Sometimes even the worst crimes in life are far too mercical for those who’ve done far worse than most others.

You rested your back against the door seeing a chance to catch your breath after the butcher, who was still on the other side of the door, stopped pounding against it. The butcher was of no concern to either you or Silver as you got a good eyeful at what was in front of you.

Thousands... upon thousands of bodies were piled up and scattered around. Some of the corpses were perfectly whole while others had missing limbs, heads and half torn torsos. Even with all your crazy adventures, you’ve never seen these many dead bodies in one place. What was even more disturbing is that many of them were strung as if they had been executed through hanging. Others huddled together, almost like they had been torched beyond recognition.

You couldn’t take it and ended up tossing your cookies from the horror. After you were done, Silver gave you a look as you wiped the bile from your mouth.

“Damn, monkey. Is this seriously your first time seeing a dead body?” she asked, needing to know if you still had the stomach to continue.

“I’m fine, I just... I didn’t think to prepare myself for the possibility of seeing this many corpses...“

“Well, let me introduce you then... Welcome to Akanami. The village of the forgotten,” she, quite dramatically, motioned her hand to what remained of the former capital of Japony.

Walking through the once magnificent and lively village, you were reminded by your companion that everything was nice and peaceful before Captain Nero appeared with a fleet of ships. The villagers were just ready to call it a night after celebrating a hearty festival when the general and his bloodthirsty army appeared and ravishly decimated the village. In just one night, the fleet had completely destroyed the village and its citizens. Ironically, because the enemy managed to penetrate the walls that were built to protect the capital, the village became a death trap.

Only those who were the closest to the doors were lucky enough to escape Nero’s wrath. That small number of survivors didn’t lighten the mood as you looked around at the hundreds of carcasses.

You had to cover your mouth and look away when it felt like you would puke again. Amongst the skeletons, one of them looked like a mother who died trying to protect the three foals behind her. You knew firsthand that Nero wasn’t above killing children or even babies.

“We’ve made it this far, monkey... Don’t lose yourself over the dead...” Silver told you as a means of respecting the ones who couldn’t be buried.

She didn’t need to tell you twice, given she told you before that she hated to repeat herself. Walking around the countless corpses, you saw an array of different species and occupations. Some of the victims were workers, some were soldiers, but what a lot of them had in common is that they were once innocent souls. A few of them, you presumed from their armor, belonged to Nero’s fleet, and you once again felt sick to your stomach to think about one of the most vile adversaries you’ve ever fought.

Passing by a few more bodies, you halted as another surge of pain coursed through your vulnerable head. Once again, without warning, you heard the voices and screams of the millions of innocent civilians who were murdered like they were right beside you. However, it was even worse than you heard it outside, and despite Silver telling you to be strong, you shed some tears at how many voices were either crying for help, or begging someone to kill them already.

It really did seem like you were going to puke again, not to mention you were getting a nasty headache. You had bad hangovers and migraines all the time, but it was this headache that was painful enough to make you tear up some more that made you fear that your sanity was at stake.

It might be too late to save yourself.

You passed by a few more houses before something tested whatever control you had left of your brain. A shadow was spotted within the light of a small home. Silver shook her head and rolled her eyes as you walked over to the door.

‘Damn it, it’s just he’s a toddler in a candy store. What an idiot.’

Opening the door, your jaw dropped when you found a beautiful unicorn mare in a torn kimono just inches from the entrance. She looked terrified beyond any hope as she held a small knife.

“S-s-stay away...” she trembled, pointing the weapon straight at you. You held your hands out and stayed where you were, just like she demanded.

“Easy, easy. Silver, looks like we’ve got a survivor here!” you called out. All Silver did, however, was shake her head.

It was only natural that the ninja mare’s reaction surprised and confused you, but you got over it. You slowly approached the shivering mare, hoping it wouldn’t invoke any more fear.

“Easy there, miss. I’m here to help,” you assured, going as far as to throw your katana to the ground to prove that you meant no harm. Sadly, she didn’t ease up and just held her knife up higher.

“Miss... what would your name be?” you tried again to ease the tension, but this didn’t work either. Something had scared her out of her mind. You couldn’t tell, but it looked like two figures, possibly foals, were cowering behind her. You figured she was their mother, and she was doing her best to shield them from your very gaze.

You took another step as the mare began to tear up. “P-please... leave... D-don’t... Don’t hurt them...” she begged you as her hand continued to tremble.

“Hey, what’s the hold up?” Silver asked both unamused and impatient.

“Silver, please... At least act like you care for th-” The sentence stopped by just one word when you turned back to the suffering mare. Upon doing so, your vision was hit with a bright red flash and the sound of screaming coursed through your skull. For the umpteenth time, you gripped your head until it stopped.

Once you opened your eyes, you gasped at the new sight. The corpses of a mare and the two foals sitting beside her. A massacre must have taken place in this small house, judging from the dry blood spewed out around like paint.

“W-what the hell... What... What was that?” It felt so real, and therefore... too terrifying to explain.

“So the monkey boy finally got his first death echo,” Silver mused, as your reaction is spot on with being a newbie.

“Death echo?” you asked, having heard what was probably the most confusing part of your trip to the village ruins.

Silver started to elaborate with as much as she knew. From her analogy, a death echo is like a movie reel of how somepony died. The spirits give those who can see them a glimpse of how they died by replaying how they passed on. The first few seconds showed what happened before they perished before the vision was cut off. They keep replaying the images without almost anything to stop them... The only way to fully stop the visions is to give the messengers a proper burial.

But since the village has been in ruins for centuries, Silver was sure this wouldn’t be the only death echo you were going to see.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little ghosty, monkey boy,” she saw another chance to insult you and just had to take it.

Two could play that game. “Yeah, yeah. How about we keep going, planky...” you grumbled.

It was another game of stare. You weren’t normally this childish when it came to working when others — in the rare cases that somepony would call you ‘monkey’ multiple times in the same day, your nerves would ultimately twitch.

You turned back to the family one more time as you left the house. If Silver was telling the truth, you hoped that you would find the chance later on to gather some ponies and give these poor souls respectful burials.

Maybe if you and Silver weren’t so busy bickering... you would have realized that the so-called deserted village wasn’t so deserted.

*several minutes*

‘Jesus, this is hell...’ You and the mare that could barely pass off as a supporting partner continued through, but no matter which corner or trail you took, the results were the same. Burned buildings, trashed decorations and bodies all piled up or scattered around. Some hung from the rafters, others from trees and poles.

You managed to make it to what looked like a fountain square where a long dead tree stood in the middle of a few stores. The journey would have to wait for a few seconds, for in front of you was a large barricade of broken barrels, crates and several planks of wood. Several arrows and weapons were embedded in front as though their owners were trying to break through by any means necessary. Because of how tall it was, not to mention the spikes in the front, there was no going through it from the said direction.

“Given the circumstances, we’ll have to go either over or around-” This time, you remembered that you had remembered your wings, but you crashed back to the ground the moment you tried to take flight. You felt Silver’s amusement from how much of an idiot you looked, laying there on your back.

“My bad, monkey boy. I probably should have mentioned Akanami’s little curse.”

You grumbled and brushed the dirt off your back. “Cursed?” You were starting to think she didn’t tell you anything on purpose.

“I imagine your brain is reaching its limit with all these legends, but a powerful spell was cast by one of Nero’s strongest soldiers during the last war so nopony would fly away. You can imagine it made the hunt much easier. Even though the war is over, the curse is still active,” she explained, looking at the barricade.

“That leaves us no choice than to go around then.” Even though you blamed her for not telling you about the curse earlier, you nonetheless allowed her to help pull you back to your feet.

“Let’s get going, then.”

Through Silver’s suggestion, you decided to go through the market district since it looked like it went around the barricade. You didn’t know how, but you felt another presence as you took this path.

“Hey Silver... Do you feel... like something is watching us?” you asked.

Silver arched an eyebrow. “What crap are you spouting now? Akanami is called the village of the forgotten for a reason. Who would be living here?” she scoffed as she kept walking. “You’re losing it, monkey boy. Let’s get going before you start talking to yourself.”

You growled. “Fill me in, smart-plank. Why is it that you know so much?”

She snorted, but decided to ignore you. Already annoyed, you let her have her little moment as you passed by a few stores.

Further down the district, you found a few more bodies strung about, and it looked like they died trying to protect their shops. Some of them had makeshift weapons as their remains stood in front of their businesses to form some kind of barrier. You were impressed that while the bodies were in piles, most of the site wares were still intact. Of course the crates of food have gone rotten by now, but the said crates were still full as some of the rolls of fabric were scattered around. There was also some trinkets, pottery, and silverware that remained untouched. You even saw several bags of jewels and money.

You approached one of the bags of treasure and reached down to pick up one of the bits. “It’s strange... Those assholes just left all this loot behind when they invaded.” Silver heard you say as you flipped the coin.

They were working for Nero. Ironically for a pirate fleet, all the wealth in the world wouldn’t be able to quench their thirst, as they only wanted one thing... blood...” she stated, as you saw that blood was indeed splattered around the fallen village.

Nero, to this day, was like a brand burned into the back of your skull. Even though you defeated him twice, he still plagued you as the memory of an animal that you used to think could only exist from a fiction story. He, however, was a horror story brought to life.

Tossing the coin back into the pile, you weren’t going to steal even if it was from a village that had long fallen. This was still their gold, and you had to respect that. After your brief stop, your ears caught the sound of the gold shifting. No one was there when you turned around, so you figured it must have just been the wind... but the sinking feeling still lingered.

Walking around, you passed an old dojo where several of the panel windows were ruined. Next door to it was what once was a silk shop, but both establishments had a few skeletal figures strung up. Nero just loved to showcase his victims.

“Don’t think even for a second that Nero only slaughtered Japony residents during his invasion. His mercenaries had it worse than his enemies,” Silver pointed out. Indeed, as she pointed to one of the skeletons, you saw that the armor matched that of the members of Bloodshot’s army.

‘Nero did this to his own crew?’ You’ve had your share of Nero’s cruelty from the conflicts in Aquastria and Saddle Arabia, but now it occurred to you that there must have been instances where even his own soldiers defied in some way and were used as an example. It shouldn’t have surprised you.

“Crew mates who disobeyed even the smallest command suffered this fate...” Silver Blade turned around and looked you dead in the eyes. “Is it really true that you defeated him?”

You didn’t like to brag and when it came to a discussion about killing Nero, you preferred to keep it buried so you won’t have to remember that bastard’s face. You wanted to speak up, but you stopped. Holding a hand out, Silver looked at you puzzled.

“What’s wr-” She stopped mid-sentence as you told her to be quiet.

The feeling of danger grew, and your gut felt it was sinking to the bottom of your stomach. To locate who or what was responsible for getting you so worked up, you morphed your ears into wolf ears, which propped up and twitched during the search for the unknown disturbance.

You didn’t even acknowledge Silver’s asking you what was wrong as you kept your ears up and took a few steps closer to what was left of the Akanami dojo. Just a few inches away from one of the walls, you paused from the small shadow that hung over that same wall.

“Monkey boy, what are you doing?”

Without warning, you sharply reached out into the shadows. It didn’t even take a second, as the moment you reached out, you grabbed onto something. Ripping it away from the shadows, whatever you were clutching thrashed out at you. Like a wild monkey, it began screeching, growling and hissing as you held it right by the neck.

Silver was shocked — this creature was a pure black monstrosity, although it did have several white markings all over its back and arms while several large red spikes protruded from its spine. Its head looked like a cross between a serpent and a monkey, and its hands and feet were covered in spikes that matched its spine, as well as razor sharp claws. Thank goodness you still had your mask on, as it and your armor had enough leather to protect you as the wild creature tried to swipe at you in a desperate attempt to break free.

Holding the creature, you decided not to take the chance of wasting any more time and proceeded to rip through its neck with your gauntlet. Interesting and scary enough, even though your blade pierced through, the horrible animal only let out a loud screech and continued to try and slash your armor off until you couldn’t hold out any longer. As it tried to bite at your mask, you quickly pulled out your tanto blade and jabbed it in the chest before kicking it off of you.

Whatever it was, it landed right on one of the mercenary posts that had broken and fallen off. Even the fresh stab wound wasn’t enough to put it down, and after snarling at you a few times, it did the unexpected...

With one last screech, it... went inside one of the dead mercenaries. Literally burying itself inside the rib cavity, you did nothing but watch as the corpse’s eyes twitched and opened with a bright red glow.

‘Oh shit...’ your jaw dropped as the body shook and shot out one of its arms to rip off their binds before thrashing their legs about to break the chains around their ankles. Now that the rusted shackles were loose, the corpse not only stood up, but looked as though it was really coming back to life. Color returned to its grey skin, the muscles popped back out, and dark grey hair flowed out in a wild manner.

At first the mercenary kept his gaze away, but when he finally did look up at you, he gasped and took a few breaths. He crooked his head from side to side before suddenly taking off after you. Since you were still questioning reality, you didn’t react fast enough as the mercenary jumped and kicked you with both legs.

The force of the kick sent you flying and you landed right inside the dojo. After you stopped rolling around, you had to take a moment to regain your breathing, as it almost felt like you popped one of your lungs from enduring a kick that powerful. Staggering up, you didn’t even realize that the mercenary was crouching inside to look around the dojo.

Like the hungry beast it must have been in life, when the corpse found you struggling to stand up, it charged right at you. You pulled both hands up to protect yourself, only to get whacked right on the side of your head.

Twirling around and groaning from the sheer force of the kick, your mask was thrown to the side as you quickly stood up. Once you were back on your feet, you got into your usual fighting stance and flashed your teeth with a growl.

As you and the mercenary began exchanging blows, Silver, who watched everything, finally snapped out of shock and rushed over to help. She didn’t get far, sadly, before she heard the same screeching noise, after which something fell from one of the posts. Turning around, she pulled out a tanto of her own as another of the mercenary bodies stood before her. It flashed its sharp teeth at her in a smirk before going on the attack.

Back in the dojo, you were able to keep up in dodging and blocking each of the undead mercenary’s attacks. Although the assault was more of a result of raging frenzy than coordinated combat, the relentless strikes made it difficult for you to counter.

‘Shit, this bastard’s fast...’ You tried to perform a roundhouse kick off the wall, only for the agile mercenary to catch and throw you. You were able to twirl your body until you landed on your feet. “Damn, you’re good... for a corpse,” you half-compliment, half-insulted. The mercenary just resumed its assault without a word.

You and the mercenary exchanged more blows — it was becoming more difficult, and with each blow, you wondered if the mercenary could feel anything after having his body restored. You got your answer when you delivered a swift kick to the head, shocked as you watched him stagger before looking up at you.

His jaw was in plain view as it hung off of his face. Panting a little bit, he slowly reached for the lower half and popped it back into blade with one swift motion.

‘Oh god, that’s messed up...’

You managed to dodge another punch, which was a smart choice as the mercenary had gathered enough power in his fists to smash a hole into the wall before he pulled his arm out and took more swings at you. Your body was tired, but you acknowledged the fresh hole and dodged each swing, watching as the mercenary made some more dents and shattered one of the still standing training dummies.

You dodge rolled and found the chance to pick up one of the weapons that littered the ground. Not exactly a pleasant experience, as the katana felt rotten when you picked it up, but it would have to do as the mercenary grabbed a large club-like weapon from off the floor. You examined it and your fuzzy memory recognized it to be a kanabo from the spikes covered with bits of blood. The weapon was bigger than the mercenary, it didn’t even look like he was struggling as he swung it around like it was an everyday baseball bat. You dodged and blocked a few of them, but doing the latter was a mistake and you knew your weapon couldn’t handle such a heavy impact.

“Shit, man... Did you take dead steroids before the fight?” you asked, grabbing one of the shields from one of the dummies. Even though it’s been years since anypony used it, it handled some of the strikes with ease. The situation was basically a stalemate, as neither the shield nor the kanabo could take much more of this. With one last strike, they both gave in to the rust that’s built up over the centuries and shattered.

As the pieces flew by, you had only a few seconds to jump away as the mercenary lunged at you again. Parts from both the kanabo and the shield were embedded in his arm and even his face, but you were lucky enough to keep some of the pieces from hitting your own body.

After being lucky enough to dodge the lunge, you quickly scampered away. It wasn’t a display you were proud of, but you intended to make up for it by grabbing one of the staves from the floor as the mercenary tried to kick you again. It was a miracle that the staff was strong enough to hold out after you used it to block the kick, but it was only for a few short minutes.

