Chapters

Chapter 0
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 0
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Fallen From Grace

Chapter 0

The ground was cold and wet, but it was on the ground I stayed. I had barely the strength to move, let alone breath.
My body was broken all over, my chest had caved in from the hit and was releasing a steady stream of blood. It was probably all over me by now and mixing with the thick mud from the ground. It was agony incarnate, crippling me beyond action, and so I just laid there on my side, only being able to think of the pain, wishing for it to end.

But then I could hear the incoming footsteps, sinking into the mud of the grass I had laid on by the side of the road. It was a person coming, I knew it, and my thoughts changed to hope.

They could come, they could take me away to where I could be saved, they could stop my pain.
Anything, just please stop this pain.

"Oh my-shit! Are you alright?!" I heard her exclaim, her beautiful voice reaching me through the pain . She almost sounded gorgeous to me, a sweet contrast to my pain.

I felt her try to roll me over onto my back, and after several attempts she succeeded. Grunting in the pain of being moved, I thought then to speak up to her, I knew where there was a hospital nearby, it wasn't a far drive. She could take me there, save me, end this pain. Yet, through my blurring vision I say her face, her eyes distraught and searching for signs that I could survive.
She was an angel, a pure vision of elegance, and I knew it was my lack of blood just telling me this, her face gave off a radiant glow, her hair looked divine, every part of her was perfection. If this was some other circumstance there would of been no way I could of brought up the courage to speak to her.

But I had to tell her, she could take me there, she could end my pain.

Yet, as I tried to speak, my dry mouth only made what could have been interpreted as a moan of pain.

She started to speak again, probably trying to ask ways to help, what my name was, but I just understood her less and less. Her voice stayed beautiful but sounded more like a foreign language to me. Everything was blurring. The sounds of it all just faded to mere whispers, yet my own heartbeat became a bassdrum, beginning to slow its beat down.
The pain was somehow fading, maybe she was an angel, making it all go away. It was like a comfort of sleep overtaking me, like the end of a bad day and I could finally return to my dreams, where everything was okay.

Maybe she could save me, maybe I would live.

Maybe…

______________________________________________________________________________

I awoke on my stomach, probably in the most uncomfortable position possible. I tried opening my eyes to look at what I was on, but I was forced to close them nearly instantly due to the sheer brightness that bathed everything around me in a piercing light.

'Uh, why’d they leave the curtains open' I thought to myself, trying just to keep my eyes shut and keep out the painful light, but it was to no avail. I was wide awake almost and this uncomfortable position made sure I was.

Forcing myself to exert the effort to roll onto my back, every muscle began screaming in protest, as if yesterday I decided to run the marathon while simultaneously fighting off every other runner. Yet, I Finally got onto my back, and I began opening my eyes slowly, using my hand to try and shield the sun, slowly adjusting to the brightness, and gradually everything came into focus.

'What the hell, what the actual hell?!'

This was wrong, It was all wrong. I sat up looking every which way, and everything was alien to me. Crumbling stone walls all around, vines ingrown throughout the area, and a destroyed roof revealing vibrant blue skies and that damned blinding sun.

Not my home, not anywhere I knew, and in the middle of a ruin in a forest. I stood up, getting paranoid and frankly scared as hell at the position I was in. Anything and everything around me was not safe.

Something had to of brought me here, there was no way I just up and appeared sleeping on…

It was then that I finally looked at what I had fallen asleep on, and why it was so uncomfortable...

It was an altar. Something brought me here to an altar, in ruins, in the middle of the forest.

And with that, the paranoia came back stronger.

'What if they return, and why the hell did they drag me here?'

I tried to remember what could of lead to me being here, attempting to think through the blur of my sudden awakening and slowly building headache, when it hit me:

'A car accident.... I was in a car accident... And now I'm... Here...'

I looked all over my body, pulling back my clothing and looking for signs of damage, even scars, something to prove my memories were correct, that I had just been in an accident. But my body told a different story. It looked completely pristine almost, unblemished and unharmed in any way. Even to the point of scars that I knew used to be on my body were gone.

