Not long after the beast was killed, Venquis and three Crimson Roses arrived in what remained of the Everfree at Silver’s and Obsidians location. He saw nothing but ash that covered the dirt for miles and miles, reminding of Ardelans infamous Black Pass, where the entire mountain range’s terrain was nothing but ash that went for hundreds of miles and where the majority of the Black War was fought. His eyes then caught the attention of the Yukobana that Silver carried. “Is that what I think it is?” Venquis looked at awe at the weapon Silver carried. All of his Crimson Roses bowed before Silver out of respect, followed by the Eriborian shortly after. He had heard tales of Sihana’s own personal sword, the strongest sword of its kind, and possibly in existence. He arose to speak while the other roses continued to bow. “Sihana has given you the Yukobana. This very weapon belongs to our creator. You are the first mortal and person other than the goddess himself to wield this weapon. Sihana must know exactly who you are, and has given you permission to use this weapon. If you were not given permission, you would not be able to pick it up. You are not just the welder of the Yukobana, you are somepony special in her eyes.” Venquis then ordered the others to rise before looking at his friend. “Is she alright, is she safe?” Venquis spoke with desperate concern. He was expecting the worst as he thought about the outcomes of what could happen. After all, she was fighting against Jack. However, Sihana would have obliterated him in single combat. He must have had some assistance then, and if so, she would have faced the fight of her life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The foundation of New Canterlot was something special. The last remaining section from Old Canterlot which was made up of the Royal Palace and its surrounding neighbourhoods were placed in the middle of the city as the remainder of the city was quickly rebuilt as strong as the fortress of the city originally was. New Canterlot now was placed nearby a river as a water source as the Palace adorned the centre of the city on a island. The construction being built through slave labour of P.O.W’s, “Inferior races” and many other fundamentals. Within a week of Old Canterlot’s destruction, New Canterlot became just as large, and just as intimidating, as it’s precursor. Celestia had heard reports about the Changelings being mobilized and enroute to the city, with Queen Chrysalis personally commanding them. She loved the thought of her attacking, executing her for treason and showing it to her enemies. Tens of thousands of Royal Guard Archers were placed around twenty feet high concrete walls that surrounded the city with fire arrows. Millions upon millions of soldiers, some of them being survivors from Old Canterlot, were ready to defend their home and Celestia ordered almost a quarter of the Rangers to help assist in defending the city while the others would travel to the badlands in stealth and burn the entire nation to the ground, innocents and even children were targeted. The Solar Flares would serve as her personal guard, not like she needs one anyway, and to inspire absolute fear in her enemies. The Flares were not known as one mare armies for no apparent reason.... As soon as the Changelings appeared into the sky, the arrows that were shot into the sky blotted out the sun and rained death upon the Changlings. The arrows were targeting their wings, forcing them to land and continue the siege on foot, something they would find extremely difficult. Chrysalis would make it to the palace however, but Celestia had no fear. She sat down in her throne with the widest smile on her face and her Flares at her side. She was not expecting a massacre, she was expecting an extinction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “By all means.” Crimson told Star. “We assault Roam in the next couple minutes, make sure you are ready. I obviously know you are good fighters, but so are the good and proud soldiers fighting to retake their lands and the enemy. Venquis, I guess, has left the Ryborians up to us to command. We were even given the privilege to command an entire squad of Crimson Roses.” Crimson said before equipping his sword, dating back to the eve of the Final Eclipse. “If we win here, then the rest of the campaign should be a piece of cake. Once Zebrica is taken, we have the opportunity to retake Ardelan via a sneak attack while other generals keep the other campaigns in check. You know about the former Crystal Empire that Candace used to rule, it had to be moved to the other side of the continent after Celestia targeted it when Candace declared the empire’s independence from Equestria. What are left now are ruins, and the Crystal Empire now is new, only about fifty years old. Now, let’s get ready to take back Roam. We have so much riding on this moment.”