With a swift roundhouse kick, the tip of the staff broke off, and you looked down at the jagged end before you were knocked right onto your rear. The force wasn’t as bad as before, but you had to shake your head from the dizziness. You regained your vision in time to watch the mercenary jump right above you without showing any emotion.

The broken staff was still in your hand, and without many other options in this short period of time, you thrust the weapon up into the air. You instinctively closed your eyes as the sound of torn flesh violated your ears. It truly was a sickening sound, so you should be grateful you’ve heard worse.

Opening your eyes again, you found that you were still holding the staff and following it to the top, the jagged end had pierced through the mercenary. He stood still for a second, almost convincing you he was a lifeless corpse again, but then started thrashing to try and claw up your face from above.

‘Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!’ you growled as you stood up. With some force, you picked the mercenary up from the staff and threw him right back to the ground. Slamming him as hard as you could, your magically enhanced strength caused a large dent from where his body laid. Even pinned down, he still tried to claw at you and that’s when you’ve had enough. Since your staff was still in place, you made sure to pierce through the zombie as far as you could.

“Undead bastard... WOULD YOU JUST DIE ALREADY?!” you screamed out and finally finished this nonsense by crushing the mercenary’s head with a hard stomp. Bits of brain, blood, and skull pieces spilled out from the twitching corpse before he finally expired.

You stepped back, panting, hardly able to believe that you survived that. As you took a break, you watched as the mercenary reverted back to its dead form and the creature that took control of it popped out. It twitched and screeched in pain as the jagged end of the staff kept it in place before it finally died. That wasn’t enough drama, as the corpse suddenly caught on fire and disappeared without much trace.

‘Seriously, what the hell was that?’ you wondered, holding your hand over your racing heart. You could feel both how terrified and exhausted you were, and breathed slowly to slow your heart. Suddenly, you remembered something the ninjas gave you before you left for Akanami — you reached into your pocket to pull out a small vial of herbal medicine that helped to calm the nerves. Drinking it, you tasted some juneberries as the mixture did its job and slowed your agitated heart. Good thing too, as your body might not be strong enough to handle all this carnage. Since you made it this far, though, you had to keep moving for Japony’s sake.

After the medicine kicked in, you left the dojo. You didn’t look away from the corpse — you could only hope that he really was dead now that that parasite had been expelled.

Heading back to where you and Silver were separated, you saw that she had her own problems. If you didn’t know any better, however, you’d say this wasn’t her first time fighting undead adversaries. She certainly looked a lot better than you did as she stood over a completely shredded corpse, which reverted back to normal after one of her blades pierced through to spout out the same kind of parasite you killed with your staff back in the dojo.

After the vile creature vanished into what looked like ash, Silver retracted her blade in time to look at you. She was pleased she did so, as she had a new reason to smirk from how you looked worse for wear whereas she didn’t even break a sweat.

“Wow. Did you have fun in there?” she snarked, and you gave her the stinkiest look possible.

“Oh, ha ha! Instead of taking an attempt at standup comedy, why don’t you tell me what the hell those things were?”

Even though she got a kick out of frustrating you, Silver Blade took the question seriously. “I’m not sure, actually.”

“What do you mean? Surely, you must have books and scrolls on such creatures,” you insisted.

Silver shook her head. “Even with all our knowledge of the creatures we ninjas are trained to protect our villagers from, there are still plenty of beasts that we’ve never seen or heard of. Whatever these were, they must have been part of Grogar’s army. Nonetheless, we don’t know what else lurks in this village now that hundreds of years have passed since it fell...”

She had you there. It was near impossible to know all the creatures that Grogar had in his dark army, and even if you killed such a hideous beast, who knows when you would encounter another of its kind? You made a mental note to hit Twilight’s library for demonology when this trip was over.

“Alright, let’s get out of here unless you’d rather stay and wait for another ambush,” you half-heartedly mocked to pass on the message that you didn’t want to be out here anymore.

Even after an exhausting fight, you still had the spirit to talk back to Silver, which annoyed her to no end. ‘That bastard should have knocked some teeth out while he was beating the piss out of you!’ she mentally cried out, hoping this mission would end before she lost it from your smartass remarks.

You took her grumbling as an agreement and hurried up to get to the other side. The walk was much easier and you were able to see the other side of the barricade within five minutes. You were shocked though; the first half was full of spikes, boxes, and other pieces of wood that prevented anyone from going through, but the second half was a different story.

It was another example of Nero’s sick taste of artwork. The remains of several villagers who had been trying to climb over to safety scattered the second half.

‘Bastard obviously didn’t feel anything when he got even the little ones involved...’ you covered your mouth as the horror of another set of innocent lives butchered made your stomach churn again.

“Come on... This is too much, even for me...” Silver whispered as she also felt nauseous from looking at this scene.

Holding back your vomit, you agreed and headed over to the large door. Inserting the key, you tried to turn the lock... but it wouldn’t move.

‘What the hell?’ You tried to turn the key again, but it still wouldn’t cooperate. “The key doesn’t even fit...!” you growled.

“The buck?! Move aside, jackass!” Silver scowled and pushed you away to take over the attempt at the lock.

You took a step back and turned towards the other side as Silver gruntly tried to open the lock to no avail. “Damn it...! Open you piece of sh-” Her cussing was cut short when a loud clanking sound echoed in your ear. She kept quiet and even though she was blocking the view, you knew what just happened.

“You broke the damn key, didn’t you?” you deadpanned.

“Oh buck off my rear! It’s your fault!”

“MY fault?” you protested, looking away then back at her. “Says the bitch with stallion hands!”

Silver gasped before punching you. “Just shut up while I fix this mess...” She walked over and began to fiddle with the lock. Looking away as you held your aching cheek, you heard her trying to work the lock, but it didn’t go well.

You finally got tired of waiting. “You have no idea how to open the lock.”

“Okay, fine! I get you’re pissed at me...” You just gave her a blank look as you slowly pulled out and gave her your tanto.

“What’s this?” she asked, holding your blade.

“My tanto, of course...”

She looks at you with a confused look. “And why give it to me?”

“So you can kill me and spare me any more of your bitchiness!” you wanted to cry as the medicine failed you — your nerves shot out again, and you were ready to either kill or be killed. Anything was better than spending another minute with her.

“Listen, monkey boy. You’re by no means a pleasant companion, but I’m not going to kill you with your own damn weapon!” She tossed the tanto on the ground... and a surge of pain courses through as your tanto landed right on target.

You withheld the urge to scream in both pain and rage as Silver didn’t hear the sound of metal on stone. She slowly looked down, hoping she didn’t hit what she think she did.

“...That hit your foot... didn’t it?” she was almost afraid to ask.

*few minutes later*

‘F@#KING BITCH!’ you screamed in your mind as you finished bandaging your foot. Somehow, you still had all your toes along with the modern medical equipment to help stitch and bandage your foot, but you were still pissed off. Sure, it was stupid to give Silver the weapon, but you couldn’t have known she would have thrown it down on your foot.

The ninja apprentice looked away as you finished tending to your wound. You were so glad that you packed some strong painkillers and that the blade hadn’t pierced you all the way through. Last thing you needed was to perform more foot surgery on yourself.

“So how are we supposed to get through when you broke our only key?” you asked, but Silver kept quiet. She kept her gaze on a single path from the door, and actually started... shaking.

“I know one way... but I can’t...”

You tilted your head as you stood up. “Can’t? What do you mean ‘can’t’?” You reached out to her, but Silver pushed your hand away.

“Look... I don’t know how you know so much about this village, but you obviously know another way. If it means getting on the other side, what have we got to lose?”

Without warning, Silver’s urges were sparked as she reached out and grabbed your shirt. She brought you close so she could stare deep into your eyes. Her own eyes are what caught you off guard... Red and filled with tears, she kept you close as she maintained her iron tight grip.

“DON’T YOU DARE EVEN TRY TO COMMAND ME TO DO WHAT I DON’T WANT TO! I WON’T DO IT, DO YOU HEAR ME?!” she screamed out.

Even with her yelling and spitting in your face, you stayed quiet and let her voice out her anger. Whatever she was feeling, it was deeper than you could imagine.

She slowly simmered down and let you go. “I... I don’t want... I shouldn’t be here...” she sniffled and looked down at the floor.

You were now certain that she knew something about this village. You didn’t know how much, but somehow from the way her reaction, hell from when you walked through those gates and down the field, you could sense something more. It almost felt like deja vu to her as despite her strong will, a built in trauma was preventing her from wanting to go on.

You really wanted to speak out and comfort Silver as you wondered what secrets she was holding onto, only to hear what both of you had been dreading.

The doors before you... You heard a loud explosion from the other side. Looking over the horizon, you saw a large amount of smoke emerge near the large gate that leads out of the village. Even from this distance, you could feel the tension in the air as a loud shriek and iron hooves clopping against the stone floor persuaded you to shiver.

‘Shit! Shit! SHIT!’ you started to panic as the shrieks grew louder. Instantly, you watched several buildings break down as the Butcher stormed through. As if she were a raging bull let loose, anything in her path was immediately destroyed.

“SILVER WE NEED TO GO!” you grabbed Silver, who was just as scared as you. Lost in her own thoughts, you tried to shake her back to her senses. She didn’t budge, even with how hard you shook her front and to.

“HEY! WE NEED TO MOVE! SILVER!” you shouted out as you search for anything you can use or a place to protect yourselves. Looking around you spot something just a few inches from where you stood.

It was a temple of some kind with a well in the middle. You were up to take anything at this point.

“Silver, see that temple over there? We can-” you didn’t get to finish before Silver pulled back. The mare who had been fearless up to now, was now shaking her head and trembling like a frightened child. Something about the temple you pointed out seemed to trigger some horrible memories, and she began to hyperventilate as she stayed where she was.

In this state, Silver would be easy pickings for the Butcher if you left her here. You didn’t want to have to do what you were about to, but you didn’t have a choice.

“Sorry...” you said before your hand connected with Silver’s head. She stumbled back a bit as you placed her over your shoulder. Racing over, the Butcher broke through the barricade and her spear passed just inches from your forehead. Slamming into the second gate, you ran towards the temple.

It was easy to get to while the Butcher was picking herself up. Unlike with so many of the other Akanami buildings, the inside of the temple was completely empty without a single corpse in sight. Paying attention to the middle of the temple, you saw a large shrine next to a Buddhist statue.

You set Silver down as you fumbled through your stuff. Grabbing some of the remaining incense and salt, you tried to light up some of the former. You could hear the Butcher’s hoofsteps growing closer as you tried to light up the incense.

‘Come on! Come on!’ you wanted to beg out loud as the matches still refused to cooperate. The surrounding air grew colder as you tried your hardest to light a match. Finally, you got a flame just as the butcher arrived right outside the doorway.

Lighting the incense, the shrine was illuminated in an amazing light that showed that some tinder was still inside after so long. The light burned so brightly before it changed color in front of you.

Just like the shrines you lit up on the way over to Akanami, the red and orange embers quickly changed to blue and silver. Sparks flew as the air around suddenly return to normal you can breath a fresh air as silver markings began to form all around the temple. The markings you weren’t able to transcribe but you can recongnized some being the slips of writing on the blessing slips you gotten from one of the ninjas.

The markings traced all around till they stopped at the door, the Butcher extended her hand, only for the markings to surround the doorway. Once the entrance was covered by a blue light... the Butcher disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Collapsing to the ground worn from all this excitement, you finally passed out yourself. It was something you needed after such a scare.

*time passes*

Silver stirred from her sleep with some moans and held onto her head. ‘Damn that monkey...’ She rubbed her temple as a headache courses through her whole skull.

“Awake, I see. Please forgive me for the rough treatment,” your voice proceeded to annoy her as she glared at where you sat, sharpening your blade.

“You asshole...” she snarled as she stood up. “Where did you take...?” she was about to ask, but shuddered when she realized on her own where you had brought her.

You were right in front of the temple. Everything from the pillars and totems that lined the walls to the candle stands as well as a few candle stands that surrounded the temple brought nothing but bad memories to Silver. However she was more calmer then before as she tries to surpress her memories.

“Did... Did you actually save me?” she asked.

“Well, yeah... I couldn’t exactly leave you to become the Butcher’s next meal.” You stopped sharpening your blade to stand up and walk over to Silver. Taking a seat beside her, the two of you sat in silence, unsure of what to say. You did have a general idea on what to ask, but... at the same time, you were tongue tied on what would be best in this situation.

Thankfully, she finally spoke to break this stifling silence of indecisiveness.

“So... you really want to know my story, huh?” she asked with a tone that was so low that you couldn’t tell if she was whispering by choice or if her throat was dry. You nodded and pulled out a waterskin to offer to the kunoichi. She gave you her thanks and took a sip.

“What is this place and... who are exactly?” you asked as everything seemed way too obvious. From the very start, she knew more of this village than any other traveler, which was supported by how Yama said that the majority of those explorers never came back.

Silver kept staring at the remnants of the village. The air in this environment was light, but she felt like she was suffocating the longer she looked towards the dead capital.

“There’s a good reason... why I know so much about Akanami...” She swallowed a lump in her throat and turned to look at you. “It’s because... I was here when they attacked.”

One might think nothing would surprise you after all your adventures, but your mind went blank from her words. “How... How is that possible?” you asked, as you remembered that the invasion began hundreds of years ago.

Silver only looked down as she turned to the entrance. “I don’t blame you as even Grandmaster Yama was shocked, but... it’s the truth.”

Looking outside, Silver recalled how her life was destroyed when her village was attacked without any kind of warning. She was just a 6-year-old filly, helping her mother and father clean the temple. Everyday some folks come to worship and pray at the shrines as they ask for blessings for their or their families traveling out of village. The walls around protected the village for years and while the war rage on thousand of miles away they always were able to accept new folks who flee from the war.

Many of these new folks had lost everything as only the clothes on their backs is what they had. A few would carry some bags of stuff such as food or some trinkets but its rare. She had seen many families come to the temple some to beg for food while others pray for their loves out there are still alive.

She and her older sister, Golden Sceptre, who was training to be a guard had always protected her family for as long as she can remember... Sadly though she couldn’t predict the outcome of what happened next.

She remembered how everything at the time seemed perfect. How her family was getting ready for the new blossom festival, which celebrates the coming of the cherry blossoms blooming for a new spring. Without any precaution, it all fell apart when the village festival came under attack. It was burned into Silver’s mind how horrified she and her family were as they watched fire rain down from the sky, followed by innocent blood spilling onto the streets. She lacked the power she had today, and could do nothing but watch as mercenaries raced through to slaughter her fellow villagers and ransack their homes for more victims.

Golden Sceptre had always been protective of Silver and their parents and did all she could to save them, but she was greatly outnumbered. In the midst of the chaos, their mother told them to run and showed them a way out of the village while she and their father stayed behind to protect the temple and save at least a few of their villagers.

That was the last time Silver ever saw her parents. She and Golden did what they were told and escaped through the passageway as Akanami burned down. Unfortunately, she went on about how they weren’t safe yet because the butcher, the same beast who had hunted you down on the way to what now remained of Silver’s home, was patrolling around for anyone who might have escaped the village.

The Butcher didn’t care if her prey were children and took after the sisters the moment she spotted them. Golden did all she could to fight back, but she was swiftly overpowered and Silver was right there to witness as the older sister who she looked up to was slashed across the back. In spite of the fatal injury, the 6-year-old filly didn’t want to say goodbye, and was only convinced to do so when Golden pushed her away with her blood-soaked hands.

With no choice but to run, tears fell down the powerless foal’s cheeks before she knew it. She didn’t look back, but Golden Sceptre’s screams rang behind her, followed by the daunting sounds of flesh ripping and bones snapping. Once the gory sounds stopped, she ran even faster, as they were replaced by the sound of hooves chasing after her.

Not once did the traumatized filly look back as she ran faster than she even knew she was capable of. She was only inches away from the temple gate, and only after she made it through did she fall forward and finally pass out.

Back to you in the present silver stops for a second as you let her take a breath. Hearing her story sends both feelings of empathy but at the same time more shock as to what she had ot witness. She was only a small foal and she witness death and destruction around including the death of her sister. To her it really must have took a toll on her.

“Next thing I know, I was waking up in front of Grandmaster Yama...” she states as she finishes her story. She begins on after waking up grandmaster yama found her while on his travels. “You can imagine his face, all full of questions as to where I could have come from.” She told him her story which he almost didn’t believe but when she tells her what she remembers it convinces him. She then asks where is she which she learns she isn’t home anymore….. In fact she’s far into the future from when her village was attacked. How she arrived she doesn’t even know how or why. Only her and her master know of her past. None knew, well….. except you.

