Author's Notes:

We continue with where we left off last time with our heroes. But on the journey forward, things will be much more difficult for them. Especially when they have a choice to make.

When you are given the choice to save one life... or the lives of many... what do you choose?
-Frost

The military guard of the Abyssinian Kingdom was swift to respond to Nikol’s orders moments after he issued them. Before the first wave of monsters could encroach upon the walls of Panthera, any soldiers who could be able to fight were stationed at the north, east and west gates of the city. Leaving Rain, his companions, Nikol, El and everybody else to occupy the main gate to the south. The tactician’s strategy was that they would have two of them at a time, one of Rain’s party and one of the abyssinian guard, take turns pushing back the monster incursion and preventing them from breaching the city. If one were to exhaust themselves or had sustained injuries, another member of their team could take their place. Which would allow for them to rest or receive medical treatment.

And early on, the plan was working perfectly. However, as the monsters kept coming, there was one problem that they came across. They were coming at the gate much faster than earlier, and to keep the strategy going, some soldiers were forced to step in while they were still fatigued. Making it much harder to hold the front line and to stop them from breaking through, as well as having the members of Rain’s party to work twice as hard. “They just keep coming…” Rain said to himself as he looked at Nikol. “At this rate, there’s no way that we can stop fighting them.”

Nikol thought of this, but didn’t exactly think on it that much. From his point of view, if they kept this up, the enemy would take too many casualties and might withdraw. However, given that their opponent is a swarm of monsters and not another army, he was unsure if they had the intellect to understand what withdrawal was.

But before the tactician could assure the knight that they had everything under control, one of the soldiers that was stationed from another post soon showed up. “Master Nikol, I have a new report from our scouts. More invaders have been spotted in the north and they are slipping through our defenses.”

Despite this being a simple report, one abyssinian did not necessarily take it so well. “In the north!?” El spoke up, which only resulted in a nod from the soldier. “Oh no, Arsha!!”

“El, wait!” Nikol’s words fell on deaf ears though as his younger brother soon rushed back into the city and leaving the front lines. But other than saying words, Rain didn’t see him do anything else to act on that as the tactician returned his attention back to the front.

“Hey! Are you really going to just let him go out there by himself?”

The tactician didn’t even turn to face him, but instead just kept focus on the fighting at the gate as he replied back to the knight. “If I were to go now, then the front line would not hold. And if it is breached, many civilians would die.”

“I get that, but… he’s your little brother.” Rain retorted. “Shouldn’t you do something to help him!?”

“Yes… he is.” Nikol then turned to face the crimson knight, before telling him something that Rain would ultimately be disgusted by. “If you are faced with the decision of either saving one life or a hundred, then you must choose a hundred. That is the creed of the tactician. El knows that just as much as I-”

“That’s nonsense,” Rain’s swift response was one that honestly caught the tactician by surprise given the circumstances. But it was quickly followed up by his response. “You don’t choose one above the others when you are tasked with saving someone. If you have to choose between saving one and saving one hundred, then you save both! That is my creed as a knight of Canterlot!!”

At first, Nikol did not even realize what he was talking about. But as he turned around, that was when he saw Rain draw his blade and charge in the direction where his brother went. His pleas for him to rethink his decision were fallen on deaf ears, like that of his brother, as he grit his teeth. With both of them not being here on the front lines, his concern was that they would not have the strength to hold their ground.

That was, until another knight stepped forward. “Don’t worry, Nikol… I’ll make up for Rain’s absence,” Shining grinned, drawing his blade and stepping forward. “If he’s going to save one life, then allow me to save the hundred.”

Channeling his power through the edge of the katana, Shining Armor looked forward as he stood in the front of the others and prepared his first attack. “Both of us are Knights of Canterlot, after all. And I will not falter here!”

“Arsha! Arsha, where are you!?” El’s panicked cries were met with an eerie silence as he raced through the streets of Panthera. Even though the thought of his brother scolding him for breaking formation was in the back of his mind, he was primarily thinking about where his fiancée could be. The spear he carried held tightly in his paw as he furiously raced over to the northern end of the city and hoped that she was somewhere safe.

His search finally came to an end when he found who he was looking for. Arsha was helping all the Abyssinians who were outside seek shelter and hide indoors, before noticing El as he raced over. “El, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with Nikol at the main gate-”

But before she could have the chance to finish, both of them turned their heads at the sight of monsters that were breaching the northern wall and closing in. They had overpowered the soldiers that were stationed there and now… El and Arsha were the only ones standing between them and the rest of Panthera.