'This is wrong, on every level wrong, there is no way I can remember being in a car crash yesterday, and not have a single scratch on me today...'

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind, that maybe I had died, yet I dismissed it as quickly as it came. What sane person could accept they were dead when the proof otherwise was their own existence.

I was alive, I had survived an accident and now I was here.

Here, where whatever put me here could return.

It was then that I should put getting answers to the back of my mind and instead try to get out of here, and so I stood up, and looked around at the ruin I was now in. The ruin was bare, all walls, no door and no roof. Wreckage from the presumed past roof lay strewn on the floor, and led me to deciding on my method of getting out of here.'

With that thought, I found the lowest section of wall, approached it, and used my arms to lift myself up and over,clearing the wall and landing on the pine-needled covered floor of the forest. Looking every which way I could, I ended up seeing the same thing in every direction: pines trees continuing endlessly.

When I looked up, I could see the still rising sun through the canopy, and thus was able to find east, the way I decided then to begin my trek, hiking off to anywhere but here.

______________________________________________________________________________

The forest remain largely the same as I walked through it, passing pine tree after pine tree, my footsteps compressing the pine needles and twigs beneath my boots. I could hear birds in the distance, singing joyfully, as the light wind caused the distant tops of the trees to sway ever slightly. And yet, my mind began to wonder as the journey continued, thinking of all kinds of good situations I could end up in, like if the ones that put me on the altar finding me now leaving, as if they intended to return to me.

‘Oh hey there, my name is Keith and I'd really appreciate it if you decided not to abduct/sacrifice/ kill me today, thanks, I’ll just be on my way.'

Oh the joys of my mind.

With the sun getting higher, and the humidity becoming unbearable, I finally decided to address the issue of my not really appropriate clothing. The hiking/snow boots were great, probably the best decision I ever made, but everything else was still gear that would've been better served in winter. It consisted of jeans, a dark grey winter hat, a plain blue long sleeve shirt under a tight fitting black hoodless running jacket that I wore. I took the jacket off, wrapping the sleeves around my waist, then stuffed my hat in one of its pockets before rolling the sleeves on my shirt up.

I probably looked somewhat ridiculous, but at least I wasn't sweating... As much...

It was then that some of trees began clearing up on what looked to be a dirt path. Naturally, I decided to follow the trail, going almost in the same direction I had before

Happy with the somewhat improving status of things, I began to hum a little tune to myself. I was basically in the clear, I just follow this trail, and the trail would lead to a road, and a road then to civilization. Then I can get everything cleared up, and I’d never have to deal with anything else as creepy as waking up somewhere you've never been before.

Time went by fast on the trail, step after step, until I saw the ending of the forest. Almost looking like an invisible wall that made sure not a single tree grew past that point.

I began to jog, then run, then sprint to the end of the forest, I wanted out, to never return there would be fine in my books. This forest held the ruins, that altar, and I wanted to be as far from it as possible. And so the vision of what lay beyond the forest slowly opened up to me.

It was astounding.

Everything was so picturesque, plains spreading throughout a shallow valley, more forest far in the distance, with barely discernable smoke rising in the distance from what must of been a town hidden by the rolling hills. And then a mountain, rising from the ground defiantly with a white, glistening series of towers built onto it.

I will admit, it did look almost beautiful.

The only thing missing was me knowing where the hell I was.

________________________________________

Deciding that the smoke I saw was probably my best bet, I begun trekking in that direction. Continuing as the sun reached its apex and started the journey down.

Slowly, after walking for a fair bit of time, buildings slowly came into view, and with a new found sense of urgency, I sped up slightly, causing the buildings to come more in focus.

Then I noticed something was wrong

I could see thatched roofs, walls of bright colors, and then brightly colored things flying all around. It looked more like a slight mashup of medieval and little girl's dream the closer I got, probably the worst combination ever.

As I got closer and closer, I began to discern, of all things, horses in the streets of the town. Everywhere there was horses.

No people, just horses.

I got closer and closer, nearly running now, I approached the town, getting within a solid fifty yards of it when the scream rang out.
“'Monster!” was screamed, high pitched and definitely feminine.

