Chapters Celestia was in her dull room filling out her dull paperwork on a dull Sunday afternoon. Okay it was actually an especially extravagant room, filled with furnishings and comforts of every shape and size, and that afternoon was one of her best in ages, she had perfected the distance away from Equis she should place it so it would be not too hot and not too cold. This afternoon was perfect for just about anything, whether you wanted to play a game of hoofball, or just sit outside and drink some tea which was all Celestia wanted to do. Just take a break, she had been running on a combination of MREs and coffee, not the most nutritious or tastiest of combos but it had kept her alive for the past week straight, but now the coffee seemed to lose its effect, not matter how much she drank, she was still just as tired as ever. There seemed to be nothing she could do about it though until...
Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump
The noise, sounding like a metal forge, got closer to her doorway and as it did, the foul stench of rot and decay became more pungent. Just as suddenly as it came, the sound ceased, the stench however stayed. The nauseating odor caused the Princess' stomach to turn and her face to wrinkle in disgust. She got up to go investigate the source of the stench, secretly happy to be doing something other than paperwork.
She opened the door asking, "What is the cause of this stench? It smells like the plague!"
She did a double take as what she saw wasn't what she had expected for it was impossible. The entire hallway, was filled with a green haze so thick it was nearly impossible to see through. With a quick cast of a spell, she saw what she feared she would, all of her guards, every single one of them was on the ground, dead, skin rotting away faster than naturally possible.
"Speak of the devil, and he will appear." Said an obviously sick voice from behind her.
She was about to turn when suddenly something was in her face, looking quite a bit like a zombie from her favourite show, 'The Trotting Dead'. She backed away as fast as her hooves would let her, she wasn't disgusted by the sight no, the show had prevented that, but the smell was nearly unbearable, her stomach doing flips and all sorts of things an internal organ couldn't possibly do under normal circumstances.
"P-plague? I thought you were imprisoned, with your brothers!" She said, preparing a spell, though it wouldn't do her much good.
"Oh but I was, and we were. Now though, we are back in action thanks to these six fantastic mares here." He said, standing to the side presenting the Elements of Harmony, each hogtied with a gas mask covering their faces.
She couldn't tell if they were hurt or not due to the opaqueness of the surrounding fog. She began to feel a slight pain in her side, looking down she noticed a rather large black spot on the underside of her front right hoof. Her vision blurred and her head began to hurt, she was going to die. She knew this, so she decided, if she was going to die, she would try to take them with her.
She shot a bolt of magic at Plague, knocking him off balance. As he fell she continued with the barrage, slamming him into various walls and decorations in a wild attempt to destroy the Apocalypse Rider in his path. Her shots began to become weaker, separated by longer and longer periods of time until she finally collapsed in a heap on the floor. She looked at her ponies, the six most powerful ponies on Equis, tears in her eyes as she felt her strength fade further.
"Stop this now!" Yelled a voice from the pile.
Celestia jerked her head towards the pile, joy filling her heart as she saw her student squiggling in her restraints, desperately trying to console her teacher, "Stop this or I will break my mask off! Don't think I won't!" Twilight continued.
"Fine, she will die soon from what she is infected with." Said Plague, the green fog suddenly retracting back into his body.
Twilight scooched over to Celestia's dying body, tears evident through her mask, "I-I'm so sorry Princess. We didn't know...I didn't know. Please don't die on me! I need you, we need you, not only as a ruler, but as a mother to us all!" She sobbed, leaning into Celestia's shoulder as far as possible.
"I-Its okay Twilight," Said Celestia, choking on her own words as well, "just don't ever give up, use the friendships you have forged to its fullest capacity...they reach...beyond simple...borders...go...Griffin Kingdom...tell them...'the four have...returned' c-can you do that for me Twilight?" Celestia asked, nearly drawing her last breath.
"Y-yes...yes I can Princess." Twilights answer fell on deaf ears as rage filled her thoughts.
"Aww, such a heart filled moment...I'm so sorry to spoil it but I must take you all to your chambers now before He comes here to finish the job." Said Plague, gathering up the Elements in a sickly green magic aura.
Celestia watched from a distance as the creature known as Plague trotted away with her little ponies. She knew she should have felt anger, pain, sadness, anything but she didn't, she couldn't. She was just an eidolon, a shadow of her living self, she couldn't interact with the realm of the living anymore, all she could do was wait for His arrival.
Just as she began to doubt his coming, a black mist slowly emanated from seemingly out of nowhere as a pony with raven black hair and slightly green, grey skin walked through the mist. He was wearing his trademark suit of armor made of strange bones from species long lost and ponies alike, his eyes nearly pulsating with raw power tainted yellow with red irises. His face, blocked by a mask made of a skull with not even enough room for his muzzle to show, forced terror into the hearts of all. She remembered the pledge the two of them had made all those years ago as her ghostly form slowly drifted away from her cold body, it made no difference seeing as she had trapped him and his brothers in stone for all of five thousand years.
"Well, well, well, look at what we have here. Celestia finally getting what she deserves. Tell you what Tia, I won't send you to a place of peace and tranquility, oh no, I will leave you in this endless limbo, forever forced to watch as we slowly kill every single one of your ponies in every way we can think of." Death said, his mask shifting to adjust to his wide grin he was sporting across his hidden features.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're saying that the Princess herself was killed by a simple disease? I think you don't know what the word immortal means." Laughed Twilight, trying to ease the mood of everypony by the bonfire.
Needless to say it didn't work as everypony else within earshot was currently hugging themselves to keep from jumping out of their skin. Everypony except for Rainbow Dash and Applejack of course. The two of them had bet each other seeing who could tell the scariest story, so far, Rainbow was winning seeing as how the fillies had to leave the premises because of her story.