“Arsha, get behind me! I’ll keep you safe!” The soldier ordered. Taking up a defensive stance with his spear at the ready. However, the abyssinian behind him was not quite sure if he can be able to hold them off, let alone fight. And around now was when she voiced her concern.

“A-are you alright? E-el, your paw’s shaking.” She told him, noticing the grip on his weapon and how it looked to have loosened over the last few seconds. Concern began to show on her face as El looked back at the monsters that were approaching.

However, what abyssinians did not anticipate was a certain crimson knight to soon be making his appearance. Dashing forth and striking the first two monsters that jumped towards them. “Rain!? What are you doing here?!”

“Why else?” He replied, looking back at him briefly before returning his attention to the horde of monsters that were still encroaching towards them. “I don’t doubt your abilities or the fact that you can protect Arsha by yourself, but the sooner that we deal we clean up this little mess, the sooner we can hurry back to Nikol.”

El twitched for a moment, just staring at Rain. He was baffled by his words as he looked back at the knight. “‘This little mess’? Do you have any idea what we are up against here? And with you gone from the front line-”

“So? What exactly are you worried about?” The knight then asked him, charging magic through his blade as he sent out a wave of fire at the monsters in front of him. “Don’t tell me that someone who said only a few moments ago that you could be able to defend Panthera without our help is now beginning to doubt himself? Besides, Shining Armor is currently making up for my absence right now. And he’s just as strong as I am. Perhaps even stronger.”

At first, the soldier just stared at him. Silently bewildered by what he was saying as he looked towards the monsters that weren’t far from his position before returning his gaze to the crimson knight. Thinking that he was somehow up to something. “You’re trying to make this sound trivial so I don’t lose my focus… is that what you’re trying to do here?”

“Not at all,” Rain assured the abyssinian. “This is my usual self.”

El just closed his eyes, releasing a small sigh before looking back to the enemies that were closing in on them. Stepping forward and being side by side with the knight as he adopted a stance and regripped his spear. “Hmm… It seems like I owe you an apology for how rude I was to you when we first met,” He spoke as Rain began to ready himself with his own weapon. “Given your position as a knight and your power to summon visions, I guess I was jealous of that. But… now it’s time I was honest. Rain, I’m thankful that you came after me.”

“Thank me if you like, but maybe do so after we get out of this mess.” Rain advised him, his attention focused towards the monsters that were still encroaching towards their position.

“Sounds fair to me.”

With that, both knights charged forth, sword and spear at the ready as they fought the onslaught of monsters that charged towards them. Rain was first to strike the beasts that they were racing, before ducking forward and allowing for El’s spear to pierce another one that was right by them. They continued like this for the first waves of foes that they encountered, until the second wave had the two of them rely on both of their magical abilities. Even going as far as combining them when Rain realized that the stones that he could make with his earth magic can be hidden inside the water magic that El was able to control and launching it at the army of monsters that were in front of the two knights.

The two of them kept fighting this way. Sometimes striking down foes with physical strength while other times relying on their magical abilities to overcome the foes that stood in front of them. No matter what came after them next, the two of them stood firm and held their ground. They had too if the city of Panthera were to still stand, and to ensure the safety of the abyssinians that called this city home.

They fought by each other's side for what felt like hours and by this time, the incursion of monsters began to subside. They had taken too many losses and were now in retreat as Rain placed his blade on his back and looked back at El. “Well, that takes care of that. Let’s hurry back to Nikol and-”

Before Rain could finish his sentence or El could even come up with a reply, several of the soldiers that served in the abyssinian military come towards them. “Master El, sir! Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” He simply replied, before looking to Rain for a brief second as he made a follow up reply. “Because of Rain here, we were able to fend off the monsters that were encroaching from the north. How’s the situation at the gate?”

“Master Nikol was able to hold position at the gate because of the efforts of the unicorn who fought off the monsters.”

That was a good sign as Rain and El looked back at one another as Arsha joined them, before El gave one simple order. “Make sure everything here is secure and the people are safe. Treat anyone who might’ve been hurt. We’re going to regroup with Nikol and figure out what we're going to do now.”

“Yes sir!”

“It seems we managed to keep our home safe… somehow,” Nikol spoke as he looked at everything all around him as the city of Panthera was beginning to slowly recover from the attack that just happened not too long ago. His brother El had returned to the gate, alongside that of both Rain and Arsha as he turned back around to face everyone that was here. “But, it’s only a matter of time until they come back and attack us again.”

“Damn it,” El cursed, gritting his teeth as one of his paws was clenched into a fist. “Why is this all happening now…”

“It must be the waters,” They all heard the water priestess, Luka, speak now as they listened to her. “Their contamination must be the cause of everything. We must hurry to the lake in order to see what has befallen the waters and Leviathan.”