It was then that I saw the horses that were seconds ago frolicking and talking without a care nearly instantaneously bolt into their homes.

I was confused, I reached the edge of the town and began walking through it, being sure to look all around at the weird buildings. Every one of them was closed, every street was deserted, and it was creepy as hell, because I knew they were looking at me through the cracks of their doors and windows. I could see them, unable to sate their curiosity, quickly peeking out at the streets before quickly hiding again.

Just the simple absurdity of the situation I was in made me almost walk through the town in a almost trance-like state.

This was just like a fantasy world. Horses don't do this, horses don’t make homes or yell “monster”.

There was no way I was on the world I belonged to.

I continued my walk, now making it to what looked to be a market square. Stalls were strewn about nearly senselessly, as if they all got knocked about in a mass panic to go to the indoors.

It was then that my trance was broken through by the rumbling of my stomach, I was starving. With produce strewn about, I decided to have a little snack, picking up an apple from a nearby stand and ate it, it was pretty normal as far as apples went.

'May as well eat up, and then find some decent gear to use, and leave here, there’s no way I'm gonna convince these horses that I'm not a monster' I thought as I continued my walk on, looking around for a stall that could of sold maps or something else useful.

Grabbing what looked to be saddle-bags from a near by vendor, I began filling them with various items, mainly produce, before putting it over my shoulder and tying it in place like a modified back-pack. Then I found a pretty large pan I found that I decided would be handy, seeing as I would probably end up going to another forest. Yet I could not find anyplace that would sell a map or the like.

That is, until I exited the marketplace and saw the tree, with a book sign in front of it.

'Yes, A Tree! Because why would you put books anywhere else but in a freaking tree, silly me'

Approaching the door to the tree, which was by the way about three quarters of my size, I did the one thing I thought I probably should, I knocked.

After waiting a moment and hearing nothing in response, I simply opened the door and entered.
It was pretty small as far as a bookstore would go, but it redeemed itself in that, thankfully, everything was in english, somehow. Walking over to the walls, I looked over the titles for hopefully an atlas, or maybe a section of maps, yet for some reason I was drawn to the center table, where saw a note:

Spike,
Sorry to just leave while you're out getting more quills, but Rarity had an emergency with an 'orange-frog' getting in her boutique and claiming it as their territory.
I should be home for dinner.
-Twilight

'The hell is an orange frog?' was all I could think of before instead turning back to looking through the books, now aware that someone probably lived here and would return soon.

It was reading through these titles that I noticed something odd, nearly all the non-fiction titles were on 'magic'.

Magic.

Freaking magic was in non-fiction.

I was obviously skeptical, yet intrigued at the same time. If somehow magic actually was now real, then why the hell would I pass it up. Hell, if magic was really, it probably was here, in the land of English speaking horses.

Opening one of the saddle bags I had, I stuffed it full of books of introductions to magic, and a book that seemed to be on magical artifacts. Moving on, I pocketed a book on called "The History of Equestria", which I guessed was the name of the land where I was, before I found my actual target, the pamphlet titled "Maps of Equestria and Surrounding areas". A dull name, but informative, plus confirming of the name of this place as 'equestria'.

It was then that I heard the footsteps, and door knob turning that signaled an opening door.

I froze before quickly moving so that the table and pedestal in the center of the room was between me and the door, then followed by ducking down so whatever had just entered the room couldn't see me.

I stayed absolutely still, my heart pounding in my chest, and the sounds of two feet waddling towards the center of the room, a bag being thrown on the table.

"TWILIGHT, I'M BACK!" Yelled the... What I assumed was this 'spike', before he moved forward again upon probably noticing the note.

"Oh, a note................. What the heck is an Orange Frog?"

'Exactly what I want to know, spike' I thought, somewhat relieved I wasn't the only one that had no clue as to what this ‘Twilight’ was talking about.

'Then again, I wasn't supposed to read that note.'

Then I realised, why am I hiding? I have everything I need, I could just leave town now, maybe try and head for somewhere else, where the first reaction I get isn't everyone hides away.

