Kratos rolled left, the Cyclops Berserkers' club smashing the ground where he once stood leaving a creator in his wake. Kratos had dealt with Cyclopes before, but this was by far the biggest, the armour was tougher, and the Cyclops was a lot faster than usual, none the less this Cyclops stood in the way of his revenge, it had to die. The Cyclops came charging, Kratos stood firm gripping the Blades of Athena, as he looked straight at the monster waiting for the right time. Suddenly Kratos sent a blade towards the beasts' right knee as he stepped left to avoid the charge. The blade struck and sent blood spraying across the field. The grass turning red, as the soil drank the monsters blood. Kratos seeing a window of opportunity sent another blade against the monsters back. More blood, but Kratos was used to this, he lunged at the beasts club arm, thrusting both blades deep into the flesh. The beast roared as it stumbled, it tried to grab Kratos with its other arm, but it was too slow as Kratos ripped a Blade out of the arm and skewered the beasts' hand. Quickly Kratos climbed onto the beasts shoulders and forced the blades into the thick muscly neck. Quickly dismounting the beast, Kratos evaded a last ditch attack from the Cyclops, the blades were still in the Cyclops, but when Kratos landed, he ripped them out bringing forth a sea of blood from the Cyclops neck. Kratos, now soaked in blood, stood alone in the forest clearing as the Cyclops fell before him with a thud. The smell of the forest was now one of blood.
The wind picked up strength; the trees' whispers were turning to shouts. Flapping could be heard, but the origin could not be seen. A slight grin came across Kratos' face; this was his life now, one monster after another fell before him. The flapping grew louder and flame rushed over head, followed by a screech. A Manticore. He had fought similar at Delphi, but never in a forest, for the beasts lived high in the mountains. He relished the challenge. The Manticore came into sight, wings flapping, and scorpion tail posed for attack. The head was almost lion like, but faintly resembled a dragon. The jaws of the creature opened and Kratos prepared to fight. He could see the flames form within the jaws, ready to explode out. However, a bright light appeared behind the Manticore, the Sun was setting, but this was no Sun. The flying beast roared as it was consumed, Kratos soon followed
It was a normal day in Ponyville, the Sun was shining and Fluttershy was visiting her critter friends. She had been interested in one squirrel in particular, as he had been attacked on the edge of the Everfree forest. Princess Celestia had warned Ponyville to stay well clear of the old forest, she could not tell the ponies why but strange happenings were occurring and Timberwolf attacks were increasing. Fluttershy had found this squirrel just before the Everfree forest boundary, it had been attacked. She was not sure what had attacked it or why anything would attack such a cute little animal.
There was flash. Brighter than Princess Celestias' Sun, it came from within the forest. Fluttershy could only look away, until she heard the roar of an injured animal. Her kindness towards animals was stronger than her fear of the forest. It was her duty to help all animals, so she headed towards the scream.
As she approached the area where the roar was thought to have come from, she could smell burning. She slowed her pace down; her only thought was the injured animal. Then she saw it, a Manticore, but this one was different to the ones she met before. This one was almost all black, and at least three times the size of other Manticores in the area. The beast was cocooned in its wings. Fluttershy thought about running, more than once, but this creature looked injured and she wanted to help. She crept forward; the Manticore did not notice her at first. "Hello" she whispered "I am here to help" her voice was barely audible, but the twig that snapped as she walked got the Manticores' attention.
It stared at her, not moving at first then slowly unfurling its huge wings revealing its' large lion-like torso. Fluttershy was shocked; this was no creature from Equestria. Its' mane was not like the local Manticores this mane was jet black and spiked, the mane extended down the beasts back where it meet large scales. The scales were almost like an amour on this great beast, they were thick and black but with a tint of green. The scales gave way to a large scorpion tail, almost the length of the beast itself, the tail curled up with the stinger pointing straight at Fluttershy. The Manticore started towards her before letting out a crackling roar upwards, flames shot upwards towards the sky; finally it closed its' jaws and looked at the pastel yellow pony. The mouth of the beast unhinged, and Fluttershy could see right down its throat, where she saw flames were gathering. She was frozen; the flames grew larger in the beasts' belly. She could only cower behind her pink mane, and tears were starting to form. There was another roar, not from the Manticore but from something else. A pony?
