My Little Pony 1. Helping Our Allies

"For the last time brother, we cannot get involved in foreign domestic affairs!" Celestia yelled at Firestorm in the throne room. Luna sat beside her older sister and was upset at the way that Celestia was talking to their younger brother.

"But sister! The Elephants of Tuskany are our allies! And I can't just sit by while my friend Silver Hide's life and throne is in danger!" Firestorm protested.

"You have heard my orders Firestorm; you are not to get involved with the Elephants and Boars' feud in Tuskany. If you do, there will be severe consequences" Celestia growled at her younger brother who was holding back his rage. "Leave my presence before I lose my temper" Celestia said turning her head away from her brother.

"As you wish…dear sister" Firestorm said bowing and walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him, scaring the guards that were standing in the throne room.

"Tia, are you sure about this?" Luna asked her older sister who just sighed.

"I am sure Luna, we must let the citizens of Tuskany fight their own battles without our interference" she said looking down at her little sister. "But if Firestorm were to go against what I have ordered, he will have to pay the ultimate penalty" Celestia said as Luna gasped. "He will be stripped of his title as prince and disowned from the royal family" she said as a letter from Twilight flew in through the window in the form of a sparkling smoke cloud.

Rainbow Dash sat down beside Toby in Firestorm's room when he came in and slammed the doors behind him. She looked up at him in concern as he put on his golden and red armor and his crown on his head. "So what happened?" she asked him as Toby slithered over and onto his master's back.

"Celestia forbade me from going to Tuskany until the civil war has ended" he said packing a saddle bag with supplies and weapons.

"Then why are you packing that bag?" she said curiously as she trotted over to him.

"Because I am heading out" he chuckled.

"Where to?" she said a bit nervous.

"Tuskany" he smiled as he began to glow bright red in color.

"You are such an idiot" she chuckled as she kissed him on the lips right before he fell backwards into the pool in the center of his room, transporting himself to the desert of Tuskany, just outside of the royal city which was on high alert.

"Sorry Tia, but my friend needs me" he smiled as he flew towards the city. Meanwhile back in Equestria, a guard was running through the halls of the palace at a rapid pace, bursting into the throne room to find Twilight and Celestia talking to each other.

"Your highness" he panted sweating.

"Speak" she smiled at him.

"It's the Prince…he has escaped the castle and is now in Tuskany" he said in a scared tone.

"Firestorm disobeyed my orders…" Celestia said with one eye twitching.

"Um princess, are you alright?" Twilight said scooting away from her angry teacher.

"Twilight, you should return home, I don't want you to see what I am going to do to my brother when he gets back" she said with a slight sinister laugh. Twilight just slowly backed out of the room and closed the door, waiting a couple seconds before she ran out of the palace.

"This is not good" Twilight said as she ran past a paper colt to see him waving a newspaper with Firestorm on the front.

"Extra Extra! Prince of Equestria ends the Tuskany civil war!" he kept calling as he waved the paper around in the air.

"Firestorm ended the civil war? Why would the Princess be so upset about that?" she said to herself as several ponies bought the news paper.

One week prior, in the sands of the Ivory Desert, Firestorm stood with a white rag wrapped around his face and goggles over his eyes as he flew over the white sand towards a large tent with several elephant guards outside it. He landed and began to approach the tent with his face wrap blowing in the desert wind. "Halt, who goes there?" one of the guards said pointed a spear at his head. He saw the golden crown on his head and pulled back his spear. "My apologies your highness, the Sultan is expecting you" he said as Firestorm walked into the tent to find a large silver hided elephant with a white turban and sleeveless robe and golden crowns on the ends of his tusks. He was large in size and was looking down at a map of where they were, just at the edge of the desert where the jungle started.

"Hello Silver Hide" Firestorm said as he removed his face wrap and goggles to show his smiling face.

"Firestorm, my old friend" Silver Hide chuckled as he walked over and shook the alicorn's hoof with his trunk. "How did you know where to find my camp?" Silver asked curiously.

"I went to the palace only to find you weren't there so I asked around and made my way here, after several days journey I am here to help you finish off this boars that wish to overthrow you" he said as Silver hide looked outside the tent at the desert.

"But where are you troops? You said you would bring soldiers to help us in this last fight that decides everything!" Silver hide said confused.

"Trust my friend, I am all the help you need" Firestorm chuckled as his crown shown in the light of the desert sun that poked through the holes in the top of the tent.

"So you have the crown of destruction with you" Silver hide said grimly.

"Big sister didn't approve of me coming here and helping you, but my own will I came to help you myself" Firestorm said dropping his saddle bag and pulling out a strange necklace from it, putting it around his neck, causing him to glow brightly and change forms. He grew taller and stood on two legs with golden armor covering his body as he began to grow fingers as his front legs changed shape. After a couple seconds, he turned into his human like form from the human incident 6 months prior.

"So this is the famous homo-sapien transformation that plagued Equestria" he smiled at Firestorm who just shook his tail and moved all ten of his fingers around to loosen up the joints.

"Before he died, Tinker developed a device that would allow the wearer to change into a human like creature as long as they wore it, the reason I brought it is based on a theory" he chuckled. "I noticed that my magic and agility increased exponentially when I am in this form, but this amulet is a onetime use only, so I decided to use it to increase my power and aid you I your fight" he said picking up a sword in his hand.

"I hope that your abilities are what others say they are, because from what I can hear, the enemy army is fast approaching" Silver Hide said as large 5 foot tall boars came from the jungle and stood on the white sand, facing the line of elephant soldiers. "My soldiers are few in number due to our previous battles, so you might have a tough time beating them with so few" Silver Hide said as he and Firestorm walked out of the tent, facing the enemy line.

"Tell your men to stand down, I will handle this with my own troops" Firestorm smirked as he pulled his face wrap up over his lower face, leaving his mane and pony like ears exposed.

"But you said you came alone" Silver Hide said confused.

"Sultan, just sit back and observe, you will understand what I mean soon" Firestorm said as he walked out in front of the enemy line with a smirk on his face.

"Kill that creature!" one of the boar captains said as several boars charged Firestorm, who was just standing there with the sun reflecting off of his sword and armor.


	2. Disowned

Firestorm let out a deep breath as the boars got closer and closer to him. Silver Hide had his troops at the top of the sand dune ready to assist him if needed. The humanoid alicorn spread his wings and flapped his wings once, causing a large cloud of dust to fly up and blind the boars to stumble around blinded and squealing. He held out his left hand over the white sand and it began to glow as the ground beneath him began to shake and change shape. Several large figures came up from the ground, each one made of tightly packed white sand, and each of them resembling skeletal figures. "There is an old legend that the white sand of the Ivory Desert is made up of the ground up bones and tusks of elephants who have fought and died here countless times" Firestorm said as several more skeletal elephant figures began to form and grow in size until there were 13 behind him. "And that the 13 guardians of the first Sultan of the Tuskany fought and died in this very spot centuries ago, outnumbered with only the 13 of them and over 2000 rebel elephants facing them. All of the rebel troops were wiped out in a matter of hours but the guardians died in this spot due to their injuries" Firestorm smiled as he tossed his sword to the side and stood facing the boars unarmed.

"What is he doing?" Silver Hide said as he looked to see the 13 elephant skeletons begin to grow skin which took a dark grey color. Armor plating began to form over the pachyderms until the only skin visible was the end of their trunks and their eyes which were solid white. "Those couldn't be who I think they are…" Silver hide said as he picked up a nearby telescope and looked to see on the metal armor of the elephants, the royal crest of the Sultan of Tuskany; it was a golden elephant holding a scepter in his trunk, a scale in his left hoof and a curved sword in his right hoof, sitting down in a meditating position. "He has resurrected the most powerful soldiers in all of the history of this nation, he truly is the guardian of the dead" Silver Hide smiled as Firestorm raised both of his arms, causing weapons to fly up from the sand and into the trunks of the elephants.

"This will be over soon" Firestorm smiled as the undead elephants charged at the boars, slashing through their lines and killing soldier after soldier. Firestorm cloaked his arms in a flame like aura as several troops charged at him screaming. Two boars charged at both sides of him and swung their heads at him, hoping to pierce him with their tusks, only to have him catch them in his hands and burn them to ash, causing them great pain. He threw fireballs at each of them and used various forms of magic to hold his ground while the undead elephants took care of the rest of the boar troops.

"This is just…unbelievable" one of the soldiers standing next to the Sultan said. Silver Hide looked over at him to see him shaking where he stood as Firestorm dropped one after another of the boar troops.