And if it is the same reaction, I just continue on somewhere else, I’ve got a map of the country, I could do it.
I just had to get past this... Spike... whose voice sounded a bit like that of a kid. And I had the element of surprise, it would be easy.

And to get past him, I suddenly had an idea, the perfect one.

Channeling my inner ghost, I braced myself before jumping out and shouting at Spike something that was akin to "ABUGAWUGAUGA!" In an attempt to scare him away, and it worked flawlessly. Upon seeing me suddenly appear, he gave off a scream of "AHH- A MONSTER!" Before bolting away into what I assumed was a kitchen, due to the subsequent loud racket of pots and pans falling.

Surprised at the sheer amount of success I had at scaring what looked to be a giant lizard, I just up and proudly waltzed out of that library and into the barren streets, ready to leave this town behind me.

And the streets were barren, save a purple winged unicorn and a white normal unicorn. Each with their jaws wide open.

I just stood there like a deer in headlights, barely five feet from the library, my bags full of stolen books.

‘Shit, why aren’t they hiding in their houses like everyone else?’

It was then that Spike decided to burst out onto the streets, his head topped with what looked like a pot, and his hand wielding a large butter knife, giving a war cry of "STOP YOU FOUL BEAST!"

I looked at him, and simply said "Nope" before sprinting off down the road through the town, trying to simply get away.
As I continued running through the town, passing countless buildings, I heard the hoof-falls of what was probably those two horses following after me, both of them giving calls of "WAIT!" and "STOP!"

Silly horses, why would I stop for you to charge me with theft and “attacking” that lizard, that would just lead to a mass mob of frightened horses chasing me out, which I would basically accomplish on my own seeing as the way out was right in front of me, open and clear, and HOLY SHIT THE PURPLE ONE JUST TELEPORTED IN FRONT OF ME!

Trying to stop myself from running into her, I slowed down, before I began to panic, which lead to me not thinking as I swung the frying pan I had stole, and hit the winged unicorn dead on across the face, letting out a resounding bang, before I continued my running away from the town.

As I continued, I spared a look behind and I was able to see the white one and lizard making sure the purple one was okay instead of chasing me. Somehow in my panicked state I managed to actually score a good hit against her.

By this time the houses had begun to thin out and up ahead I saw a forest, which became the target of my escape. Speeding up, I almost made it into the forest, when, barely ten feet away from the entrance, a cyan blur blindsided me.

With a grunt, I was forced onto my back, my wind knocked out and everything hurting for a moment, before I looked around and saw what had hit me. It had been a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, great.

With my frying pan in hand, I began to get up, which led to the pegasus deciding to finish her work, and jumping on top me, hard, forcing me back on my back, and each of her hooves finding a point on my body in an attempt to hold me down.
"Nope, you're not going anywhere until you pay for what you did to Twilight, you.... Thing!"

"Great insult" I managed to say while underneath her, before taking advantage of her mistake of putting her hooves on my shoulders instead of my arms.

Grabbing her hooves, I forced them off my shoulders, lifting her up off me, before she pulled her hooves back, as if getting ready to push me back down. It was then that I was able to quickly sit up grab her mid-section in a bear hug almost, pushing forward and forcing her to fall onto her, now with me on top holding her down, and by god did she start thrashing.
Using the rest of my body to hold her down, I quickly raised my frying pan in the air before slamming it down on her face, creating an almost crunching sound as it connected. Her thrashing stopped almost immediately, as she entered unconsciousness. Getting up from my position atop her, I noticed that her snout looked broken and was bleeding profusely.

‘Well, great, now there’s no going back, as if there was as soon as I began stealing’

It was then that I noticed the white unicorn and the dragon, running to me, both of them still a long ways away, the purple one behind now sitting up, yet still with a dazed looked on her face. Deciding that was my signal to go, I began running into the dark forest, going in as deep as I thought would enable me to lose any trackers.

_______________________________________

I sat in the forest, my back to a tree, in front of me lay the progress of the past three days living here. Off to my left was the crude lean-to and bedding, in front of me was the campfire, the result of basically half of yesterday, and to my right lay a small stream.
It wasn’t anything to be proud of, but it was better than facing hypothetical pony capital punishment.