She leaned against yourr shoulder as fresh tears stain your shirt. You don’t mind as you let her use your shoulder to rest on. After telling her story you and silver use the time to regain your strength. You wrap your arms around her as you pull her into a hug.

“I’m….. i’m sorry….. For what you had to go through” you hugged her tight as normally it wouldn’t be enough for what she’s gone through but for now it’s a start. She is a bit surprised on the sudden hug as for just a moment she slowly cries in your arms. Being tough is one thing but being tough all the time won’t suppress the memories and tragedies she went through.

You know the fire will stay on for a while and you both should rest up before you can continue through. As you and silver got ready to sleep it off she cuddles beside you as you were a bit surprised at the new attitude she is giving but you couldn’t help but smile as silver holds you close.

“Thank you...”

*the next morning*

It was fairly early in the morning when you and Silver managed to wake up. For a terrifying village, the sun was surprisingly in clear view as you took a step out. Apparently, a looming shadow of sorrow had always covered the village sky. Your presence had suddenly changed that... You took a step out of the temple as the sun’s warmth gave you new vigor and popped the joints in your refreshed body.

Silver, too, was amazed — she honestly thought she would die before she saw the beautiful sun in a village that haunted her to this very day. She would have to thank your sun raising lover later. Looking around while the city stayed as it was, it was clear that something had changed.

The realization hit her like a brick as she turned to the temple and the large shrine that sat in the middle. You followed suit, remembering how you lit all the small shrines on the way to Akanami for protection, but this larger one... felt like a whole other league.

Walking over, you could feel the warmth from the shrine as Silver lit some incense and began praying. You joined her, asking whatever Japony deity responsible for keeping you safe on this trip for a safe trip to the sword.

“Let’s get going before the Butcher finds us,” you stated in a somewhat forceful manner. Silver nodded, and you hoped that meant the two of you could find a way to work together now.

“Come on, I know a way to get past the gate.” She grabbed your hand and took the lead again. Passing a few corridors, you saw that the temple, surprisingly, was in better condition compared to the rest of Akanami. A fact that remained even as you passed a dinner table that still had gotten food looked to be preserved in time.

You did pass a room in which you spotted two figures covered in sheets, outlining the bodies that had been put to rest with a small flower placed on top of them both. After Silver Blade opened the door next to the covered corpses, you walked into what looked like another mini dojo where in the corner was a small hatch next to a chair.

Upon opening it, Silver stopped to have another flashback. She remembered the day her parents and her sister raced inside and closed the door. How her father grabbed whatever weapon he could find and her mother opened the latch of the trapdoor, telling them to get inside.

She had kissed both of her daughters goodbye telling them not to look back no matter what. Silver, who begged for her mother to come, could only cry as her sister dragged her away to safety.

“Silver... SILVER!” you shouted out hoping to snap herself out of her trance. This time, your voice got through to her and she blinked a couple of times after she came back to the real world. Now that she could hear and see you, you reached out and grabbed her hand. Holding it tight, you gave a reassuring smile to show her you were here for her.

She didn’t have to say anything — you knew from her smile that she had a new level of faith in you as you entered through the trapdoor and closed it.

You discovered that the pathway split into three sections. One path to the right, one behind you, and another facing the left. Silver studied the passageways and remembered how it was her father who made these paths in hopes they would have a way to get in or out of the village. Of course, that was years ago.

She relayed this information to you, and you naturally asked if she remembered which path she escaped through. Silver had to look around before she got an idea. Looking closely, she burned some more incense to light up one of the wall torches and surveyed the paths.

In one of the paths, she spotted a small item on the floor, covered in dust and grime from years of being underground. She picked it up and you walked over to see what she was now holding.

It was a small doll of a multiple tailed fox known in the Japanese mythology back in the human world as a kitsune, complete with a beautiful white and red kimono. You wondered after meeting all those talking vixens who guarded the shrines if a kitsune actually existed in this reality.

Either way, the doll obviously had sentimental value to Silver, who rubbed its small face as another memory surged. After she and her sister, Golden Sceptre made it down here, they stopped to check the map their father provided them. With it, they succeeded in finding the path that led back outside, but when Golden grabbed Silver’s hand to pull her to the direction of the exit, the latter accidentally dropped her favorite doll. Since they were in such a hurry and treasured their young lives, the poor girl never got the chance to go back for the stuffed kitsune.

You said nothing as your companion lost herself in her memories and pocketed the doll before looking at the other two paths to find some symbols above. Her father had taught her how to read these symbols, and though they were deformed after years of neglect, Silver examined them carefully and felt rewarded when she figured out what they meant.

“This way,” she said.

You followed through as the corridor, though long and narrow, at least felt safer than what was above. Some roots dug into your head and clothes as you continued down this passage, but they, unlike some of the rocks that also blocked your path, were easy to push away. Thankfully, contrary to what you read in a Daring Do book, the tunnel didn’t shake as you pushed the rocks, but you did receive an unfortunate greeting from the local spiders that clambered around.

With Silver still leading you by your wrist, it felt like you had been traveling down this corridor for hours without a chance to rest or look back. Fearing what was behind or above you, you couldn’t help thinking you may never find the exit. You finally buried those naive thoughts when you found a trapdoor and a ladder leading up to the shining light above.

“Thank my sweet Celestia! Let’s get out of here!” you rejoiced.

While you were glad that you found the exit, you and Silver had to proceed slowly so as not to attract any unwanted attention. The ninja mare climbed out first and once you were both outside, you surveyed your new surroundings.

It was truly breathtaking. Here, you looked to find you were in a beautiful genshie garden. It was like time had stopped — nothing looked to be out of place as you stepped into the garden that was growing with green whereas the rest of Akanami had been burned to a crisp.

“This is the temple’s genshie garden. It bears repeating that this is where the silver kitsunes once performed their rituals to the gods,” Silver stated as you scanned the garden.

“Kitsunes? You’re saying they’re real?” you asked.

Silver did her best to keep it short and simple. Kitsunes were indeed real, and before Japony was founded, these powerful beings roamed freely, owing their power to their connections to the spirit realm. However, it was said that the silver kitsunes were the rarest and most powerful of them all. Believed to be guardians of the passing souls, they watched over all the temples and shrines that were built. But for unknown reasons, they disappeared and no creature has seen one ever since. If the legends are true, they left to protect their magic when Grogar began roaming the lands.

You looked over the yonder of the garden to see another gate, which Silver pointed to. “The weapon you seek is beyond this gate.” After all the shit the two of you went through, the feeling of relief was mutual.

“Finally! Let’s get it an-” Fate decided to make a fool out of you once again when a threatening swishing sound echoed in your ear.

Knowing what you were picking up, you pushed Silver away to barely dodge as a large spear flew down in your direction. Again, you only barely avoided it, as some of your clothing was ripped open along with the skin it covered. You held your arm with a pained gasp, grasping where the spear had sliced you.

You ever so slowly turned around to where the spear had been thrown. Several figures dressed in mercenary gear were smirking as they held out katanas and other various weapons out. Lust for blood filled their eyes as they drooled like wild animals.

‘The HELL?! Have they been here this whole time?! How’d they get past the gate?’ you thought, still holding your wound. The sight of blood flowing down your hand only got the mercenaries more excited as they approached you.

“General Bloodshot informed us that you brats were trying to get the ancient treasure. And since you did such a great job blessing the village, we can go ahead and kill you and get the sword for our master!” the group leader gloated.

After wrapping up your wound, your hands were free to hold out a weapon, which only made the mercenaries laugh again.

“Do you really think you can stop all of us?” the leader mocked as he and his cronies brandished their own weapons.

Counting only 10 mercenaries, you figured you could handle them with Silver by your side. Sadly, though, that wasn’t the case. The leading mercenary whistled through his fingers, and instantly, a loud explosion echoed behind his group. They didn’t flinch or stop drooling as splinters of wood flew past them. On the contrary, both you and Silver had to cover your eyes as the smoke filled your vision.

Once the dust cleared, you bit your lip in frustration to see that there were even more mercenaries now. Practically in the face of an army, you and your ninja companion took a step back from the unfavorable numbers. The mercenaries sensed your tension and slowly walked forward, pointing their weapons at you.

Outnumbered and running low on time, you were well aware that fighting was a stupid idea. Silver couldn’t agree more, and this was a mare who enjoyed fighting.

The leader couldn’t contain his savagery any longer and charged at you with his army following suit. You knew damn well that in this situation, it was best to retreat for now. However, you didn’t get far running to the opposite side before one of the mercenaries from behind let out a blood-curdling scream.

Looking back, you were just as stunned as Silver at what just happened. The leader, who was right in the middle, had suddenly dropped to his knees as blood pooled around his crazy mouth. He tried to move his hand, but a few twitches was the best he could do. Looking above where his head was, you tilted your own head when you saw something protruding from the top. A hilt of some kind.

The lead mercenary gargled more blood before he slumped down. His eyes rolled back as the hilt began to stir. Without warning, a light blue aura formed around it before it slowly lifted up.

You almost gagged as the sword slowly pulled out, causing blood to spill out as the blade made it all the way through the mercenary’s skull. After the sword was pulled out completely, the leader flopped dead as the killing blade levitated in front of you. Still brandishing your weapons, a bright light appeared from the floating sword. You were blind for a couple of seconds, but when the flash died off, you looked to see who had just arrived.

Holding the sword that had claimed the mercenary boss’ life was a beautiful red maroon and golden colored vixen with multiple tails and a white kimono. Silver Blade recognized the fur colors, as there was only one individual with such a color scheme.

“Empress?”

You turned to Silver. “Wait... Empress?” You looked back at the vixen, or rather, after you took the multiple tails into account, the kitsune as she stood silent at the mercenaries. They had been laughing during the chase, but now they were showing their true cowardly selves as they looked down at their dead leader.

The kitsune decided to take the chance to turn around. You found yourself captivated, as her beautiful features far surpassed the vixens from the shrines. Her eyes were closed, but you figured she must take good care of herself to have such a slim figure. She opened her magnificent eyes to reveal that they were different colors with the left being a forest green that matched a shiny emerald, and the right a blue that was as calm and gorgeous as the Japony mountain sky.

“Ah, Silver Blade... It’s been a long time, dear.” Silver joined you in blushing and frantically bowed to the kitsune empress. She turned to you while you were still trying to recover the shock left by her beauty, and you joined Silver in bowing when your eyes met hers.

“My apologies... I’m...”

“His Equestrian Majesty... Even under these circumstances, it’s truly an honor to finally meet you. Your reputation has never ceased to amaze me,” the kitsune praised and put a clawed hand to her bust. “I do hope we didn’t come at a bad time.”

“We?” you asked. Soon enough, there were more flashes of light and when your eyes had their share of abuse and recovered, you saw roughly a hundred warriors now surrounding the kitsune leader. It wasn’t just ninjas and samurai, but civilians had taken arms too.

The mercenaries had already stopped laughing and were taken aback by the large number. They had been too arrogant to imagine that this many civilians could be convinced into finding the spirit to oppose them.

The empress smiled again as she looked upon her army. Her sword glowed as she pointed it at the psychopaths. “Since you are new to my humble country, let me properly introduce myself.” The blade glowed even brighter as she showed off her power. “I am Empress Hikari. The great and beautiful ruler of all of Japony.”

You were taken by surprise, as you’ve heard of her from Celestia, but you never met her during any of your royal meetings.

“Your Highness, what are you doing here? How did you bypass the curse?” Silver asked.

Hikari gave you a small explanation as to what happened last night. Apparently when you lit up all those shrines, the curse that’s plagued this land was lifted. Many of the civilians didn’t feel sick anymore when entering the forbidden area. Some even went forth and made it to Akanami with ease.

However, it was the temple that was the final piece in dispelling the curse. The said temple sat on an ancient artifact that covered all of Akanami. When you lit the temple shrine and prayed, the curse that had been haunting Akanami and a few of the villages beyond was finally broken.

However, Bloodshot had also gotten word that the curse was broken and sent his mercenaries to retrieve the sword. Hearing you were going after it, he had hoped his thugs would kill you and bring the ancient weapon to him. Fortunately for you, Empress Hikari has some spies of her own.

Immediately after she learned the curse was no more, she reached out to her subjects for help. She knew, of course, that her royal soldiers were always ready to fight for her, but she also enlisted many citizens who were tired of bottling up their hatred and anger.

“I’ve never expected so many to join in the fight,” she confessed, and it almost seemed like she wanted to cry. “My subjects here must really respect you. It would be a lie to say I was simply impressed.” Hikari then looked over to her side as one more flash of light appeared. Beside her was none other than the same centaur who sent you here.

Now, you were proud at how many civilians found the nerve to join the fight, but there was still the question of how Hikari knew you were going for the sword.

Empress Hikari flipped the fur on her head so it was out of her eyes. “Grandmaster Yama told your beautiful empress here everything as to what happened to the hotel. He was a bit skeptical of you at first, as was I, mind you, but...” She stopped to clear her throat. “But once he saw your intentions, he quickly sent a letter to me before you had left.”

From what she said, it seemed inevitable to go after the ancient weapon that could stop Bloodshot, but the chances were minimal at best. Even with these slim odds, the empress, along with so many of her subjects, was inspired to take arms and storm their tormentor’s base. It took a reasonably persuasive letter to convince Hikari to join the battle. She read through it many times, getting second thoughts since her subjects’ safety came first. Not to mention, she couldn’t immediately believe a newcomer who knew so little of Japony could do what so many others couldn’t. It wasn’t until after she saw and heard about the curse being lifted that she decided to act.

You were so grateful to her for coming to your rescue as the mercenaries you had turned you back to screamed out in rage. Even without a leader, they still wanted to taste some blood.

Empress Hikari’s tails swished as she looked around with her ears standing up and called out for all the mercenaries to come out. As she suspected, more of these maniacs came into view around the village, but the numbers didn’t matter to the strong-hearted kitsune.

Holding her sword out she raised her tails out as embers burst out from the tips of her tails. “Go... Find the sword while we dispose of these animals.” Her magic glows brighter just standin behind her you can feel the fires burning within her own soul. Her magic felt so powerful as you hope to never piss her off.

‘This level of magic is incredible... She’s almost as strong as Nero...’ your face went pale as your jaw dropped.

“If you’re so confident the weapon that rejected so many others will choose you... then go get it.”

Nodding, you and Silver watched as Hikari’s army charged right at the mercenaries. The sound of weapons clanking against one another rang as you raced to the other side.

You were forced to stop at the door, which, as you figured, was locked and you didn’t have the key to open it. You both looked around before Silver’s eye sparkled and she found and pointed to a large hole that was just inches away from the door.

Seeing the opening, you helped Silver climb up into the hole, after which she helped you get in. Pulling yourself up, the two of you slipped through with ease. You landed on the other side, but you lost your footing as you found out on the other side that you were hanging over a large cliff.

While Akanami wasn’t so high compared to Grandmaster Yama’s mountain dojo, it was enough to dull your face color. Silver was quick to remind you that you could fly now that the curse had been lifted, but you honestly preferred the ground.

Once your bearings were back you looked towards where the entrance lays. In just a few feet across a merky and possible unstable bridge lay a small temple shrine.

“There it is... Damn...” Silver was truly fascinated, as even though the village had been decimated, the garden and the temple were untouched by the war. You smiled with her, overjoyed that you finally made it.

You both took a step back but stopped as you stare at the bridge. Though it looked untouched the rope and boards looked wethered and possible wouldn’t be able to handle the weight from behind unused for so long. The natural elements had rotted everything and you both decide to take a different approach. You let Silver climb on your back as you spread your wings out and flew across. The air felt surprisngly cold and strange clammy as a small fog settles around the small island temple.

“You know... you surprised me, monkey. Even after all that running from the Bucher, the death echo visions, the corpse demons, and coming in sudden contact with an army of psychos, you kept your cool,” Silver praised, making you chuckle.

“Yeah, let’s just say my life has been quite an adventure. It’s like I’ll never catch a break.”

“Well we’re almost there... Just hold out a bit longer, okay stud?” she laughed, holding you tight.

‘Stud...? That’s her first time saying that...’ You were somewhat shocked that she was changing some more, but you figured she was just happy that someone was here for her. You were almost completely convinced that you could bury your rivalry for good and focus on working together.

In a matter of seconds, you and Silver walked over to the shrine. What you sought was right in the center...

The sword.

While the temple stood tall, just like the sword, it looked like the natural elements had taken its toll on them. Approaching the blade, you and your kunoichi companion stopped when you heard the fighting that was occurring in the garden. It sounded like the battle was growing intense, and you didn’t want to wait for one of the mercenaries to find a way over here.