"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that she GAVE it to me..." Silver quickly explained what had happened inside the arena, being careful not to mention the offer he had made to Jack. "After he trapped her, I went for the sword. I figured if one of us was going to take it, I'd rather it be me than him." Silver shoved the Yukobana back into his sword belt. "It's a good weapon, even if it is a little unbalanced." Nightshade floated up out of the ground. "Looks like you found survivors. Good. You'll need all the help you can get. Queen Chrysalis is going after Canterlot. Celestia is going to capture and execute her. Lord Discord has asked you to make sure that the execution never takes place."
"An EXTINCTION!?" Obsidian roared like a monster. "We will not allow that." The remaining animals of the Everfree formed into a group. "Brothers. Sisters. It has been fun fighting in your pack. But I have an army to save. Please feel free to come join me. Hummingbird." He grew wings, and a second later was gone. A little bit later he stood on the wall of Canterlot, a dead archer under his hoof. "One down." "None ta go." Base Jumper appeared in front of him. "Solar flare Base Jumper, reporting to kill." Obsidian growled at him.
Venquis felt like he has lost his own war on the inside. To see the one that gave him purpose to be defeated like that was crushing to him and all of the Ryborians. Venquis tried his best not to break down in depression, but he had one thing on his mind now. Jack. “This is...powerful news Silver. I always expected the worst, but not like this.” He then looked at the restriction he was given by Crimson while he was unconscious as it suddenly glowed white and then shattered. “I understand his concern, but restricting my powers will no longer be called for. I cannot defeat Jack alone, and it seems like you want him dead as much as I do.” Venquis said, pulling out his Spell-Sword ‘Moonsaber’ and studying it. “Crimson does not need me for his campaign in Zebrica, he can manage the Ryborians there. I have even given him an entire unit of my Roses to command, the two lovebirds have been authorized to command them as well." “I will stop Celestia from killing Chrysalis alone, she must be making a suicide attack. She told me herself that she did not want intervention by us; it seems that she wants to leave the world this way. She has made peace with herself. I will stop Equestria wiping out the Badlands, somepony needs to do it, but my participation in assisting you for stopping Chrysalis making the biggest mistake of her life will be non optional. It seems you guys are more than able to ‘Convince’ her. ” Venquis said as the Eriborian and his guard of Crimson Roses teleported to the Badlands. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia watched in the comfort of her throne as she seen fiery explosions from enchanted fire arrows hitting their marks, causing the Changelings to fall out the sky and forcing them to land. She knew about that her sisters own personal group of heroes outside of the city earlier than expected. She sent her units to keep them busy while she dealt with the Changeling Queen. The Solar Flares stood beside their queen as she waited, with all of her currently available Flares with the exception of five who were assisting in the battle below. The Archers were making quick work of their enemies as they seemingly dropped from the sky. “We will have an ending of sorts Chrysalis, you know the way here.” She said silently to herself, awaiting her opponent.
"I have killed Solar Flares in mass numbers fool. What makes you special." Obsidian growled deep, the wall shaking from the sound and causing some archers to lose their balance for a moment. "I'm built, just for ya." Base swung at Obsidian with his bat, which was quickly blocked by Obsidian's bar. "Make peace with ya god, cuz your about ta meet him." Obsidian's bar broke in half suddenly as the pressure from the bat suddenly quadrupled. Base swung repeatedly at Obsidian, who kept dodging backwards. "Flying squirrel." Obsidian reached the end of the wall and jumped off. He spread his legs and a layer of skin formed. He glided backwards, up, and over Base. He landed and kicked Base off the edge of the wall, before charging forward. "Panther." He ran along the wall, biting through archers one by one, tearing each in half. Within moments every archer on the top of the wall was a corpse. "There will be no extinctions today, Pheonix queen. Chameleon." Obsidian vanished and leapt down into New Canterlot, completely invisible.
