Dark, black clouds form over the forest. It’s definitely not a welcoming sight; the only trees to inhabit it are dead. The black, twisted branches intertwine with themselves; as if the forest itself is weaving a deadly trap. A trap that keeps going on, for miles and miles….
And unfortunately, there is one pony that happens to find himself there. It’s a nervous-looking pegasus stallion. The black of his coat blends in with the lifeless trees, only being distinguished by the yellow streaks in his mane and tail.
“How did I end up in this place…?” He asks aloud, in a quivering voice. “I don’t remember coming here….”
He continues wandering the grim forest, looking left and right for any sign of an exit. His sight, however, finds only the grim, dead, black trees.
It’s only a few moments later that a gust of wind comes in. It causes the lifeless branches to rattle; forming a deafening, ominous symphony.
A deep-sounding chuckle echoes through the forest, and pierces through the stallion’s very soul. He quickly looks all around him. “Wh-Who’s there?!”
“You’ll see….” Joining the reply is yet another chilling gust of wind. Whoever is talking does not seem friendly at all. It sounds as if it is planning something….
The stallion begins to panic. He shakes in fear as the nervous sweat rolls down his face. With no other choice, he instantly turns around and runs for his life, sprinting as fast as he can from the mysterious voice. The trap that the branches lay for him is a deadly one indeed; they would not let him fly above the forest.
“Running won’t help….” Despite the warning from the grim voice pursuing him, the stallion continues to run. He runs, and runs as fast as he possibly can. “You don’t listen very well, do you?”
The stallion pays no heed to the voice. He simply continues to run, until finally reaching a clearing, where he stops to take a breath. “I should be safe here.”
Unfortunately, he soon realizes that he is wrong. A large gash tears in the ground before him that emits a pale green light. He jumps back in fear, but only ends up tripping. Desperate to get away, he keeps crawling backwards, until his back meets a tree. Out of the fissure, comes a worn skeleton pony. Its bones are chipped and cracked in various places. The eye holes glow a luminescent green. Upon fully emerging from the hole, it conjures a cutlass that glows a sickly green, sharpening his horn with it as he advances closer and closer….
“No you’re not.” He simply states in a hissing voice. The stallion lets out a piercing scream upon the sight of the undead pony. He whimpers in fear.
“W-What … are you going to d-do to me?” The skeleton merely chuckles.
“Simple … I will just drain your soul to strengthen my own.” The stallion’s eyes widen. Frantically looking left and right for an escape, he finds nothing. “You’re not getting away. It’s hopeless….” He nears closer and closer to the stallion, wielding his conjured cutlass.
“SOMEPONY HELP ME!”
The lifeless pony chuckles. “There’s no one here….”
“And at that, thou art wrong, foul creature!” A heroic cloaked mare jumps in, removing her hood to reveal the brave, the mighty, Night Slayer Luna!
“Night Slayer….” The creature hisses in contempt.
Her ethereal, starry mane yet waves without the presence of wind. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she reveals her sheath, from which she pulls out a sharp, shining katana. She tightly holds it in her dark blue aura. “We shall banish thee, once and for all! Prepare thyself, foul creature!” Flourishing it in a series of slashes, she stares down the undead, with fierce determination in her eyes.
“You will not stop me, Night Slayer. I am more powerful than you could ever imagine…!” Angrily, the creature turns its attention to the awesome Night Slayer Luna!
The determination in her eyes is unwavering. The two combatants begin to stare each other down as they circle their opponent, looking for an opening. Silence hangs in the air. Who will make the first move? It’s none other than the mighty Night Slayer Luna!
She runs from her spot in blinding speed, seemingly disappearing out of nowhere. But just a split-second later, the hilt of the Night Slayer’s blade meets the skull of the dastardly undead with lightning-fast speed. The malevolent fiend is stunned by the hit! The fearless Night Slayer, taking advantage of the blow, spins around to let out a fast diagonal slash!