"This is the power of the alicorn race" Silver Hide said to the soldier. "Stories tell of them shaping this world, building it and filling it with life, including us elephants. Firestorm is not even trying at this point, this is nowhere close to a fraction of what he can truly do, he is just having fun right now" Silver Hide said with a bit of fear in his voice as Firestorm killed boar after boar, splattering blood on himself as he continued to kill them.

"I am just glad that he is on our side" the soldier said as a boar landed a blow to Firestorm's shoulder, causing him to bleed a bit. Firestorm grabbed the boar by the tusks and threw it up in the air and shot a fireball up at it, causing it to explode in the air. Thirty minutes passed and all but the officers of the boar army were left standing. Firestorm snapped his fingers and the undead elephants turned to sand, covering the blood soaked bodies of the soldiers they had killed.

"It's….over?" a soldier said as Firestorm picked up the remaining 3 officers with his magic, tossing them at the hooves of the elephant soldiers who were frozen with both fear and amazement.

"Do with them what you like to them, now that you have them, this war is over" Firestorm said as he flew in front of Silver Hide with his face wrap flowing in the wind and his hands in his pockets. "Well I better be heading back to Equestria now my friend, I have matters I need to attend to" Firestorm said as he took off the necklace that kept him in his human form, turning him back to his normal pony self.

"Thank you for everything Firestorm, this nation is truly in your dept, if you ever need anything of us, just name it" Silver Hide said bowing his head to the alicorn. Firestorm looked over to see a little elephant calf with a camera in her trunk and a smile on her face.

"Smile!" she said taking a picture of the blood covered Firestorm who smiled for the photo at the last moment. This photo would end up to be the same one used in the Equestria daily paper in Canterlot.

*back to the present time period*

Twilight galloped through the streets of downtown Canterlot where there was an abnormal amount of ponies crowded around the main Lightning Tower in the center of the city. Twilight pushed her way to the front of the crowd to find her friends looking up at both of the Princesses who were standing on a platform with angry expressions on their faces. "What is going on?" Twilight asked her friends.

"We don't know, we were called here to Canterlot for some important announcement" Fluttershy answered as she saw Celestia look out towards the edge of the city, looking at a cloaked figure approaching.

"What in tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack said as she looked to see the figure remove his hood to show it was a battle worn Firestorm with a confused look on his face.

"This does not look good at all" Rarity said as Celestia began to speak with Luna at her side.

"Firestorm, you violated my orders by going to Tuskany. I have shown you much lenience in the past when it came to your rash decisions but this is the last straw!" she said in her royal Canterlot voice.

"Luna, what is going on?" Firestorm asked the dark blue mare who just turned away from him.

"In the presence of the citizens of the city of Canterlot, you are herby stripped of your title as Prince, banished from this city, and stripped of all royal possessions" Celestia said causing the crowd to grow silent with shock as several guards including Shining Armor surrounded Firestorm who just hung his head. "Now hand over the crown of Destruction and never return here again!" Celestia said as Firestorm held his crown in his hoof, looking down at it, at his own reflection in the golden metal.

"Give it to us Firestorm and you can leave peacefully" Luna said as Rainbow Dash flew over between Firestorm and the guards and was crouched down ready to attack.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed.

"Dash" Firestorm said causing her to calm down. "Stay back, I'll be fine" he smiled at her as she just looked at him teary eyed.

"I can't let them do this to you" she sniffled. Firestorm just smiled warmly at her and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers, starting a long and deep kiss. He broke the kiss and pet her mane, while looking into her tear filled eyes.

"I'll be fine sweety, just stand back" he whispered to her as she flew back to her friends.

"Have you made a decision Firestorm?" Celestia asked.

"Yes I have Tia" he chuckled. "And you can take this crown from my cold dead hooves" he smiled showing his teeth as they began to grow sharper.

"I was afraid you'd say that" Celestia sighed as guards began to point spears at Firestorm, moving closer to him with a sense of fear about them.


	3. The Master's Return

Celestia and Luna stepped down from their stage and approached Firestorm whose eyes were beginning to change and stood behind Shining Armor and his guards. "What should we do your highness?" Shining Armor asked as he stood ready for a fight.

"Kill him" Celestia said coldly.

"Are you sure your highness?" Shining Armor said a bit shocked.

"My brother is now a traitor to this nation, his actions will eventually come back to haunt us. I don't want his recklessness to affect any pony else" Celestia said angrily.

"I'm sorry my friend" Shining Armor said to Firestorm who was just smiling with the spears pressed against his neck.

"Foolish big sister" Firestorm muttered as he teleported behind her, facing away from her. "This great nation has been under poor leadership for too long" Firestorm said as his teeth gleamed in the sunlight.

"I guess that is your way of saying you are going to kill me…is that it?" Celestia said causing her brother to laugh. "I should have sealed you right back up in the Underearth as soon as I had the chance" she said as her horn began to glow a bright gold color.

"What is going on?" Twilight said confused as she began to walk towards her mentor.

"Stay back Twilight Sparkle, this matter does not concern you" she said in a stern tone as she and her brother turned to face each other. "Brother, I know I alone don't have the strength to kill you, but I will make sure you pay for what you have done in time" Celestia said as she shot a bright beam of black light at Firestorm, hitting him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"What did she do to him?" Rarity asked as Firestorm stood up slowly, holding his face in pain as it began to mutate and change into something hideous.

"This curse will mark you as an outcast to the nation" Celestia said as Firestorm teleported away in a cloud of smoke.

"He got away!" Shining Armor said as he saw part of the palace explode.

"Big sister, you know what is going to happen now" Luna said as she saw Firestorm standing in a large hole in the side of the palace with bandages wrapped around his face, exposing his eyes and parts of his mane. On his back was a large saddle bag full of gold and his scrolls and Toby sitting on his back hissing. Firestorm teleported away to an unknown location as the town's folk of Canterlot stood in confusion and amazement at what they had just witnessed.

"War is coming" Celestia said grimly as she looked over at Twilight and her friends who were too scared to go near her.

"Princess…" Twilight said with tears in her eyes as she ran away down the street with her friends close behind her. "What kind of monster could do that to their brother?" Twilight said to herself as she used a high level teleportation spell to go back to her library in Ponyville.

"Damn it Twilight" Applejack said throwing down her hat.

"I have never seen her that upset before" Fluttershy added.

"You girls go check on her back in Ponyville, that is where she will be" Celestia said from behind them. The five of them jumped when she said that, both from fear of her and they fact that they didn't hear her come up behind them.

'I am going to go find Firestorm' Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she flew off from the rest of the group. She flew high up in the air and looked around at all the places that Firestorm could have gone to. She looked at the Everfree Mountain in the far off south and thought back to years ago during the great Hell War. "Of course he would go back there" she smirked as she began to fly through the air, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.

Inside of the cave at the peak of the Everfree Mountain, Firestorm stood in shadows, surrounded by 5 shadowy figures, all of them unicorns. "Welcome back master" one of them said as they all bowed down to the golden stallion whose face was wrapped in bandages.

"It is good to be back my students; I do trust that your studies go well?" Firestorm asked as he lit all the torches in the cave, showing the large pentagram covering the floor.

"Yes your highness, we have followed your orders and cleaned up the cave so that the poisonous fumes would no longer be here, and we have been practicing the spells you deliver to us ever week or so" one of the mares said. Firestorm smiled under his bandages and looked at them to see they changed over the years, all of their cutie marks had changed into a skull with cross bones behind it, and they still retained their black coats and manes.

"I see you have all grown more powerful just by the change in your appearance. Now that your cutie marks are changed, you are truly death magic masters" he said as they all lined up in front of him for some reason.

"We all decided to change our names to completely erase who we were before you blessed us my Lord" the same mare said. She held her hoof to her chest and began to speak again "I have come to be known as Stitch" she said stepping forward.

"And I am Casket" a stallion said.

"I am Necros" another stallion said.

"I am Undertaker" another Stallion said.

"And I am Spine" the last mare said as Firestorm smiled under his bandages.

"Pardon me asking sir, but why is your face wrapped up like that?" Casket asked as Firestorm reached up and loosened the bandages on his face, letting them fall down around his neck. His student's eyes went wide at what he looked like and one of them tried not to throw up.

"This is why" he said showing his face, covered in scars and other abnormalities. He had two extra eyes above his originals which continued to turn and spin as if they were trying to look at something. He had large X shaped swollen scar across his entire face, and holes in his cheeks, showing sharp teeth through each hole. His extra eyes were black with red irises and his teeth were blood stained. "This is the curse of the outcast spell that my sister placed on me" he said as he wrapped the bandages around his face once more. "The reason I have come here is simple, I am going to declare war on Equestria and overthrow my sisters" he smiled.