Fluttershy heard a mighty thud, and felt the heat of the flames, but they were away from her. She moved her mane from over her eyes, and saw a bald white Pony to her left, with metal attached to its fore legs, in front of the Manticore. The Manticore swiped at the Pony but only hit the air, the Pony attacked it with the curved metal attached to its legs, and the metal was attached by chains, they were like some sort of blades. She watched in awe as this Pony pulled the giant beast down to Earth, with the blade like weapons. The white Pony had got hold of one of the Manticores wings, the Manticore let out a burst of flame which turned to a roar as this mysterious Pony ripped its left wing off and flung it aside. The muscles of this white Pony were bulging; he was easily stronger than Big Macintosh. Earth ponies were the strongest of the three kinds, but this Pony was incredible.
The Manticore was circling round the Pony, but he didn't seem to mind. His skirt blew in the wind, and his face was one of anger. Fluttershy could only watch, she was frozen in terror as this Pony was risking his life fighting this new creature. The Manticore lunged for an attack, keeping the wounded wing away from its attacker; The Pony jumped back, then lunged forward with its own attack and slashed the face of the beast. The Pony quickly jabbed a blade into the side of the beast and jumped on top, once up it reared up and let out its' own roar, before lunging the blades into the Manticores back. The Manticore again, let out a roar of flames. The beasts' tail was now attacking the Pony who was still stabbing the beasts' neck. The scorpion tail lurched towards him; he moved just in time, but the tail still scrathed his waist. He kept stabbing at the beast; blood was running into the beasts' mane, however, the beast sent its tail for another attack. This time the Pony evaded it completely and caught the tail with the chains that were wrapped tight around its fore legs. The Pony quickly ripped off the end of the tail using a hoof and his other blade before sliding off the Pony and ramming the stinger into the beasts' soft underbelly. The Pony was drenched in the black blood of the beast, and looked towards Fluttershy as the beast fell to the ground, blood still squirting out the hole in its belly. The pony moved towards Fluttershy, She let out a small whimper of fear and turned her head to not look. She heard a grunt then a dull bang, like a branch had fallen, but when she looked round all she saw was the bald white pony collapsed on the floor. She was going to help him, even though she had just witnessed him turn an area in a forest into a scorched blood bath.
Kratos awoke to the sound of giggling, it was familiar but he struggled to remember how. He looked around, it was all familiar, the grass, the trees, even the smells, but how was he here? This was a place before the war, before the Gods betrayed him, a place of peace. The giggling returned and suddenly he remembered "Caliape? " He shouted "Is that you?"
He looked round, but he had the same problem as before. He thought that was a dream, but is this the dream? What happened? He had changed form, his hands were hoofs, he was a horse now, a white stallion with no mane, the red tattoo was still there as red fur, a solid black tail, and the Blades of Athena were wrapped around his forelegs. This was something new, but was not Zeus, this was a greater power. The giggling interrupted his thought. He crawled, or rather trotted, to where the giggling was coming from. He entered a clearing, the moon was full and bright it illuminated the whole area almost as much as the Sun would. In the center of the circle was a black Pony, bigger than the yellow one he saw or dreamed earlier, with a long dark blue mane that glittered in the moonlight. A small child ran from behind the Pony "Caliope?" asked Kratos.
"Daddy" the child giggled
"I thought this would be the best way to meet you" Said the Black Pony, as she turned to face Kratos.
"What? What is this place? Who are you? ANSWER ME!" replied Kratos.
"This is your dream. My name is Princess Luna. I am one of the Rulers of the land of Equestria. Celestia and I called you here, we have a problem, and you are our best hope." Lunas' voice was calm and quiet.
"What problem? What is this land 'Equestria'? And why am I NOW A HORSE?" Kratos was getting angry as Luna was hiding information. He tried to put a hoof around Caliope who was pulling his tail.
"Zeus has declared that he should be King of all Gods, not just Olympus. He sent his minions forth when we refused to bow to him. You are a Pony now. It's the form of the beings in this Universe. I am an Alicorn, I have traits of Earth Pony, Unicorn and Pegasus, as does Zeus when he is in our Domain, and I assume it is the same with the other Deities from your world. We need you to clear Equestria of the Monsters that Zeus has unleashed" Luna Replied, she sounded troubled Kratos noted.