Oh, and trust me, I knew they were looking for me. Through the books I stole, I figured out the pony I hit upside the head with a frying pan was a freaking princess, not to mention that I’ve seen armored pegasi flying overhead multiple times, ruining my idea of going to another pony city.

And the thing with those pony cities, they have names made of puns. Seriously, what is this, a world made for eight year old girls? First its brightly colored ponies, and they are ponies according to their books, then its magic, and then on top of that everyplace is a pun.
And speaking of those books I took, I’ve read most of them during my free time, in fact, the magic ones I’ve even started rereading.
If nothing else, the fact that magic exists here is truly phenomenal, and a dream come true. I mean seriously, what kid hasn’t dreamed of turning into a freaking sorcerer.

Though I have unfortunately concluded one thing with the “Your First Magic Lesson” book I grabbed: I have no magic whatsoever.
I tried all of the absolute beginner lesson things and they all resulted in just nothing. Maybe it’s because I have no horn, but then again the book saws pegasi and earth ponies can use magic in their own ways too, so I’ve just concluded I have none of my own.
I mean seriously, if humans had magic, we would have discovered it by now.

But then there was that magical artifact book, I wanted every single thing in there. Amulets that granted untold powers, staffs of blinding bright light, necklaces, stones, the constant problem with all of the ones I’ve seen is they’re all hidden away in far away collections, except for a few on display in certain museums.

It was then that my stomach rumbled, and I realized how long I had been reading, it had been at least half of the day already. I then reached into my bag of food, it didn’t have much left, and between the couple apples, carrots, and potatoes I already ate plus the one fish stupid enough to get caught by me, I was definitely not in a good position food wise.

Taking a carrot out of the bag, I chewed it while continuing to read my book.

All the while a plan formed in my head, a way to ensure my continued freedom, all the while allowing me to explore this whole new possibility of magic.

Maybe if I stole one of these artifacts….

_______________________________

Two more days had passed, I had since moved my campsite multiple times as the pegasi overhead got too close for comfort, probably due to my own fault in creating smoke with my fire.

I was nearly out of food, but it was fine, I could pick some up while I went on my quest for the one artifact I concluded could give me the powers of magic. Well, the single one that wasn’t lost or locked away in some unreasonably far away place.

It was called the sapphire stone, an artifact that could grant anyone the powers great enough to endanger the entire world, it had been recovered and donated to Canterlot museum, where it was said to be now. Yes, in Canterlot, which happened to be the nearby city shooting straight out of a mountain.

The plan was I made was simple, I sneak in, I get into the museum, and I steal the artifact. Then, after that my freedom is secured, I can practice magic, and maybe even in the end create some spell to get me home.

My trek began with me securing all the gear I could need, maps, the small bits of produce I had left to eat, tying my jacket across my waist once again, and of course picking up my frying pan.

Heck, it served as a pretty good weapon last time, and it sorta was the closest thing to a weapon I had readily available.
So, with everything ready, my fire put out and the remainder of my books stored in a hollowed out tree stump, I started walking through the forest.

The journey continued through the forest, as the sun got higher and higher in the sky, beaming down through the holes in the canopy and making the air hot and humid. It was hard work, trying to remain on a straight path, yet it payed off with me eventually arriving at the edge of the forest, to the edge of the town that I learned was ponyville. And so, following the edge of the forest in order to attempt to remain somewhat hidden, I walked to Canterlot.

For a long time…

A long time…

As the sun slowly went down towards the horizon, I continued my trek, continuing until the forest ended and all that was between me and the mountain city was open grassland.

And so I sat at the edge of the forest, for fear of being spotted out in the open, as I had seen a couple pegasi in the sky on my trip here. I began lightly napping a little bit and eating the remainder of my food, as I waited for the day to finish.

As the sun set and the moon took over, the night darkness encompassing all, I began walking through the open grassland, taking up a light jog as a way to try and make it to the city in order to steal the artifact in time before sunrise.

It was surreal almost, running through the open fields in near darkness, the grass waving lightly in the breeze, the only sound I could hear was the rustling I made and the occasional flapping of what must've been birds. The moon sat high above me, larger and brighter than I have ever seen it, almost like a light guiding me to my destination.