Chrysalis smirked as the arrows flew toward her army. "Celestia, you silly pony... Did you think I learned nothing from our time together?" She fluttered her wings in such a way as to make a chirping sound. At that moment, all of the changelings that had been hit and fallen to the earth beta to burrow underground. As Celestia's ground forces looked this way and hat wondering what the changelings could be doing, the Hatelings careened toward the forces at meteoric speed, crashing into the ground troops, decimating the lesser soldiers. Then, as the forces were in disarray, the burrowed changelings rose from the ground, striking at their foes swiftly with deadly precision. Chrysalis tittered with laughter. She could see the yellow tendrils of fear spreading through Celestia's infantry, and just as she promised, the changelings were eating it up. She chirped again, and the Hatelings ceased fitting the ground forces and charged toward the Rangers in a frenzy. "Now...to settle my score..." Chrysalis flew toward the rear lines, knowing that she could easily devour anyone foolish enough to stand between her and Celestia. ----- Star Shimmer concentrated on raising the dead, and within a few moments created a small army of soulless bodies that would unquestioningly do her bidding. She looked over her minions, and tapped her chin. "Something's missing..." She glanced over at Yclept who was still covered in diamond dust from when she resummoned Sombra, and something clicked in her mind. She concentrated for a few more moments, and suddenly, the minions were covered in crystal armor. She smiled at her new creations. "There! Functional and durable!" ---- Back in the Badlands, Celestia's forces met an unexpected delay: Several Hatelings had been left behind in the hive to ensure the safety of Chrysalis' immature young. The Hatelings relished the chance to evicerate some of Celestia's forces.
Strangely enough, the Flares allowed Chrysalis to pass as she entered the Palace. As soon as she walked through the door, she seen the Phoenix Queen looking at the Changeling with her hoof on her chin looking bored while she was dressed in her armor. She was surrounded by at least fifty of the one man army Solar Flares at her side. She then stood up and began to walk down the stairs, with two flares removing her cape. She gave an evil smile to the Changling queen and stood at the end of the stairs leading to her throne. “So you came to fight me by yourself? That’s a gutless move, because suicide is the cowards way out. Your kind has been an embarrassment to face against, and that the extinction of all the changelings in the Badlands has been seen as a last resort” The Flares raised their swords until Celestia spoke again. “I’ll deal with our visitor myself, remain guard for the palace. Order 213 has been executed.” The flares then lower their swords as the flares left the room and went to guard the palace. The throne room was now almost completely empty, with only ten flares remaining to watch the ensuring fight. “Go ahead and make my day.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Equestrians quickly outnumbered the Hatelings as they destroyed them in moments. Anything that came into their path was cut down quickly. Reports only said that only a scouting party was sent, but were returned with the reports of a full invasion force. The Equestrian forces killed anything that moved, and burnt anything that didn’t. Within the matter of minutes, Equestrian had covered the distance of an entire city and was down the neck of the Hive itself. The only thing stopping them was the burrowing Changelings under the ground. As soon as it started, Venquis arrived with Three Crimson Roses and the tide of the battle turned dramatically. Tens of thousands died within minutes, 100,000 in fifteen minutes. The Equestrians did not expect any Ryborian intervention in the battle and unfortunately paid dearly for it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crimson, Star and Ycept were appointed as commanders of the assault on Roam. They carried an impressive amount of soldiers, roughly around 250,000 Republic soldiers. They began their march once they were ready to assault the city. Their actions would decide the rest of the campaign.
Silver, Holly, and the Night Guards arrived in Canterlot shortly after Venquis and the Roses. The sounds of battle filled the air, and the Nights Guards seemed eager to join the fight Silver held up his hoof to silence them. "Remember the mission. Our objective is to ensure the safety of the Changeling Queen."
Obsidian watched Chrysalis enter the palace, and the solar flares exit. He watched closely as each flare passed. Each with a specific weapon. He smiled as he finally saw one with no weapon. He pounced at him, knocking him out of line, but remaining invisible. He quickly took the armor off the flare, and put it on. He popped his head out of the water, seeing the flares all standing over him with weapons drawn, now visible and wearing solar flare armor. "Hello ponies. I'm going to kill a few of you now." He immediately jumped up. "Frog." His tongue shot from his mouth, wrapping around a flare and spinning, causing him to take out a large group of them. He landed on the spine of another who tried to run, instantly breaking it. "Rhinoceros." A horn grew from his head and he charged through the forces of flares towards the main entrance to the city, stabbing several of them clean through, and knocking many of them to the side. "A one pony army is nothing compared to the true force of nature. Elephant." He kept running, but turned his head back towards the flares that were chasing him, and shot a blast of water from his mouth, which sent them all backwards. Several solar flares slammed into the side of the palace. "Mole." Obsidian jumped into the air, waved to the still living solar flares, and dove into the earth, creating a hole. Base Jumper appeared just as Obsidian had left, seeing the other flares in their condition left him breathless and shocked. "Wh-what did... By Celestia's wings..."