Walking over to the sword, you slowly reached out and grabbed it. The shaft of the blade felt slimy because of the mold growing all over it. You gasped and shook it a bit as spider webs, beetles and even what looked like a large brown like centipede circled around the shaft towards your hand.

Shaking off the bugs, you got a hold of yourself and looked around to see if there were any more pests.

“Well, open it. Let’s see if the blade is better than the shaft,” Silver urged as you nodded.

Since there were no more bugs to freak you out, you grabbed the handle and tried to pull the blade out. It didn’t budge. You pulled harder, but it still remained where it was.

‘Oh, COME ON! After all we’ve been through?!’ you growled like a wild beast and strained as you tried harder to pry the weapon out of the moldy shaft.

Silver saw how much trouble you were having and joined in. “For crying out loud, we’ll do it together.” Even though both of you pulled on the sword with all your might, you didn’t get any results.

It was a real mystery. Despite the sword’s age and your alicorn-enhanced strength, some unknown force refused to release the sword from its shaft.

Silver, sharing your exhaustion and frustration, popped a few joints as she looked at the sword. She remembered it from her childhood when her father brought her to the shrine to pray, but she’s never seen it out of place. Though, in fact, she knew nothing about the sword until her master told her the stories of its power. Such a shame he neglected to mention to either of you how to pull it out. As you and Silver stared at the sacred weapon, each of you failed to notice a red mist loom behind you.

Knowing the weapon must be stuck you held it out wondering how to get it out. “Maybe if we bring it back to the clan they c-” You stopped mid-sentence as something caught your breath.

More specifically, you felt a great chill loom over your entire body; you could see your own breath from how cold it had gotten.

Silver, who felt the same chill, gasped in fear as the feeling grew closer almost like it was standing right behind you both.

You both were stuck in position as neither of you wanted to turn. Alas, you couldn’t help yourself as you turned your head slowly behind you.

The Butcher... was still here... looking down at you both in her demon form. She didn’t say anything, but slowly raised her sack over her head.

As the sack was raised, you and Silver managed to snap out of shock and got out of the way as the Butcher brought the sack down. The force shattered the whole temple where the sword was held, scattering everything around and over the cliff. You rolled away just in time, holding the sword you looked up as the demon lifted her sack over her shoulder.

“HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!” you shouted out, unable to conclude how the Butcher was still here if the curse was gone. You figured that since the city was lifted then the demon would have disappeared, but that evidently wasn’t the case.

Silver, who managed to stand up, was just as shocked at the sight of the demon, who looked at both of you then turned to the kunoichi. She didn’t react as the Butcher disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Shit...! Where did that bitch go?” Silver frantically scanned her surroundings. You, too, searched around for the Butcher. She was fast for her size, but after looking around, you gasped as you spotted her... right behind your teammate.

“SILVER BEHIND YOU!” you screamed out.

She heeded your warning and saw the Butcher pull her mighty axe back. Before she had much time to process the situation or even pray her armor could withstand the blow, the hilt of the Butcher’s axe connected to Silver’s stomach. Her armor did hold out, but the force sent her flying over.

Flung to the side, Silver was thrown across the small island. She rolled around and as she finally stopped near the edge of the cliff, her head and right arm hung over as most of her body was just inches from the edge.

She didn’t move nor respond when you called her name. She just laid there and you couldn’t confirm if she was unconscious or worse.

You raced over to help her only to be stopped as the Butcher blocked your path. The twisted creature, ready for war, held her axe close to her chest, beating against it as she let out a sickly loud roar.

“Have it your way... LET’S GO!” you shouted out in rage. You put the weapon on your back as you pulled out your katana.

Rushing forward with the blade in hand, you were able to handle some of the Butcher’s attacks, but the demon was on a completely different level than the undead mercenary you fought the other day. Somehow, you saw that her attacks were more precise as she tried to aim for your head, but the slashes... seemed to be getting weaker.

Almost like you were up against a regular opponent, you saw that the Butcher was actually panting like she was out of breath, and yet, she kept on attacking.

‘The hell? What’s wrong with her?’ you wondered as you tried blocking another swipe to the head. Even in this mysterious exhausted state, the mercenary managed to knock the katana out of your hand this time. You raced over to retrieve it, but the butcher slashed the ground, sending it over the edge.

“Dammit...” you grunted as you barely dodge a slash from behind. You pulled out your tanto and honestly felt ashamed at how small it was compared to the Butcher’s axe. Not the best weapon, but it was all you had.

Things were really taking a turn for worse — you tried to thrust your blade at the Butcher, but even though her own attacks were real, whenever you slashed at her body, your blade just passed through it like she was made of water. She let out a hideous laugh at how feeble and weak she was making you look as you struggled to locate a solid surface in her form.

‘Dammit... DAMMIT!’ You tried a few other items you had on. A few black powder bombs, some shurikens, even using some the exorcism talsmins, it was all futile.

The joke got old for the butcher. As you parried another attack, she swung her heavy bag right at your exposed chest. You couldn’t stop the force, as you braced yourself from the impact. The bag felt like getting hit by something extremely heavy like a sack full of rocks as you were flung straight back.

You crashed right against a large tree that hung against the edge of the cliff and slid down as the pain coursed through your tired body. It felt as if the force might have... No, scratch that. The force has definitely broken your ribs. At least some of them.

‘Oh, f@$k...! Yup... There go my ribs...’ You rubbed your burning chest while blood seeped from your gaping mouth. You shakily reached to your side and with a deep breath, pressed the bump that had formed in your rib area with a sickening pop as the Butcher sauntered over to you.

Spitting out some blood as the creature now loomed over you, you saw from the corner of your eyes that Silver was slowly coming back to her senses. Slowly moving her body away from the edge, she had come back in time to see the Butcher stare down at you. She raised her axe, prepared to finish this while you still had nowhere you could run to.

“MEAT!” she screamed out, repeating the word as she held the blade high in the air. You tried to find something, anything that could save you. Frantically searching, you remembered something... The sword you were here for you was still on your back.

Without a moment to lose, you pulled the whole weapon out as the Butcher brought her axe down on top of you. Using the sheathed weapon, you managed to stop the strike as the blade connected against the worn out shaft. It miraculously kept you safe as you used it to block the Butcher’s following swings.

She kept chanting ‘meat’ over and over as she persisted in trying to chop you up for her collection. Holding out as much as possible, you kept the katana out as the Butcher released another ear-piercing scream before bringing the axe down once more. This time, when the axe connected, everything around you stopped.

You had your eyes closed as the light blinded you for a second. You slowly opened them and surveyed your surroundings. Somehow, you weren’t on the island anymore, or anywhere else for that matter. It was nothing but sheer darkness. It felt as though time had stopped and you were trapped in an endless void. You tensed up from this dark environment; the sword, the Butcher, and even Silver were gone.

“Where am I?” you asked yourself, desperate to understand what was happening. Looking around in the empty void, you stopped searching as a silver flame sparked in front of you. The light grew brighter as you felt the urge to approach it. Walking through the void as if the flame had put you in a trance, you saw a path begin to form the closer you got to your sole source of light.

A deep voice then called out to you. ‘Do you want to protect the innocent?’

“Huh?” you asked, but continued on.

‘Are you worthy?’ a different voice asked from behind. You didn’t see anything, but you kept moving. The path, you saw, began to change as stone pillars and several trees appeared before you.

You didn’t know if you were what the voice considered worthy. It’s been that way even when you asked yourself the question along the journey. Even so, you strived no matter what.

Another voice called out to you as you walked without giving an answer.

‘Do you want to protect the innocent?’ it repeated the initial question as more trees and a few blessing scrolls began to form around you.

“Of course... Always!” you stated, as that was your point of the mission.

Suddenly, the world gave in and the silver flame followed you as your light body felt like you were descending back to your feet. The scroll formed over your feet as you continued down the path.

‘Do you follow the light?’ another voice asked as the blessing talisman circled you.

“Always and forever. I hide in the shadows and serve the light,” you voiced your assassin family’s motivation.

The blessing papers stopped as you stood in front of the temple. Walking over, you saw the sword floating in front of you. Your hand reached for the blade, but it was like you didn’t have any control of yourself. Holding it out at the weapon, it stopped just an inch from the hilt.

‘Are you ready?’ the voice echoed, wanting to know your answer.

You remained quiet for a couple of seconds as whatever was guiding your hand released its hold. Looking at your hand and then the sword, you had just one thing to say.

“Yes... I’m ready...” you spoke up as you grabbed the sword. Once the blade was in your hand, you were blinded again as you returned to reality.

Now that you were back in the real world, the Butcher stumbled as a bright light blinded her next. Her body began to sizzle as whatever kind of magic made contact with her when her axe connected with the katana expelled a holy force.

The Butcher screamed out in pain as she backed away from the light. Silver, who was watching from her spot, dropped her jaw as you took some steps forward.

You shook your head a bit as you looked at the Butcher. Your eyes averted to the weapon you were holding.

Silver saw it too and smirked. ‘Way to go, stud...’

The weapon, now without the sheath, glowed with a silver light shining around it before it changed to a dark blue color. Looking at the blade, you could feel a strange force from growing within. You decided to give it a swing and you were amazed at what it did next.

Ripping apart, the blade disconnected and the pierces swirled around you as you held it like a whip.

You swung the whip back to its sword form and smiled.

“Oh, hohoho!” your giddy side kicked in now that the tables had turned. “I’m liking this already!”

Quite the opposite, the Butcher snorted angrily as you held out the sword. You had no doubt you were ready now.

“Alright now... LET’S DANCE YOU CRAZY BITCH!”

You lunged forward as your new sword and the Butcher’s axe clashed together. During the collision, Silver smiled that the ancient weapon had accepted you and was giving you a chance to use its mystical power. Seeing it in action, she never could have imagined a weapon of such power — the blade made up for its size with its abilities.

You managed to dodge and block the upcoming strikes, but what’s more is that your weapon could do some serious damage. Already turning it into a whip, you managed to strike and even harm the creature. She sizzled and roared in anger as you hit the mark. The Butcher’s skin was like droplets of hot iron as the blade left several nasty slashes and horrible burns.

If that wasn’t enough, the blade even went as far as to wrap around the Butcher’s wrist. In a swooping motion, you not only disarmed her, but literally ripped part of her limb off. Once you cleaved her arm off, you destroyed her axe as the sword returned to its normal state.

However, while this might have been playing in your favor, the one-armed demon still wouldn’t accept the agony of defeat. You shook her head at her persistence.

“You’ve got fire in you, I can’t lie there, but this is the end of the line. For better or worse, it’s time to send you back to Hell.”

“Tartarus,” Silver bluntly corrected you on the underworld’s real name.

“Whatever.” You held the blade out as the weapon reverted back to a whip. With each strike you gave the Butcher, you could see the monster’s power and armor chipping away. However, as she took your beating, you could feel yourself getting weaker. It was just common sense. The ancient blade was powerful, but the Butcher had already dealt a critical blow before the sword chose you as its master and you honestly didn’t know how much more you could take.

Silver watched in horror as the Butcher took everything you had to offer without hesitation. She too understood the strain you felt from using it in your condition, and almost wanted to panic at the knowledge that the sword needed more power.

She didn’t want to be a burden, but as she contemplated on what she should do, something suddenly appeared before her. It was a bizarre gray-colored flame, and more soon appeared around the ninja. However, Silver noticed that the flames were not only hot, but that she somehow felt comfort just being around them.

What once was a racing head, tearing itself down to form a plan had been calmed and cleared out. Everything around Silver just stopped as the balls of fire gathered in front of her. In this still state, she couldn’t find the words to say before... the change.

In a literal flash, the flames took on new forms. They stood in front of Silver and gave her the warmest kind of smile. She just stared in awe, easily recognizing the two figures.

“Mother... Father...” Focused on nothing else other than the pure silver figures with white eyes, Silver Blade teared up a bit from this sudden reunion.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to wipe the tears, but before she even had the chance, the other flames changed as well. Friends, family, neighbors, even a few guards, Silver recognized them all.

‘It’s time... daughter...’ her mother’s voice played in her head. The spirits looked at one another and nodded before they flew into Silver’s body. She wondered what they were plotting, as she felt the powers of her family and friends flow through her. The spirits’ flames of justice and vengeance ignited inside of her and her body began to glow as she closed her eyes.

After the light had dimmed down, she opened her eyes again. Looking down, she didn’t need a mirror to realize her entire body had changed. Her ninja gear had been swapped for a priest outfit with several exorcist slips. However, her new clothes were a minor change compared to her next surprise. Her hands were nicely smooth, as they had changed into sharp kitsune hands. She was an earth pony just a second ago, but she felt her snout and ears which had undergone the vulpine transformation as well.

The new ears stood up as she turned around with a gasp to confirm one last piece on her back side. Behind her were several large silver and blue tipped tails, and on the tip of each one she saw a silver flame glowing brightly like lit candles.

Neither you nor the Butcher had noticed Silver’s new form. Shaking her head, Silver decided to regain the spotlight as she held one of the enchanted slips. The slip burst into blue flames as it landed right on the Butcher’s back to teach her a lesson about facing away from the enemy.

The beast roared in agony as the flames engulfed much of her back and some parts of her arms. You had the chance to watch in awe as the flames burned brightly before you looked at the one who was responsible. At first glance she seemed like a new face, but as you tilted your head, you swore that you knew this kitsune.

“Silver Blade... Is that you?”

“Who else, monkey?” You knew from both the voice and the insult that it was indeed the same mare who had been driving you crazy all the way here.

‘Yup that’s her.’ You were glad your partner hadn’t gone anywhere, but there was still the question concerning her kitsune body.

Watching the Butcher burn, Silver tossed a few more slips. You expected more flames, but this time when the slips landed, several chains emerged from the ground. Twisting and wrapping around the Butcher’s limbs, the monster was bound to the very spot as the flames still burned her armor and skin. While ripping the armor, you didn’t notice that the slashing had ripped off her helmet to expose most of her facial features. Or at least what was left of it.

Aside from the two bulging eyes, the hopeless creature’s face was only a skull, and she hardly had any hair left. What was even more haunting is that there was a large emblem engraved on the middle of the skull. You recognized it as the mark that represents Nero’s pirate fleet.

“DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!” the Butcher screamed out trying to break free of her binds. Bored with hearing the same empty threat, not to mention the monster who was spouting it, you went ahead and wrapped up the fight.

“This time... stay dead.”

With one fell thrust, your blade made it all the way down to her chest. Whatever armor the abomination still had proved useless against the ancient blade as it ripped through to the other end. You held the blade out to use its power. It was scary, but the blade proved even more unique when you somehow commanded it to do more than just rip the Butcher’s heart out. The blade quickly changed into its whip form, and breaking apart, you watched as the blades ripped the demon into pieces from the inside. Not one part of the monster was left unscathed as the creature fell to her knees. The blade returned to its normal form as you pulled it out.

The Butcher gasped and breathed rapidly as she tried to hold onto whatever magic was left. Not that it did her any good, as her form was now disintegrating. Like ashes from a flame, you watched as the terror of the Akanami ruins slowly disappeared.

Finally accepting the fact that she was beyond hope, you watched the last bit of life she had left for this world as she looked deep into your eyes. She only had one last thing left to mutter. Two words that you’ve come to hate over the years.

“Hail... Grogar...”

Now that you knew for sure that the Butcher had been a part of Nero’s crew, you weren’t surprised by her last words. Although, you would admit to anyone who asked that you were still a little afraid by how far this great demon’s influence has spread.

You twirled your blade again after the Butcher was completely gone, and it turned into a whip and back into a sword. ‘Best weapon I’ve seen so far,’ you smiled as you faced Silver, who was still in her kitsune form, again.

“Wow, Silver. I must say I dig the new look,” you commeded and she chuckled.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the flattery, but... how did I end up this way?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking that?” you countered with a shrug. You’ve had a hunch since you met her that there was something special about Silver Blade. You’ve had a suspension on how unique she was, even among the other ninjas, but never had you thought this would be how things would turn out.

“I see you finally opened your true form, dear Silver.” There, standing behind you both with a few scratches was Empress Hikari. You bowed to her as her smile grew wider from looking at a fellow kitsune. “It’s good to finally meet you properly, Silver Blade... Keeper of the souls.”

You and Silver had the same dumbfounded expression as you looked at each other. “Keeper of the souls?” you both said in unison.

Hikari no longer intended to keep you in the dark.