"In order to do that, we will need an army my lord, and as I recall, your army can't leave the Underearth" Stitch said as she heard hoof steps from the entrance of the cave. "Somepony must have followed you" she said looking to see a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail enter the room, looking around curiously at the 5 ponies standing around Firestorm.

"How dare you desecrate the sanctity of this sacred place!" Undertaker said as she was calmed down by Firestorm who sat down his bag of gold and scrolls.

"Calm down, she is a friend" he said smiling under his bandages.

"As you wish sir" Undertaker said blushing as Firestorm held his hoof on her shoulder.

"Ok, what the hell happened back in Canterlot!?" Dash said confused as her voice echoed in the cave.

"Come with me, I will explain it to you" Firestorm said as he walked with Rainbowdash by his side. Undertaker still stood blushing until Casket hoofed her in the side.

"I think some pony has a little crush on the teacher!" he teased causing her face to turn a bright red.

'Even though his face has been turned into something hideous, I still see him as the charming prince he has always been' she thought to herself.


	4. War Declared

Celestia stood in the war room of the palace, on the far side of a large circular map table which showed all features of Equestria and current weather conditions. The walls were dark blue with large marble columns in each corner of the room. Above her was a large reflecting marble ceiling that was a bright white color with the Equestrian flag carved into it. Across from Celestia at the far end of the table was Luna who had a worried look on her face. To her right was Discord who was sitting in a floating pink cloud, sipping tea. And to her right was an elegant bright blue stallion with a dark black mane, tail, and beard, each of which were long and loose. His eyes were grey in color and he wore golden horse shoes and leather plate armor which had gold trimming, and covered up his cutie mark. He was different from Equestrian ponies; he was Saddle Arabian in appearance and had some age to him. "As you all know, my brother escaped Canterlot before we could arrest him and is now somewhere where our control is little or nonexistent" Celestia said causing Discord to throw spit out his tea in the form of fire breath in a spit-take manner.

"That's what happened?" the spirit of chaos said causing the Saddle Arabian pony to just sigh.

"Honestly Discord, you have no class!" the stallion yelled at him from across the table.

"Class? I have plenty of class!" Discord said conjuring up a graduation robe and hat on him and a diploma in his right claw. The Saddle Arabian just face hoofed and groaned. "Wrong type of class?" Discord laughed as he snapped his fingers, sending away his gown and diploma.

"This is no time for joking Discord" Luna said sternly to him.

"I'm sorry your highness, I just figured I would liven up the mood" He apologized sitting back down in his floating chair.

"Sorry for his behavior King Alumand, he is still in the process of being taught manners" Celestia said shooting him a glare.

"Your highness!" a voice shouted from outside the war room. A royal guard burst into the room panting with sweat running down his face.

"What is it soldier?" she asked concerned.

"You have to…have to see this!" he said leading them outside to see the top of the lightning tower glowing broth red for some reason.

"What in Equestria is going on?" King Alumand asked confused.

"I don't know, but this doesn't look good" Luna said as a large sphere of glowing red energy formed over the tower, slowly changing its shape into what looked like a ponies face.

"This isn't just happening here your highness, it is happening all over Equestria! Anywhere we built these towers, this same anomaly is occurring" the guard said as the red energy morphed into a clearly visible stallion's face, his face was covered in bandages and patches of his mane stuck out of the bandages with only his eyes showing.

"Firestorm?" Celestia said confused as he began to speak in a loud, booming voice.

"Citizens of Equestria, everything that Celestia has been feeding you is a lie!" he began to speak. "She speaks of friendship, yet she would not help the elephants of Tuskany in their time of need" he said as ponies all over Equestria gathered around the towers closest to where they were. Even in Ponyville, Twilight and her friends were gathered around the pillar, looking up in amazement, all except Dash who was gone to somewhere else. "She speaks of compassion and love, yet she scared and banished me for helping our allies. My face is now damaged to the point that I cannot show it to you, my subjects" upon him saying this, several mares began to gasp and talk amongst themselves. "The reason I send you this message is to tell you to rise up against this poor excuse for a leader! Rise up and fight with me to free this nation from her rule!" He said causing Celestia to gasp back in Canterlot. "The start of a new nation is at hoof! You can either stand with us, or die against us" he said from a chair in a dark office into a microphone. "The city of Trottingham has already chosen their side, which is with me and my allies to overthrow the sun demon. You can join our cause here if you want to make the right choice, which will be rewarded in the new Equestria. Those who remain loyal to the crown of Celestia will be struck down without remorse, but their choice in sides will not affect where they go in the afterlife" Firestorm said. "I leave now with this…can you really trust your so-called leader which is my older sister?" Firestorm said pushing a button, causing his face to disappear from the towers all over the country.

"I trust that that was your little brother?" Alumand said sarcastically as Discord rubbed his claws together.

"This is going to be so exciting and chaotic, I can just tell!" he laughed.

Back in Ponyville, Twilight and her friends stood speechless at what they heard. "Well what do we do now?" Rarity asked.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do" Pinkie began to speak "I am going to join whichever side has cake, that's what I'm doing!" she said bouncing up and down.

"Twilight, are you alright?" Fluttershy asked the unicorn who was frozen with fear.

"I'm fine, but I fear that all of Equestria is going to be destroyed" Twilight said walking away from the tower.

"What on earth makes you think that Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Celestia and Luna may the elder sisters, but you've seen yourself what Firestorm is capable of doing" Twilight said making her friends think back to when he fought the Kraken. "He took down one of the guardian beasts by himself! The monster that took thousands of lives out on the open sea" Twilight exclaimed.

"Guardian beasts?" they all said confused.

"The great creatures that protect different sacred sites throughout the world, there are 8 of them to be exact. The first is the Grand Serpent of the Everfree Marsh which was killed millennia ago, and whose fangs possessed one of the most potent poisons known to pony. The second is the Kraken of the Sea of Eternity, which possesses the Eye of Eternal Knowledge. The eye is like a crystal ball that allows the owner to see anything and everything that they desire, and how to acquire it. It was one of the more dangerous artifacts but it was destroyed when Firestorm killed the beast. The next is the Ice Wraith of the Frostback Mountains, whose teeth are able to freeze anything with a single touch, even magma. The fourth is the Great Falcon of the Southern Sky, its talons are said to be able to cut through anything, even magical barriers. The fifth is the Albino Bear in hidden in the caves of the mountains that are deep within dragon territory, the strength of its bite is said to be strong enough to break dragon bone, which is why the dragons tend to leave it alone. The sixth is the Desert Walker Lizard in Tuskany, its hide is said to be more resistant to heat than tempered dragon scales, and not even Firestorm's magic could burn that beast. The seventh is the Golden Tiger of the Great Jungle to the west, it is one of the more passive creatures but it is also the fastest. It is rumored that its bones are so lightweight and strong that it would be hard for Rainbowdash to keep up with it at her full speed" Twilight said as he friends looked at her confused as a look of dread went across her face.

"What about the 8th?" Pinkie asked.

"That is the most dangerous one of all, the stone dragon known only as The Guardian. It possessed magic of alicorn level and is the guardian of the gates of hell, only responding to Firestorm's commands. It never sleeps, never eats, never tires, and never dies, it is wise beyond measure and regards Firestorm as his master" Twilight said trembling.

"But why are you freaking out over this?" Applejack asked confused.

"DON'T YOU GET IT!?" Twilight screamed. "Firestorm might not be able to bring his army here from the land of the dead, but if he summons The Guardian, it's all over! This world's living creatures cannot handle the level of magic it posses, which is why it stays in the land of the dead! Its presence is enough to kill anything within a certain radius of it that isn't of high level unicorn or alicorn level!" she said causing them to get freaked out a bit. "If he truly is bent on winning this war, then that will be his trump card, not even the form I used to kill Sombra will stop it!" she said holding her head, curled up in a ball. "It's all over for this world" she said with half laugh, half crying tone.

"Maybe not" Rarity said thinking. "You mentioned five other creatures still living, each of them of great strength and prowess" she began. "What if we use Fluttershy to talk to them to help us if Firestorm ever does summon that Guardian thing" Rarity suggested which made Fluttershy hide behind Applejack.

"B-but Twilight said that those animals are s-s-super scary" she said trembling.

"What other choice do we have?" Twilight said composing herself. "That idea might just be our only shot at stopping this thing" Twilight said brushing her mane back into place. "You four go to my library and find a map on their locations, then it is up to you to find them" she said walking away.

"And where do you think you are going?" Rarity said.

"To talk to the Princess" she said coldly.