"Well yeah, it was a magic disease, a powerful one at that, oh and it was ancient, older than her so she couldn't protect herself against it." Rainbow said smugly.
"Well, in order to prevent this turning into an argument worthy of nine year olds, I say we pause this little game here and go to sleep. We are going to need our rest for when we go to Canterlot tomorrow." Concluded Twilight.\
After receiving nods of agreement as well as a couple mutterings from the two mares, Twilight made sure the two of them made it to their respective tents without fighting. Seeing as she prevented yet another argument, she herself, decided to get to bed too. The camping trip had been fun, but the three of them plus the already sleeping Pinkie Pie needed te meet up with Rarity and Fluttershy early so they could all get ready to go to the city, and they needed the rest.
As Twilight's head hit her pillow she thought to herself, Heh its just a stupid story, nothing to be afraid of...right?
"Hmm lets see, killed the dragon, saved the mare, what am I missing? Oh thats right, the 'Happily Ever After' part." I said, leaning in to kiss my beautiful princess.
"Ha! If you really want me, you gotta catch me first!" She said, leaning away from the kiss before disappearing in a sudden flash of color followed by a cloud of dust.
"That'll be way too easy!" I yelled, giving chase.
She might be the fastest flier where she's from, but this was my realm and I controlled its inner workings. In a flash I was right behind her, our laughter lost in the wind as the game of cat and mouse went on. Although I knew I could win easily, I decided to play along after seeing how happy this made her. We chased each other for an eternity, switching roles as we caught up to one another. Eventually we landed in a vast meadow and simply watched the clouds roll by. I slowly sat up and, out of curiosity, took a look around. The meadow was on a slant, angled perfectly for watching the sky, nearly everywhere were flowers of all the colors and sizes. The location in which we landed was the only expanse in the vast plain that didn't have any flowers at all, it only had soft, green grass. I came around to look at the gorgeous mare laying next to me, eyeing me lovingly. Her cyan coat, beautifully contrasting with the deep green of the grass around her, her mane outshining the vibrant colors of the roses, the hydrangeas, the buttercups, the tiger lillies, and every other flower in the entire meadow. Nothing in all of nature could match the beauty of my darling marefriend.
"Hey, Crash!" Came a voice from out of no where.
I looked around nervously and, seeing no source for the voice, calmed down slightly. My marefriend, having noticed my sudden apprehension, looked about as well.
"Crash!" Said the voice, once again repeating my name.
I looked around again, ready to grab the mare next to me and take flight in a moments notice should something suddenly show up. It was then that I noticed that she was no longer there. Panicking, I whipped my head around, looking for any possible sign of her and only getting nothing for my efforts.
"C'mon dude, stop foolin' around, its our shift." Came a now familiar and exceedingly loud voice.
Shift? Wait, I'm dreaming aren't I? Shit, of course I am. I thought, a sinking feeling coming over me.
My senses began to become fuzzy, my limbs, unresponsive to my movements. My legs lost feeling, forcing me to the ground. A sudden ringing filled my ears as I found myself returning to consciousness.
My smell came first allowing the scent of sweaty stallions and dirty clothes to fill my nostrils. Next came my hearing, slowly picking up more and more sounds of yelling guards. Although I could feel my sight return, I chose to keep my eyes closed, not yet prepared to face my brother in arms. As my feeling finally returned to me, I noticed my side being poked rather annoyingly. I opened my eyes and rolled over, finally prepared to face my fate.
I was greeted by a strange sight. A grey coated stallion was standing at the head of my bed, his black mane in tangles and his tail frizzy. Along with this, his eyes were bloodshot and he was shaking. He shifted nervously in his stance every couple seconds, never seeming to find a comfortable way to stand. His head was constantly on a swivel and his eyes were darting about the room. His telescope cutie mark seemed to be faded, like it was rubbing off. His face was white as a sheet, he looked like he had just seen a manticore rip a pony to shreds.
"I'm coming Lookout, no need to be hasty, its not like we're going to be late for the night shift at all." I said, trying to calm the younger stallion.
"S-something has happened, I'm not sure what it is, but I'm positive that it isn't good bro. Everyone has been staring at me when I walk by for some reason." He responded anxiously.
"Hmm, maybe it's because your a bat-pony walking around during the day? Oh, no that couldn't possibly be it." I said, my words laden with sarcasm.
"N-no man, something happened, I've got this feeling bro." He continued.
"Rrriiiiiight...are you high? I'm pretty sure you experience paranoia when you're high. Also, I hear that you get the munchies too. Speaking of which, lets go and get breakfast, or dinner as the case may be. You know, that always confused me, what are we supposed to call it? Do we say it from our perspective or the day guards'? 'Cause for us, it's breakfast, but for them it's dinner. I guess I'll just keep calling it breakfast..." I rambled, never letting him answer the question, or continue on his ridiculous claim.
I got up, continuing my rant as I went, and headed towards the cafeteria. The room I lived in used to be a large janitors' closet. A simple bed and chest currently furnishing the pitiful excuse of a living quarters. Shows how much they care. I knew my past, and I knew things would never change, but I was still the best at what I did. I would have thought that years of barebones survival would have changed me, broken me yet it only strengthened my resolve, allowing me to not only survive, but come back.
I snapped out of my journey down memory lane just in time to watch a serving pony come charging at me, knife in hand. I easily dodged his clumsy swings, ducking and weaving around him. Suddenly, his tactics changed, now accounting my experience in hand to hand, he decided to used his magic.
He levitated multiple knives and prepared to send them after me. I knew I wasn't going to be able to dodge all of them, but what would one more scar do? I simply waited, formulating a plan, if I saw any kind of opening at all, I would take it. Suddenly, knives flew about me in random directions scattering about until they eventually converged around the two of us. The result was a kind of tornado of knives, each swooshing as it came past and gleaming in the light. I could only barely see what was going on outside the metallic storm, but I could make out the forms of many dead ponies, dressed in either guards uniforms, or suits.
