The Vengeance Trilogy: Needed

POV: Lord Vengeance

Chapter Six

Watching

Up on the rooftops Ponyville, high above the heads of ten unsuspecting ponies, Lord Ven stared at the sky. It had been quite a while since he was last here and even longer since he had seen… Never mind, it isn’t important. What is important, though, are those buffoons.

Ven felt his lip twist upward as he watched several of the ponies fall comically in one way or another. Ridiculous. Impossible to imagine that I was just like that once.

A soft swooping noise from a nearby rooftop distracted him from his spying, causing him to redouble the magic he had been pouring into his invisibility aura. He turned sharply and saw a figure that was at once familiar and strange gazing in his direction.

Princess Luna, the restored guardian of the night, stood regally upon the roof to Lord Ven’s right. Well, at least now I know that I cannot hide my magic from her, just as I cannot hide it from her sister.

He allowed his aura to drop, and with a flap of this wings he closed the distance between them. To her credit, Luna barely flinched at the sight of the cloaked Alicorn leaping at her, but she did not attempt to hide her surprise.

“My Princess,” Lord Ven bowed. “How may I be of service?”

Luna starred at him for a moment. Everypony does. When there hasn’t been a war for one thousand years, a pony with more scars than the rest of the soldiers of Equestria put together always draws a few eyes.

“THOU ART- ahem, thou art the one my sister calls Lord Vengeance?” The princess of the moon seemed to realize the royalty of the pony standing before her and switched to the Low Canterlot voice.

“Yes milady, and I am at your command. How may I assist you?” Lord Ven felt his speech becoming more and more formal. In her presence? Yes, formal is probably a good thing.

“My sister hath requested that the two of us sojourn for a while to discuss some things. My detection spell hath led me to you.”

Her eyes met his, and he could see something beneath them. Mistrust? Doubt? Fear?

“Very well my Princess, what do you wish to know?” He nodded to the edge of the rooftop and slowly made his way over to watch the ten ponies below him as they talked. Luna followed a few moments after.

“Thou art the one who took over the watching of the night during my... exile? And the one who hath reformed the Equestrian army? And the one who hath informed my sister of the impending invasion?”

“Yes to all counts,” Ven replied solemnly. “Celestia has filled you in on our intelligence for what is coming?”

Luna nodded. “At length. I thank thee for guarding the last night, for it would have been quite difficult to learn that all of this is happening while watching all of Equestria.”

Ven nodded sharply. “It is my pleasure. So you know who these are then?”

Princess Luna gazed at the streets below them. “The new bearers of the elements, and your six. I am uncomfortable with so many… humans… walking the streets of our land. It is odd.”

He chuckled. “Do we make you that nervous milady?”

Princess Luna turned sharply to face him. "Thou art one of them?”

The silver Alicorn bowed. “Guilty as charged. Although, I have been a pony for far longer than I was a human. What is twenty years against a thousand? I am far more of an Alicorn than a human.” His smile was quite wry. “I suppose that is not much comfort to you though.”

The Princess regarded him with a highly composed look. “Well, I suppose it is a bit. At least I know of one human who behaves in an honorable manner, thus there may be hope for the rest of them.”

Ven chuckled and the Princess allowed herself a faint snort of laughter, but it was short lived. The two of them watched as the red earth pony ran into Sugarcube Corner with a shout of, “THE FOOD!”

Ven turned and sighed. “That is my cue. I apologize Princess, but perhaps now is not the best time for our ‘sojourn,’ as you put it. There are matters I must attend to, and you should probably rest before tonight.” Ven walked to the other side of the rooftop.

"So soon? We have very much to discuss," The Princess seemed to tense as Ven walked away from her.

"Yes we do. But now is quite inconvenient for me. Celestia has informed you of Project Vorpal?"

Luna nodded curtly.

"Then you know how time sensitive it is. I merely need confirmation of the elements meeting the other six. Vorpal is now officially in motion."

Luna's eyes widened. Understandable. Vorpal always was the most extreme part of our plan. Perhaps even extreme enough to allow us to survive...

“Very well Lord Vengeance. We shall meet again soon.” The Alicorn Princess spread her wings and was about to take off, but Ven interrupted her.

“Milady, please call me Ven. I never have been comfortable with that full name.”

The Princess turned to face him, her face quizzical. “Why doth thou not approve of thine own name?” Her speech suddly became extremely formal for some reason, but Ven chose to ignore it.

“It isn’t my given name. I took it when… well, I took it a long time ago.” He smiled sadly at her, trying to hide the sadness behind his eyes. “I am much more comfortable with Ven.”

Luna cocked her head to the side. “Then why would thou use this name? Would not thy given name be more appropriate? Perhaps I could use it instead if you told me.”

Ven shook his head sadly. “I am sorry Princess, but I cannot use that name any more. I am no longer that pony. Ven will do just fine.”

Luna raised her eyebrow. “Very well then… Ven. We shall continue our conversation again soon. Fare thee well.” And with that, the Princess of the night took off into the sky.

Ven choked back tears when she was out of sight. Never again. I cannot return here. That old life is gone. Vengeance is all that remains.

He hopped smoothly down into one of the few alleyways in Ponyville and walked over to a puddle in the middle of the road. He stared down into the extremely scarred face that gazed back at him and saw the face contort in anger. Why? Why was fate so cruel? He recalled vaguely the two other faces he had worn in his life, the face of the human he began as and the face of the pony he once was, so long ago. The face that looked back at him was hard. Scarred. A face that was a mask even to the Princesses who knew who he really was. He looked into the eyes that had not been gold so long ago, at the ears that had once been whole, at the cheeks that once had never been touched by blades, talons, or fire. The body that had once been a completely different color, without the slightly curved Alicorn horn or the regal wings now fixed to his back. How he longed for his old body...

This is who I am now. Nothing will ever change that. Ven had told himself this more times than he could ever count, but it still felt fake to him. Just as fake as the front he put up that hid his desperation and longing from everypony he knew. As fake as his life had become.

But what IS real is the enemy. They may have destroyed everything that I held dear. They may have destroyed me. They may have destroyed the only one had ever loved. But not again. Never again. This time, they will not succeed. This time I will not fail.

And with that last thought, the Alicorn teleported himself to Canterlot, leaving Ponyville and his memories far behind.