She began on how her homeland wasn’t just the former capital of Japony, but it was home to the very beings that were once the keepers of the spirit realm. It was the silver kitsunes, as they were dubbed, who maintained the balance between good and evil and helped ward off any demons that dared to infect the land. However, it was also when Grogar learned of such power and aimed to claim it for himself and escape from Tarturas. To keep it a secret, all of the kitsunes used their magic to disappear into the spirit realm where Grogar couldn’t find them. All except for one.

Hikari stopped and looked deep into Silver’s eyes. “The attack on your homeland, your coming to our time and meeting Yama... It was all portrayed in the scroll of fate. Your story wasn’t set to end with the invasion like so many others... it was just the beginning.”

She used her magic to create a small flame in her hands. Looking at it closely, you and Silver saw the flame take the shape of a male fox figure.

“You see, Silver... it was your father who stayed behind to live among us and cherish his memories with those he wished to live with.” The figure’s form changed to a regular pony. Silver recognized the figure all too well.

“Father... was a kitsune?”

“Yes. The reason for why he stayed was because he fell in love with a beautiful mare when he was roaming these lands.” Hikari’s magic formed another figure. It was a mare, and the two figures looked at each other, holding hands and rubbing their heads together.

“My mother?”

Hikari nodded again. “They wanted to live a happy life guarding the temple, but that all changed when Nero came and destroyed everything. They had hoped to harness whatever power the temple held, but they didn’t know that power was right under their noses.”

She pointed to Silver, who in turn pointed to herself.

“While you and your sister are kitsune hybrids, it occurred to me that you were the one to awaken your sleeping powers, my girl. You are now the keeper of the souls.”

Silver had been doing most of the bowing during her and the empress’ interaction, but now it was the other way around. She was awestruck to have Hikari bow before her and didn’t know what to do or say next.

As Silver and Hikari continued talking, you lost interest when you heard something coming from behind. It was the echo of a rustling of some kind. Looking back at where the Butcher had disappeared, you saw that most of the ashes were already gone, but something among those ashes had been left behind. It was none other than the large brown and blood stained sack that the Butcher used to carry around her victims she had slain for her hunger and sadistic pleasure. The bag stayed still for a second before it started to move around a bit.

Curiosity got the better of you as you walked over to the bag. The two kitsunes continued their little chat on Silver’s heritage, unaware of what you were doing.

Once you were in front of the bag, you bent down and began fiddling with the strap. The said strap that held the bag was old and worn, but it was still a bit difficult to get it loose. You managed to untangle the strap with some effort and after removing it to slowly open the bag, you were taken by surprise at the contents within.

Inside the bag was a beautiful mare. Dressed in old worn out armor with her dark red hair tied up, she looked like she had seen the battlefield on the account of the numerous scars on her face. Her silver coat matched Silver Blade’s, but her eyes glowed with a unique topaz color. She smiled as you pushed the bag away, and as it dropped, you saw more villagers come out of the bag.

One by one, several individuals ranging from young to elderly emerged from what once was the prison they were forced upon.

“Are we finally free?” a stallion asked. You couldn’t help but nod as you counted a rough total of about villagers. The prisoners had different reactions to their freedom, some of them shocked while others cried in joy.

Because of how loud they were, Silver Blade and Hikari finally noticed the small group you had just liberated. Walking over, the kitsunes were both taken aback. One at a time, the souls thanked you, some shaking your hand while others hugged you. They then disappeared after saying goodbye... except for one.

The mare who stood in front of everyone stayed as she turned to Silver, smiling as the latter teared up in disbelief.

“Big sis...” Silver muttered, absolutely astounded.

Golden Sceptre shed some tears as despite the change, there’s no way she wouldn’t recognize her baby sister. Without warning both sisters joined in a hug as they let their tears fall. Instead of pure sorrow, they were tears of pure joy to see their loved ones after so long.

Holding the hug, you smiled as Golden looked at you and nodded. “Thank you so much... for freeing us all from that monster’s control.”

“You’re very welcome,” you replied before going quiet so the sisters could have their moment. After being locked away for so long, they deserved a chance to make up for some lost time. Walking away, you started up a conversation with Empress Hikari and asked about what happened in the gardens.

Despite the mercenaries’ bloodlust, the losses on Hikari’s side couldn’t compare to the enemy’s suffering. She had to confess, though, that she lost some warriors. Many of them were villagers who had decided to fight. After years of being bullied and raided by Bloodshot’s army for so long they showed no mercy on any of them and didn’t even mind sacrificing their lives for a brighter generation.

“Bloodshot wasn’t even there to join the battle. That coward is probably getting drunk in his fortress just a mile away from here,” she finished as a low grunt escaped her muzzle.

You couldn’t agree more and then asked about the shrines and the bag that you opened to reveal Silver’s sister was inside. Empress Hikari filled you in that by lighting the shrines, you and Silver set off a special ward spell designed to help travelers against the demons and bad omens that loomed over Akanami. Albeit it was the temple, being the largest shrine in this ruined village, that served as the largest piece in ending the curse. A curse that Grogar put on the land so that those with wholesome hearts or good nature would be affected by its negative aspect so Bloodshot could roam the land.

However, the Butcher, despite serving Grogar, had grown more sadistic over the years, attacking anyone she saw, regardless whose side they were on. But since you cleansed this land, you also diminished a large portion of the Butcher’s power, so she was basically running on fumes. In other words, without the curse, the Butcher wasn’t strong enough to fight an entire army, and instead hoped to destroy you and Silver before you could claim the sword.

While that made plenty of sense, Hikari still had yet to explain what happened to Silver’s sister. Hikari darted her eyes from the bag and back to you. “Silver already told you the legend on how the Butcher would kill her victims and stuffed them in her sack. Going even further, those same legends say that that bag is very much like a prison and the poor souls inside were never put to rest. As long as they remained confined within that sack, the Butcher could exploit her prisoners by feeding on their souls to replenish her power.”

Your mouth went dry as you looked at the bag. The torment of being imprisoned in a burlap sack just to be used as a fuel source almost sounded as bad as being trapped in Tartarus. You shook those thoughts away, as you didn’t need them burned into your skull.

As you looked over at Silver and Golden Sceptre, you didn’t realize Hikari was getting closer to you. She pressed her hand against your chest, and you jumped and blushed from now soft her fingers were, especially as she reached up to play with your cheek.

“This beautiful empress has to show you her appreciation properly, human. You have the courage and valor of a samurai and you helped reclaim one of Japony’s greatest treasures after so many others failed...” She slowly leaned her body against yours while her tails wrapped around your limbs to prevent any escape attempts. With you now helpless in her embrace, Hikari, with a light blush spreading on her face, smiled and snuck her hand down to learn what you were hiding.

“Are you sure Equestria has what you... desire? I can arrange something better just for you...”

‘Oh god... Not this shit again...!’ you thought as your face lost its color.

You managed to pry yourself out of the empress’ grasp and turned to see the sisters hug each other again. A feeling of uncertainty coursed through your stomach as you wondered what would happen between the two. You knew spirits couldn’t stay in the land of the living forever, and Golden Sceptre has suffered plenty in the Butcher’s grasp. It was understandable that she longed to finally be at peace like her parents.

“You think they’ll be okay?” you asked.

Hikari wasn’t worried like you and smiled at Silver Blade and Golden Sceptre. “Honor is one thing, dear, but it’s a blessing to see your loved ones at peace.”

You eased up from those words as Silver hugged Golden one last time before she slowly rose into the air. You all watched as Golden waved to you all as her whole form transformed into small cherry blossom petals. She intentionally sent one of the petals over to you to express her gratitude before she disappeared and flew off into the sunlight.

Silver wiped the tears away from her eyes as she turned to you. You couldn’t have imagined what happened next. Without warning, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around your head before leaning in close and kissing you on the lips.

It felt warm as an electric heat played with your body as she prolonged the kiss. She finally let go with a smile. “Thank you... for everything human...”

You blushed bright red, wondering as your hair stood up if all kitsunes had such an electrifying kiss. Hikari took it upon herself to bring you back to attention.

“While we are grateful for all your hard work, we have yet to finish what has been started.”

“Right,” you agreed as you held the chain blade out. “Is everyone still capable of launching an assault on Bloodshot’s fortress?” you asked, hoping you had enough followers to end the vile centaur’s terrorism.

Hikari nodded. “While many of the warriors I brought here are still injured, we still have plenty who are ready to confront Bloodshot and his followers. Now that we have the sword, we have everything we need.”

Silver Blade stepped in. “Then me and Grandmaster Yama will lead our assault to the rear and back. We’ll attack them where they least expect it.”

Hikari shook her head in disapproval. “I’m sorry, dear... but Grandmaster Yama won’t be partaking in this fight.” Both you and Silver wanted to speak up, but the empress beat you to it. “I’m afraid his illness has taken a toll on his body...”

“Illness?” Silver wished she misheard Hikari. “He... He never mentioned this before...”

Hikari became confused this time, but she could tell from your eyes that you already knew after leaving the temple. “He didn’t want to worry you, sweet Silver, as his body has grown tremendously weak with his age. Even so, he knew that you were ready, which is why he sent you and of course this human to obtain the Moeru Chi.”

“Moeru Chi?” You looked down at the sword. “That’s what this weapon is called?”

“Seriously?” Silver Blade raised an eyebrow. “Nobody told you about the sword’s name?”

“You at least know it is Japony’s greatest treasure, right?” Empress Hikari asked.

You shook your head. “All I heard was that the weapon could help us stop Bloodshot.”

Both kitsunes stared at you more shocked than ever, as they couldn’t process how ignorant you were.

‘What a hopeless idiot!’ Silver Blade mentally screamed. Hikari had similar thoughts, as you went to hell and back to find something that you hardly knew anything about. Although she had commended you on your bravery, your lack of information gathering, as far as she was concerned, needed work.

‘He’s dumb, but at least he’s handsome, too,’ she thought, shaking your head as you twirled the blade a bit.

“Yes the weapon you are holding is called the ‘Moeru Chi’, or ‘Burning Blood’. One of Japony’s greatest gifts, and, before your arrival, was lost for centuries,” Hikari got started on explaining the sword and its origins.

Centuries before the war with Nero, the sword was originally crafted by Japony’s greatest smith, who, at the time, was entrusted in creating it. It was said that the Ancient One, one of the world’s greatest dragons, had delivered the finest materials for the smith to make the sword, but to give it its power, he entrusted the smith to add... a single drop of blood into the blade.

If Hikari was telling the truth, the blood of the Ancient One could give one power to compete with an alicorn, as he was a rival between the gods. Alas, the smith had to be honest and tell the dragon that the blade would take years to make. In spite of a dragon’s natural greed, the Ancient One listened to reason and disappeared forever. In his absence, the great smith spent years completing the sword, and there are myths that claim that even after he died his spirit carried on the work. After several years of crafting came to an end, the blade, which in time would earn its appropriate name, was given to the temple. The greedy fools who tried to claim Moeru Chi were promptly cut down by the shards. It was said that the blade could slice through anything, even the very soul of the one unfortunate of receiving its wraith.

You looked at the blade as you wondered just how many had tried to use it. Empress Hikari finished off that over time, before the city was destroyed, over 40 samurais had tried to claim the sword. All failed though.

That naturally got you to question once again why the blade decided to bond with you. “If so many failed... why did Moeru Chi choose me?“

Unfortunately, Empress Hikari could only shrug. “I’ve heard many times that the sword chooses its master. But even this wise and beautiful kitsune can’t explain why it attached itself to you... If I had to guess, maybe your soul is connected to this world far more than you are aware.”

You looked at the blade, concentrating on the power it contained. Moeru Chi disconnected as the shards began to spin around your body before they returned back to the original form.

The kitsune ladies smiled, confident that you were ready to end Japony’s tyranny once and for all.

“While Grandmaster Yama can’t join us, he has entrusted you and the human his clan, Silver. Let us make haste and put an end to this ridiculous war,” Hikari finished as several cloaked figures appeared at the younger kitsune’s side.

“We are ready, Silver-sama,” one of the ninjas said, bowing his head and awaiting her command. It was one of the many suffixes of the Japony culture you’ve been hearing on your trip. Master Silver, Silver-sama, it made no difference to you.

More importantly, you now had an army, a great weapon, and, therefore, a major advantage. It was time to give Bloodshot, who believed he could come and terrorize villagers whenever he pleased, a rude awakening.

*few miles off Bloodshot’s fortress*

A booming scream echoed the fortress as the entire foundation felt the sheer force of the rage. There was a loud crash and several mercenaries watched in horror as one of their own was immediately thrown out and over the spiked moat.

“YOU IDIOTS CAN’T STOP ONE MEASLY MONKEY AND HIS WHORE!” the voice echoed so loudly as the ground shook violently. Bloodshot, who sat in his throne room, was seething red to the news of his killers failing yet again.

He took a sip of the gourd of sake in his hand, which made his mood even worse. That was proven when one of his subordinates lost his head before he could make a tolerable excuse for the failure. Downing more of his sake to quell his fury was a foolish mistake. The subordinate who managed to escape after most of his teammates, who alongside him were tasked in finding Moeru Chi, were destroyed or captured was still unlucky since he had to explain the miserable failure to Bloodshot. Thus, the drunk centaur was prompted to punch his resignation right out the door.

While most of his mercenaries cowered beneath him, some were laughing since the moat now had some new decorations to give the place a bloodier atmosphere. The laughter finally stopped when Bloodshot roared again.

“SILENCE, YOU JOKERS! Explain yourselves! How can the mercenaries who I trained myself LOSE to a bunch of weak rats?!” he demanded, but none of them had an answer. “AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THEY HAVE MOERU CHI!” he screamed out, hitting one of his followers on the temple of the head with his now empty gourd.

“I should have gone by myself! How could this possibly get any worse?” he growled in frustration again. He grabbed the next gourd of sake his servant had provided, downing the contents like water. He was already halfway through when he stopped from feeling a disturbance from outside his fortress.

The ground started shaking, taking the mercenaries off guard, and one of them stormed into the moat panting like an exhausted dog. “G-GENERAL BLOODSHOT! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”

Bloodshot stood up as the fortress continued to shake. He ended up dropping his gourd of sake and the unfinished beverage spilled across the floor. Racing over to the window, he was flabbergasted as fire rained down on his hideout. Several of his guards were hit by some of the large flaming boulders; a few of them ran for safety while the others were already engulfed in flames.

While his army was in dismay, Bloodshot looked over in shock at the sight. It was an emotion he hadn’t expressed since the last war.

On the outskirts of the fortress, thousands of soldiers dressed in the latest armor all marched forward as several catapults were raining smoldering barrels of fire right over the fortress. In the middle, Empress Hikari, dressed in her war outfit, marched beside her own army as you and Silver joined sides.

While most of your lovers stayed at the temple, you weren’t persuasive enough to convince Celestia and Luna from joining in. Furthermore, Applejack and Rainbow Dash couldn’t miss the chance in laying a smackdown on Bloodshot’s fortress.

All four mares dressed in armor that satisfied their tastes, and you were impressed that the royal sisters received armor that matched their original color patterns. Apparently while you were gone, they found the time to customize their armor for occasion. Thay had also fixed your own armor into a new set. It was similar to that of a samurai, and they offered to complete the look with a helmet, but you preferred your hood. Although, you did accept a new mask to help strike fear to Bloodshot’s army.

Should you find the designer of the mask, you would simply have to commission another one after this battle. Your lovers were just as impressed at the design, which did suit you in some ways.

Watching Empress Hikari’s army march down, Silver’s ninjas did their job from behind. From afar, you could see a few figures climbing over the walls, scaling over the ledges to make it to top and take down several of the archers.

“I must confess Silver’s ninja are a wonder to be reckoned with,” Celestia smiled as the ninjas were already inside. In a matter of minutes, you watched the drawbridge descend as it left the door inside opened.

Pulling out your weapons, you all shouted to the limit of your lungs as you stormed through the entrance. Racing forward, a few mercenaries came out in a sad attempt to defend the front gate. Some of the guards were able to handle your army, but most of them had to step back and make way for a much larger mercenary.

Wielding a large kanabo, this plump mercenary looked more or less like a sumo wrestler as he pounded his stomach in preparation for whoever dared to come at him. That would be you — you’ve put up with enough foolishness this week and just wanted to end this as quickly as you could.

“COME! FACE ME AND DIE LI-” he tried to shout a ridiculous speech, only to shut up midway. Your patience was wearing thin and you held nothing back as you brought your right foot up ro connect your heel with the sumo wannabe’s fat stomach. He gasped as you followed with a few kicks to the side before you sent him into the air.

Thank god for your alicorn strength. The other mercenaries’ eyes bulged out as you lifted one of the best in their clan before joining him in the air.