My attacker took this chance and charged me yet again. I wasn't prepared and he made contact, nearly shoving me into the twister of blades. I managed to shove him off, but in a flash he was back at it, trying with all his might to gain ground. I had my back to the storm, and I could feel the wind from the flying knives on my back. I tried to move the stallion, to push back, but I was making absolutely no headway, while he was succeeding in pushing me closer and closer to my death.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Come on out you Tartarus-born daemon! I know you're watching, and I would appreciate some help before we both die!" I yelled.
Suddenly a grey blur came into my field of vision from the direction of my room. It took 2.5 seconds for me to process what had happened, but it was hours too late. I heard a pained grunt followed by two screams, the knives hitting the floor immediately after. I jumped to my hooves and looked around for the source of my good fortune. I eyed a growing pool of crimson on the ground and a low groan that was just outside my field of vision. I rushed to the downed pony, his grey coat and black mane spattered with blood, his telescope cutie mark adorned a mask of blood and knives.
"Nonononononononononono! What do you think you were doing you idiot! I had him, then you had to go and interrupt!" I yelled at Lookout.
"I-I had to do something...nopony else could...he was going to kill you..." He responded between pained gurgles.
I got a closer look at him, I almost wished I had stayed ignorant of his injuries. His entire right side was perforated with knives, I counted at least fifteen, each at varying depths. From the sound of it, he had punctured a lung, but his heart seemed to be untouched, so there was a faint hope. I needed to act fast.
I quickly tore off the dead serving pony's suit, shredding it into strips and prepared myself. I reached for the nearest knife, planning as far ahead as I possibly could. After a calculated 3.5 seconds, I had formulated the perfect plan, well not perfect, but the best one with the options I had. Quickly and carefully, I pulled out the knives and bandaged the wounds, earning a grunt for my efforts to which I was relieved.
He's not dead yet. I thought, as relief came over me.
Carefully, as to not disturb the fresh injury, I picked him up and placed him across my back and immediately headed for the nearest exit. I expected to have a fight once we came out of the, rather drab, barracks, however, the rage inflicted ponies seemed to be headed back towards the castle, to the princesses and to Shining Armor.
I grinned at the thought of their deaths, I thought they deserved worse, if my current condition was anything to go by. Saving the personal vendetta for later, I galloped towards my destination, using the scraps that used to be my wings to keep Lookout from being jostled around too much. Just as I arrived at the gate, ponies sprang at me from out of nowhere and grabbed each of my limbs.
They pulled and yanked, they did all they could to try and tear my legs off and I was helpless to stop them. I looked back at Lookout, seeing his broken and bleeding form on the ground, an overwhelming feeling of rage flowed through my veins. Dark thoughts plagued my mind as all rationality left me. My body started convulsing violently and sporadically to a point that I thought I might tear my own limbs off.
Eventually my body stopped and my thoughts were clear, no longer infested with petty emotions. I knew what my mission was and I knew what I needed to do to complete it. I closed my eyes and listened, felt and smelled my surroundings.
The pony holding my left hind leg is weakest. Then its the one holding my right foreleg, then my left foreleg and finally my right hind leg. I thought, testing each with a simple kick.
Dislodge, twist and kick, twist and kick, throw. I thought, opening my eyes.
Without warning, I kicked my left hind leg as hard as I could, causing the mare to fall back onto her haunches. Using her as a platform at the same time, I was able to do a kind of diagonal backflip and drive my back hoof hard onto the crown of the pony holding my right foreleg. The stallion immediately fell, unconscious, to the ground. Kicking off the top of his head, I reversed my direction and kicked the mare holding my right hind leg across the face, this caused her to stumble back, but she wasn't out yet. It didn't matter, there was only one stallion left standing so, I picked him up, him losing grip on my foreleg in the process, and slammed him, headfirst, into the mare. I stood there triumphantly for a moment before returning to my current mission. I ran to the unmoving form of Lookout. Even though the fight only lasted 7.2528 seconds, he had already lost more blood than I thought he had left.
I sprinted into the home of Lavender and Starlight, without a care as to how they would react. I broke down the door to see the two of them, one being a white mare with light purple mane and tail, and the other was a magenta stallion with blue mane and tail. The both of them being unicorns. Unicorns equals magic, magic equals teleportation, teleportation is the fastest way to get to a healer or hospital of some sort. Or at least thats the way I planned it. What I hadn't accounted for was the hatred they felt towards me.
As soon as they saw me, the two of them began launching anything and everything in the room at me before they ran out of things. Then they began to use spells. Dear Celestia I hate unicorns. When I decided that they would finally listen, even if it was out of extreme exhaustion, I began to explain my current situation and my need for medical supplies.
"Listen you two, I'm pretty sure we can put aside our vendettas for each other long enough to save somepony's life! Doncha think?" I yelled at the two of them.
"...Fine, but we still don't trust you." Said Starlight, the husband as Lavender went about providing medical attention to Lookout.
"You know, I was sure that you were the cause for this. But after seeing those ponies out there nearly killed you, I have come to the conclusion that not even you are that retarded." He continued.
"No, this wasn't me and believe me, as much as I enjoyed watching those ponies beat up and nearly kill the only friend I've had since I came back, I want to stop this as bad as you do." I growled, shutting him up.
"Th-nothing is working! The wounds are to extensive, you will have to take him to a hospital." Said Lavender from the other room.
"Or to someone more talented in magic than the two of you combined." I hinted, already prepared for the upcoming fight.
"Who-oh no! Definitely not, we are not sending a monster to our daughter's doorstep!" Bellowed Starlight, taking a defensive stance.
"Listen! If he doesn't get proper medical attention soon, he will die! My only friend will die! I will do anything, and I mean anything, to prevent that!" I returned, preparing myself for a fight.