Venquis and the Roses quickly dealt with the Equestrians in protecting the hive, the Ryborians were wiping the floor against their enemies. The Equestrians were getting their numbers trimmed thinner and thinner, until eventually only 3,000 remained. To seal the deal of their victory, the Roses wiped the remainder of the Equestrians away when they used a joint fire spell which covered them in a tsunami of hellfire. The Badlands were saved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia noticed Obsidian near the entrance of the palace, and performed a magical kinetic push that sent him all away across the city effortlessly and across the sky. She then ordered her Flares to place up a barrier constructed with a purple crystal. When it was activated, the crystal created a bubble shield that enveloped the entire palace, completely indestructible with the exception of the generator itself. She would like her duel with Chrysalis to be un-interrupted. It now seemed that stopping the fight between them was impossible.
Silver Crescent looked at the barrier and laughed. "You will not stop me that easily, Celestia." He ordered Holly and the Night Guards to stay hidden, then turned back the barrier and prepared to use another Dragon spell. "Fade. Spirit. Bind. FEIM ZII GRON!!!" The spell made Silver completely ethereal, immune to any and all magic and weapons. It also allowed him to pass through the barrier without any difficulty. Upon reaching the other side, he calmy called out to the Phoenix Queen. "It's been awhile, Celestia. You look upset... did you perhaps lose a few prisoners?" He wanted to keep her talking until his ethereal spell wore off. The flipside to his own tempory physical and magical invulnerability was the fact that he would not be able to fight until the spell ended.
“Well... you found me... congratulations.” Celestia offered, the alicorn spinning around to see the captain of the night guards. Her eyes soon met with Silvers... and for a moment the pair just stared at each other. “But then again... it's not surprising about both of your arrivals. Expected actually ” Celestia looked at Chrysalis, standing nearby Silver. “So... this is your plan Silver, making sure Chrysalis here does not make a suicidal mistake. Pity I know how you helped my own son and the elements of harmony escape, that wound not change much. I would just like both of you to know something. They say that i was....corrupted, through the new powers from which ive gained. That is a lie, all of it is an elaborate lie. I was never corrupted, i chose to become who iam today on my own free will, and the imprisonment of all enemies of the state helped me dramatically in transforming our former backwards nation into the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.” “Your friends are indeed powerful, but you all misunderstand me.” Celestia then began to power up, as her sheer aura that was created vibrated the entire city with the half a millisecond violent earthquake. Contrary to popular belief from the views of the queen on all that know her, Celestia was much....much stronger than ponies believe she is. Celestia now, even at only 25% power had a power level greater then most major gods. “I have made Sihana bow before me, I have even tossed my mother around like a rag doll alongside the rest of the Elder Council of the Gods all at once. I have wiped out entire races and gods, burning their remains to that a true Equestria can rise from the ashes. Do you really believe that defeating me, yet alone killing me, would make one bit of difference? You’re simply wasting your time, you are better off leaving.. I’m giving you a chance to leave with Chysalis and New Canterlot, you will not get a second chance.”
Silver turned to Crysalis. "Honor to you, Queen. My name is Silver Crescent. I have come on behalf of the New Lunar Republic to offer you and your race... salvation. All that you must do is leave this city and come with me to the Crystal Empire. I will explain when we arrive."