But what’s this? The foul creature blocks it with its own blade! Pushing off the blade with its own, the vile demon spawn lets out a flurry of slashes as it chuckles evilly.
The valiant Night Slayer blocks the slashes left and right. She blocks below, above, from all directions! Finally, she flawlessly parries a slash coming from her left, spinning to sweep the hellish creature’s front legs with her righteous blade! It is too late for the foul lich to retaliate. The viciously honed katana slices through the skeletal legs, felling the wicked fiend.
“Curse you….” It lights up its horn with a pale green aura, shooting out a spread of similarly-colored fireballs, all the while using its arsenal of dark magic to attach its own legs once more.
The valiant Night Slayer quickly dodges, rolls, and jumps out of the way to avoid the wrathful fire. Even at dodging the dark spells, the fireballs manage to just graze her, singing her body. “So is that how thou wish to play? So be it, demon!” She charges up a spell of her own, causing her blade to hum and glow with holy lightning. “Have at thee!”
Gripping her sword yet again in her aura, she furiously slashes the air, which sends out vicious bolts of lightning at the vile creature.
Hissing at the very sight of such holy magic, the fiend opts to teleport away from the lightning, rather than to dodge it. Even so, the relentless torrent of lightning proves to be a formidable force.
The lightning begins to slowly catch up. It grazes the nefarious creature, which hisses with each one. “I grow tired of this, Night Slayer….” It suddenly appears in front of the heroine, blasting her back with a pulse of dark magic.
She is blown back and sent tumbling on the ground. With another teleportation spell, the hell spawn is on top of her, chuckling once more.
“You cannot defeat me…. I have taken the souls of many…. And yours shall be the next, Night Slayer,” it warns, hissing the valiant heroine’s title in contempt. “It’s over for you….” It grasps the cutlass with its sickly green aura, and raises it high, ready to plunge it deep into his opponent.
“Wrong, yet again, demon.” Enveloped in her aura, from her cloak comes a clear orb. She smashes it on the ground, creating a great cloud of smoke that washes over the battlefield.
Stunned, the heinous fiend stumbles backwards. Regaining his balance, he looks left and right for the holy heroine … but only smoke meets his gaze. “Coward! Come out and fight! I grow tired of playing this game!”
“If thou sayest so.” The awe-inspiring Night Slayer reappears behind the undead fiend. It turns around, but too late. Her lightning-infused blade meets the creature’s skeletal chest, causing the lich to loudly hiss in pain. Weakened, the foul being falls to the ground.
The roles soon reverse. The virtuous Night Slayer is now on top of her opponent, ready to finish the battle. She raises her blade high, ready for the final blow. The undead, weakened from his severe wound, can do nothing to stop it. It’s all over for him. With its final breath, it hisses but one last sentence.
“Curse you, Night Slayer!”
“And then, mine holy blade flawlessly severs the foul creature’s head! The helpless pony in peril would run up to me, saying, ‘Oh, Princess Luna, my heroine! How could I ever repay you?’ And then We would say, ‘No need, my subject. We art simply doing what We must.’ Disappearing into the night, the rescued pony would no longer need to fear the foul creatures, knowing that he would have Us to defend him. So…. What dost thou think, sister?”
Princess Celestia looks up from the scroll on her table, with a deadpan stare in her eyes. “Absolutely not going to happen.”
“But sister….” Luna whines in protest.
“I said no. Really Luna, what kind of impression would you give our subjects if you were to enter their nightmares, armed to the teeth, never mind brutally slaying their horrors?”
“Why, they would think We would be “awesome”, as ponies today would put it.”
“Riiiight.”
“It would be fun,” The lunar princess persists.
“And I said no. That is final.”
“Hmph.” Luna turns her back to her elder sister. “Thou art just jealous.”
“Jealous? Sister, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then let’s see thee try to do better.”
The solar princess sighs. “Very well, but only to please you, sister….”
Author's Note
Thought I'd try something new this time.