"STOP! THE BOTH OF YOU!" Yelled Lavender, Lookout being levitated in her purple magic aura.
Right on time. I thought, snickering internally.
"Listen, Starlight, we need to let this go for now, somepony's life is on the line and you are worried about a feud born of fear. Just let them go, our daughter can protect herself if he tries anything. But," She continued, turning to me, "nothing will be able to protect you if you so much as think about hurting my daughter. Understand?"
"Yes ma'm." I said, offering a mock salute as she levitated Lookout onto my back.
"Good, now go. Save your friend." She finished, offering a wave before teleporting me away.
Teleporting sucks. It takes a lot of concentration and energy, it nearly blinds you each time you use it, and you feel as if you had an out of body experience, which is not very pleasant. So when I was unexpectedly teleported five feet above a wooden set of stairs, while my friend was teleported onto the couch, don't blame me for being a little flustered and really angry.
"That mare! She will get what's coming to her!" I said, picking myself up from my new position at the bottom of the bed.
"W-who's there?!? Come out nice and slow, I'm a ferocious and terrifying dragon and I'm not afraid to eat ponies!" Came a childlike voice from a door at the back of the room.
"Right, whatever, do you know where Twilight Sparkle is kid? I need immediate medical attention." I said, walking to the limp body on the couch.
"Uh-I'll be right back!" He yelled as I heard a door open and close.
I looked at my friend, knowing that the kid wouldn't be back in time. Lookout had already lost too much blood, there was no way he could survive this. I walked to the nearest window and surveyed the area, tears hitting the windowsill as I watched crazy ponies ruthlessly kill many a pony out in the street. There seemed to be no place safe from this random act of slaughter. I began to think back to the ponies I had left in Bitsburg, Manehatten, Trottingham, all over the land who were most likely being murdered much like the ponies in this town were. It was madness, chaos and there was no end to it until everypony had killed each other.
I didn't particularly care about most of the ponies there, but with each kill, I felt my anger boil more intensely. It became too much as I watched a mother be brutally killed in front of her child. I bellowed out a sound that shouldn't have been possible for a pony to emit. A cry born of anger, sadness and hopelessness.
I could feel my body begin to change, a familiar sense of power welling up, changing my physical form. My white mane and tail being replaced with one of the darkest black. My coat, changing from its original smokey grey to a sickly white. My face losing its features and being overlain by a mask of bone, only letting my still purple eyes show, though now they shone with a slight purple aura about them. I felt a horn erupt from the mask, ending about a foot from my face, the same bone white as my mask. My stubs stretched and moved, eventually rupturing, casting forth large wings of bone whose membrane like span was as wide as I was long. I could feel ancient magics at work on my own magic wells, converting my aura to purple and if you watched for long enough, souls would come into view, distorted and warped by the magic that fed off their energy. Overall, my I had become exponentially bigger and stronger in a matter of 2.347 seconds, and now it was time for me to let out all of my pent up feelings on some crazy ponies.
I was about to leave when I heard the back door open again. The child's voice could also be heard, this time accompanied by another. This one seemed to be older and was definitely a mare. I stood facing the door, waiting for them to enter the room, but upon hearing nothing, I looked over my shoulder to see an admittedly pleasing sight. Twilight Sparkle was looking at me in awe, her face as white as a sheet, most of her body covered in blood. A baby dragon trembling behind her, metal pan in hand.
"Twilight, do you mind seeing if there is anything you can do for my friend there, he was hurt in my escape." I said, turning back to the door before opening it and exiting.
"T-twilight, who was that?" I heard the dragon ask.
"That Spike...was Death incarnate." Twilight said, fear evident in her words.
I shut the door behind me and walked out into town, directly towards the now crying filly. Each step was in slow motion, every movement of everypony around me seemed at half the normal speed of things. I could feel the ponies around me dying, some insane, others just defending themselves. I could feel the pegasus dive bombing me, the unicorn preparing to shoot a spell at my back and the earth ponies charging me from either side. I simply walked, a smug grin on my face.
There was a reason I hid my real name from ponies, there was a reason that no one saw my true form, why I hid under the guise of a normal pony.
No more, I am Death, and I am free! I thought, conjuring a scythe from out of no where and letting out a loud laugh as I prepared for battle.
Dust blinded my vision, not letting me see if my spell had worked properly. I could sense the souls of the dead dramatically increase in number. I could feel pain tearing through my body nearly forcing me to the ground. The battle had been intense and bloody, several unpredicted happenings occurred, forcing me to make new plans on the fly. I saved many lives, but lost much more. My friend, the only thing left of him was a corpse and a soul. Folklore says that Death can breathe life into those he deems worthy, to those who were unjustly taken from the land of the living. They were wrong, fate only gave me the ability to access the spirits and their world with ease, the only actual magic I could manipulate was nothing beyond the norm. Teleportation, levitation, transformation things any normal unicorn could accomplish.
My mind was overwhelmed, the screams and cries of the dead melding with the ringing in my ears to create a cacophony of sound. My power was drained and I could feel myself begin to get weaker. My injuries beginning to catch up with me, I slowly lowered myself to the ground. My job was done, I protected the town and its inhabitants, killed the murderous ponies and erected a barrier around the whole of Ponyville. I felt my head touch soft grass, and a strange dampness upon my cheek that I soon came to recognize as a tear.
A flash of light appeared out of the corner of my eye, causing me to lazily seek its source. I found a small filly, the same one whose mother had been killed in front of her. She was in a fetal position, rocking back and forth, her head buried in her hooves. I stumbled to all fours, being somewhat careful of my still tender wounds. Cringing as I went, I made my way over to her trembling form before once again taking a seat next to her. She flinched as she heard me move adjacent to her, most likely thinking I was going to attack her.
