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p style="max-height: 999999px;"strongChapter XXVIII/strong/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strongGreetings, Masters of the Imagination! I bring to you yet another chapter filled with such stimuli as one could hope for in a story. And… I wish to point out that this fic is already twenty eight chapters old. I believe that is remarkable. Now, THE FIC IS THE THING!/strong/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"The Garden of Eden was laid out before them, lush and green like the stories said. There were four rivers leading out into the waters of the ocean outside the air pocket. The trees were ripe with fruit of all kinds. And they could see that not a spot of the garden was vacant from the beauty. But Sombra couldn't care less for the sight. "Paul, what are waiting for? Go in there and get my fruit!"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I can't do that."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""And why not?"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Because only the pure can walk within the confines of the garden. And thanks to you, Grandfather, I can no longer enter the garden."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Sombra's face showed a passive shadow of anger, soon replaced with a smug grin. "Well, it's a good thing that we brought that Pegasus isn't it?"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Paul glared at Sombra for a moment before turning to Fluttershy. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You don't have to go in there if you don't want. We will find another way."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""But… what will he do to you?"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""What can he do that hasn't already been done?" He looked down for a moment and sighed. Then, he pulled the Amulet off and put it around her neck. "Keep this on and don't fear. When you walk in, you will see several trees, but two will stand out to you. One bears the fruit of Knowledge. The other bears the fruit of Eternal Life. I don't know which one is which, but you should be able to tell the difference."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She looked him in the eye with a pained look. "Will I be okay?"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I believe so. You can do this, Fluttershy. I believe in you." He leaned towards her and planted a kiss on her lips before backing away and gesturing toward the garden. She gave him one last look before walking towards it, vanishing from view behind a new found wall of fire. "Now we wait, Grandfather." Paul turned to him with a devious grin. "The fool shall retrieve the fruit for you, and your reign shall begin."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Excellent, Paul." Sombra clapped his hands together, laughing as he did so. "To think, she actually believed that she had turned you against me. Brilliant show."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""You… MONSTER!" The others that had followed them were revealed as Tristan leapt from the shadows and tried to tackle Paul, who dashed aside at the last moment. "How could you do that to her? You love her."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Paul chuckled as he picked Tristan up, causing him to hover into the air before him. "How could I? I think of it as payment for betraying me, my friend. Or am I no longer an acquaintance of yours? Am I too much for you to comprehend anymore?"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""This isn't you!"/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""How do you know who I really am? I am the grandson of the great King Sombra! The stallion that was struck down by the Elements of Harmony. Twice. It is my duty to avenge his honor."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Joseph ran towards them, shouting, "Paul, listen to me. This is not who you are. Don't believe the lies he's fed into your mind."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Paul's glance shifted to him, a fire building in his soul. "Don't tell me who I am! I know who I am!" He released the magic holding Tristan but instantly shoved him in Joseph's direction./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Alright. My turn." Aerial rushed out, thrusting his fist past Paul's face. But this exposed him to a straight blow to the gut, followed by an uppercut to the chin knocking him back. He jumped back up and tried to throw another punch, which Paul grabbed and snapped backwards, smirking at the satisfying sound of breaking bones, teaching him not to get back up./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;""One, two, three…" Paul looked past the fallen and saw Fleet Fire, shivering in her steps. "…four. So we'll live forever more!" He began to walk towards her, watching her slowly go to the ground with each of his steps. Suddenly, a burst of flame knocked him backward a good four feet. Without any awareness of the attack, he couldn't block it. It left a good burn mark that took Paul a moment to realize before he held a hand up to his eye to heal it./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"After this was done, he began to chuckle. "How does it feel, men? That the woman was able to land the first attack? But it doesn't matter." He turned towards the garden, smiling with anticipation. "The mare must have nearly completed the task."/p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"This was indeed correct. Fluttershy had made her way through the garden and eventually to the center, where trees and animals roamed without any worries or cares. In fact, a few of the rabbits must have smelled Angel's sent on her, because they came right up and began rubbing her legs./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She giggled before bending down and picking up the smallest one, petting it as she continued to walk. Which wasn't very far before she came to a short hill with two trees at the top. One had fruit seemingly made of gold, the other was covered in silver. These were obviously the trees that she was looking for./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Suddenly, a harsh wind blew through the garden. The rabbit in her arms began squirming, trying to get away. She let go of it just as she caught glimpse of what was causing it to go wild. A sword, made of flame, was flying right towards her neck, ready to attack. She shot her eyes closed, waiting for a strike that just wouldn't come./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Slowly her eyes opened again, staring right at the single flame that was flying right in front of her face, pointed right at the Amulet. Then, it moved back, gestured at the two trees before flying off. It hadn't made the choice easier for her, but there was something that told her that the decision she did eventually make was the correct one./p
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strongChapter Complete. Yes, here is your next chapter. Thank you for reading. Really, I mean that. And hey, out of curiosity, when you guys picture this fic playing out in your head (in the "real world"), how do you picture it? Just asking. RR AND ADIOS!/strong/p
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