"As long as it does not interfere with my vengeance, where do I start?" pressed Kratos, noticing that Caliope had stopped pulling his tail.
"It will be explained more when you wake, but first you must rest. Remember this is a peaceful world Kratos." Said Luna, turning to leave Kratos "I will let Caliope stay tonight, but remember this is a dream. Oh, and the visions should not occur while you are here."
Kratos lay down in the grass and hugged his Daughter as she ran her hands along his now red and white coat. "Thank you" he whispered.
Kratos did not know where he was but he was not alone. There were others nearby, he could hear them talking.
"What do you mean he cut off its tail?"
"Why did you bring him back? Look at him, he's something else"
"Are you sure you're ok, Sugar cube?"
"I think he's cute, did you see his coat IT'S AWESOME"
Kratos got up and looked around, he was still getting used the being on four legs. He felt the blades of Athena still attached, he could slaughter his way out. He noticed a window on the far side of the room, so he decided to have a look outside. He saw nothing that gave him concern, there was smoke coming from the forest close by, but there was no one around. He could escape. He suddenly remembered his dream with the Black Pony, what did she mean.
A door creaked open behind him, and a yellow pony with a pink mane peeked in.
"Uh, um sorry didn't mean to disturb you" It said.
Kratos just stared blankly at the Pony
"It's just there's breakfast in the kitchen, if you are hungry. You don't need to eat if you don't want to." She replied.
"Where am I? What happened?" Kratos demanded.
"This is, uh, my cottage. You collapsed in the forest yesterday, after you, eh, um, killed that creature." She replied. "What is, uh, your name?"
"But how did I get here?" He asked, his voice becoming calmer.
"Is everything OK, Fluttershy?" A voice said behind the door.
The door burst open and a rainbow of ponies came through, including a Rainbow one in itself. There was a lavender Unicorn, a white Unicorn with a purple mane, an orange Pony, a pink Pony, that looked really cheerful, and the cyan Pegasus with the rainbow mane and tail.
"What's your deal here?" the Rainbow asked, almost angrily.
"Yeah, why did you kill the Manticore?" The Purple Unicorn asked.
Kratos just stared at the ponies, this was new to him but he kept thinking about what the black Alicorn said in his dream.
"How do I kill Zues in this form?" He demanded.
"Oh silly, Zeus isn't here. He is from another universe. Why do you want to kill him anyway?" the Pink one said happily, she annoyed Kratos, she was just too happy.
"Pinkie, do you even know what you said? Let's start again, shall we? I'm Twilight. That was Pinkie Pie, she is always like that. The Yellow Pegasus that dragged you from the Everfree forest is Fluttershy. This is Apple Jack" walking beside the orange pony with a hat. "That's Rarity over there; don't mind her she just doesn't want blood on her. And this Pegasus is Rainbow Dash, what is your name?"
Kratos stared "Kratos. My name is Kratos".
"Nice to meet ya, Kratos. And just why are you in Ponyville?" Apple Jack enquired.
"I was brought here, by an Alicorn. Luna, she said this would be explained" Said Kratos, still judging the ponies that stood before him.
"Why would she do that?" Twilight blurted out.
"It's easy guys" the pink Pony said gleefully "Luna wants something ended. See that's what his special talent is, look at his cutie mark."
"That's just a horseshoe Pinkie" said rainbow dash, squinting at the strange symbol on Kratos' flank.
"No its not, It's omega, it means the end from where he is from." Pinkie explained.
There was a knock on a door outside of the room, Fluttershy crept away to answer it. The ponies continues to stare at Kratos, this was not something that happened regularly in Ponyville. New ponies were always noted, and greeted yet this huge pony went unnoticed. The ponies all turned towards the door when they heard a voice talking to Fluttershy approaching, Kratos saw through the open door a big white pony, bigger than him, and twice the size of the ponies that surrounded.
"Princess" they said as it entered, the ponies lying down. Their version of kneeling Kratos assumed.
"I'm glad nothing is broken" The princess said looking at Kratos "I did not mean to bring you to Ponyville."