“Wait, you mean the same one that you mentioned earlier right? Lake Katt?” Rain asked for clarification, which lead to the water priestess nodding in response, even though she seemed a bit puzzled as to why he was asking. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not disagreeing with you. But if we bring any of your soldiers with us right now, just moments after the city was attacked, it would only thin Panthera’s defenses and put the city at risk.”

“So, what do you suggest we do then, Rain?” He now heard Luna ask him, before the knight let out a sigh so he can respond to the question as he turned to face Luka.

“Why don’t we escort you there?”

The idea seemed… possible. But in the mind of the abyssinian tactician that was overhearing this, there was still one thing that bothered him. “You still haven’t told us what brought you to Abyssinia in the first place… how am I supposed to trust that you don’t have any ulterior motives?”

“Well, let me tell you then,” The knight responded back. “We want to go to the Ocean Shrine.”

The response baffled that of Nikol as he just looked back at the crimson knight. Puzzled by his choice of words. “The Ocean Shrine? Why?”

The knight just nodded his hand, placing his left hand on his hips as he looked back at the tactician and his siblings before he began to speak again. “Well, this may sound hard to believe, but right now, there’s a mysterious group of individuals that are travelling around the world and destroying the crystals in each of the shrines. They were even responsible for the attack on Canterlot several weeks ago.”

What he said surprised all three of them, but it startled Luka the most. “But the crystal… I placed a barrier around the shrine. It should repel any intruders.”

After hearing this, Rain took a moment to process this new information. Before coming up with a proper response. “Well… that is just another reason to make sure that we keep you safe.”

“I see…” Nikol now spoke up, using a paw to scratch his chin for a few seconds before looking back at Rain and the others. “So these villains that you speak of will also come to attack my sister.” All that the crimson knight did was nod his head in response as both Rain and the tactician looked back at one another. Processing everything that they had just said.

However, it was at this time that Fidget herself got up from the ground and began to speak her mind. “Wait a minute though… wouldn’t that mean that if Luka goes to the lake, we would be playing right into their claws? They would probably be expecting us in order to do that so they can ambush you.”

Even though Luka herself insisted that she had to go, given that it was her duty as the water priestess, a feeling of uncertainty began to wash over Nikol. Even if he hated to admit it, the engineer with the strawberry colored feathers on her head was right. This could possibly be just a trap. Meaning that if the villains that Rain was speaking of were planning to entangle them and throw them off guard, then they would need to prepare their own surprise.

Just as Nikol was about to speak once more, that was when he got a surprise from the most unlikely of sources. El. “Brother, you should go with Luka as well. We will make sure to keep the aquapolis safe from harm,” As he spoke, his fiancè stood beside him and leaned against his side before looking at Rain. “And… you can trust Rain. Arsha and I will both vouch for him. Without him, who knows what would’ve happened to me.”

“El…” Nikol was shocked to hear those words. After going straight out of his way to despise that of Rain and his comrades for coming here, this was a complete reversal from his earlier behavior. Nevertheless though, this lead to the tactician clearing his throat as he nodded his head. “I understand. The city is in your paws, then. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

In order for Rain and his comrades to take Luka to Lake Katt, they first had to venture through the woods that was immediately south of the city. However, unlike the forests that they had traveled through before, this one was much different. The leaves, grass and plant life around them was a golden yellow instead of a pure emerald green. Something that could be an effect of the contaminated waters, but it was not certain.

The monsters that attacked them on their journey were not exactly enemies that Rain and his allies could not overcome. However, Nikol himself might have contributed to this. While they were fighting, he tossed an explosive distraction deep into the forest and had it go off shortly before anymore monsters could find them. In turn, this had the monsters that would be considerably stronger chase after the noise while Rain and Shining quickly made short work of the foes that did attack them.

Once they made it to the other end of the woods, the six of them reached a place called ‘The Aquatic Cove’. It provided them the perfect place to set up camp and temporarily rest as it hid them from any monsters that were outside and provided them a safe place for them to tend to anything that needed to be done on their journey before they were to set off again.

But there was one moment when Luna was informing Luka about their choice to stay for now that felt… odd, to say the least. “Fina, may I ask you a question?”

Confused, Luna tilted her head and simply asked a follow up question. “What is it?”

“Well, to be fair, this question is a favorite one that my brother would like to ask. If you had to choose between saving a single life or the lives of many, who would you choose?” She asked, before smiling as she adjusted the headpiece that she was wearing. “As for me… I really admire the kind souls who would choose a single life over all others. Because those who live here feel that they are bound to the duty of protecting their family. Which is probably the reason why I feel so strongly about this choice.”