This run continued for what seemed an eternity to me, the mountain getting closer and closer until it finally came that I reached the bottom of it.

Then the search carried me around the mountain, searching for a way up that didn’t involve straight up climbing, until I found the railways. Using them as my path, I was able to get from the bottom of the mountain to the entrance of the city it what seemed like a blur to me. My adrenaline was pumping, I felt every heartbeat, every slight change of wind, I felt alive.

Slowing down as to make less noise, I made it to the gates of the city, and passed through, not a guard in sight nearly. Then I sneaked along the walls of the city until I reached what looked to be the start of the government owned buildings, the place where the museum would be located.

It was then that I saw the first guard of the night, simply strolling down the road, his horn lighting the area in front of him.
I had to resist the urge to straight up attack him with my pan in fear that inaction would lead to my discovery and the subsequent calling of his reinforcements.

Yet, he continued on his merry way, oblivious to me, and with the release of a breath I hadn’t realized I had kept in, I began walking through the streets again.

Continuing on my way, I passed several more guards, all of them acting like the first, seeming oblivious. It was amazing for me, I was able to continue on through the city unimpeaded until I reached a large and prestigious looking building, the site of the Canterlot Field Museum.

I was so close, my hands were shaking, every muscle of my body ached with excitement.
I looked around the building, searching for ways in, when I saw the greatest godsend ever, they left a window open. THEY LEFT A FREAKING WINDOW OPEN!

I quickly hoisted myself over into the building, giddy with excitement at my fortune. At this rate, I’d be casting spells and escaping this little girl’s paradise in no time.

Getting into the building, I surveyed the surrounding area, searching for any clues as to where I could find the Sapphire Stone, and clues did come to me, in the form of a map of the museum.

Pulling out my artifact book for reference, I decided the artifact would be displayed in none other than the Ancient Civilization sections.

Putting the book back away, I began lightly jogging through the museum, excited at the prospect of being so close. I quickly made my way through the corridors of the museum, exhibition after exhibition. The only sounds being my breath and footsteps, while the only light came from various windows on the ceiling, revealing the proud moon, ever watchful of my actions.

My feet carried me down until, at last, I reached the section the artifact was bound to be in, the section on ancient civilizations.The entrance to the room was decorated with tribal art, creepy masks, primitive spears, and pictures of step pyramids. Further in, all sorts of pottery and statues lay in various cases.
Thats when I saw it.

Exactly as the picture in the book, the Sapphire Stone. Two blue carved figures of dogs making a casing around the enchanted jewel. An artifact that once while in the wrong hands almost meant the end of the world.

And it was right in front of me, only separated by a thin casing of glass.

Its power would be mine, purely on adrenaline, I grabbed my frying pan, and made to swing at the casing.

I made to swing at the casing, but a force stopped me from damaging it, like the pan and the case were magnets resisting coming together. So I swung again, then again with both hands on holding the pan, then I tried breaking it by punching it, but that was stopped too.

But it was then that I noticed what was stopping me.

I again made to punch the casing, when again I was stopped, this time though, I watched my fist the entire way through, and saw the dark blue aura surrounding it and forcing it back.

The same aura that was emitted by unicorn magic.

Someone was watching me, toying with me, seeing what I would do.

I took a step back from the case, put my hands to my side, and then spoke out loudly and clearly:

“I know you’re out there and are stopping me, show yourself.”

Then a voice answered me, as if from every direction at once. “Thou art smarter than you look theft, then again, maybe you aren’t for thou walked right into my trap.”

It was then that a body materialized from the shadows of the room, coalescing into the shape of a large regal pony, with wings and a horn. Walking towards me, I saw her glaring her contempt at me, all the while her hair swirled with thousands of stars in an ethereal breeze, giving little specks of light that were reflected across her shining deep blue coat
.
I knew who she was, one of the leaders of this realm, and the subject of a majority of the history book I had stolen.

It was Princess Luna

I stared at the Princess, dumbfounded.

Finally, I spoke one word:
“How?”