"Its okay kid, everything's gonna be alright. Those monsters are gone, there is nothing to be afraid of anymore." I said, inching closer to the sobbing filly.
She said nothing, still in shock of seeing her parent die in front of her. I wrapped my forehoof around her, earning a flinch and a small squeal for my efforts. I slowly began stroking her mane, a magnificent shade of purple in the tan glow of the barrier next to us. This seemed to have a slight calming effect so I persisted, pulling myself closer to her.
"Hush, hush." I said softly, images of a white filly with a black mane filling my thoughts.
She stopped her rocking, instead choosing to hug me back, crying deeply into my shoulder. The sudden contact startled me, but upon seeing how much this was helping her, I chose to continue the embrace. I kept stroking her mane, resting my chin on her head, I began rocking her myself. This continued for a couple minutes, me constantly trying to comfort a scarred filly, somehow keeping past memories from pushing their way into the forefront of my mind.
She eventually fell into a slumber, her shallow breaths becoming deeper and slower until she was subconsciously snuggling into the crook of my neck. Her light snoring attesting to her current state, as well as being completely adorable. I smiled faintly through my now tear soaked face, remembering the distant memories of-
No! Don't think about them, there is too much pain where your mind wanders, control it, do not let it control you! I thought, regretting my train of thought instantly.
I stood, my limbs crying out in pain, and began walking to the giant tree near the edge of town. The filly hanging in the air next to me, surrounded in a tan magic aura. Her small wings twitching slightly as I walked.
Those wings don't look like they're strong enough to lift her. I'll have to ask her about them when she wakes up. I observed.
I looked about the town, dead bodies strewn through the streets, mares and stallions alike crying over the corpses of loved ones. As I walked through the center of town, I noticed the cage of bone was still untouched and unmoved. I shot a small beam of magic at it, causing it to disappear in a green flash of light. Five ponies stumbled out though with the sudden expenditure of magic, I didn't manage to see them before my vision began to get blurry and faded.
I stumbled by, heading for the treehouse as fast as I could. As soon as I opened the door, I collapsed, exhaustion finally taking over. Twilight Sparkle and her assistant looked over from their hunched forms, eyes red and faces stained with tears. They both went wide eyed as seeing me, rushing over to the sleeping form of the filly, yelling questions at me. I was ignoring them, looking at the prone form on the couch.
The world around me blurred and everything flashed blue before returning to its natural color. In that brief moment, I saw something truly magical. The soul of the only friend I had ever known, looked at me, tears streaming down his face like great rivers. A sad smile formed upon his face, before he waved at me and the vision disappeared, leaving only his dead form on a bloodstained couch, unmoving, soulless eyes looking at the ceiling.
I reached for him, crawled to him, thinking of all I could do to save him, to bring him back. Though in the back of my mind I knew there was no getting him back, he was dead. He was gone. I clutched his cold hoof with no intent of letting him go.
He had not only become my friend or my comrade, he had become a symbol to me, proof that I wasn't some unnatural accident. That deep below my scar infested exterior, I was just another pony, nothing more. He had been my anchor, he kept me from insanity, from losing myself in my times of mourning. Mourning for those I had lost, for those I was losing, and for those I will lose. Mourning even for myself. In times when the nobility would antagonize me to no end, when they would constantly remind me I was an outsider, shunned even by the ever caring princesses, he would be back at the barracks, waiting to hear my complaints and my worries. He was more than a friend, he was family, a brother.
It was then that I looked up, expecting to see hate filled faces shunning me in my moment of weakness. I noticed quickly how different this town was from Canterlot, for both Twilight and her assistant had their heads bowed out of respect for the dead, fresh tears dotting the ground where they stood. I also saw the filly, now awake from all of the noise, her face still tear stricken as she looked at me, on the ground, begging for some greater power to return my brother back to me.
She walked over to me and sat next to me. Without warning, she brought me into an embrace, much like I did with her not ten minutes before. I hugged back, attempting to control myself to no avail. Eventually the tears stopped, not for lack of stimulation, for I still had plenty of sorrow, I had simply run out of my last energy reserves. I felt my eyelids begin to droop uncontrollably, my consciousness slipping away, and suddenly I was in a realm of dreams.
It wasn't like my normal dreamscape. Whenever I would go to sleep I would reappear in a vast emptiness, a hole waiting to be filled by my imagination. This time though, the stage was already set as I appeared next to a group of three different species. One, a griffin, somehow giving a sense of defeat as my eyes passed over her to the next creature. A buffalo, hair missing in places, matted in others, his horns had either broken off or cracked, was next to pass under my gaze. Beside him was a zebra, seemingly devoid of food for her entire life as there couldn't have been any muscle between her skin and her skeletal structure. I could not only count every bone, but I could also see the imperfections in them.
They all turned to look at me and I recognized them instantly, I had seen them on the walls. They were the mysterious teammates brought together by fate in this apparently shared dreamscape. I nodded at each out of respect, not wanting to make enemies out of my new team. They introduced themselves as, Blood Mourn, the griffin, Dirge, the buffalo, and Aeternalis, the zebra. What struck me as odd, was that I had not seen any of their mouths move, and yet I had come to know their names.
Not wanting to be rude I was about to say my name when I was interrupted by a feminine voice, "We know who you are Crash Wrecker, master strategist, old general of the princesses themselves, and recently re-accepted into their royal guard."
Once again I found it strange that none of their mouths moved even slightly. Through a bit of guess work, I was able to figure out that it had been the griffin that had somehow communicated with me. I looked at her, staring into her deep red eyes. The longer I looked, the more I began to notice a red haze that began to surround her. Whipping my head back to look at the other two, I saw that they had their own hazes that surrounded them, each of a different color. The buffalo was encased in a green shroud and the zebra, a pale yellow. I looked to my hooves to see a mist, taking a familiar shade of purple, surrounding them, traveling a few inches out before dissipating.