	5. It Begins

Twilight was let into the palace by two of the guards and was pointed in the direction of where the princess was. Twilight began to gallop down the halls towards the war room. She turned a sharp corner and ran into some pony, knocking herself and the other pony down. "I am sooo sorry" Twilight apologized rubbing her head as she sat down with her eyes closed. She slowly opened them to see a pink alicorn mare with a pink, purple and blonde colored mane and tail with a hint of blue on the tip of her wings. She had a slender figure and her cutie mark was a crystal heart. She wore golden horse shoes and a golden crown. She sat on her flank with her eyes spinning and her tongue hanging partially out of her mouth, showing she was a bit dizzy from being knocked over. "Princess Cadence?" Twilight said confused as her sister-in-law shook her head rapidly to fix her eyes.

"Twilight!" Cadence said cheerfully as the two of them stood across from each other.

"Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!" the both sang together as they finished their little tune by shaking their flanks in the air. They began to giggle a bit after that and Twilight smiled at Cadence.

"So why are you here in Canterlot? Shouldn't you be in the Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked a bit confused.

"Well I was actually called here by Celestia" she smiled until she remembered something. "Is it true what they say? Can the rumors be true?" Cadence asked Twilight.

"Which ones your highness?"

"You know the ones that Firestorm was scared and banished by Celestia, and that Civil War is coming soon?" Cadence said as she and Twilight walked beside each other.

"I wish they weren't true" Twilight said grimly. "I was there in Canterlot Square when it all happened…I have never seen that side of Princess Celestia before" she said shaking.

"It's alright Twilight" Cadence said trying to comfort her. "Hopefully this will all be over soon."

"Knowing Firestorm, I doubt that will happen" she said thinking back to Firestorm's embodiment of hell spell he used to kill the kraken. They two of them approached large closed doors at the end of a hall with two guards standing outside. They looked at the two of them and let them into the war room to find Celestia, Luna, Discord, and Alumand all stood around the table map of Equestria with clouds moving across it. "Your highnesses" Twilight said bowing to them.

"Twilight, marvelous to see you again, do tell me how is Fluttershy?" Discord asked sitting on a pink cloud.

"She is fine" Twilight said brushing him off.

"Oh come now, is it so hard to be courteous to me?" Discord said crossing his arms. Twilight just face hoofed and Celestia looked at her and smiled.

"Twilight Sparkle" Celestia smiled. "Is there something you needed?" she asked in a polite tone.

"I came here to talk to you about something relating to this war" Twilight said standing beside her. "Are you aware of the creature Firestorm keeps to guard the gates of hell?" she asked causing them all to mumble amongst themselves.

"You mean The Guardian?" Luna said.

"Yes that thing, well my friends and I figured that would be Firestorm's trump card in this war. So Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie set out on a little quest to bring 4 of the seven guardian beasts here to Equestria to help if it came down to it, seeing as how they would be able to defend themselves and others against the Guardian's power" Twilight said causing Discord to think.

"I thought there were seven of those things, you only mentioned five" he pointed out growing an extra claw on his left hand. "Don't tell me that the Snake and the Squid got killed" he said in a disappointed tone.

"Well Firestorm killed the kraken and the Serpent has been dead for years" Twilight said causing Discord to cross his arms.

"Well that is just great, just fucking great! Those were the only two of them that were any good at causing havoc and now they are gone!" he growled only to get a glare by Celestia.

"But why send those four to go? Why not all six of you?" Celestia said.

"I came here to help you guys, and I haven't seen Rainbow Dash in awhile, I think she might be in Trottingham with Firestorm" Twilight said pointing to the city on the map. "And besides if anypony can convince those beasts to help us, it's Fluttershy" Twilight smiled as she looked to see smoke coming from where Manehatten was on the map. "Umm, should that be happening?" Twilight said worried as Celestia turned on a monitor behind her to show what was going on in Manehatten. The screen showed royal forces being forced back into buildings, firing spells at forces that were wearing dark black armor. Amongst them were Changelings, ponies, several elephants and a large alicorn wearing bone armor with two eye holes in his helmet which covered all of his face. Two pairs of eyes looked out, one black and red, the other white and blue.

"This does not look good" Cadence said as Celestia began to write a letter which she gave to a guard who ran out of the room with it in his mouth.

"So he has made the first move" Celestia said turning to those at the map table. "It seems Firestorm has invaded Manehatten with Changelings, Elephants, and Equestrian citizens helping him. I have ordered that our nearby forces go to their aid, but they will need Somepony to lead them" she said looking down at Twilight.

"Who, me?" she said confused.

"You were one of Firestorm's officers in the great hell war and you know his tactics better than anyone except Rainbow Dash, that is why I want you to go to Manehatten and command our reinforcements" Celestia said confusing Discord.

"Hell War?" Discord said scratching his head. "What the hell did I miss in the time I had been gone?" he said.

"This is not going to end well at all" Alumand sighed as he rested his head on the table.


	6. Takeover

Firestorm's army marched through the streets of Manehatten, slowly taking more and more of the city as they went. "Stand your ground!" the royal troops said as elephants burst through their barricades of wooden boards and metal poles as if they were made of glass. The elephants that broke through were wearing strange armor. It consisted of a black metal face plate, dragon skin styled metal sheets laying over one another going across their skin, which were also black. They also wore large red sashes around their waists which had a crest on both sides which resembled a bronze fireball with a small silver skull in the center of it and a golden shield back plate. Changelings followed the large pachyderms through the streets, covering more and more ground. The changing's and other ponies wore the same styled armor as the elephants only to their fitting, and instead of two crests, there was only one in the center of their back.

"Sir we have to get out of here! The city is lost!" a blood and dirt covered colt soldier said to his commanding officer who was continuing to fire spells at them.

"I would rather die fighting then run away with my tail between my legs!" the old white stallion yelled as a pegasus hurled a spear at him with its wing, pinning him to a wall by his shoulder.

"Push forward! This city will fall to Firestorm!" a Changeling officer said as he flew through the air. Firestorm walked on the ground below, surrounded by his elite Shadow Horns, who fought off anything that came close to him.

"Remember Captain" he said to the Changeling officer with a neutral but serious expression on his face under his helmet. "I want to capture a city, not a pile of rubble, do as little damage as possible" he said as he saw an arrow flying at him from behind with his extra pair of eyes, letting him know to step to the side. He turned slowly to see a pegasus mare on top of a building with a crossbow in her hooves. He teleported up behind her and she turned around in a panic to see him just staring at her while tapping his hoof. "That was awful brave of you to attempt to kill me" he chuckled under his helmet/mask.

"Shit!" she screamed as she swung the cross bow around and shot it at him once more, only to have him tilt his head to the side, dodging the bolt. He looked to see she wore a scout's cloak and had a dark blue coat and darker mane which was tied into a French braid. Her tail was also tied in this fashion and she had bright blue eyes. On her flank were three arrows crossed over each other as her cutie mark. She lifted the crossbow to fire it again but the clip in it jammed and she just threw it at Firestorm, only to have him swat it out of the air with a skeletal hand which soon disappeared.

"Are you done now?" he said to the mare that was too paralyzed by fear to fly away. Parts of his helmet lifted up and slid back so she could see his face, screaming in terror at it. "Does my appearance frighten you?" he chuckled as she tried to crawl away from him, only to fell the small stone wall of the tall building against her back.

"Monster!" she screamed, causing him to stop where he was and cover his face back up with his helmet.

"I was once much more handsome than this" he said as the last of the Equestrian troops had been cornered at a Hay King restaurant, making their last stand. "But the one you call your Princess cursed me and now I am like this" he chuckled. "It's funny isn't it? How a ruler that you view as wise and kind would do this to her younger brother?" he said causing her to calm down a bit. "That is why I started this war, to give this nation a ruler that will do things right!" he said in a calm voice.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" the mare asked.

"You were able to come very close to killing me with one shot from several hundred yards away without a scoped weapon, talent like that is hard to find" he smiled under his mask. "I will make you an offer" he began to speak, peaking her interest. "Join my army and fight for the liberation of this nation, or run away to your so called leader, and fall with the rest of their forces" he said turning away from her and spreading his wings, beginning to fly off. The mare sat in disbelief at what had just happened as she watched him land in front of the troops who were surrounding the Hay King restaurant, ordering them to stop firing at the building. Rainbow Dash flew over head and landed beside him to see what was going on. She wore dark grey armor, similar to what she wore in the crystal empire during the jousting event.

"So what is the situation here?" Rainbow Dash asked him.

"There are 20 of them hold up in this building, one of them is the commanding officer" he said as an old white stallion came walking out towards him with his horn glowing a bright gold color.

"You bastards!" He screamed as he fired a spell at Firestorm, only to have it blocked by one Firestorm's Shadow Horns' spells.