"And who are you?" Kratos asked angrily.
"I am Princess Celestia, I apologise about this but Luna said she spoke to you in your dream?" the Alicorn said, Kratos could not help but notice the huge horn on her head.
"Yes and she mentioned Zeus, where is he?" Kratos pushed.
"Zeus will come in time; he has declared war on this land. We need you to stop him. He has not shown himself since I sent him back, however I sense some other Gods are here. I need you to find them." Princess Celestia said slightly worried.
"Then will I get my revenge?" Asked Kratos
"I will not stop you." Celestia said calmly.
"Where do I start?" Kratos questioned eager to begin his journey.
"With these." The Princess said, pointing at the blades of Athena wrapped around the fore legs of Kratos. "They will not do you well here, I do not encourage killing, but I will send these six with you to make sure it's kept to a minimum."
Princess Celestias' horn began to glow, Kratos felt the magic around the blades, but he could not stop it. The blades of Athena vanished with a 'pop' and in their place two new blades appeared. They were golden in colour with jet black veins spreading out from the handles. The blades attached to Kratos' fore legs pointing down. He reared up and the Blades slid down his legs and onto his hoofs, before sliding back in. He liked these blades.
"These are the Blades of Creation, they were designed by Star Swirl the Bearded many moons ago. He foretold of you, and he thought that when this day came you would be our best hope. They should help with the magic in this realm."
"Where do I go first?" Kratos asked.
"You will go to the Everfree forest, to the abandoned castle. I am getting bad signals from there. Something with great power is there." Celestia warned Kratos.
"It will be no match for me" Kratos grunted.
"I hope not. The Ponies will help you." Celestia told him, urging the Ponies to get ready.
"I need no help, Celestia" Kratos spat.
"They will serve a purpose Kratos, it is you who needs help. This is a new world to you and these six have saved Equestria before." Celestia returned before turning away. "I trust you will be going soon. Twilight will keep me updated"
She left through the door, Kratos grunted and walked out of the room as well, the ponies followed.
The Ponies met on the edge of the Everfree forest later that day, each with their own saddle bag. Kratos was eager to get going but three young fillies had appeared with AppleJack, they wanted to meet the new Pony.
"We do not have time for this!" Said Kratos, as the fillies stared at his 'cutie mark'.
"It's awesome!" The small Orange Pegasus shouted.
"I want my one to be as cool as his." The Yellow one said sadly.
"How did you get it, Mister?" The white unicorn asked.
Kratos could tell that the yellow pony was related to Applejack, and the unicorn to Rarity.
"Come on now girls, leave him alone. We have got to get going" Applejack said.
"awwww, but Applejack?" The yellow Pony replied, her eyes going sad.
"Now, Girls Applejack is right. We have a royal duty to perform." Rarity said sternly, flicking her mane.
Kratos laughed "Royal duty? I am doing what the Fates have made me do. Not what Celestia wants me to."
"That's Princess Celestia to you!" Twilight shouted out angrily.
"Whatever. Now let's go." Kratos fired back.
"Go back to the farm Apple Bloom." Applejack said to the fillies.
"awwww." The three said in sync, before lowering their heads and walking away.
"Do we have to go? I mean I, um, could stay here and watch for any oh um monsters?" Fluttershy whispered, cowering behind her mane.
"aww stop being such a baby Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said, taking flight.
"There's Spike so let's go," Twilight said pointing with her hoof to a purple dragon, with green spikes coming towards them.
"Great, another body to slow us down." Kratos spoke to himself in disgust "Let's go!"
The ponies stepped into Everfree forest, led by Kratos, they did not know what they were going to face. The only happy one was Pinkie but even she kept whispering something to herself. The further they walked the less light penetrated the surrounding trees. Trees towered above the path, for the majority of the time, each one seeming to whisper to each other in the wind. The group walked past the smoldering wasteland that Kratos created the day before.
"You did this?" Rainbow Dash asked shocked at the destruction.
Kratos only smiled. Fluttershy whimpered when she saw the remains of the Manticore again. The other ponies got a glimpse of just why Princess Celestia called upon Kratos to fight these other beings but was this too extreme? Fluttershy had stopped a rampaging Manticore before, although this Manticore looked different. The Ponies trotted in silence, led by twilight now, Kratos and Pinkie followed close behind. Pinkie had kept looking at Kratos, analyzing his every move.