“How?” She replied, almost sounding like she’s laughing at my question.

“Caught red-handed trying to steal an artifact capable of bringing mass destruction and he asks how?”

“Quite simple, theft, we knew you were coming. Do you not think we would notice what books you stole, nor follow the smoke of your fires to find you, nor follow you as you made your journey? Did you not stop to wonder why it was so easy to infiltrate our city, nor why a window would be left blatantly open?”She continued, seemingly gloating like she had just won some game.

She continued to step forwards towards me and I frantically tried to think of ways to stall her, keep her gloating and maybe create a way to get out of her.

But I was so close.
Separated by such thin glass.

Still freaking out, I somehow managed to reply in a shaking voice
“What happens now?”

“Now? Now we take you back to face trial for your crimes.”

She was getting even closer… close enough to be in range of a swing of mine.

“What crimes? I’m just here to appreciate the museum” I replied

“Hah, well, besides attempting to steal an artifact of mass destruction, there is also the theft of produce, books, a frying pan, plus the assault of Princess Twilight Sparkle and of Rainbow Dash” She replied, now almost an arm’s length away from me.

“Well about that..” I started to say, before I took the frying pan in my hand and swung it at her.

With a smug look on her face, she simply conjured a shield to block the pan, but she wasn’t my true aim, no.

And I hit dead on the glass, shattering it into thousands of pieces, before I then quickly picked it up with my hand.

“It seems that now its you that should be worried, Luna” I reply, confident in my new found power, I could win with this, I could have the power to kill a god! I could feel the power surging through me, It felt

Like I normally felt. In fact I felt the same holding it.

Dropping my pan and attempting to do something magical with the hand, anything, I just ended up doing the same as if I didn’t even have the Stone.

It did nothing.

Furious, I looked to Luna, who now had the widest grin on her face, before yelling at her

“What the hell did you do to it!”

“Us?” She replied acting innocent

“We did absolutely nothing to the real stone, because why would we ever display the real artifact in the first place?” She replied, once again in a smug voice.

“You just stole a fake, theft, and now your time of freedom is done.”

______________________________________________________________________________

With that, I had lost. I gave up, allowed myself to be carried through the streets and to the dungeons by her magic, then thrown into a cell to rot. Charged with attempted regicide, high theft, disrupting the peace, and every other offense under the sun probably.

And so, in the cell I remained, sleeping away the grief of being caught.

I knew what happened next, I got brought out and hung. Never mind that these were ponies imprisoning me, and therefore they probably didn’t use the hanging method of execution.

I just knew that somehow I screwed up and ended up hitting a princess in the face with a frying pan.

‘Now that I think about it, that frying pan was really high quality, I mean seriously it disabled two ponies, one of them a magical princess.’

‘I am going to get out of here, and then I’m getting back my goddamn frying pan too.’

‘Well not really, it isn’t much of a reason to be angry, it’d just be a bonus to get it back. A nice keepsake and weapon. I’d give it a nice name, like the ‘pony vanquisher’ or ‘Goddess Slayer’’

It was then that my wandering mind was interrupted through the incoming sounds of trotting, which soon revealed to be belonging to a regal white coated princess with….

She looked familiar

I’ve seen her before somehow, her features, the radiating hair, eyes full of what was an attempt at trying to understand me.

Seeing my stunned silence as an invitation to initiate, she began slowly, as if unsure that I could understand “Hello, My name is Princess Celestia, may I ask what your name is?”

I hesitantly answered her “Keith”

Taking a moment to register it, Celestia then replied “Well, Keith, you have been charged with attempted regicide, and mass theft, is there anything you would like to say to me before I schedule you for your interrogation?”

Interrogation, yea, so you can have me admit to the crimes before you execute me. She had enough evidence to give me whatever form of death penalty existed here, and I knew it. Why would I need to be interrogated, and why did she sounded so familiar, I knew I had to of met her somehow before. She just gave me deja vu. So, after a moment's pause, I asked her “Have we met before?”

To that she just gave me a sad smile, and I felt as if she were putting on a show of sympathy. I attacked her fellow princess, there was no way she had anything other than contempt for me. And I knew this as she turned away from me, saying simply “No, I believe not.”