"What a stubborn old stallion" Firestorm sighed as he teleported beside the commander, hitting him in the back of the neck with his hoof, knocking him to the ground. "The rest of you come out now and we won't harm you" he said calmly as they all came out with swords in their mouths. "I will offer you all a deal" he said as the commander struggled to stand up. "You can either join my army for a new Equestria, or I will let you go back to Celestia and fall with her and her empire" he said as the old stallion managed to stand up.

"You won't be harmed if you try to leave the city to go back to your main forces, but if you stay with us you will be treated like family" Rainbow Dash said as she saw that the old commander had a knife in his mouth. "Firestorm!" she called out as he turned to see the commander swinging the blade at him, only to be stopped by an arrow piercing his neck, dropping him to the ground. "What the hell?" Dash said as she looked at the building Firestorm was just on to see a blue mare holding a crossbow in her hoof.

"Lieutenant Arrow Burst" one of the Equestrian soldiers said looking up at her.

"You see that your friend up their made a better decision than the old guy right here" Firestorm said pointing at the dead commander. 17 of the enemy troops joined in with the crowd of Firestorm's soldiers while the others turned to leave the city. "Dash, gather all of the captured enemy troops and offer them the same thing, and make sure all the civilians in the city are alright. Have the soldiers hurry and repair any damage done to the city and clean up the bodies. I want the ponies of this city to feel like nothing has changed except for a change in leadership." He said as he began to walk away. "And tell the Sultan and the Changeling Queen to meet me in the Mayor's office for a meeting" he said flying away downtown. He stopped at one of the cameras set up in the streets, knowing his sisters were watching through it. "One of your key cities had already fallen, and the rest of them will follow" he said as he removed his helmet and looked into the lens of the camera. "I will see you soon big sisters" he laughed right before he broke the camera.

Back in Canterlot, Celestia was gritting her teeth and watching the screen in her war room as Firestorm delivered that message. "Damn him!" she screamed as she shot the screen with a laser beam.

"So that's what happened to his face…" Twilight said as Cadence tried to hold back vomit and Discord tried to hold back his laughter.


	7. Frost

Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack all trudged through deep snow in a frozen mountain region, each of them wearing heavy clothing. The cold bit them to the very bone as the tears in their eyes created by the wind, froze to their face. They continued to scale the large mountain in the center of the mountain range, slowly approaching a cave, made of crystal blue ice. "How could anypony live in conditions like this!?" Rarity yelled over the screeching winds so her voice could be heard.

"Come on y'all, the cave is just a little ways away!" Applejack said as she forced her way through the thick snow. Her hoof caught something and she tripped, falling face first into the white powder. "Damn it!" she said as Fluttershy froze in shock at what Applejack tripped over. She cleared away the snow to show the frozen corpse of a cave pony in thick fur clothing.

"M-maybe we should turn back now!" Fluttershy suggested as she started backing away from the frozen corpse, only to be pushed forward by Pinkie Pie.

"Come on you scaredy pony, we are so close now!" the pink earth pony said as snow quickly covered up the frozen corpse once more.

"Besides, Twilight needs use to help gather these guardian beasts or whatever they're called" Applejack said as she pulled up her checkered scarf over her face. "Come on girls!" she said as she stood in the entryway of the cave, free from the barrage of snow and ice. Her friends soon joined her and they all stood in wonder at the carved ice cave. Several larger animals filled the walls of the cave, frozen in time where they stood thousands of years prior.

"Those poor creatures" Fluttershy said as she looked deeper into the cave to see it illuminated by blue crystals protruding from the ground and walls.

"Come on girls, it has to be here somewhere" Rarity said as she pulled out Twilight's map and looked at the location of the cave they were in, which was at the highest peak of the Frostback Mountains. They all started walking in a group down the halls, until they came to a dead end.

"Well what are we supposed to do now?" Applejack said as she stamped her hoof, cracking the floor which soon fell through, causing Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy to slide down a long slide made of ice, deeper into the mountain. Pinkie looked down the hole/slide and cheered as she jumped down as well, spinning around as she slid. The others had reached the bottom of the slide and found themselves in a large round chamber with an extremely high ceiling. "Where are we?" Applejack said as she heard a cheer coming from behind her. She turned to see Pinkie Pie flying through the air at her face. Pinkie Pie knocked over Applejack and began to laugh when she was tossed off. "Damn it Pinkie" Applejack said.

"What is all that noise?" a male voice said from a nowhere. They all looked to see a small dragon like creature coming through the wall at them. It was about three feet in length and its mouth was lined with razor sharp crystal teeth. It's eyes were a bright green color and it had no arms or legs but a snake like body instead which was rather thick and also covered in blue and black scales. On the back of its head were bright blue scales which were curved upwards to look like a headdress. Around the creature was a snow like aura which gave off a colder sensation than death. "What are you doing in my home, ponies?" it hissed at them.

"This must be the Ice Wraith that Twilight told us to find" Rarity whispered to Applejack.

"Answer me now! Why have you barged into my home?" it said to them.

"You must be the guardian ice wraith of the Frostback Mountains, am I right?" Applejack asked.

"So the mortals still remember the guardian beasts after all of these years huh?" it said floating over to them. "After the death of Venom, I figured you had all just shrugged us off as mere legends, seeing as how he was the only one of us to ever be killed" it said as it conjured up a large sofa made of ice for them to sit on, which they did so they wouldn't seem rude, even though it froze their flanks when they sat on it.

"Venom?" Rarity asked.

"Your kind knows him as they Guardian Serpent of the Everfree Marsh, but Venom was his real name" the Ice wraith said floating in place. "Your kind thought us as beasts that weren't smart or civil enough to give ourselves names, but the truth is just the opposite. My name is Frost by the way" it said bowing its head to them. "Why have you come all this way young ones?"

"We came to ask for your help Frost, Equestria is currently at war with itself and we need all the remaining guardian creatures to help us beat Prince Firestorm" Fluttershy spoke up.

"Firestorm has finally done it huh? He finally lost it and attacked Equestria…I knew this day would come" it chuckled to itself. "You don't need my help to beat him, just have his sisters seal him away again" it laughed.

"He isn't like he was when they did that the last time; he has his crown now and is much more powerful!" Applejack said.

"The Crown of Destruction?" Frost said intrigued. "I'm sure that he isn't that powerful with it, I mean the last time I saw him, he could barely maintain his Fire Sentinel form" it pointed at them with its tail.

"The pony beat the Kraken by himself! And without his crown!" Pinkie shouted causing Frost to stop moving and his eyes to fill up with shock.

"T-that's not possible! The Kraken was one the most powerful among us!" it shouted at them.

"It happened alright!" Pinkie said jumping off the couch with her flank turned blue. "We were right there when it happened, he turned into this big scary skeleton thing and burnt the thing to a crisp with some freaky mace!" she said acting out what happened.

"The Embodiment of Hell" Frost said. "Years of being sealed away would have given him time to master it, but to the point of being able to kill the Kraken is amazing" Frost said floating towards them. "If what you say is true then I fear the eldest among the guardian creatures has recognized Firestorm as an equal and will follow any order given to him. If he truly has tamed Lucifer, then I fear we might not be able to stop him" Frost said in a sad tone.

"You mean that big stone dragon thing?" Applejack asked only to be answered by a nod.

"Which is why we are gathering all of the guardian beasts to help us!" Fluttershy said flying over to him. "If the rest of you are willing to help us, we might just win this thing and stop this war!" Fluttershy said causing frost to smile.

"What are your names?" Frost asked

"Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and I'm Fluttershy" Fluttershy said pointing to her friends.

"Fluttershy, your words have given me hope, so I will help you" Frost said as he opened a door made of ice which showed a slide that led down to the bottom of the mountain. "I will go to Canterlot and wait for when I am needed, you gather the rest of us and we might stop Celestia's little brother" it smiled as they all walked over to the slide. "Gods help us" Frost muttered to himself as he followed them down the slide.


	8. Blood and Ice

Applejack and the others were heading down the icy mountain which they found Frost in and were beginning their journey west towards the jungles bordering Griffon territory. Little did they know, that just over the mountain was the city of Wintercolt, which was used to hold the children and elderly during the great hell war years ago. The city was on high alert, having heard that Firestorm was advancing on all the cities in the north to gain access to important intelligence areas in the Equestrian Empire. In the city was a large stone castle that had been stained a dark blue due to the large ice buildup on it, which is said to have never melted in over 300 years. The castle was once home to the White Mane order of magic years ago, but had since been renovated into the town hall which overlooked the large city. In the castle, Celestia was transmitting a video call to the military officer stationed in the city. He was a middle aged dark blue unicorn colt with a white mane, goatee and tale which were cut in a shaggy style. His eyes were bright amber in color and he had a large scar across his mouth which stretched up to under his left eye. He wore dark leather armor with golden shoulder pads and matching leather boots with a war axe on his back. "Your highness, Winter Mane reporting in to tell you that there has been no sign of your brother for several days. Word had spread here that he was capturing all of the northern cities first in order to cut off intel lines to you, but for some reason he hasn't attacked here yet" the stallion said saluting the image of the princess on the screen.