Then, came something that Luna did not anticipate to hear. From Luka of all individuals. “If I have to give up everything for the sake of someone else… I rather do so for one special person than for all the creatures in the world,” She said, before moving a paw as if she was implying that it was Luna’s turn to answer. “Do you have someone like that? Someone that you can see as special?”

“You mean… like a special somepony?” Luna asked in response, which only had the priestess nod her head in response.

“Yes, someone that you love that much.”

“L-love!?” Hearing that word sent a massive shiver down her spine and made parts of her fur stand up on end. It was a complex subject to her and one that she had a hard time trying to understand. “I-i don’t know anything about love… I mean… how do you know for s-sure if you love someone?”

“Don’t worry,” Luka chuckled, placing her left paw on Luna’s shoulder as she looked back at her. “When it happens, you’ll know. And it will surely happen, Fina. Someday…”

“D-do you really think so?” The white mage then asked. And the only answer that she got back was an affirmative nod from Luka.

After taking a few hours to rest their bones, everyone packed up the supplies that they brought with them and began to set back out to journey towards Lake Katt. It turned out that the caves not only provided shelter for them, but also served as a shortcut to the lake that would make it easier for them to reach. And surely enough, once they stepped out of the caves, the lake was in sight.

But before they could head towards the center of the holy waters, Nikol had to have an important conversation with them. A plan for what to do if one of the Veritas happened to be waiting for Luka to make her way here the whole time. A plan that required for it to look as if Luka was unaware of anyone else that could be waiting for her. And even though Nikol wasn’t one for having his sister be in the center of harm's way, it was something that had to be done.

The first part of the plan was to have Luka approach the lake. “By the gods, these waters are beyond unclean… I no longer have any choice, but to purify them of this sickness.”

The second part of the plan… wait for the bait to be taken. And surely enough, that’s what happened. “Hehehe… My word, is it really going to be this easy? This almost seems all too good to be true.” A new voice echoed, before a funnel of water began to surge from the center of the lake. The figure was clothed in an azure robe that stretched down to their feet. They were floating at the center of the lake, almost as if they were walking upon it.

The sight of the figure startled Luka, especially by their unexpected entrance. “What?!”

“To be fair, I thought there was a small chance that you would soon happen to arrive if I contaminated the waters. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have thought about doing such a thing,” They spoke again, laughter echoing in their voice before they folded their arms. “And yet, I did not think that you would be so foolish to actually come here.”

In a snap, two killer fish emerged from the lake and were right next to the armored foe as they slowly began to approach Luka. “Apologies in advance, but then again, apologizing after the fact wouldn’t even be worth it. But I’m going to have to kill you now. I’ve been tasked with breaking the barrier on The Ocean Shrine, and I can’t do that if you’re still breathing.”

They moved closer to the shore. Both the armored foe and the monsters that were beside them as it now took this time to introduce themselves. “I am Veritas of the Waters. Fear not, child. I will not harm your face. Die in piece, knowing that your corpse will be heartbreakingly beautiful.”

However, what the Veritas began to notice was not an expression of fear on the abyssinians face but a grin of satisfaction. For she had fallen for the bait. And with it, the third part of the plan starts. Act. “My my,” Nikol soon emerged from behind his sister as he approached her and the Veritas. “Such a simple, yet pathetically obvious plan you have.”

“What-?” Before the Veritas could do anything, both of the Knights from Canterlot emerged from behind two pairs of trees on her left and right side. Rain on the left, Shining on the right as both knights held their blades in their hands.

“Seriously! What a joke,” The crimson knight soon spoke up. “If she was really planning to ambush her, why not use the element of surprise? Why did she have to make it all theatrical?”

“Y-you ambushed my ambush!? Have you no decency?!!”

“Well, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black.” Shining retorted.

“Alright, fine, fine. Besides, I had planned to destroy all of you sooner or later anyways,” The Veritas of the Waters soon retorted. Another snap and more monsters from under the water soon emerged and made their way to the shoreline of the lake. “Allow for these to entertain you while I make some final preparations-”

Before she could even finish, a shower of arrows soon emerged from the trees, striking almost all of the monsters that were closing in on the shore while a secondary blast took down the ones that remained. Both Luna and Fidget were hiding behind both Rain and Shining on standby in case if the Veritas tried to cause a diversion or attempted to retreat. In this case, a shower of arrows from Luna was able to cut down the opposing force down to size while a blast shot from the crossbow contraption on Fidget’s right arm was enough to make short work of the monsters.

Something that the Veritas was not quite happy with. “Seriously? Urgh… How many more of you pests do I have to exterminate? This is getting annoying.”