“Sit down... AND SHUT THE F@#K UP!” With a single overhead kick, you brought the obese fool straight back to the ground as your heel met his exposed dome. He crashed through the barricaded door, shattering into pieces as many of the mercenaries were frozen in place as the large one gave you your way in.

You landed back on your feet without a sweat; shaking your leg, you looked behind as everyone was shocked at how powerful that kick was.

It was no time for daydreaming, though, and you called them out to get their attention. “LET’S GO!”

You race forward as silver joins in beside you.

“Seriously, stud,” she decided to comment on your fighting style, “what’s with the legwork? Are you afraid to get your hands dirty or what?”

You weren’t offended. “As a matter of fact, I am. These hands are vital to my career and I can’t afford to get them damaged. So in most cases, I do my fighting with my feet.”

Snapping back to what was important, the guards raced inside. In seconds, the fortress was stormed as many of the mercenaries were still caught off guard. Unable to process what was happening, Empress Hikari’s guards covered most of the ground floor while Silver’s ninjas were able to take out those on the rooftops or upper levels.

You were worried about your four lovers’ safety as you proceeded deeper into the fortress. However, seeing Rainbow send some of the mercenaries over the railing while AJ broke through some armor and shields like paper, you could tell they were doing just fine.

Celestia and Luna were a different matter. Both Hikari and Celestia showed off their physical and magical strength as their flames burned all who dared to approach them. Quite the opposite, Luna’s magic was so cold that she left her mercenary targets in an icy prison. It didn’t stop there, as with each new ice sculpture, she broke off their heads for good measure.

“You’ve gotten so much stronger, my cute little sister,” Celestia praised and teased at the same time, pinching Luna’s cheek.

The younger alicorn grumbled just as one mercenary tried to take a stab at her sister. Luna only had time to open her mouth before Celestia caught the reckless idiot without looking away.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to sneak up on a mare?” she asked, still facing away from the now cowering mercenary as her hand began to sizzle. It was a rhetorical question, as the mercenary was engulfed in flames before he could even answer, leaving nothing but ashes when they died out seconds later.

Celestia dusted her hands off as Luna stared at her both impressed and terrified. She knew that Celestia had a fiery temper in battle, but what was even scarier was how she somehow calmed back down so quickly. Luna had froze a mercenary to death just a moment ago, but now she was the one who was shivering.

As the fight went on, you and Silver decided to split up as you wanted to hurry up and find Bloodshot. You ran through a few corridors as some mercenaries tried to stop you. It wasn’t a challenge as you took them out before you made it to a large training grotto.

There you spotted your target.

“BLOODSHOT!” you called out his name as the large centaur didn’t move from his spot. In fact, he was drinking!

Taking another swig from his sake gourd, he sat there in the middle waiting nonchalantly for you to show up. Now that you were here, he opened his eyes and finished his drink.

“You’re finally here, monkey...” he growled.

“Give it a rest already, Bloodshot. It’s over. Just surrender and I promise your execution will be a painless one.” You weren’t necessarily fond of the death penalty, but you saw no hope for the fallen centaur warlord after the huge role he played in Japony’s suffering.

“YOU WILL BE SILENT!” he shouted, tossing the gourd at you. You dodged it without even blinking and it shattered a few feet away.

You kept your focus on Bloodshot as the tyrant stood up and reached for the wall to pull off the large yari spear that was mounted there. He twirled the large spear and pointed it straight at you. All you did was pull out Moeru Chi, and the blade changed to its spine whip form and back into a sword.

“HOW DARE YOU CLAIM MY WEAPON!” he roared, but you just smiled and fixed your mask.

“Believe me, I was surprised, too. Looks like the ancient treasure prefers the company of a ‘monkey’ over a tyrant, huh?” you laughed, trying to agitate the warlord on purpose and it worked.

You did a backflip as Bloodshot ran forward with all the might of his horse half and thrusted his spear at you. As he tried to stab you again, you elected to block the yari instead of dodge — despite his advantage in size, you remained confident that with Moeru Chi under your control, it wouldn’t end like it did back at the hotel.

Of course, you couldn’t end this war by just defending and you switched to offense. Sparks flew past you as Moeru Chi clanged against Bloodshot’s yari spear. Granted, it was dangerous to be this close to such a powerful centaur, but your smaller size made you much faster than the warlord.

Blocking another stab, which was aiming for your stomach, you saw something that made this confrontation so much easier. Unlike before where your katana and other attacks failed to break through Bloodshot’s mysterious defense, you couldn’t possibly miss it when Moeru Chi bypassed this defense and cut through Bloodshot’s armor. Like a simple knife passing through thin air, you saw how the sparking shield attempted to block you, but Moeru Chi actually harmed him. Doing another backflip as Bloodshot stabbed the floor, you changed your weapon into a whip and aimed upward to slash across Bloodshot’s left eye.

“So the legends are true... I CAN touch you after all!” you exclaimed as your adversary held his now useless eye.

Bloodshot didn’t respond as he charged again like the wild and senseless beast that earned his spot in Nero’s fleet. As you clashed again, you returned a few slash blows and saw that the amulet around his neck was beginning to crack. Your armor managed to hold out as Bloodshot took a stab at you again, but as he kept at it, he managed to draw some blood. You barely had a chance to dodge another thrust as Bloodshot aimed right at your mask. Slashing upwards, he left a large puncture on your mask, but you considered yourself lucky he didn’t scratch anything underneath.

‘This is IT!’ you exclaimed in your mind and took one last slash at the warlord’s necklace. The amulet cracked as Bloodshot tried to preserve some of its magic, but he failed as Moeru Chi turned into a whip and hit the amulet in the center. The entire gem burst into red sparks as the pieces shattered and spilled onto the floor. Shaking, Bloodshot dropped down and scooped up some of the fragments as they slowly stopped glowing.

“It’s over now, Bloodshot! Without your special shield, you lost!” you shouted as Moeru Chi turned back into a normal sword.

“Lost?! Ha!” The centaur wasn’t ready to swallow his pride yet and puffed out his chest. “Don’t make me laugh!” Tossing his spear to the side he pulls out the large katana from his belt.

‘Wow, this son of a bitch must really worship Nero. I was going to make this quick and painless, but he’s too stubborn to accept defeat.’

“COME FACE ME, PARASITE!” he called you out. “Show me what your country full of whores sees in a pathetic mortal like yourself!”

‘Oh, don't worry... I have a one way ticket straight to Tartarus just for you...’ you growled as you pulled out your katana. Moeru Chi had served its purpose, so you holstered it and pulled out the second katana that you bought from Grand Boulder. You could already picture the tears that would fall from the elderly’s blacksmith’s face when you tell him that you used his creation to kill the terror of Japony.

“You know what, before we begin I’ll show you something as a reward for your feeble effort!” Bloodshot craned his neck and revealed an earring made to look like a pawn piece from a game of chess.

You squinted your eyes as you stared at the earring. You recalled during your fights with Nero in both Aquastria and Saddle Arabia that the barbaric pirate captain had a similar earring. Although you paid little to no attention to it since it wasn’t relevant in the midst of his rampage, you knew enough about Grogar’s system to know what the earrings meant.

Bloodshot, meanwhile, didn’t share that knowledge and claimed that this earring meant that Grogar trusted him enough to make him his subordinate.

He couldn’t be any more wrong. Bloodshot was enormous, there was no denying that, but it was the servants like Nero, Umbra, and Chrysalis, who were strong enough to be called generals, who wore knight piece earrings; Bloodshot’s earring showed exactly what he was to Grogar.

A literal pawn at the bottom of the rankings. Nothing more or less than a feeble soldier to be discarded and left to rot; the fact that he actually believed that the piece signified his place as a powerful soldier proved that he wasn’t just delusional... He was plain stupid!

You actually began chuckling. “And Silver called ME an idiot. It’s embarrassing really, making your mercenaries call you ‘General Bloodshot’ when we both know you have no such status,” you taunted, telling him nothing but the truth. “I can feel your energy dropping by the minute. Without that amulet, your magical power is NOTHING compared to Nero’s. You’re even weaker than Chrysalis!”

Though, Silver was probably right to call you an idiot — you were so busy laughing that you didn’t notice Bloodshot take out a shuriken, which he threw right at your face. Laugh time came to an end when the shuriken managed to knock off your mask, but at least didn’t break through. The kitsune mask bounced away, leaving your face exposed as your hood fell back.

Rage and humiliation was radiating off the irrational centaur as he pointed his finger at you. “Burn the name ‘General Bloodshot’ into your monkey brain, you f@$king brat... Whether or not what you said is true, you can imagine the rewards the dark lord will shower me with when I turn you over! I’ll admit I’ve grown bored of one earring, but soon enough... I’LL BE SHOWING OFF THE KNIGHT EMBLEM WHEN I TAKE MY RIGHTFUL PLACE AMONGST THE GENERALS!”

He still failed to impress you. “I assure you you’re not the first of Grogar’s bastards to threaten to turn me in...” You held your blade out in a fighting stance. “And I promise you won’t be the last...”

Bloodshot’s body began to glow red as he smiled deviously. Even though his amulet was useless now, you could feel that he still had some magic stored away.

“This won’t kill you... BUT IT’LL AT LEAST KEEP YOU QUIET UNTIL WE MAKE IT BACK TO TARTARUS!” he roared with a crazy cheshire cat smile as he threw a powerful fist forward. You reacted quickly and held your katana up before using the flame spell Celestia taught you to give you a stronger defense as you blocked Bloodshot’s fist.

It was no picnic concentrating on the flames, but practice makes perfect. Although it was brief, you held out as Bloodshot pushed against your burning weapon. Even though his magic was weak, he, like all centaurs, had great physical strength.

“I CAN ALREADY SEE IT! THE GLORY OF STANDING BESIDE CAPTAIN NERO AS A GENERAL! EVEN AFTER MY PROMOTION I’LL CONTINUE TERRORIZING THIS LAND AS I AWAIT HIS RETURN!”

You listened to the asshole’s blabbering, he got your attention with the latest sentence since most of Japony had already learned of Nero’s demise from Amira’s brother. You pushed his fist away and did a single backflip to get some distance.

“You’re so wrapped up with sucking up to your captain that you haven’t been paying attention to the news, Bloodshot,” you spat.

Bloodshot’s veins popped out. “What was that, you damn parasite?! He should be terrorizing Saddle Arabia as we speak!”

You facepalmed. “Use your head for once you barbaric bastard! Why do you think your captain hasn’t returned to finish the carnage he started on this country?! Mistmane’s banishment spell wore off years ago!”

For the first time in several minutes, the moat was nice and quiet. Bloodshot couldn’t believe what you were implying. “No... You couldn’t have... Don’t f@ck with me! THERE’S NO WAY YOU COULD HAVE DEFEATED THE GREAT CAPTAIN NERO! ONE OF THE TOP THREE GENERALS!”

You shook your head. “Brace yourself for this. I was in Saddle Arabia when that bastard attacked,” you presented yourself as a smile spread on your face. “You can clearly see who won that battle.”

Bloodshot’s eyes grew even wider, like they were going to fall out of their sockets. You gave him one more push to prove your point.

“Let it sink in, Bloodshot... He was a psycho, just like you... but I made him my bitch... TWICE!” You held out two fingers signifying how many times you put Nero in his place.

“I don’t believe you... IT’S NOT TRUE!”

“Oh, yeah? Well, Nero couldn’t believe a ‘monkey’ like me could defeat him, kind of like how you’re underestimating me right now. In any case, I hated that psychopath captain of yours, but at least he came at me with everything he had. Unlike you, I can’t recall one time he set up any magic barriers to hide behind like a PUSSY!”

That set the bastard off again, as Bloodshot screamed enraged at the news of his master and mentor in carnage. More or less repeating yourself, you countered each slash without trouble. His strikes were admittedly strong like a wild animal, but they were uncoordinated.

Now, you couldn’t block all of the attacks, as the spear managed to cut past your arm as well as your left side, but you swallowed back the pain. Blood spilled from both of you, and when you saw a chance to spare your ears any more abuse, you took it. To be precise, you slashed Bloodshot clean across the chest with your katana to leave a large gash in the dead center.

“Impossible...” he gasped as he grabbed his chest to try and stabilize the bleeding. “The flames of my rage and fury... should have incinerated your soul...!” Looking at you, he fell forward, breathing heavily as you stared down at the pitiful display.

‘Is it over?’ You kept your eyes on him, waiting for any signs of life. The slash did hit a vital spot, as blood pooled around him, but it felt unlikely that he could be put down so easily.

“Incinerate? Flames of rage and fury?” You slowly sheathed your katana. “Please! You couldn’t even melt a chocolate bar, let alone my soul.”

‘Okay that sounds a bit like something from a cheesy action movie. It’s definitely a lot better in my head.’ Nonetheless, you’ve had enough of this battle. You took one last look at Bloodshot before you turned your back to make it your priority to find Silver Blade and Empress Hikari.

A big mistake on your part...

You took a few steps towards the exit, only to stop and feel a figure looming over you. You only had a split second to turn around and see something already barreling down at your head. Even as you reached for your katana, you didn’t have time to pull it out all the way as you tried to defend against whatever was aiming at your head.

Compliments of your foolishness, Bloodshot succeeded in landing a swift hit to your side. You couldn’t stand straight, as the force literally sent you flying. You passed straight through a few walls as if they were made of paper, rolling onto the floor within a large room of some kind after what felt like forever.

“OW! Bastard...!” you groaned as the force knocked the wind out of you, and the pain from going through several walls didn’t help either.

Looking around, you saw that you were in a room where gold was being processed. Some gold bars and coins piled on some carts or overflowed as liquid, Pots filled the molten hot medal on stands next to a statue of the ram known throughout the world as Grogar.

‘Geez... Overcompensate much?’ You looked at the large statue of Grogar encased from the head down to the pedestal in gold. You could imagine that it must have been a bitch for whatever unlucky soul had to carry the statue in. ‘Even Big Mac would break a sweat with this.’

You stood up trying to regain your equilibrium as you heard another slashing sound overhead. With more caution this time, you actually dodged the next surprise attack. Jumping away, you looked over as Bloodshot pried his katana out of the floor.

“DIE PARASITE!” he screamed out, swinging his blade again. Unfortunately, this room’s small interior left little leg room and you had to be careful not to fall into one of the large cauldrons of molten gold.

As you dodged Bloodshot’s katana strikes to the best of your ability, you got an idea of what to do with the cauldrons. Though some might call it heinous, it was nonetheless fitting for such a vile monster. Dodging another attack, you quickly grabbed one of the already molten hot pots. Your pain threshold was really put to the test when the handle singed your gloves. Feeling the heat from the cauldron, you didn’t hold back and tossed the scalding pot.

The molten gold landed right on the side of the centaur’s body. Feeling the molten gold on his skin, Bloodshot let out a blood curdling scream as his armor and fur burned off.

You cringed at the sight as the gold sizzled and parts of his skin fell off from the intense heat. Even with this pain, he still wouldn’t give up and went back to trying to slice you in half. It did a lot more harm than good when his sword knocked another pot over and the molten gold landed on his arms and his front hooves.

He screamed again as the gold cooled off on his skin and it was almost too painful to watch. You crawled away and saw yet another cauldron. While Bloodshot clambered around to move his gold-covered hands properly, you kicked the pot so even more molten gold would spill out.

Because of the heat traveling and eating away at his back hooves, Bloodshot finally fell down. He was panting heavily because of the slash on his chest and the pain from the gold — it really did seem like you’ve won... However, it was far from over as another sick idea crossed your mind.

“You said you wanted to be a king, didn’t you?” you asked, grabbing the next pot of molten gold.

Bloodshot didn’t say anything while he tried conserving enough energy to stand back up.

“I’LL END YOU! YOUR CROWN WILL BE MINE!” he screams out unaware of what you had in mind as you held the pot of gold over his head.

That was practically an order to let him have it. “Well then here... Have mine then!” You poured the molten metal... all over his head!

The heat from the gold earned you some more screams of agony from Bloodshot. His fur was literally burned off as you took a step away from him. The gold slid down his face, singeing most of his scalp and traveled down to his eyes, which were burned next.

He was a hopeless, screaming, blind mess. He scrambled around hoping to find you, but as you were already satisfied with this punishment, you backed far beyond his reach. It was a good thing too, as Bloodshot stopped at a large statue and mistook it for you. Pulling on it despite its size, he managed to move it.

“HAIL GROGAR! MY MASTER!” he bellowed, letting out his last maniacal laugh. You just stood there and watched as the entire statue began to tip forward. It wasn’t long before the sheer weight became too much, and Bloodshot didn’t move out of the way. Instinctively, you looked away as blood and brain matter spilled out of his crushed head.