"Keep an eye out for him Major, Firestorm detests cold climates which is why he is getting them out of the way first. Take care though to not let your guard down, he will come at the city with more force than he has shown against any of the others so far" Celestia said looking down at her map of Equestria with areas that Firestorm controlled highlighted red, which was a large portion of the eastern and western borders of the country.

"Understood ma'am, ending transmission now, may the gods be with us" he said turning off the monitor and looking out the window at the snow covered stone city. "As one of the last members of the White Mane Order of Magic, I will defend this city with my life, or die in the process" he said as a white mare with a black mane and tail wearing a black bow tie walked in and looked at him strange.

"Are you sure that you have the city secure?" she asked in a calm tone.

"Yes Mayor, the city is in safe hooves" he smiled until he heard a large explosion outside of the castle. "What the hell?" he said turning to see balls of fire falling into the city from outside the walls. "So he has come at last" Winter Mane grinned as he picked up a decorated leather helmet with fur lining with his magic, then putting it on his head.

"Damn it major! Don't just stand there, go do something!" the mayor said as large fireball shattered all of the windows in one of the rooms higher up in the castle.

"You and the civilians go to the catacombs for cover; the guards can handle this" he smiled at her as she was escorted down below the castle by several guards.

On the outskirts of the city, Firestorm stood beside several catapults that were firing fireballs at the city. He wore a set of winter armor which consisted of his normal gear and extra fur lining inside his armor which caught snow as some of it was exposed to the harsh weather. "Stop firing, they should have evacuated the civilians by now! March on the city!" he yelled from under his helmet which had been modified with glass covers for his four eye holes. At hearing this, the troops stopped firing and ponies and changelings marched toward the city of stone and ice.

"Firestorm!" a mare's voice called out from behind him. He turned to see Rainbowdash flying up to him with a black scarf wrapped around her face. "Why didn't we bring the elephants for this part? They could have broken down the walls in seconds?" she said in a loud voice so she could be heard over the howling winds.

"I want the city taken intact, that means the walls must remain standing. Also the elephants are useless in this cold weather" he said in an almost echoing voice created by his mask. "Lead the assault Dash, the Shadow Horns and I will be right behind you!" he said as the five black unicorns appeared from the shadows in the ice wearing all black winter clothes. She nodded and flew slowly through the freezing to the front line of the changelings and equestrians who were pushing forward at a fast but steady pace. Unicorns on the wall continued to fire ice based spells at the groups of soldiers slowly approaching, but only to have them blocked by enchanted weapons and armor.

"Break down the gate!" Rainbow Dash yelled as Firestorm made his way to the front of the crowd. His horn began to glow bright red as a high pitched charging noise was heard and a ball of energy began to form in front of his horn which he shot at the gate, turning it and several of the guards behind it to ash. "Forward!" she yelled as the army began to let out a battle cry as they poured into the city, going around Firestorm who was just walking down the street, looking around for something.

"It has to be around her somewhere" he said to himself as he stopped to look at an odd wall on the side of the frozen castle. "There it is" he said as he reached out to touch it, only to be stopped by several ice spikes shooting out of the wall at him, causing him to jump back.

"You shall not enter that Sanctum, outcast" a voice said from above him. He looked up to see Major Winter Mane on a ledge above him with his axe in his mouth and a smirk on his face. Firestorm looked at the front of his helmet to see a seal which contained a white horn with wings circling it.

"So, your order still exists eh?" Firestorm chuckled.

"Much like your Shadow Horns, we still exist, but work in the dark until needed, and right now I am needed to kill you" he said with the axe handle between his teeth.

"As I see it, there are only one of you and six of us" Firestorm smiled under his mask as his Shadow Horns came in from the shadows cast by the buildings.

"Then I guess I will just have to kill you all" he chuckled as he cast a spell at them, causing Stitch and Casket to freeze in place as ice covered their bodies. "Don't worry, they aren't dead yet" he snickered as Firestorm motioned for the others to attack him.


	9. Ice Shard

Celestia stood over her map of Equestria, watching as smoke came from the city of Wintercolt and a marker showing the location of Applejack and her friends moved slowly to the west. "Now I realize what he is after…" Celestia said grimly as Twilight walked up beside her and looked at the map.

"What is wrong your highness?" Twilight asked as she looked up at the worried face of her teacher.

"Twilight, are you familiar with the staff of Starswirl the Bearded?" Celestia asked.

"I think so…the mystical weapon that Starswirl carried with him in his lifetime, and one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire world. I think it is supposed to be able to tear holes in the fabric of time and space and make whatever the user desires a reality, am I right?" Twilight said in an unsure tone.

"Correct, the artifact was broken into 4 pieces after Starswirl's death and the pieces were scattered to the edges of the nation so they wouldn't fall into the possession of those who would use it for evil." Celestia said as she zoomed in on Wintercolt to show all of the ponies and changelings moving in and out of the city, and the battle raging on inside. She moved the view so that it showed the fight between Firestorm and Winter Mane which seemed to be rather intense. All five of the Shadow Horns were frozen in ice and only Firestorm remained facing the Major who was guarding the side of the castle. "One of the pieces is there in Wintercolt, the Ice Shard which makes up the headstone of the staff. The Ice Shard is the embodiment of ice and water, which is why Wintercolt is so cold all of the time. The shard is a piece of the Millennial Comet which passes the planet every thousand years. It is made entirely of ice that would freeze anypony who touched it in an unmeltable block of ice" she said as Firestorm caused several fireballs to fire at Winter Mane, burning him on the back leg.

"What does he want the staff for anyway? I mean why does he even need it?" Twilight said confused.

"He obviously isn't powerful enough to summon the Guardian to this world with his own power, so he is going to use it to bring it here."

"This is insane, that creature would destroy everything in the world if it were brought here!" Twilight yelled.

"Which is why we can't allow it to come here, we must increase the security around the remaining 3 artifacts so he can't build the staff" she said looking at a guard who nodded and ran out of the room.

"Princess, where are the other fragments of the staff exactly?" Twilight asked.

"The three left are the main staff which is made of hoof carved ebony from some of the deepest parts of the planet. There is also the Fire Shard fragment which makes up the other half of the head stone, which will burn anything it touches to ashes. Finally, there are the Silver Wings of Pegazues, the embodiment of all wind and air based magic and which hold the headstone on the staff. The Staff is in the Stone Crusher Mountains to the south, hidden in the city of Ironstead. The Fire Shard is in volcanic city of Ashguard, a mining city to the west. And the wings are located in the burial crypt of Cloudsdale to the east."

"Then why don't we go get the pieces ourselves and hide them here in Canterlot?" Twilight suggested.

"That would be impossible Twilight, the pieces are too powerful to be kept here together, and if something were to go wrong then it would destroy the whole city and all those in it. That is why I spread them that far apart to begin with" Celestia said as she watched Firestorm and Winter Mane fight.

"So there really is nothing we can do, but hope that Applejack and the others are successful" Twilight said grimly as her teacher just nodded.

In Wintercolt, The fight raged on for control of the city as troops from both sides began to fall. Firestorm and Winter Mane continued to blast spell after spell at one another. "Your efforts are wasted against me mortal, give up and I will let you retreat with your tail between your legs" Firestorm said under his mask which now had a large crack down the left side, going over his left eye.

"I would sooner die than let a monster like you take the Ice Shard" Winter Mane panted as he dropped his axe on the ground with blood coming from under his armor.

"I really wanted to avoid killing somepony with talents like yours, but I see you won't be convinced to give up" Firestorm sighed as his horn began to glow black. Firestorm shot several skulls with mouths lines with razor sharp teeth at his opponent, only to have them dodged and bite into the wall behind Winter Mane. Winter Mane coated his legs in ice and charged at Firestorm, throwing punches and kicks at him, freezing the places on Firestorm's clothes that he hit. He jumped up and bucked Firestorm in the face, sending him flying back towards the snow and ash covered wall of a bread store. He slammed against the stone wall, knocking the breath out of him and causing him to fall on his flank to the ground as his mask began to fall off piece by piece, revealing more of his face which was still scared beyond recognition.