After the battle for the hive, the changelings were left to clean up the mess while the Roses and the Eriborian vanished as soon as they arrived. The Eriborian arrived back in the Crystal City in the republic in his quarters. The defeat of Sihana had taken a much larger toll on the Ryborians then they expected. Many were beginning to break down over the loss, loss turning into hate, hate for Jack and The Phoenix Queen. Jack was the only thing on Venquis mind. Nothing else mattered at the moment except Sihana's safety. With her now reduced to nothing more than a trinket on the madman's necklace, Venquis doubted his chances of a fight against him. He looked out of the window at the night, the lights of the city shining like stars. It was then when he discovered something on his desk. He looked down to see a letter written for him by a mysterious sender. He opened it up and began to read. To the Eriborian Venquis Razona for his eyes only... You know who this is. If i were to lose to the madman that is Jack, i have included a contingency plan for you. Included with this letter is a necklace for you, which will give you my blessings and powers. If i were to be captured or turned into something, we could both use fusion together to aid our comrades once im set free. For now, use this necklace and get revenge on my loss. You are more than the Eriborian in my eyes.... - Sihana Venquis read the letter in surprise and shock as he looked at its content. His eyes were not locked onto the necklace, which was shaped like a heart. Nothing could hide the expression that Venquis had as placed it around it around his neck. When he placed it around his neck, his body surged with his newfound power. He then went outside of the palace and alerted his roses that he was leaving, alone. He was going to rescue Sihana and show Jack the reason the Ryborians were the truly feared.
Obsidian slammed into a wall, sliding down it almost comically. He landed, and felt a sharp pang of pain in his hind leg. As he turned to look at it, he saw a spider-like pony, smirking. He felt his body getting heavy as he turned back forward and saw Jack. Jack lifted his face to his. "Sorry about this Obsidian. It's nothing personal, in fact I support your whole 'force of nature' thing, but there's someone you'll be sharing a room with for a while. I need your powers." Everything went black quickly. Obsidian woke up later, standing up and looking at a large black alicorn in a regal garment, and a seemingly half-phased out, very large Ryborian. The two large figures looked at the newcomer. (new battle arena unlocked - inside Jack's necklace >.<)
“You must be Obsidian, pleasure to meet you. You may know me as Sihana, the Ryborian goddess of creation and the afterlife.” She looked at Obsidian before sighing heavily. “It seems that Jack has taken your powers as well, and you specifically. Unfortunately, I cannot break us out of here. But before I was taken here, i made a contingency plan with the Eriborian. And when he finds Jack, and if we somehow escape from this awful prison, then we will finish him off completely.” Sihana then formed a sofa to sit upon while she shrunk to Obsidan’s size. “We might be here for a while, so why don’t we discuss this predicament that we got ourselves into.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Venquis, fully equipped in his Eriborian Spell-Sword Armour and Moonsaber, the Spell-Sword itself, left the Crystal City alone unescorted on foot as he traveled across the continent in search for Jack. This was not only a personal mission he has undertaken, but a spiritual one as well. It would take him several months to travel across the continent, but he felt like he would become stronger because of it. His last sighting was just leaving the Republics borders, heading into Equestrian occupied Griffdonia, the Griffon homeland
Obsidian obliged and sat next to the goddess. "This... Jack. He is crazy, clearly. Powerful as well. What exactly is he after? What are his primary targets? Why are they his targets? Is he seeking just power or is it just-" He stopped and thought. "No. If he just wanted power, then he has everything he needs. He wants something. What it is, that is my question." The area around the sofa came to life with plants as Obsidian talked. Base Jumper approached the suspicious trio... no, duo. He must have imagined the third on the ground. "You two. What are you doing out. Everyone is to be insi-" Demitry turned to Base, causing him to immediately stop in his tracks. It was the face of the god that had spoken to him. The god that had given him the power to serve Celestia properly. He turned and ran, leaving Jack and Demitry to wonder why only ONE of the solar flares had been there, before shrugging it off and phasing into the ground.
