ronin recently escaped from, it grew here, animalistic in intellect and hunger, echoing what its true form would say to those who came.
It cursed out what it sensed was a ruined slave it once had along with 6 others, one of seven, that came to ensure it was resealed a month ago.
It saw to try and kill the most despised rival, an insignificant lesser being, of its origin, the Wizard, and all who allied with him, be it those he rescued, or those two disciples that escaped through the lower tunnels, the mare and the strange energy creature.
And yet, as it waited for its master's, its whole's return, it knew the time was soon.
Today, a great harmony was restored to the world, a kind disrupted so long ago. With that, the time was soon, now, or anytime from now, to strike, to eradicate the last threat to true peace in this world. True peace, as the master, their origin, the Savant, saw it.
For now, it waited. It had already waited over a thousand years.
And when their full being was restored, adding the power their own festering grew in their imprisonment here, they would reclaim at least one of seven that their whole had, despite the best efforts of the one who escaped a month ago, unseen by anyone in the world.
The ghost of the Savant waited, the demon hoards that made it up having patience beyond any normal creature. They had waited a while already, and their wait was not much more in comparison.
The greatest changes come with the greatest patience after all.

Author's Notes:

This takes place in the aftermath of events in one of the eventual Volume 3's notable conflict chapters. Aside from that, it just leaves the door open for an eventual Volume 4, though that might not be for a long time.
In the meantime, thank you for reading, and I'll begin working on putting up Volumes 1-3 and a bonus, miscellaneous series of stories I also made.