"Stand up" Winter Mane said to his downed opponent who slowly stood up, shaking the snow from his wings. He looked up at Winter Mane with his exposed face and growled at him. "It figures Somepony like you would look like a monster after all of the things you have done" Winter Mane said in disgust.

"What I have done? You have no idea what I have done, only what your corrupt leader tells you" he said as a black coffin came up and swallowed Winter Mane, locking itself shut with bone like ropes wrapping around it. "Goodbye Major" Firestorm said using his magic to fix his mask and unfreeze his Shadow Horns who gasped for breath. "Die" he said causing spears to form around the coffin. The spears shot through the black box and blood began to flow through the holes in the bottom of it, followed by a sickening scream of pain. The coffin faded away and a hole filled body of the Major fell to the ground and covered the street in blood.

"I've never seen this cruel side of the master before" Casket whispered to the others as Firestorm blew a hole in the side of the castle, leading into a white room filled with furniture also bold white. In the center of the room was a floating half diamond shaped jewel which ice seemed to emanate from.

"After so many centuries, the Ice Shard shall be revealed once more" Firestorm smiled evilly under his helmet as he used his magic to put the shard in a special black box which he put in his saddle bag. "Dash" he said causing rainbow Dash to fly up behind him. "Finish up here and then begin to repair the city, I'm going to head back to Manehatten, it's too damn cold here" he said walking past her as she saluted. "Besides, I do believe I have a meeting soon…" he chuckled as he teleported away.

Celestia stood in her war room with sweat dripping down her face. "So the city and the fragment have been lost…" she said slamming her hood on a table, breaking it into pieces. Twilight and the guards jumped back after seeing this and began to have a sense of fear creeping over them. "Damn it all…"


	10. Welcome to the Jungle

Applejack continued to lead her group towards a large area of foliage in the west section of Equestria. The dirt path they were on stopped at the edge of the luscious jungle, blocked by shrubs and rocks. Rarity used her magic to move the large stones, wiping the sweat from her forehead when she was finished. "Heavy" she said while fixing her hair. Pinkie pulled a colorful machete from her saddle bag and began to cut away at the plants to clear a path into the dense jungle.

"This way chickies!" she laughed as she led the way with Applejack behind her and Fluttershy above them with Rarity in the rear of the group, slashing the plants out of the way to make a path.

"I don't like this place, it just feels…evil" Fluttershy said looking around at the strange animals, predators feeding upon the weak out of them, causing her to shiver and tear up a bit. She flew down and walked beside Applejack as they continued to go deeper into the forest that gave off an aura of death and pain. After several more minutes of walking, they came across a clearing in the jungle which was a wide area with a stream passing through it. The ground felt rocky and lacked large vegetation. The ground was covered in fuzzy moss which tickled to the touch.

"A small glimmer of light in this god forsaken place" Applejack said as she sat down a rock near the stream.

"That is very poetic Applejack, that's not like you at all" Rarity teased as she looked at her reflection in the water.

"Shut up Rarity! I can be high class as well you know" she said pointing at her. "Besides, after spending so much time with my aunt and uncle, poetry was required in high society" she scoffed at her unicorn friend.

"I'm just saying, I never expected such words to pass through your brutish lips" she snickered.

"Who you callin' a brute? You stuck up little-" her insult was cut short by a scream. They turned to see Fluttershy on the ground next to a small dug up crater near the water with eyes wide and mouth agape as she scampered to get away from the hole.

"Fluttershy, what on earth is the matter with you?" Rarity walked over to look into the hole and held back vomit at the sight of what was inside. The hole was a pitfall trap spears at the bottom which were stained red from blood with bones deeper down the hole. Further up on the spikes was a fresh body which the flies and maggots had just started to get at. The body was of a brown earth pony with patches of blonde mane and tale who appeared to be a stallion wearing exploring gear. His eyes were gone and his cutie mark had been wrapped up in bandages as if he had been injured prior to his death. Applejack and Pinkie came over and looked inside the hole and gagged at the smell that the body was giving off.

"This smells recent, possibly died a week ago or so" Pinkie Pie said holding her nose with her hoof.

"How on earth could you tell that?" Rarity said gagging.

"I used to be a head at the interrogation center during the great Hell war, I dealt with dead bodies all the time" she said in a happy tone which frightened her friends a bit. "But it doesn't take a genius to know that this guy was running from something, as if he was being…hunted" she said coldly as her ear perked up.

"What would be huntin' this guy? Last time I checked, animals can't build traps" Applejack said as Pinkie looked a group of bushes from where they just came.

"What's wrong Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.

"We need to move, now" she said in a serious tone as she picked up her stuff and started to head back into the brush. Pinkie was stopped by a monkey who was hanging by one arm from a tree branch who popped out of nowhere. "Holy hell!" she said as she fell backwards startled.

"Calm down Pinkie, it's just a sweet little monkey" Fluttershy said as it jumped down in front of her and tilted its head looking up at the pegasus. "Hello Mister monkey" she smiled at it before it started going frantic and doing weird hand motions and making monkey noises.

"What the hell is it sayin'?" Applejack ask as a confused look came over Fluttershy's face.

"He says…run from…the smiling one?" she said in a confused tone.

"Smiling one?" They all said at once. It began to pull on her hair and point to the jungle and motion for her to run. Rustling was heard in the bushes behind the group and they all started to run through the thick plants and away from whatever was following them.

"He says not to look back and just keep running!" she said as she and her friends broke into a gallop as they ran further and further into the uncharted jungle. The monkey fell and Applejack and the others stopped to see it trying to get up and Fluttershy was going to help it but was stopped by laughter that by the tone of it showed pure bloodlust and murderous intent. The monkey motioned for her to go and she did but with tears in her eyes.

"Don't stop!" Fluttershy said as she began to lead the pack until they came to a dead end filed with brought orange flowers.

"Damn it!" Applejack said kicking a flower, causing a gas to come from not one, but all of them which enveloped the group in a cloud of hazy yellow gas.

"I cant *cough* breathe!" Rarity said as she passed out on the ground, followed by Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy and finally Applejack, who before passing out, saw the shadowy silhouette of a pony approaching the group laughing with a rag over his face as well as goggles.

"Sleep tight" the pony laughed as she blacked out.


	11. Ashguard

Firestorm and Rainbow Dash stood on a cliff made of volcanic rock that overlooked a large city. The city's buildings were card from the volcanic rock at the base of a large volcano which seemed to be extinct since no smoke was coming from the top of it. "I didn't even know that this city existed" Rainbow Dash said in awe as she took off her golden helmet to look at the city.

"This city has been around for many years, it is by far one of the oldest in the country" Firestorm said from under his helmet.

"It's really beautiful" she said wide eyed.

"It's a shame that I have to disturb it, I've always liked this place, Ashguard" Firestorm sighed as several lines of troops came out from the jungle behind him. "You know the routine, take the city, preserve the buildings, and don't harm the civilians" he said as several unicorns lined up in front of him and caused the cliff to change and form into a ramp that led down to the plains around the city. "I know this is tough for you, Dash" Firestorm said walking over to the cyan colored mare.

"I just feel like…this isn't right" she said looking away from him.

"I have no choice; my sisters brought this on their nation. I care for every one of the citizens in Equestria, and that is why I am doing this, so they can be free from my sisters" Firestorm said as he looked down at Ashguard. "This is for the greater good" he said as he began to walk down the ramp after hearing the sounds of sword clashing and seeing the lights of spells coming from the city. Rainbow Dash sighed and put on her helmet and followed close behind him as he took flight towards the city. 'No matter how hard I try, I can't summon Shadowstorm; I think my sister did this to me to prevent me from using my full power' he thought to himself as he flew down into the middle of the chaos filled streets.

"It's Firestorm! Fall back and protect the temple!" one of the guards yelled as he and several other unicorns retreated deeper into the city.

"I want you to come with me on this one Dashy" Firestorm said as he shot a large fireball down the street and knocked several guards to the ground with burns all over their bodies.

"Yes sir" she said as the both of them began to walk down the streets and past several civilians who were hiding in the alleys. She looked over at them and they all moved over into a hole in one of the buildings. All but one got inside; a small filly who had her hoof stuck under a piece of the wall that had fallen. She began to walk over towards her only to cause her to start crying. Rainbow Dash paused for a moment but continued to move forward until she was standing over the small filly who had a gray coat, no cutie mark, silver eyes, and a silver mane. She reached down and lifted up the rubble, allowing the filly to get free. She then scrambled over to the rest of the group that was hiding inside the building.

"Please…don't hurt us" an old mare in the group said with teary eyes.