I got flashes of the battle I had earlier in my head, it was the same power that turned me into...what had Twilight called it? Death incarnate? That sounded about right. I could feel the power inside me, pulsating, moving, trying to claw its way out of my body. There were other powers too, ones that were not inside me, but that emanated from the creatures around me. I watched as all of our colors swirled together in the center of the four of us, forming a large orb.
I looked deep into the orb, for some reason, I was unable to look away. It reflected where there was no light, it produced heat where there was no cold, it was unnatural yet, beautiful. Without realizing it, I began walking closer and closer to it, wanting desperately to touch it. By the time I realized how close I was getting, it was too late. All four of us touched the orb, the others just as drawn to it as I was. At first nothing happened, then suddenly, our bodies began to convulse and shiver and shake as images of each other's roles filled our heads.
Blood Mourn was to be the general of our vast armies of the damned. With her vast knowledge of fighting styles and strategies, all the kingdoms of Terra would fall before us. Dirge was to be our living threat, anypony who tried to resist us would be tortured by watching their friends and family die by some incurable disease before finally handing over their rule. Aeternalis was our riot control. If any territory was to try and retaliate, they would all slowly starve to death until there was no one left. I was to be the ruler of the planet, doing whatever I please to whomever I please. Eventually the four of us were meant to bring about the end of the world before waiting for the cycle to start again. We fell to the floor, unable to move. Before we passed out, we all looked to each other and one thing was understood, we needed to find each other as soon as possible.
Ch4: A Manipulator's Marionette
The sound of hoofsteps on a hard stone surface and the unmistakable rattling of chains were the first things to alert me to my location. I was in a dungeon, chained to a wall behind a set of iron bars with weights places on my wings. At first, all I could feel was the biting numbness that filled my extremities. Eventually it wore off, replaced by a chill that nearly set my hair on end. I opened my eyes to see a very troubled Luna pacing the path outside my cell. I decided to look about me, seeing many key things I could use for escape.
"You could run," Said the princess, "or you could stay."
"Luna..."
"You could! I could try and make my sister more patient! I could hide you where only I could find you! I don't care what you have to do, just don't leave me!" She carried on, grasping at the bars with tears in her eyes.
I was surprised to tell the truth. I knew Luna wasn't as bad as her sister, but I had no idea just how much she cared for me. I was her caretaker when she was a filly until I was banished. When I came back, she was all grown up so I became the royal protector, a bodyguard so to speak. Over the years, I became distant, blaming the world around me for what I had lost, I got so far from society that I didn't see the signs of Luna turning into Nightmare Moon until it was too late. I assumed she would blame me for her hatred, though the more I thought about the past, the more I realized how she felt. I even remembered the first time I saw her taking notice to me at all
////
At the first royal ball I went to after my banishment, I found myself wandering the back hallways, not being in the mood to be cheerful. By stroke of luck, good or bad I had yet to see, I ran into Luna near the royal bedrooms. She was on a stepladder trying to balance a bucket of red paint over the door to her sister's bedroom. the top of the door was just out of reach and she was mumbling something about tall doors for small ponies. In her frustration, she lost balance and fell off the step ladder, landing on her rump a few feet below. She was dazed and didn't notice the falling bucket of red paint that was about to hit her.
"Luna, move!" I yelled, sprinting at her.
She didn't register what I had said until it was too late. She stared at the falling bucket and cascading paint as it came towards her. She recoiled, hoping it wouldn't hit her too hard. I was just barely fast enough, getting between the princess' prone form and the falling bucket just as it was about to hit her. It hit me instead, covering me in a thick red coating of paint. She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at me. As our eyes met, I could see a sudden flurry of emotions flow through her head at once, the most prominent being confusion and disbelief, however there were subtle instances of admiration as well.
I then realized that I was still standing over her form and that her face was red from something other than the paint. I turned and walked towards the window, paint dripping from my coat onto the already red carpet. I stood there for a solid minute, just staring at the full moon despondently, lost in memories long past.
"Why?" The princess finally asked from behind me.
"Its my job." I responded flatly.
"To get covered in red paint?"
"No, to protect you."
"Why?" She asked, forcing images into my head, images I wanted to forget.
"I don't have a choice. By the way, why didn't you use your wings or your magic to try and put the bucket up there?" I asked.
"This dress doesn't allow for flight and as for my magic, its been on the fritz for awhile, I don't know why." After a moment of silence, she asked, "Have I seen you before? You seem familiar."
"Yes, you have, but you were too young to remember much of anything."
"What's your name?"
"C-" I began.
"LUNA!!" Bellowed a new voice, as Celestia came barreling through the halls.
"Sister, how is the par-" She was silenced as she was brought into a deep embrace by her sister.
"I thought you were being attacked." Celestia said, breaking the embrace when she spotted me standing by the window.
"Crash Wrecker, I should have known. What happened here, were you trying to attack my sister? Did you suddenly turn into a pervert and decide to peek into her room while she was dressing, huh? To tell you the truth, neither of those things would surprise me." She said, getting closer to me with each word until she was growling into my ear.
"Actually sister, I-" Luna began before I cut her off.
"There was a bucket of red paint on a bookshelf, I ran into it, causing it to fall. Luna-"
"That's Princess Luna to you!" Celestia interrupted.
"Princess Luna, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was about to get hit by the bucket and get drenched in paint and I couldn't let her beautiful attire get ruined." I said, glancing over to Luna to see her blushing a bit. "So, I jumped in the way of the bucket and I got soaked in red paint instead." I finished, seeing that Celestia was not pleased with my answer.
She looked around, obviously taking note that there was no bookshelf anywhere near where we currently were. I could almost see it click in her head as to what really happened. She glared at me, beckoning me to follow her back to the party as Luna went about her business, calling a cleaning crew to pick up her failed prank.