When you finally did look, you wanted to puke. Bloodshot twitched from underneath the weight of the statue. His pawn earring rolled along the floor and bumped against your foot. The centaur was just a poser trying to be something big.

While you meant it when you said you didn’t find his rank as anything to be proud of, you nonetheless picked up and pocketed the small earring as you gazed at the warlord’s corpse. You needed momentum to show that the war was over.

Walking back to the front, you saw that you missed a lot of excitement as Bloodshot’s mercenaries littered the floor. Even without you around, your lovers and new friends knew how to take care of themselves. Hell from where you were standing, Rainbow was dancing some sort of victory dance as AJ finished tossing another unconscious thug in a pile. They all finally noticed you looking worse for wear. While most of your armor was cut and your wounds were still fresh, you showed them proof that all of your hard work had paid off.

Holding out Bloodshot’s belt and pawn earring, you were greeted with loud cheers and applause as guards and armed citizens all bounced and hugged one another, overjoyed for their victory.

It wasn’t long before your lovers raced over to bombard you with hugs and kisses. Bad move as your body ached still from being thrown through all those walls. Nevertheless, you accepted all the hugs as the guards surrounded you.

‘I’ll never get used to this...’ you thought. Putting up with the pain, you smiled when you saw Empress Hikari walk over to you and got down on one knee to present Bloodshot’s belt and Moeru Chi. The blade may have chosen you, but you had no further use of it and figured it should go back to the citizens since it’s Japony’s greatest treasure.

Hikari accepted the belt and the blade and looked over to all those who had fought today.

“MY CITIZENS! TODAY IS A DAY WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER! A DAY WE HAVE STRIVED AND BLED TO ACHIEVE! ALL OF YOU ARE TO REMEMBER THIS DAY AS HEROES OF OUR FOUNDING NATION! TODAY BLOODSHOT HAS BEEN VANQUISHED AND OUR LAND FINALLY BEEN RID OF THIS DREADFUL CURSE! TONIGHT WE SHALL REJOICE AND SPREAD THE NEWS ACROSS OUR LANDS BORDERS AND SO FORTH! FOR ANY WHO DARE TO COME AND TRY TO TAKE OUR LAND AGAIN WILL ONLY MET WITH THE FIRE OF OUR HEARTS AND THE STRENGTH OF OUR MOUNTAINS!” Hikari held up the belt as high as she could. “WE ARE THE LAND, SEA, AND THE AIR AND WILL ALWAYS PROSPER!

Everyone screamed and cheered, for this will be a story that will be told for centuries to come.

With a weak laugh, you allowed yourself to pass out in Celestia’s bust. You would need the rest in order to celebrate later. Celestia smiled as she held you, unaware that Moeru Chi started to glow a bit again.

*at Hikari’s castle*

“WE’RE CELEBRATING, SO NO HOLDS BARRED! EAT AND DRINK TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT!” Empress Hikari shouted.

After patching you up, you, your lovers, and your friends, including Grandmaster Yama and Silver, went to attend the castle party at the current capital of Japony, Sakura Dream. Having been victimized and plundered for generations, you were surprised at how much food and drinks they prepared for you all. Hikari wanted to make sure you had the best of everything.

Your mouth watered at the wonderful spread. The chefs really went all out to fulfill their empress’ order of preparing something special for their hero. They brought a large tray with possibly the biggest steamed lobster you would ever see in your life, a large meaty bowl of ramen on the side, some rice ball dumplings, a few skewed kabobs, and to top it all off, a beautiful cake with huge gourds of sake and other alcoholic beverages.

It wouldn’t be a party with just food, of course. To get the entertainment going, beautiful mares and more of Japony’s bipedal animals wore kimonos as they came out with fans and danced around the table. Some of them even helped to feed their guests, as you saw one dancer cause poor Twilight to turn red from how close she was.

“Still not satisfied, Your Majesty?” an adorable rabbit servant giggled as she helped you to another round of sake.

‘You come up with the craziest adventures, but I’m at least grateful that you gave me a strong tolerance for alcohol,’ you mentally told the author as the rabbit finished pouring your next cup.

(Don’t push it... I can make you so sensitive to alcohol you’ll pass out from just one sip of beer!) the author grumbled, but you just laughed.

Drinking some more sake, which somehow tasted better as a victory drink, and dug into the fine meal, you didn’t notice the two approaching vixens until they snuggled beside you on either side. Their fur and breasts felt like you were being hugged by some of the fluffiest pillows, and the scent of silk and lotus buds filled your nostrils.

“Oh, Your Highness! You really are amazing! Especially when you decided to return all the gold that Bloodshot was hoarding!” the one on the right exclaimed.

You smiled as while most of the gold had been melted, it could easily be turned back into the coins. Bloodshot had built up quite a fortune from all the torture and raiding he’s done over the years. And while Hikari insisted that it was your reward for defeating him, you just couldn’t bring yourself to take it.

Rather, you gave it back to the villagers. You weren’t stupid enough to believe money would bring back their loved ones, but it would at least help to rebuild for a brighter future.

You really should have seen it coming, but while one of the vixens kissed you on the cheek, the other decided to steal your lips. Your lovers stopped to see the vixens kissing you. Twilight wanted to speak up only to be silenced as the bunny gal who had poured your sake stole a kiss from her. She would never admit it, but Twilight had a lesbian side and lost control when it came to kissing another girl.

Hikari pulled out a long smoking pipe and took in a deep puff as she watched so many of her castle servants and guests get a chance to decorate your face. Even after the kissing stopped, a couple of mares were still at your side. Their soft fur kept you blushing like an idiot.

“Today was a huge accomplishment, Your Highness, but you should know that even with Bloodshot and Nero gone, there are plenty of terrors awaiting you in the future. That barbarian was very loud, we all heard him when he told you that Nero was one of the top three generals. Admittedly, in spite of the trouble he has caused for us both, Nero is only the weakest of Grogar’s elite generals.”

You paid attention and agreed with the empress, but despite Grogar’s numbers, you weren’t going to back down as long as you were breathing. Hikari smiled when you said this loud and clear. “Well then please know that you have both a valuable ally and a powerful army in this country whenever you need it. Although, I do have a question for you...” She took another puff from her pipe. “Do you really think you can change the entire world?”

You smiled. “I’m the ONLY one who can do it!”

Hikari tossed some ashes away. “You say you can... But what about those who turn their backs on you? Would you still fight for them? You would resist for those who won’t... Why?” she asked.

“Because somebody has to fight. Even if I have to do it alone... I won’t stop protecting those who can’t protect themselves. I promise that to my dying breath, I will do whatever I can to help as many lives as possible.” You smiled at Hikari. “It’ll stay that way until the very end.”

The kitsune empress almost dropped her pipe on account of how shocked she was by your answer. You weren’t like those who would take minutes before coming up with a response. She put the pipe back to her mouth and breathed out some more smoke with a smile. ‘I want him... Greedy Tia... Keeping such a noble warrior in her borders...’

You got some more affection from the beautiful party guests before you looked away to find that one attendee wasn’t having as much fun.

“Excuse me ladies,” you said as you got up to approach the mare who was drowning her sorrows. It was Misty Hour, Early Sunset’s wife, now a widow.

“Hey Misty...” You sat beside her as she gave a small smile.

“Hello hero...” She wanted to sip more sake before you touched her hand ever so gently. She didn’t need alcohol anymore, but rather some genuine company.

She hugged you and leaned against your ear. “Please... I’m grateful to you for bringing justice and avenging my husband... but please don’t mix justice and revenge together...”

You asked her to clarify as she wiped her tears. She began to explain that while you were trying to save Early, she was overwhelmed not only by the death of her husband, but by the rage you displayed when facing Bloodshot. She feared such a level of anger could lead to serious consequences.

She had a point there. You’ve never seen yourself when you were enraged, so it must have been quite scary for Misty to look at you like that. You came clean and promised that you would do better to keep control of your anger. Now that that was clear, you asked her to come over to the table instead of drinking over here by herself.

She was still hurting, but she did at least smile, knowing her husband could now rest in peace. She got into the party spirit, unaware that Early, dressed in white, loomed over and kissed his wife’s head. You managed to catch a glimpse of the avenged spirit, who waved at you before disappearing.

*meanwhile in Las Pegasus*

“There, there...” Morning Grey cooed to Sunny Peach as she finally started to feel sleepy after such an exciting day. After her newborn daughter let out a tired yawn and dozed off in her embrace, Morning set her down in the same crib she slept in when she was a baby. “Nighty-night...”

She gave the infant a small kiss on the head before she walked out to the kitchen where her triplet sisters were waiting for her. She grabbed a bottle of wine and some glasses and set them down before doing the honors of filling all three glasses. Her sisters thanked her and clanked their glasses before they got started on gossiping like they were teenagers again.

“Girl, I didn’t think you had it in you. Taking in some random youngster to scratch your itch at your age,” the firstborn of the triplets, Tropical Glaze, a unicorn like their late mother, scoffed as she wondered what else Morning had done.

“And a king for that matter!” her other sister, who was an earth pony named Roasted Almonds exclaimed, surprised at how important the father was.

“I have no regrets, you two,” Morning assured. “Solid Stone only grew worse in and out of bed after the twins came into the world. He barely paid attention and preferred to sneak off to score a hooker half his age. It’s embarrassing!”

“So you were trying to even the score, you naughty mare?” Tropical Glaze inquired, wanting all the juicy details. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense. How much better is the king? I’ve heard rumors, but I want to hear it from somepony with the experience!”

“Oh, that stud puts my ex’s tiny dick to shame! You should have seen him when we met here in the big city; I learned in a matter of minutes that he didn’t discriminate with age when I learned about his mission to confirm that sweet Sapphire Shores’ foal was his — he was drinking in my mature body, but was so worried about getting me pregnant, too. We finally got close enough to get past that barrier last year and I intend to stay his concubine so we can take care of cute little Sunny together.”

“Concubine huh? That surprises me almost as much as finding out our new niece is a unicorn,” Tropical said, well aware of how rare it was for a foal to be born a different pony from her parents.

“I can already see him knocking you up again, sis?” Roasted Almonds asked. “And share him with us while you’re at it! I hadn’t had a good stallion in such a long time!”

“Easy there, Almonds,” Morning held her hand up, not wanting her excited triplet, who was being the loudest of them all to wake the baby. “I would have to talk to him first, but I can be very... persuasive.”

“Where is your new mate, anyway?” Roasted Almonds asked.

Morning sipped her wine. “He’s taking a little trip abroad for some spa technique training,” she smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. “He’s unpredictable, but if I know that sweetheart he’ll be bringing more than just some new spa skills and bed tricks. If it gets that far, the mansion will most likely have another concubine to gossip with.”

Little did she know, that was what you were working on.

*back at the party*

The buffet was almost too good, but you somehow managed to eat every last bite. Your lovers were all stuffed and drunk from all that sake, and some of them were still enjoying the mare dancers whereas the others decided to call it for the night. Needless to say, no one was going to sleep right away, as you sawTwilight and a few more of your lovers bring some of the dancers back to their rooms. You smirked as to what they had in mind when it came to the term ‘VIP service’.

While the party was still going on, you were so drunk that you didn’t remember leaving the celebration or how you were dragged along the floor. Taken away from the party and unwanted attention, you came back to your senses to realize who was dragging you away. Silver, who for some reason was in the form of a mare again, led you away to one of the available rooms.

“Silver... I... uh...”

“Shut up,” she snapped, and once you were inside, she lunged at you and began making out with you. Although you were still a little drunk, you were at least aware of your surroundings. Feeling Silver’s lips against your own, you were absolutely shocked at how she didn’t hold back. Still kissing you, you were forced onto your back, and Silver only pulled away after she ripped your shirt to expose your bandaged chest.

Sitting on your groin, her kimono slipped off her shoulders and you got a good view of her breasts. She started breathing heavily as she tried to contain herself.

You could only watch as she grabbed and bounced both of her breasts with a blush.

“It’s only brief, but... Grandmaster Yama wants me to take over the clan... And before I do so, I want... I want...”

“You want?” you gulped, wondering about her answer.

“I want to bear a foal to become my apprentice. I want to be a mother...”

You gulped as Silver didn’t hold back as she undid her kimono revealing her beautiful body. While she did have a few scars, she was so much like Rainbow and AJ, as her muscles showed just how diligent she was when it came to her training.

“Please human...” she almost whimpered as she slowly reverted to her kitsune form with a light pink glow on the tips of each of her tails. “Let’s make an heir...” She reached down and kissed you on the lips. Making out with you, her tails operated like hands as one of them wrapped around your member. In seconds, you were already rock hard for Silver to behold.

‘F$%K HE’S HUGE!’ she gulped, as you could tear her apart from how big you were. She made a reach for it, but hesitated at the last second.

“What’s wrong Silver... Too big to handle?” you chucked — you still had a bit of rivalry with Silver, which would probably last even after you returned to Equestria. She blushed and saw this as a challenge to her pride and in a quick flash, grabbed and squeezed both of your balls hard!

‘AH! BITCH!’ you cringed in pain as Silver made sure to sober you up quickly. You wanted to push her off, but she ruined your plans as she climbed up and over your member. She certainly wasn’t big on waiting. Lining your member right on target, Silver slowly lowered herself until she was halfway there.

She stopped to breathe, for feeling the bulge in her stomach sent shivers of delight down her spine. Silver took a few more breaths to calm herself as the feeling was painful but pleasurable at the same time. The pain only lasted a few more seconds before it wavered to the point that she could lower herself further.

You might have been teasing her a few seconds ago, but aside from fearing any future damage to your testicles, you tried to calm her out of genuine worry. Neither one of you realized that you had a guest as Silver found a rhythm bouncing on top of you.

“Oh my... I’m not interrupting your fun, now am I?” the easily discernible voice asked, and both of you blushed in embarrassment.

“Y-Y-Your Majesty...!” Not able to move or turn, Silver felt a soft pair of hands on her shoulders as her face burned from being caught in the act. With a giggle, Hikari took her hands off of the younger kitsune just for a second to undo her own outfit and then grabbed both of Silver’s breasts.

“E-E-Empress...!” Silver let out a throaty moan, involuntarily tightening her vaginal muscles around your shaft as Hikari fondled her and pinched her nipples with her long, carefully manicured claws.

You too let out a loud moan as Hikari toned down on the groping to help Silver relax before leaning down to make out with her. The fact that she was suddenly kissing the empress whom she looked up to for so many years sparked Silver’s excitement and she went back to slowly rising and dropping back down on your member.

Separating with a string of saliva, Hikari giggled as she looked at your drooling, moaning face. “Now don’t get overwhelmed too quickly, dear. Japony’s lovely empress here deems it only fair to try your special sword as well.”

For the next full hour, you swapped positions with Hikari and Silver, unable to decide which of the kitsunes was more excited. Now on your knees, Silver rubbed her breasts against your back as you did the impossible by taking the empress of Japony doggy-style. Holding her tails, some of them wrapped around your waist, chest and neck preventing you from stopping.

She could rest assured, that with all that sake, you wouldn’t be going anywhere. Silver, sitting on her knees beside you, touched your cheek to turn your head for another kiss as you pounded the empress long and hard. Silver had already gotten her filling, which was dripping onto the carpeted floor, but she wasn’t sated yet. It would be a long nighttime process.

Soon enough, you had switched back to the younger kitsune, holding her tight as she sat on your lap. Giving her another kiss, Hikari puffed out her cheeks and snuck her way in so you would have two vulpine tongues to wrestle with. Alas, she remembered her image as a patient and dignified ruler and pulled away to wait for her next turn.

“WHAT THE BUCK?!” a loud but familiar voice echoed from the doorway. You had gotten back to Hikari and the both of you were on your knees with you groping both of her J-cup breasts as you pounded her from behind again.

‘Damn it...!’ You stopped as you looked to the side where the entrance was. While you and Silver blushed a deep red, Hikari looked more annoyed as she looked at the open door.

Luna was blushing bright red, unable to process this. Normally, she didn’t care if you got intimate with a regular mare, but the empress was not in that category. To make it more awkward, Celestia and Amira who weren’t as drunk as the elements or Trixie quickly sobered up at the sight.

“Well excuse me, but we’re occupied!” Hikari scoffed. “Mind your manners and leave us until we’re done!” She wasn’t asking — using her magic she shut the door in their faces. You gulped and involuntarily squeezed the empress’ furry breasts tighter, worried how you were supposed to calm them down after Hikari was done hoarding you.