"That isn't what we are here for…" Rainbow Dash said as she turned around and walked away from the group and back towards Firestorm who was using his magic to blow away a barricade made from carts and wooden vendor stands.

"We are here" Firestorm said as he looked up at the massive temple at the base of the volcano which was carved with more detail than any other building in the city. It had a dome that was carved around into the actual volcano and great stone pillars with ancient text going down each one. There were large alicorn statues out front on each side of the large staircase that led into the actual temple. There was a large red banner hanging over the entrance that had a white fireball on it. "Simply beautiful" Firestorm said as he began to walk up the steps, only to feel an arrow pierce the armor on his left shoulder. "Damn!" he grunted as he used magic to pull it out.

"You won't set hoof in this temple!" a guard said from the shadows.

"Only cowards fight in the dark, hiding from their opponent. Show yourself!" he ordered as several guards stepped out of the dark with weapons ready. "Move or I will be forced to hurt you" he said in a stern tone as Rainbow Dash stepped in front of him.

"Leave them to me" she smiled. He nodded his head and teleported past them and ran deeper into the temple.

"I know you" one of the guards said to her. "My daughter looked up to you as an idol after seeing you perform at in Cloudsdale years ago" he said as he stepped forward, showing that he was a dark grey pegasus with a black mane and hidden cutie mark. "She watched you break the sound barrier and save three lives all at once. She kept saying to me, "Daddy, when I get big, I wanna be like Rainbow Dash"" he chuckled. "But anypony who looked up to you, could see you now, they would be sick!" he yelled.

"You make it sound like I have become some sort of villain" Rainbow Dash said she held a double edged sword in her mouth.

"That is exactly what you have become, and it is my duty to end your life" he said as he held a mace in his mouth.

Deeper inside of the temple, Firestorm had blown a hole in the wall, leading deeper into the volcano where a faint red glow was emitting from at the end of a long corridor. He walked down that path and found himself in a room filled with flowing lava and a small stone island in the center of the lava with half a gem resting in a pedestal. The pedestal was at the top of a small pyramid which was being guarded by a large unicorn in heavy metal armor. "I don't suppose you would be willing to just hand the shard over to me?" Firestorm asked only to be answered by the unicorn hurling a chunk of molten rock at him, which shattered when it hit his helmet. "I guess that is a no" he sighed.

"For thousands of years, this shard has rested here and this is where it shall stay for thousands more" the unicorn said in a deep voice under his clunky helmet.

"You couldn't have picked a worse place to fight me, kid" Firestorm smiled as his horn began to glow bright red, causing the lava in the room to stir and the whole volcano to begin to shake.

"I should be saying the same to you" the unicorn said as he stepped down into the lava and began to walk towards Firestorm.

"Only advanced fire magic users are able to cast Dragon Skin, maybe this will be a better fight than the one in Wintercolt" Firestorm laughed as he also walked down into the molten lava, causing the volcano to stir more and more until smoke began to come from the top of it. Both of them began to charge at each other and eventually slammed their helmets together in the center of the room, causing the volcano to slowly reawaken.

**I'm sorry that i haven't updated on this story in awhile, i have just been busy with other projects. Anyway, this chapter is up and i hope you enjoyed reading it! I will try to update soon.**


	12. A Tainted Mind

Applejack felt her back pressing against something rough tall, she also felt warmth on both side of her, which she thought was another pony. Around her eyes she felt some sort of cloth which blinded her, making her want to move only to feel a rough rope tying her to the object behind her, which at this point she assumed was a tree. "What the hell?" she mumbled to herself as she struggled to get free.

"Good, one of them woke up, huh Mr. Bongos" a higher pitched male voice said with a chuckle. "Let me get that off of you" he said as he removed the cloth around her eyes. She blinked a couple times and looked around to see that she was indeed tied to a tree with Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy tied up with her, although they were still unconscious. She looked in front of her to see an earth pony stallion with shaggy black hair shaved into a short Mohawk and deep brown eyes with a large scar extending from the top of his right eye to the base of his chin. His coat was tan in color and he wore a black leather necklace. His cutie mark was covered in scars on both sides so it couldn't be made out. "Hello1" he chuckled with a crooked smile that showed his pronounced fangs on his lower jaw.

"Who are you?" she struggled to say due to being tied up tightly.

"That is an excellent question, honestly I have been trying to figure that out myself for some time" he continued to smile.

"You don't know who you are?" Applejack asked.

"No, my name slipped my mind several years ago after the death of my associate Morning Star" he chuckled. "But at least I have Mr. Bongos" he laughed holding up a small little monkey.

'The monkey from before' she thought to herself as her eyes went wide. She felt a nudge at her side and she looked to see Pinkie Pie waking up with a yawn. The stallion noticed also and took the blindfold off of her also.

"Morning chickies" she yawned as she looked over at the stallion in front of Applejack. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I don't know?" he shrugged.

"You don't have a name? That means we can give you one!" she cheered. "Okay um, Fudgeface? No, Mr. Pickles! No….oh I got it! Smiley!" she said which caused Applejack to jump.

"Beware of the smiling one…" Applejack said to herself as both Rarity and Fluttershy came to. The stallion took off their blindfolds as well and sat down in front of them.

"Where in Equestria are we?" Rarity yawned.

"Tide to a tree" Applejack said bluntly.

"I hope we didn't do anything wrong…" Fluttershy said.

"I like the pink one's idea for my name, I will hereby be known as Smiley!" he laughed. "Now what are you four doing in my jungle?" he said smiling still.

In Ashguard, Firestorm continued to fight the unicorn guarding the fire shard in the core of the volcano. Both he and his opponent had put dents and cracks in the other's armor. "I haven't had fun like this in a long time!" Firestorm laughed through his broken mask which now exposed his lower jaw. His mouth of sharp teeth showed in the lava lit room, giving him the resemblance of a demon.

"I will turn you to ash!" his opponent screamed as he made lave shoot at him in the form of what looked like snakes. Firestorm was gone for a moment then reappeared behind his opponent with a sinister smile on his face and his eyes glowing red.

"Now…let me show you how a real fire magic user fights!" he yelled as an aura of black magic energy shot out from around his body, making an ear shattering screech that shoot the room they were in.

Back in the jungle, the ground began to shake and smoke could be seen from the distance as Pinkie Pie and Smiley were playing an odd game of chess with colorful hats and plastic hammers. "That's odd, that volcano is supposed to be extinct, but smoke is coming from it…" Smiley said as he looked away from the chessboard that he had sat up in front of Pinkie.

"You looked away!" Pinkie shouted as she hit him over the head with a hammer. "20 Points for me!" she laughed.

"No fair!" Smiley yelled.

"Tell me again why they are playing this absurd game…" Rarity said with a look of disbelief on her face. Applejack just sighed and looked down to see Smiley sling the chess board to the side pull out a knife.

"Oh damn!" she yelled as he swung it, only to cut the rope that they had around them.

"Now we are gonna play my favorite game!" he smiled wider. "I call it, Ultimate Hide and Seek!" he said doing a dramatic pose. The four mares in front of him just looked at him with a blank stare. "Anyway, the rules are simple, you try to get out of the jungle before I hunt you down and kill you" he said in a nonchalant tone.

"A-Are you serious?" Rarity exclaimed.

"Relax, I'm gonna give you a head start, and hopefully you will last longer than the last guy" he chuckled. "That pour idiot fell into a pitfall I set up in the first 10 minutes!" he said in a full laugh. All of them gasped when they remembered the body that they found earlier and all of them began to run away from Smiley. "You have 5 minutes!" he said as he sat down next to the tree. "I wonder where I will put their cutie marks…" he said to himself as he tapped the knife on his head.

Firestorm continued to fight the stallion in the dark armor and appeared to be winning. "It's been fun to fight someone who uses my style of magic, but I don't have much time to hang around here" he said with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth with his mask completely broken off.

"As I said, I won't let you take that shard! I am one of the last of the members of the White Mane Order, and I will not let you win!" the stallion said as patches of white hair poked through his armor.

"It's funny, a Major by the name of Winter Mane said the same thing to me and he is dead now…" Firestorm smiled cynically. Saying that angered his opponent causing him to charge Firestorm, only to have his head slammed under the lava where he was being drowned. "Rage seems to be the major trigger for you lesser beings" he laughed as he pushed him deeper under the lava where he flailed wildly as he tried to resurface.


	13. Postponed

I regret to inform my dear readers that there will be a delay on this story until further notice. It is hard to focus on 3 stories at once and I figured I would let this one wait until one of the others was finished, thank you for your patience. This chapter will be deleted after the real chapter is written.

Sincerely, Prince Firestorm


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