"What is it?" Kratos spat.
"You're missing something." Pinkie replied smiling as always.
"What?" Kratos said, turning his head to look at the cheerful pink pony.
"Ohhhh I don't know. I just thought the God of War would have more weapons or equipment at least." Pinkie chirped.
"I don't need weapons to get my vengeance" Kratos grunted.
"Okay dokey loki" Pinkie said joyfully before bounding forward.
The Ponies eventually reached a swamp. The area was surrounded by trees, most of which had vines dangling down. Kratos mistook a snake on more than one occasion, only Fluttershy stopped the snakes from being sliced in half with a whimper and a 'please'.
"Welcome to froggybottom Bogg, Kratos. I think we should settle here for dinner" said Twilight.
"I agree I'm starving" Rainbow dash said landing beside twilight.
Rarity laid down a red and white blanket neatly, as the others prepared plates and food. Pinkie let off a few balloons. There were cupcakes, carrot and daisy sandwiches, pea soup, hay and oat cakes and much more. Kratos saw no meat.
"Where is the meat?" he asked.
"What's meat?" Rainbow Dash replied, tucking into a cupcake.
"mhmmm ns wwnsn," mumbled Pinkie
"Swallow Pinkie Darling," Said Rarity analyzing her sandwich.
"Meat is what he used to eat. We don't eat meat in this world. We are ponies and herbivores; we wouldn't imagine eating another living thing." Pinkie explained.
"Then I will hunt" Explained Kratos, turning away from the picnic.
None of the ponies tried to stop him, they just watched as he vanished into the forest before turning back towards the picnic. The sun was on its way down, but still visible through the trees casting long shadows along the ground. The girls and Spike got stuck into the food, Twilight wanted to get to the castle before nightfall.
Mainwhile, Kratos had reached a river after a five minute walk through the trees. He heard the roar of the waterfall upstream, and some small splashes of what he hoped were fish. They were; he just had to catch them now. The blades of Creation were not good for catching fish; several times he got a blade in a fish, only for the fish's momentum to get it sliced in half. Kratos changed to just using his hooves, which eventually worked after many attempts. Now all he had to do was cook it, the Blades made light work of gutting it. He tried using nearby twigs and branches but to no avail. He decided that maybe Twilight could use fire magic. He headed back with his catch.
Back at the picnic, the Ponies were having fun. Almost all of the food was gone, and Pinkie was staring at her reflection in the muddy water. Her body started twitching. The Ponies stopped to look, and then panic as Pinkie continued to twitch. Fluttershy was the first to notice something move in the water, but her shout was inaudible over the panic.
"Look, there's something moving in the water." Rainbow Dash shouted.
Again Fluttershy spoke but little sound came out.
"There's another three things over there" Twilight mentioned.
Four large heads of a Hydra appeared out of the water, moving closer to the ponies. One let out a large cry, as the long necks kept rising out the water. Soon the heads towered above the surrounding trees, as a body and four legs of the Hydra climbed out of the water.
"Everypony run!" Commanded AppleJack, but Fluttershy was frozen in fear, as the beast drew closer.
The Hydra launched a head at Fluttershy, the other ponies were too far away to intervene. The beasts' head was inches away from Fluttershy when a fish struck it knocking it to the side. Rainbow Dash flew down to save Fluttershy, while Kratos ran for the Hydra. The three heads that were up headed towards Kratos, Kratos continued at the beast, jumping just before the first head reached him. He ran down the neck of the head, and brought out his blades. He fired both blades into the underside of the neck, and jumped onto the ground, avoiding another head. Once he landed he pulled the blades back, tearing through the muscles in the neck of the Hydra. Blood spurted in all directions, as the head fell to the ground, still attached by a piece of skin. Kratos quickly moved towards the belly of the beast, dodging and ducking whenever a head was sent his way. As he approached the torso, a head caught his back legs, knocking him off balance. The hydra let out a roar. Kratos quickly regained balance, noticing that Rainbow Dash had got the attention of the heads by flying close-by. Kratos quickly got under the Hydras belly, where he stuck a blade into the soft flesh near the necks, and ran towards the tail, opening the Beast up the length of its torso. The Hydra fell, with a quick moan then a thud. Kratos, now more red than white, smiled.