(Blatant character-jacking ahead. Sorry, [MENTION=2470]Quill Inkwell[/MENTION].) Chrysalis stood with a small group of Changelings in the courtyard of the Crystal palace, glaring at Silver. "I did as you asked and followed you. Now I demand to know what you can do to save my children." Silver whistled, and several Night Guards appeared, leading nearly a dozen elderly Crystal Ponies. "I will explain later. First, you feed. These ponies come from the Crystal Empire Retirement Home. None have long to live, and all they wish now is to spend their final days with their loved ones. I believe you and you children can grant that wish?" Cricket watched as her mother and siblings took the forms of Crystal Ponies and led the old ponies away. While she was not happy to see Chrysalis again, she understood why Chrysalis was so important to the war effort. The Elements and Spike were all awake. Though it had taken time, they had eventually accepted that Nightmare Moon was not a threat to them. Rainbow Dash had even taken to calling her "Moony."
Sihana looked at Obsidian, concerned about what his true motives are. “He has all the power he ever needs, but you are right about what Jack truly desires. He’s after something, but we can never know exactly what he needs in his current state, my omniscient is useless here.” The goddess then formed a life sized model of Jack and Demitry inside the arena and began to study them. “Demitry is a god from Equestria, one of the unfortunates when he had to be cast from the realm due to his act in rebelling against us, these unfortunates are known as Fallen Gods in simpler terms. When we fought, he did mention saying that he acted as Jack’s ‘guardian angel’.” Sihana then stood up from the couch and walked towards the holographic like models, encouraging Obsidian to study these models. “We use these to get to know our enemy. This is all real time, any clothing, equipment, the necklace we are trapped inside and everything about the individuals are displayed here. We cannot enter the mind however to discover plans, that is what we cannot perform with this spell.” Her eyes were casted on Jack’s necklace before turning to Demitry and looked down in regret. “You were always a wicked child, even gods make mistakes sometimes.....” --------------------------------------------------------------------- While travelling, Venquis discovered a newfound power available to him which would cut down his travel time from months to just over a week. The power that was given by Sihana allowed him to fly without the need for wings, he could simply levitate or fly at supersonic speeds. His spell-sword had changed as well, now appearing much more divine while still remaining its signature appearance. Like Sihana herself, the sword now appeared like the Yukobana. He was now covering land much faster than he previously was, while still taking down any opposition he encountered and liberated areas from their Equestrian oppressors. He knew that not all Equestrians were like Celestia, but being a Ryborian who had not only survived two genocides and fought against the monster that is the Equestrian Empire, Venquis wanted the war to end quickly. The thought of Jack plagued his mind like a disease without a cure. He was determined to set free his idol and ‘mother’ while releasing all those trapped inside what he was told was a necklace. Venquis would be arriving at the two gods within a week and prayed that he would be ready. Killing them both was not his objective; it was a search and rescue mission. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Throughout the week, Midnight had been treating to his aunties magic problem. He was true to his word, and by the end of the week had given the night princess her magic back. She was stubborn at first after Sihana appeared with her offer, but would have agreed anyway. The Elements had also given Midnight a much needed morale boost. Being able to see his friends again made the prince happier than he was since he last seen them. He also was spending time with his ‘sister’, Twilight Sparkle. The two of them clearly had a relationship going along, it was evident even before Celestia’s betrayal that they were both in love. Even though they were not biologically related, their relationship was evident to everypony they knew. However, the prince was facing some inner demons. A demon that he had to speak to his auntie about. Midnight was considering resurrecting his alter ego, Dark Plague to combat Celestia. While his auntie had Nightmare Moon as an alter ego, Midnight inherited such a trait from her. Plague was easily stronger than Celestia was, even after the destruction of Canterlot, but also brought back memories of his time as an Ardak Luvanius. It was the form he was in when he met Silver and his auntie. All he knew of Plague was that his evil side, where he destroyed and conquered. This thought scared him, but he wanted to make sure that the past was behind him. He wanted to speak with Nightmare Moon about Plague. As she has had experience ‘switching’ to these egos, he wanted her opinion on the thought and decide if he should do it. Midnight sat with Twilight and the other Elements in a small room on a couch as they discussed his idea. If Nightmare Moon could become who she was now, could Plague become the same thing?