"You know, it doesn't take the Element of Harmony to see that you lied there." She said, not making eye contact with me.
"Yeah, I know, but it still took you awhile." I said.
"I know she was trying to prank me with that bucket of paint, so why lie about it?"
"It's my job." I said for the second time in ten minutes.
"To lie to your princesses?"
"No, to protect them, even if it means from the wrath of each other." I answered smugly before excusing myself to wash up.
////
I came back to my senses, looking around again to notice that some time had passed. Luna was now sitting just outside my cell, her head hung low. Behind her was a large wooden marionette. It looked to be dragon-like with some subtle characteristics of an ape. Its round head had an engraved cross on the front, intricate designs like vines texturing the whole body. Its forearms were split, the tops and bottoms were wooden but there was a thin strip of metal running along until it reached the elbow. On its palms, metal plates that connected with the strips on either side of its forearms. The metal was decorated with swirls that all seemed to end in the hole that was in the center of its palms. I stared at it for awhile, entranced by its craftsmanship until I realized what it was.
"N-no! You can't do this to me! You don't even have a proper reason to do this! I saved the Elements of Harmony along with an entire town! That's a good thing!" I began to yell, hearing my voice echo off the walls.
"I-I'm so sorry...it was either this or death and I couldn't let you die...not again..." Said Luna, still not looking up.
I calmed myself, realizing why this was to be my punishment, "Abandonment of duty, mass murder, threatening nobles, anything I left out?" I asked.
"Yes, threat of war." Said Celestia as she entered the room.
"How did I do that exactly?" I asked.
"You took Ponyville under your control by force." Said Celestia simply.
"Oh, right I forgot about how I saved a town full of ponies by erecting an impenetrable barrier around the town as well as telling them to be on lookout for more crazies." I said sarcastically.
"What you did doesn't matter, what matters is what you're going to do ." She said, looking over to the lifeless wood marionette.
"Ha, you say that like I have a choice in the matter!" I said, looking for the fastest way out of the chains that held me to the wall.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luna's horn glow and suddenly I was outside my cell standing beside her. Celestia didn't seem surprised at all, looking from me to Luna and back. In a flash her horn was charged and she fired six spells. Luna was going to summon up a shield, but there wasn't enough time. I shoved her out of harm's way and took all six spells. One hit my left forehoof, piercing right through it and pinning it to the right arm of the marionette. I saw what she was doing way too late.
One by one my limbs were pierced and pinned to the marionette's own, each spell causing a searing pain that spread throughout my entire body. I tried to struggle, but it made the pain unbearable. After around five minutes of me screaming in pain, Celestia finally walked up to me, her horn glowing yet again.
"I-I will find you, and I...will...kill...you!" I growled between pained grunts.
"You can't kill me if you don't remember the reason for it. Your morality won't let you." She said, stopping five feet in front of me.
"Sister, you can't do this! He saved the Elements of Harmony, the only things that can save all of Equestria from this unknown menace!" Pleaded Luna.
Celestia either didn't hear, or didn't care because she went ahead and blasted me with all the force she could muster. The beam hit me and pain more intense than anything I had ever felt before coursed through me. I felt like I was being torn in two, probably because that was what was happening. Everything that made me who I was got absorbed by the wooden statue behind me, while my body and any other organic matter is left behind in a smoldering heap. Once I was absorbed, I would wake up suspended in midair, only the blackness to keep me company. I would stay like that until I lost myself, until I forgot who I was. Only then would I be allowed to live the rest of my immortal life through the eyes of the golem I would be imprisoned in. That is the life I was destined to now lead, and I couldn't do anything about it, again I was powerless in losing myself.
"Celestia! I swear by the unholy sun, the envious moon, and all the known universe, I WILL KILL YOU!" I bellowed before finally being consumed by the darkness.
The Third-Pt1: A Destined Meeting
'Week 2:
I finally found the one known as Aeternalis. She has agreed to assist me in looking for the others. Seeing as she looks nothing like she did in the vision, the only way I know it is her is because...well my gut seems to think it's her and my gut still hasn't let me down. The two of us have been traveling through the desert for some time now. She seems to agree that the pulling feeling we are getting is like a homing beacon, alerting us to where the last two are. If that is so, then why is the buffalo moving away from us, and why is the pony not moving whatsoever? I wonder what the other two will look like, seeing as the impressions we got from the vision was wrong for both me and Aeternalis. For our sakes, I hope that pony doesn't look like he did in the vision, to us he looked like-'
“What are you doing Mourn? I thought you said you were going to watch for them.” Came a voice from behind me, making me jump for my sword.
I turned, sheathing my sword upon seeing that it was only Aeternalis waking from her slumber.
“I am just taking note of the happenings of the past couple days.” I said, trying to get back to my task.
“Well then, maybe I should take watch.” She hinted.
“They haven’t moved in three days, I hardly think they will realize that we are waiting for them. I think we should go find them, I’m starting to get restless.” I replied, not looking up from my journal.
“Aww, thats cute. What is that a diary?” She asked gesturing to the book I was writing in.
“It's a journal, NOT a diary. I use it to record my travels in hopes they will be noticed sometime in the future.” I said slowly and evenly, failing at hiding both my embarrassment and my anger.
“You are afraid you will not be noticed? That no one will remember you?” She asked.
She might not be able to rhyme like the other zebras, but she is just as cryptic and just as mystical. When I asked her about her past, she told her story without a breath of pause and without emotion. This surprised me, I thought that her reason for being shunned from her homeland would be deep and toll taking, not to mention mysterious. It turns out, she refused to rhyme like the rest of her species so she was ‘politely excused from the country’ as she puts it. If I were in her shoes, I would have been much more angry at the fact that I was not allowed to be unique, that all of society would force me to be like the rest of them.