“Don’t even think that you can be able to just send more of your minions at us and be able to get away. Surrender now, for we have you cornered.” The crimson knight boldly declared, weapon at the ready as Shining held his katana firmly in his hands. Luna was preparing another arrow onto Reincarnation as Fidget reloaded her crossbow, giving off the implication that one move from the Veritas could be a fatal mistake.

“Hah! Me? Cornered? I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you.” As the Veritas moved to the side, every one of them could now noticed the body of a huge serpent swiftly moving under the water's surface.

Something that could only mean one thing. And it was something that Nikol and Luka were shocked by. “N-no… this can’t be…”

“Ah, how good for you two to finally notice.” The Veritas spoke menacingly as the waters of the lake began to ripple more and more. A big splash rose from the center of the lake, and with it, a new threat towered over all of them.

“Leviathan!?” It was indeed the Leviathan, but not the one that Nikol or Luka so deeply worshipped in praise and prayer. Its scales and body were not the same as before, changed by the contamination in the lake. Its red eyes were now a darkened orange and its blue majestic body was now a darkened navy, glaring at them and poised to strike.

“I-impossible! Is the Leviathan being controlled by this black hearted Veritas!?” Shining now shouted.

“H-hold on!” Luna now shouted, pointing towards a spot under the beast’s head. “Something’s oozing out from its neck! Is that… blood?”

Immediately, Rain realized what this could possibly mean. The source of the contamination in the waters was not some kind of magic or spell. It was from Leviathan itself. It’s blood was what was contaminating the waters of this holy lake. And just as Fina began to ponder if there was something they could do to mend the wounds, that was when the Veritas of the Waters spoke again. “What a dear sweet filly you are… but I’m afraid that this is a wound that cannot just simply be healed…”

As the Veritas returned to the center of the lake, not that far from the Leviathan, Nikol noticed the armored villain pull out an object from within the sleeve of their robes. One that pulsed with magic and glowed with magenta light. “No way… that’s the sacred vessel of Paladia! You used such an artifact to harm Leviathan?!”

“Hunh… how well informed you are about holy relics. But I’m afraid the time for compliments and questions has passed,” The Veritas raised its right arm, relic in hand as Leviathan began to rise from the waters of the lake even more. “Come… Leviathan. Let’s bring their journey to an end! KILL THEM ALL!!!”

“Oh Crap-!!” Before Rain could even tell everybody else to take cover, the water esper roared as it turned the ripples in the lave into waves. Sending them forth and crashing them into the shore. Tearing up the ground as chunks of rock collided into nearby trees and sending splinters of wood everywhere. His fire magic couldn’t do a thing in these circumstances either, because if tried to channel any form of flame right now, the waves from the esper can immediately extinguish them.

Shining and everybody else was also having a hard time trying to combat the aquatic esper. But for each one of them, it was a different reason. The unicorn attempted to try and freeze the waves that were coming towards the shore, but Leviathan’s power just ended up turning the frozen chunks of ice into projectiles that shattered everywhere on impact. Luna herself had a hard time trying to stand her ground as the sheer force of the waves kept on making her lose her footing. The same could be said for Fidget, who was also having trouble keeping balance too.

For Nikol though, he could not bear himself to fight… but his reason was more of a personal one. “I-impossible… How can this h-happen?” He grit his teeth, his paw gripping the magical tome that he carried as he looked back at the esper. “As a warden of the water, I did not wish to fight you… But to ensure the safety of our people, I have no choice.”

“Nikol, do you have any kind of strategy as to how we can stop Leviathan?!” Rain now asked the Tactician as he was trying his best to hold his ground. “We’re getting torn apart here!”

The tactician sighed for a moment, before having magic circle around his free paw and raising it above his head. “Barwatera!” Immediately, the magic began to take effect. Rain and his allies soon began to realize that the attacks that Leviathan was trying to hit them with were either blocked or the damage that they would take would be reduced significantly. “There… that should help you significantly.”

“What was that even?” Fidget asked, now that she could be able to not worry about getting blown away by Leviathan’s attacks.

“Green Magic. The magic that both Rain and Shining use is commonly known as Black Magic; used for offensive attacks while Fina uses White magic; mainly for healing. Green Magic is for defense and for assisting allies,” Nikol summarized to them once they all joined back up with him and Rain. “My Barwatera spell increases the resistance we have to water based attacks, but it will only last us for fifteen minutes.”

“And I assume that you have a plan to stop him in less time?” The crimson knight asked.

The only response that the tactician had for him was a sigh as he looked back at Rain, before focusing his attention to everyone else that was nearby. “With your help… I will.”