*few days later*

Within the next couple of days, Hikari wanted you to enjoy your trip despite the hell you all went through. You and your family took her offer and had the time of your lives here at the empire, and you even got what you came here for in the first place when you met with the master of the lotus blossom spa technique. He was most gracious in passing his teachings onto you after what you had to endure for the sake of his home.

Like any determined student, you took the time to learn every step with much effort, as you wanted to make sure you understood the lessons. You did get to perform the new spa technique on a few volunteers, as the master was happy to teach and watch you learn so quickly.

While it was fun to learn and to help out the villagers, it was sadly time to head home. After you were done packing, you headed outside with your lovers to wait for the airship comes to pick you up. While you waited, Empress Hikari, Silver Blade, and Grandmaster Yama, who you knew should be in bed, made it in time to say their goodbyes.

You got closer to hug Silver and whisper into her ear. “Tell me immediately when that baby is ready, you hear me?”

Silver blushes a deep red as she rubs her stomach a bit. Despite her embarrassment she smiles at the thought. Empress Hikari giggled.

“You are a godsend. I can’t thank you enough for all of this...” It was her turn to bow now. You learned that with the curse lifted, the villagers and guards are working hard to give the Akanami victims appropriate graves. It warmed your heart to know that this country was starting to heal. Speaking of Akanami, the former capital was being torn down to make a memorial for the lives that were lost and to remove any lingering evil. As for Bloodshot’s fortress, the survivors guilty of minor offenses would be imprisoned while the more serious criminals would be executed.

You said it before that you didn’t approve of the death penalty, but it was a price they had to pay for everything they put this country through. The process would take a long time, but at least Japony no longer had to worry about that murderous warlord. Nothing but a distant memory to be forgotten.

You gave Empress Hikari a reassuring smile and let her know that if another power-hungry bastard showed their ugly mug, she didn’t have to hesitate to reach out to Equestria. She thanked you and came over to give you a quick peck to the lips. You once again felt that electric tingle as your lovers and a few of the villagers were left in awe as you held the kiss for more than just a few seconds.

She finally let go and stuck her tongue out. “Come back to Japony if you ever feel like getting away from those ponies. The throne gets lonely, and I’m more than happy to save a seat for you at my side...”

You wanted to speak up, but your tongue was tied up from the empress’ offer. Your lovers do help you answer that. Grabbing your shirt, you grumbled as Celestia dragged you on board the airship as it pulled in on the runway. The very second the door opened, Celestia threw you inside and you ended up crashing into the flight attendant as your lovers turned back to Hikari.

“Thank you empress, but... he’s our lover and his home is back in Equestria.” Celestia kept a tight smile on her face as she resisted the urge to incinerate Hikari. That would undo practically everything you’ve achieved. Luna gulped as both rulers stared down as a radiating heat coursed around them. It only grew worse as the kitsune and alicorn stared hard at each other.

“I think we overstayed our welcome...” Luna chuckled lamely and pushed her sister away before turning back to Silver.

“Please write to us when you have the chance. You and your mate here are always welcome in Japony,” the latter insisted. Nodding, Silver hugged Luna and the rest of your lovers goodbye.

Back on the airship, you twitched in pain as your dizzy eyes moved in circles. The airship staff were barely convinced you were still alive and the janitor poked at the new mess with his broom and sighed.

“Great. I’ll get a body bag...”

*few minutes later*

“Wow, Tia. It was just a kiss...” You lay on your bed still waiting for the pain to stop even though you had already left Japony. Your mates kept you company, joining you as you recuperated on the bed. ‘Will I need to punish all your holes again?’

Celestia could hear your thoughts and blushed, but Twilight spoke in place of her bashful teacher. “Honey, would you care to elaborate what I heard about the empress asking you to be her emperor?”

“Our idiot husband decided to have sex with her behind her backs,” Luna grumbled — the night of the party was still glued in her memory in spite of all that alcohol.

“And you’re surprised?” Rainbow Dash cut in. They all looked at her with disapproving faces, but she only gave her typical ‘you know I’m right’ look.

You let out a relaxed sigh that this adventure was finally over and for NOW, you were going to stick with simple ‘out of town’ traveling. You were just about to doze off when you heard someone knock on the door.

“Oh, she’s here,” Celestia smiled. Using her magic to open the door, you were all surprised at who you were looking at. You had seen her before your departure, but you didn’t recall her getting on the airship. Then again you were pretty... preoccupied, compliments of Tia.

“Misty? What are you doing here?” you asked as the Early Sunset’s widow stood by the doorway. The kimono you were used to seeing her wearing had been replaced and a small smile spread on her face as she came into the room.

“I hope you’re feeling better, Your Majesty... I spoke to your lovers about this idea I’ve been contemplating for the last few days,” she stated before she began to explain.

Ever since they got married, Early Sunset and Misty had dreamed of opening an inn in another country. Though the fears of discrimination and, of course, how Bloodshot’s army kept them glued to their own hotel, they never had the chance.

Even so, Misty understood how much her husband wanted to fulfill her dream, and even though he was murdered, she knows he’s still with her and sitting in the same end won’t make their shared dream come true. Ergo, Misty asked the royals of Equestria if she could come home with them for the chance to see what it would be like to start a new inn in their borders.

Celestia allowed it, putting her own embarrassing experience behind her as she acknowledged how Misty’s idea for a new inn would give ponies a chance to see what it would be like to stay in an inn/bathhouse. You still had more than enough room in your mansion, and Misty could stay with you even after the new inn is finished.

“But what about the Lotus Blossom hotel?” you asked, Misty insisted that she already had it covered. Her son, who turned 18 this year, has been entrusted with taking over the hotel that’s been in their family’s care for generations. Her mind was set on building a new inn — it would also give Equestria a taste of the beauty of Japonese floral.

“Certainly,” you smiled and took both of Misty’s hands in your own. “I have a friend or two who I know would appreciate the vibrant colors.”

She gave you a kiss on the forehead. “Thank you. And... a little birdie told me you have a fixation for... older mares... Master...”

You were caught off guard as to what you were bringing home. Right beside you, Celestia was guilty as charged as she giggled and pocketed two bags of bits between her bosom.

RD and AJ grumbled that she had won the gamble.

*miles off back in Equestrian borders. Ponyville*

‘Shit...!’ Wolf sat idling by as he scanned through the documents from their previous attack. While the mission was somewhat a success, they had more problems than solutions. What’s worse is that Wolf felt not only disgust at the level of terror, but defeated at how much they have been occumilating over the years.

‘How did I not see this... How could I let this go so far?’ Wolf slouched on his chair, pinching the bridge of his snout and eyes as he tried to contemplate the situation. It was all too much and even with his small team, the clock was ticking and falling fast.

Looking back, Wolf went through the documents on the table. There was no mistake. These weren’t just plans, they were schematics.. Schematics to the ultimate terror.

Looking through each document, Wolf could tell they had spent years organizing and gathering the necessary parts to make such a weapon, but they were missing a key piece. Namely, the fuel source. Without it, this weapon was just a huge hunk of metal.

Thorn came into the room while Wolf was still browsing through the papers. It’s been hours and she could tell her captain was running on fumes. Bringing in a couple cups of coffee, she placed one next to Wolf.

“Here, you need it,” she encouraged given the situation they were in.

“Thanks,” Wolf returned Thorn’s smile as he took a sip from the cup. Thorn sat down on the other side as she watched Wolf go through more of the documents they had gathered from the truck. No matter how much she tried to lighten the situation, it always came to this.

“How bad is it, Wolf?” she asked, scared of the answer, but wanting more to end the nagging pit feeling in her stomach. The diamond dog sighed and tossed some of the papers to the side.

“Bad, but... we do have some good news...” Wolf finished, giving a bit of hope.

Suddenly, their third comrade came in. Downing another beer, he took his seat at the table. “I do hope we have a bright side after what we just found in New Horsey,” Silver practically begged.

“I was just getting there,” Wolf replied. “The good news is it only seems they have constructed two of these weapons and we were lucky to decommission one of them.” He handed some documents over for Thorn and Silver to look at. They were showing off where and when they would move the weapon, but the nuke they discovered was far from finished. Where they planned to acquire its fuel source and detonate it remained a mystery. Also, part of the documents said that due to the material being too unstable, they had to remotely detonate it by hand to activate it and, if it was even possible, find a little window of opportunity to get away from the blast radius.

While that news did indeed bring some hope, the bad news was yet to come.

“The bad news is they finished the other weapon, but... these papers don’t explain where they are detonating it, nor what they want as their fuel source,” Wolf groaned as he tried to find any other information on the second nuke and failed.

If these terrorists planned to level an entire city, it was only natural that the fuel source would have to be large. The three threw in a few ideas: uranium was highly unstable, but they found no plans or orders related to it. Thermite would make a large fire bomb, but it was practically impossible to contain. They considered sarin gas as an option, however, Wolf knew the leader wanted to show a clear message. While a sarin nuke would bring terror, it won’t be enough as the pegasi can stop it...

Wolf and his colleagues continued going to a few ideas until one sparked.

“What about unstable magic?” Thorn asked.

“Unstable magic? I know some parts of the world have that, but... it’s rare. It’s like finding precious metals in a mountain. There aren’t a lot of spots,” Silver gestured a bit, as the idea did sound ridiculous, but, in a way, accurate despite the slim chances.

Wolf thought it through as a tight feeling emerged in his gut. Hearing Thorn’s suggestion, he looked at her and Silver. “Could... Could that be what it is?” Wolf suddenly grew excited as he shuffled some of the documents to the side while his teammates watched. Tossing two of the papers away, he placed a map in front of them.

“That’s why he had a map of some of the towns. Look here!” Wolf pointed to a map of Ponyville. It was an outdated picture, but everything was still the same, aside from the outward homes that had been built. Looking at the plans, Wolf pointed to the numbers and then to some other maps.

“Check these numbers out,” Wolf ushered, showing Thorn and SIlver the numbers each map had on the side.

Trottingham: 9.0

Las Pegasus: 14.4

Canterlot: 30.7

And then there was Ponyville: 73.1

Silver and Thorn were both still trying to understand what these numbers implied, but Wolf was ready to pass on that knowledge.

“I used to work with one of the scientists who was studying these unstable magic hot spots. Because this is where the portals appeared, he stated that the higher the numbers symbolized the chances a portal would open up if the area’s magic level was used to conjure it. This is why portals appear so suddenly, as the unstable magic helps create them.”

Wolf held up Ponyville’s map. “He always did tell me that certain towns around don’t realize that unstable magic does more harm than good, as the hot spots help earth ponies grow their crops, gives pegasi more control of the weather, and even gives unicorns a boost when they’re using their magic.”

Silver and Thorn were starting to understand, but the former did ask why Canterlot’s numbers weren’t as large as Ponyville’s.

“Because the queens’ magic is what gives the town its magic level. While Canterlot has been the royal sisters’ home for years, Ponyville was said to have been established before the Equestrian capital.”

Several bad ideas coursed through Silver and Thorn’s skulls as they saw the answers in front of them. “If that’s the case.. if they are syphoning unstable magic in Ponyville, they won’t just destroy Ponyville...” Thorn covered her mouth.

Wolf was just as worried. “They could possibly take out Canterlot too... Hell, half of Equestria would be nothing but a crater by the time the dust cleared.”

From their seats, the trio groaned out of worry for the many lives just a single bomb would claim. Such devastation would not just send a message, it would only spark anarchy as other ponies would be afraid of going outside.

They took a break for a few seconds before Silver finally spoke up.

“Alright... I hate to say it, but we are at the short end of the knife now... It kills me that it had to come to this, but we need backup...” Silver truly hated the idea of asking for more help, but this situation was beyond the three of them to handle on their own.

Wolf wasn’t keen with the idea either, as he hated to have to bring more friends into his battles but... even he knew when it was time to fight or flight. Despite learning to not rely too much on his friends, he at least never took them for granted.

“I can’t... I have too much blood on my hands... No more...”

Thorn was not at all amused at her captain’s response. Reaching over the desk, she gave Wolf a hard slap to the face to paint it red.

“IDIOT! DO YOU THINK WE WANT OUR HOME TO BE DESTROYED?! You seem to have forgotten that you asked us to join you because you don’t want to repeat Operation Black Rose!”

Wolf knew she was right, but he couldn’t bear the guilt of losing more lives from those monsters. As he leaned back in his chair, they heard the door open again and pulled out their pistols. Although, they quickly lowered their firearms when they saw their pot headed friend come in and lock the door.

“So... what did I miss?” Bud asked, wondering about the situation.

Thorn was quick to fill Bud in with what they learned, including, of course, the second nuke’s potential fuel source. Bud was skeptical of the idea of using unstable magic, but he agreed that it would make sense as Equestria is literally a diamond mine of pure magic depository. While many ponies use this for agriculture, weather control, mining and other sorts, if left untreated, it could be highly versatile. Just like how while oil is a major resource to power machinery now, an area with a large concentration of magic can be syphoned to power thousands of machinery at once on a single square foot of land.

Bud grew more worried when he saw that the numbers on the Ponyville map were off the charts. If they were to use that level of magic to detonate the bomb, nothing within its radius would survive. He turned to Wolf as though the crew had been hard at work. Wolf knew he couldn’t do this alone.

“Look buddy... we both know you don’t like bringing new agents in, but we’re running out of time...” Bud pulled out his phone and smiled. “So I went ahead and called for backup.”

Wolf, Thorn, and Silver looked at him as smirked with triumph. It was one thing that he called for help, but what they really wanted to know is if he did it while sober.

“Who did you call, Bud?” Wolf stood up, acknowledging by now that they needed all the help they could get.

All Bud did was show the numbers of those he contacted. Wolf was a bit surprised when he looked and saw that some of them had already texted back... Each of them either said they were in or that they wanted to join.

Wolf smiled. The next step was to come up with a plan. The war was right at the home field, and they weren’t about to miss it.

*miles off in Canterlot*

A lone pony struggled to move as he tried to run away. Sadly though he couldn’t as his magic is drained away by his mysterious assailant.

The trail of magic flowed into the cloaked figure’s mouth and he licked his lips as he finished his meal. He wasn’t alone either, as there were six more figures of different shapes and sizes behind him, wearing matching cloaks as they stayed silent to await their orders.

“Even now, I’m still hungry...” the magic thief growled and stared down at his wrinkled hands. He and his followers were about to depart for more prey before two figures dressed in military gear stopped them.

“Hello... Tirek.. So you and your clan here finally escaped. I wouldn’t have expected much since we were the ones who let you out,” one of the military figures spoke. Tirek’s bodyguards tried to confront them, but he held his bony hand out.

“You... You let us...?” Tirek tried to finish, but his weak and starving body ached in pain.

Both of the military figures laughed. “Well, not us, but our general did. He sees use in your abilities. We’ll provide you refuge if you’ll join our little group in exchange.”

Tirek didn’t take well to this proposition and opened his mouth to devour some more magic, but nothing happened. The strangers just laughed in his face again.

“Come now, Tirek... This is no time to be unreasonable. After all, we have something you might need and... All we ask is that you help us in achieving our own goals.”

Tirek tried to walk over, only for the second figure to point a strange weapon that he had never seen before at him.

“Believe me, we really don’t want to have to resort to violence, Tirek. I’d hate to have to make such a bloody mess out of your corpse.”

Tirek bit his lip. Looking down at his wrinkled hands again, he was in no position to argue and turned to the figure in charge.

“So... if I help you... you’ll give me my strength back?” Tirek asked, curious as to what these two wanted.

The leader smiled and held out his hand. “Heed my words... You’ll be well compensated...”

It couldn’t be helped. Tirek’s powers were limited and whatever these strangers were, they couldn’t satisfy his hunger. In any case, he wanted Equestria by any means necessary. Staring down at the hand and the one holding it out, he slowly reached out and shook it.

“Welcome... Lord Tirek... to the dawn of a new beginning!”

HEY FOLKS OF FIMFICTION WHAT ANOTHER CRAZY CHAPTER AS ME AND MY EDITOR NINETAILBEASTBALL HAD SO MUCH FUN MAKING THIS CHAPTER!!!

Unfortunately with how long we had been working on part two of japony we sadly don't have a Halloween chapter ready for the holiday. though despite not having a Halloween chapter we are going to put most of our time into making sure the next chapter becomes the greatest chapter in the series. we are still planning on meeting new characters and of course new spa techniques we plan to introduce.

they will be laughs, tears, anger, and craziness but please stay tuned as we got more.

I am also in need of some funny ideas for a few shorts and if you have an idea or two you wish to share please pm me here on fimfiction.

thank you so much for coming and enjoy your days