My banishment was a lot more...complicated. I didn’t like talking about it, I normally just hint that it involves my family and a certain rainbow maned pegasus, then I leave the rest to their imagination. Aeternalis has tried to break my shell but stronger than her have tried and failed, so she will just have to keep on guessing.
“Do you feel that?” Asked Aeternalis, giving pause to my train of thought.
“What?”
“The blip is moving, fast!” She said, her eyes wide in either fear or surprise, I couldn’t quite tell.
I realized she was right, the pulling in my head that pointed me in the direction of the buffalo was moving, incredibly fast, straight up. I looked off in the distance, trying to see something.
“What could you possibly see? He is miles away, there is no way we could see him in the dead of night with him being that far away.” Said Aeternalis from behind me.
“If an object that big is moving that fast, it will create a ton of friction with the air molecules, eventually making the object burst into flames, which creates a lot of light, hence shooting stars.” I said, spewing the scientific knowledge I learned before I was banished.
I had planned on being an astronomer, but then those stupid ponies decided to ruin my life! Taking away my family and friends all for the sake of some bits, a pathetic name for currency. I prefer the griffon septim personally, but that hardly matters at this point what with a 200 pound buffalo flying at us so fast he was glowing blue.
Wait, what? I thought, shaking my head as I looked back into the sky.
I just barely had time to grab Aeternalis and run to cover as the living meteor impacted the ground ten feet from where I was standing. The resulting shockwave made me second guess my assumption about weight, he was definitely heavier than 200 pounds. We were sent tumbling back several yards, debris from our camp flying past us to become embedded in the sand.
As we finally stopped our skipping across the sand, we ran towards the epicenter of the blast. The dust still hadn't settled, but we could still see the buffalo as he glowed blue, though the glow had dimmed slightly. We continued our sprint until we reached the center of the giant crater he had created. He seemed to be unphased by the fact that he was just on fire and plummeting by his almost certain doom.
He shook his body, sand and burnt hair flying about his large frame. He turned to us and smiled pleasantly. I felt Aeternalis tense, prepared for a fight, while I drew my sword. The two of us shared a look, just because he was a buffalo didn’t mean he was the one we were looking for. He stepped forward, causing us to snap our heads back to look at his position. He hadn’t moved much, just a few steps to the side, the same warm smile still on his face.
“Have I done you any wrong?” He asked.
“I am a desire. Needed to live, yet am not needed to those of good health, who am I?” Asked Aeternalis.
“Famine.” He answered flawlessly.
“I am the ultimate killing machine, born of anger and hatred, I have a beginning and an end, yet I am the end to most beginnings, what am I?” I asked, grinning on the inside.
I had to come up with that one on the fly when I met Aeternalis, and I thought it was a particularly good one.
“War.” He answered, smiling when he saw my face fall.
“Damn, I thought it was good.” I mumbled.
“It was, I just know who you are Mourn. Now lets get down to business, where is Crash? Shouldn’t he be here already? I thought with him being a pegasus he would have-” He began.
“Wait, so you expect us to just forget about the fact that you just fell out of the sky, burning blue, and nearly killed us?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Well...yes,” He answered,”plus, it wouldn’t have killed you. We’re practically immortal remember? As for falling out of the sky, I just used a buffalo guru to teleport me here, though his aim was a bit off. It was definitely better than appearing in the ground though.”
“I suppose so.” Replied Aeternalis, butting into the conversation.
“Anyways, lets get go-” He was cut off as he fell through a hole in the ground.
Me and Aeternalis quickly looked to the hole, realizing that we were no longer standing on sand, but on stone. There were strange designs carved on it, a peculiar combination of lines and circles with dots peppering the surface in great abundance.
“What in the world is this?” I wondered out loud.
“It's some kind of temple or something, at least it seems like one from in here. I’m fine by the way, thanks for asking.” Said Dirge from the hole.
“No, this engraving, it seems familiar, but I can’t quite put my claw on it.” I said, reaching up to scratch my chin.
“It's a star chart.” Said Aeternalis simply.
I looked to the sky, and back down to the stone surface. I needed to get a better angle to be sure. In a mighty flap of my wings, I ascended, watching the stars as I did so. After a couple seconds I turned and looked back to the supposed chart only to have Aeternalis’ suspicions to be proven correct, it was a perfect mirror image of the starry sky, but only a small part of it. I landed, contemplating what it could’ve been used for when suddenly I realized something. I looked back up, we were only about twenty feet below the surface of the sand and the image upon this circle of stone, about thirty feet in diameter, only covered a small grouping of stars in the sky. If this star chart was to be useful, it would need to have all of the stars in view on it.
So either this is just for decoration, or this place is a lot bigger than we originally thought.
No sooner had I thought it than a low rumble began to reverberate throughout the environment. I shot a look over to Aeternalis who just shrugged, or at least tried to, due to the severity of the quaking, I couldn’t entirely tell. I took flight to escape the trembling stone, as well as to seek its origin. To my surprise there didn’t seem to be a reasonable explanation or epicenter for the tremors. Suddenly, from the hole Dirge had fallen through earlier, a light shone, a bright blue like the shallows of the ocean dotted with white specks and curved lines. As soon as it appeared, the light disappeared without a trace and with it, the tremors. I landed back on the ground, walking up to Aeternalis to make sure she was alright.
Before I could get a word out, a huge explosion blasted us back and I lost consciousness. When I awoke, both Aeternalis and Dirge were in strange cages made up of the same strange light I had seen through the hole. Aeternalis was out cold, her cage to my right, while Dirge just hung his head low to my left. The three of us were suspended in endless darkness, the only other thing in sight was a throne. On the throne however, was something I would never think to see in my entire life.
A very smug looking human.
