EF Chapter 2

Everyone was going through the weapons, all wondering what they should have; except for twilight of course, she immediately reached for a staff; perfect for magic spells! She put the staff in a sheath on her back and waited by the door. Applejack picked up a small dagger, it felt like nothing in her hand, it was virtually weightless, but still as sharp as steel; Applejack put it away, but didn't even think about walking away before picking up a mask, almost like ones bandits use. Rainbow dash picked up a flail; its handle was wooden, engraved with the emblem of the lunar republic. This was obviously from the civil war. The chain of the mace was cold, but strong, a very durable weapon. Its only bad side was the weight of the steel ball; but she could care less. Rarity kept working her way through the weapons, until Rainbow dash started getting pissed.

"Just pick one for Celestias sake you aren't gonna marry the damn thing!"

"Back off, we can't all have 'perfect' taste like you!"

She kept fumbling through the weapons and decided on a crossbow. Rarity wasn't used to holding heavy objects, so the weight of the wood and steel tool of destruction nearly caused her to fall over.

"HA! Not so cool now, are ya?"

"Up yours!"

Pinkie Pie settled on a large, top-heavy club which seemed to be almost her size, but to her, it wasn't big enough, she looked at it; she decided that it looked a lot like a tipped over tree. Applejack was still picking things up, she had a dagger sheath on each leg, one on her arm, and one around her waist, each containing a weightless dagger with a blue velvet grip. Lastly, Fluttershy looked around, she noticed a bow on the wall, it was large, the string was finely constructed with the solar empires emblem by the notch where the arrow rests; she strapped it around her back with a quiver full of silver tipped, sapphire blue shafted arrows. On the way out, Fluttershy took some wrist guards to protect her wrists when firing, and a finger protector as well. As they all wandered back to the main room, they caught sight of a shadow, and everyone wondered who it was, maybe a thief? or maybe just some servants. They wandered back to the courtyard where, to their surprise, targets and dummies were set up, Dj was sharpening his sword and tending to his armors cracks.

"Welcome back, I hope you found your perfect weapons?"

"Of course we did, now where do we go first?"

Rainbow dash was as excited as ever, she wanted to see the world for the first time.

"Gather around, I gotta tell you all a little thing."

Intrigued, everyone gathered around Dj as he started to tell the story of the civil war, about the force of evil known as sombra who escaped his prison after 1,000 years. He described the atrocious acts of war he had committed, leaving thousands dead in his wake; he could see the fear in the eyes of his army of 6.

"Don't worry everyone, as long as we look out for each other, we should have no trouble finding the elements."

"But if he brutally murdered families, we won't be much of a threat."

"Not true, an army of 2 can do some damage, if they are trained, but we have 7, we can annihilate many of his soldiers before they even scratch us!"

"Sure we have 7, but they have thousands! What can WE do?"

"You will be surprised, now lets get going."

Each pony strapped up their bags, and they headed northward towards the mountains. The weather was perfect for hiking, no clouds, all sun; just how they wanted it. After 17 minutes of hiking, Dj stopped the group, and pointed at a pony that seemed to be wandering aimlessly; he drew his sword.

"What is that thing Dj?"

"An enemy that we must slay."

Everyone drew their weapons for a fight at this remark, the pony turned and let out a large bellow, sounding 15 more to the area.

"Dj we should GO."

"Stand your ground."

Three charged, but one was met with a crossbow bolt between its eyes, another met its fate with a dagger in its stomach, but the last one broke through and pinned Fluttershy to the ground.

"HELP!"

Quick to react, Pinkie pie knocked it off with the club; more bellows filled the area, but these were war cries, not cries for help. Twilight was stunned, how could she help them? Wait! her spells, she had been practicing forever with them! She drew her staff and struck the ground, causing a chasm to form at the feet of the attackers. They jut stared at it, only to have a mountain of hell fire scorch them, they met their fate and collapsed, half charred.

"DJ WHAT WERE THOSE THINGS?!"

"I would call them undead but that would be an understatement…"

"So they are full dead?"

"No, more like possessed ponies."

"But why did they attack us."

"Because anything thats not a regular pony is out to get us, by orders of Sombra."

After a while of arguing, the group started walking further towards the mountains. It was a long, treacherous journey, but the group was prepared for anything that might come their way. They hiked for another hour, only to reach the summit of the mountain, then Twilight had a thought.

"Wait… if I use magic… then why can't I just teleport us to our destination…?"

"Because, thats not how life works."

Twilights face went expressionless as they continued hiking. She lagged behind while the others kept laughing about Dj's comment, and how Twilight looked so pissed off. They eventually reached the bottom of the other side of the mountain and saw i town, and they decided to investigate, but it looked like a fire had spread in a desert town… sand and burnt buildings everywhere… debris laying on the ground… a burnt water tower… They all walked through town, occasionally witnessing a charred building collapse and erupt with a cloud of smoke. Fluttershy was trembling and shaking, and Rainbow dash was taking care not to step on the many skeletons that littered the streets of the once excited town.

"So Sombra struck here…?"

"Yes, I once had a small battalion that was stationed as the guards here, Sombra came through and wiped out all but me, I only barely escaped the carnage… My wife lived here, but alas I could not save her…"

A tear dripped from Dj's eye, which everybody saw, but no one cared to mention it. Applejack hugged Dj tightly, with no resistance; but instead she was met with a loud cry and more tears.

"I'm so sorry…. if its any consolation, we will help avenge your wife's death, this brute must be stopped once and for all!"

"No… w- we just have a mission to fulfill… that's it, nothing more…"

Dj was wiping tears from his eyes. He pushed Applejack off and started walking on without them, they were quick to follow him; they didn't want to be left behind. They walked for another three hours, Dj had finally stopped crying. They saw a lumbering figure over in the distance, and Dj urged them to fight it.