"Oh my!" Rarity whimpered, as the ponies gathered at the picnic blankett.
"Why did you kill it? It was scared!" exclaimed Twilight.
Kratos only laughed as the body the Hydra turned black and sunk into the ground, only a puff of smoke remained.
"What just happened? Is it coming back?" Asked Spike frightened.
"It was a Spawn of hades, created to kill me. It was a soul." Answered Kratos
"But what about the Manticore? That was still there when we all walked past?" Said AppleJack slightly puzzled.
"Ohh, that's simple." Said Pinkie, as she smiled "The Hydra was a spawn of this world, sent by Hades, from the Underworld of this world. The Manticore, however, was not from this world originally, so it had no place to go when Kratos diced it up."
The ponies looked surprised at what Pinkie Pie just said, but they could not disagree.
"Let's keep moving" Kratos sneered, without a second thought to what just unfolded.
Fluttershy was still in the same position, staring at the gutted fish Kratos had thrown at the Hydra earlier. It took Rainbow Dash and AppleJack to get Fluttershy out of the state she was in. The Ponies began marching towards the abandoned castle again. Pinkie walked with Kratos up top.
"I saved you a cupcake" smiled Pinkie "I brought fourteen, two each, but I ate your other one while you were slaying the Hydra."
Kratos didn't speak, but he accepted the cupcake. After staring at the colourful "food" that was in his hoof, he finally took a bite, then another, then it was gone. He had never eaten a cupcake before, but he wanted another. Somehow Pinkie handed him another, Kratos ate it quickly.
As Luna was raising the moon, the Ponies came to the castle, with just one small problem; the old wooden bridge across was infested with grunts. Undead grunts, pony-fied. Kratos couldn't help but give a slight smile as he noticed how easy this was going to be. Kratos even thought about getting the other ponies in the action.
"You! Blue Pegasus! How strong are you?" Demanded Kratos.
"It's Rainbow Dash, and I'm a Pegasus!" Rainbow replied, taking flight.
"How strong?" Shouted Kratos, bring back the days of his old Spartan Army.
"The strongest, and fastest!" boasted Dash.
"That'll be right." Apple Jack muttered.
"Good." Said Kratos, pointing at the pony grunts on the bridge "Take them out"
"What?" Said Rainbow shocked.
"It's fine, they are dead, weak and useless" assured Pinkie.
"I'll help then; don't want Rainbow having all the fun. If it's what Princess Celestia wants." AppleJack chirped.
"Just hit them, and they will sink back into the underworld." Said Kratos, as he began his charge towards the bridge.
Rainbow Dash and AppleJack took off at breakneck speed, over taking Kratos. Rainbow Dash flew into the grunt crowd first scattering them like skittles. AppleJack was hot on her rainbow tail. Rainbow had to fly up as she lost momentum, AppleJack took the lead. She quickly stopped and turned as the grunts piled in twos towards her, Applejack bucked with her back legs at the last possible moment her legs broke the bones when the planted and sent the grunts back. Kratos had caught up and leaped over AppleJack, blades out. He had done similar thousands of times, and was getting used to hooves, charging the first grunt to challenge him and using it as shield, knocking more off the bridge. Kratos got to the other side and tossed his shield at another group of grunts. Rainbow and Applejack helped Kratos finish the last of the grunts, as the others crossed the bridge. Spike even caught a grunt on the head with a rock, to be greeted with a disapproving Twilight.
With the grunts disposed of, the Castles doors opened.
That's it for now, however Chapter 2 is out and 3 is on its way if not already. I am always looking for ideas and tips, so feel free to toss them about. Im sitting my finals this week so chapter 3 might be a bit delayed, due to me drowning in Jager/Cider/Whisky. Anyway the ponys i use for the cover and my avatar were created using General Zoi pony Maker, great wee game. Also if you want to help just messgae/comment and Ill see if I can use you. For you Brits, apologies the language is American, not proper English, i was lazy and couldnt be bothered changing my dictionary on Word sorry. TNB OUT!