"That thing must be ten times any ponies size! how can we win?"

"You know what? FINE I will kill it!" Dj pushed Rainbow dash aside, let out his battle cry, and charged at the giant, apparently skinny, creature. It turned around, it had black, flaming tentacles; it was obviously a juggernaut from Sombra's battalion. It lashed a tentacle at Dj, who dodged with ease; and lashed out with his sword. This severed the tentacle, causing blood to spurt from where it used to be. The juggernaut let out a paralyzing scream, after which it turned and ran into the trees. Dj ran after it screaming at the top of his lungs.

"COME BACK HERE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Then he disappeared, the others didn't know whether they should follow or let this play out; they decided to stay and build a camp, as the sun was setting. The moon rose, everyone was asleep when Dj returned, covered in blood and scratches; he saw the tent, got in it, and started crying more. He softly heard Twilights voice above the cricket chirps.

"You upset there Dj…?"

"Why do you care so much…?"

"Because I want to know what happened exactly…"

Dj sighed.

"Alright… are you able to listen to a long story…?"

"Of course, now spill it, it will make you feel better."

"Alright… long ago… after the civil war… much after the civil war…. about maybe 15 years ago, at most, I got married to a wonderful women, she was strong, kind, loving, and loyal… We were happily married, I was supporting her with my job on the royal guard; maybe 7 years ago, I was assigned to that town we passed… It's called the Crystal Empire… There was a terror scare, and I and my small band of fighters were assigned to protect the civilians. Sombra came, bringing in an army of thousands, the town in which my family lived wasn't far away, so my wife came to visit me on duty. She chose the wrong time… Sombras men came through, burning buildings, killing villagers, looting shops and stores. They took her life with a broad sword, and it was Sombra himself who dealt the life-taking blow… I only barely escaped with my life. I was the only man who made it out alive that day, except for what few slaves were captured, I fled through Canterlot, past the Everfree forest, and eventually to Ponyville, where i spent the remaining three years hiding here, I received a scar on my eye…"

He took off his helmet to reveal a wine red scar, spanning from his ear, across his right eye, and ended above his nose, he put the helmet back on, fearing Twilights judgement.

"Wait… so you spent five years traveling to Ponyville that should only take maybe three days?"

"I had to take the long path… and there was no train system back then…."

"They really did such horrible things to the Crystal Empire…? Then how come everything was in perfect condition for a while?"

"It was rebuilt, then it was burned down again during my travels."

"This may seem like a weird question… even though it was a thousand years ago… did you witness any of the civil war between the Lunar Republic and the Solar Empire…?"

Dj gasped, he grabbed his helmet and started breathing heavily. He spoke in a stuttering voice.

"I- I ca- can't answe- answer that q- q- question…"

"Alright calm down, calm down ok? Im sorry. Can I ask a Few more questions…?"

Dj took a minute to calm down before he spoke.

"sure… fire away…"

" What else did Sombra do to the Crystal Empire…?"

"He burned every piece of evidence he could find."

"Evidence?"

"Evidence of his attacks on previous empires, evidence of his tyranny. he burned a woven cloth depicting his involvement of the civil war…"

"One last question… you told the others that your wife lived here… why did you lie to them….?"

"I didn't want them to know what really happened because it brought back the memories to me… I shall never forget that look in her eyes when I was the last one she saw… I won't forgive Sombra… Each one involved with him shall die!"

Now Fluttershy's voice entered the conversation. She sounded just as awake as during the day, which surprised the two of them.

"So now that you have the chance… are you going to lead us there just to have your revenge…?"

"No Fluttershy, my mission is to vanquish Sombra and bring you all home unharmed…"

"But Dj-"

"I said that's my mission."

"Yes sir…"

Twilight rolled in her sleeping bag to face Dj, she looked into his eyes and spoke calmly and deliberately.

"Why won't you allow this to be for you personal revenge? why are calling this your mission?"

"Because, I know she wouldn't want me to take revenge, she never liked violence unless it was for public safety, therefore its a mission, not revenge."

Twilight looked at the sword, which Dj had carelessly tossed onto his sleeping bag, and sat up; she help it in her hand.

"I assume this sword is from-"

"My son… He forged it for me with what little he had, I am proud to have such a fine weapon in my possession, it has saved me many times."

"Your family loved you…"

They both looked at Fluttershy, obviously for that comment.

"Fluttershy… Dj has been through a lot, and he knows the sacrifices his family made…"

"I know… I'm just reminding him…"

"Girls it's alright…"

Dj started going through his bag, the fire was still strong outside, providing light inside the small tent. As Dj was searching, a piece of cloth fell out, he looked worried but before he could pick it up, Twilight snagged it. She looked at it and seemed astounded.

"This… this is part of the missing cloth you were talking about, isn't it?"

Dj took it back and stuffed it in his bag, he started to sweat heavily.

"It's a replica I had made of a part before I lost the original I MEAN-"

"You WERE involved in the civil war!"

"FINE, you got me, I took sides with the Lunar empire, thats why so many of your weapons have the Lunar symbol on it."

"So you're over 1,000 years old then?"

"Not exactly, Remember about 120 years after the civil war?"

"Yeah, when that weird flash happened?"

"Exactly, That was… well, like a fountain of youth."

"I don't understand."

"I'm saying that I technically can't age."

"So you are over 1,000 but you can't have actual birthdays."

"Close enough."

"Well… this has been a fun night…."

Dj climbed into bed, he was glad that Rainbow dash or Applejack didn't hear anything; he was counting on everyone keeping their mouth shut about this. They all fell asleep and the fire died about midnight.