With that she started to walk away, but not before giving one last remark: “I don’t know why you wanted the Sapphire Stone, nor why you attacked Twilight Sparkle, but I’ll give you this time now to think over what you’ve done and why.”

“Just be thankful we prevented you from actually stealing it”

And with that, she left.

With her gone, I once again resumed my self-pity party, sitting in a corner, thinking of all I could of done differently.

You know, I never did have to try to steal it, I could of easily just tried to live out in the forest somehow. But there was the whole ‘I hit the princess’ thing. It’s not like I set out to do, she teleported in front of me, I just reacted in defense.
And then that Rainbow Dash, she freaking tackled me.

In my own mind I was justified…

Then again, they saw me as someone that came to their town, scared everyone away, stole their food and books, then attacked the princess when confronted.

“psssst”

And how did I not see that trap coming. I should of known something was up by the way-

“psssst”

“PSSSST”

My train of thought was interrupted by the sound, looking around, I saw the source of the noise.

It was a brick of the dungeon, and it had grown a face that was looking right at me.

“Huh?” was all I could manage, shocked at the absurdity of the situation.

“Really, that’s all ‘huh?’ c’mon kid, look alive, its not as if you're on death row, wait you are” the stone replied, in a masculine voice that was riddled with feeling that I should distrust it.

But I decided, I was probably going to die anyway, why not entertain a freaking rock before I go?
“Thanks for the reminder, I almost forgot”

“Oh chin up old boy, it’s not everyday someone has their fate obliterated by the interference of their friendly local god of chaos.” He replied, his face projecting itself out of the stone in order to form the body of a creature made of several parts of different animals.

It was disgusting to look at, but I managed “I’m assuming that means you’ll break me out?”

“Ah yes, but you must swear, that if you get caught again, I had nothing to do with this escape of yours” he replied, as generic stripped burglar clothing appeared on him and he looked around as if someone might of been watching.

“Deal, a thousand time yes, let’s do this” I replied, standing up with a new found excitement, a new found hope of not being killed by ponies of all things.

“Ah, but its not me doing everything, it will mostly be you. I like you, you have the potential to mess up everything in this world, so I’ve decided to get you a gift” With a subsequent snap of his fingers, a giant present appeared and landed in front of me.

Tearing the thing open, I found and picked up my “present.” Or otherwise known as my frying pan.

“Seriously?” was the only thing I could manage “Why not, I don’t know, the sapphire stone?”

“Because that would be too easy for you and too traceable to me, no, I’ve instead decided to return that pan you’re so fond of to you, while also telling you where to find that cute little trinket. Look in the vault in the treasury, it will be the building with a giant hole in the side and it will be the vault that is somehow opened, now then, you may want to start running, I’m certain someone heard that explosion just now” and with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.

“Wait, what?” was all I could manage before the wall of the prison I was in exploded in a furious display of fire, sending me flying back into the bars of the prison.

Coughing and getting up, I heard another explosion not as far away, and figured that that would be the hole in the treasury.

Jumping out of the hole in the prison and onto the courtyard, I surveyed the gardens, searching for the other building with a hole in it, and when I saw it across the courtyards, I made a mad sprint for it.

Quickly passing over different arrangements of plants, I nearly made it into the building when alarm bells began ringing throughout the castle and I could hear the distinctive yelling of guard ponies. I was screwed if I didn’t find that vault and soon.

Looking all across the rooms, I saw in the back of the room a series of several vaults, one of them with the door barely open, just as he had said. Yet, as I made my run for it, the distinctive yell of a guard saying “HE’S HERE, I FOUND HIM!” rang through the building.

‘Shit’

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, trying to somehow avoid the guard altogether and nearly making it into the vault before the guard caught up to me on his wings and tackled me to the ground. He then jumped back off of me and unsheathed his sword into his mouth, and as I struggled to get up as fast as I could and raised my pan as if to challenge him to a duel.

He laughed at me through his sword..

I threw the frying pan at him.

With him forced to jump to block the pan, I had enough time to jump into the nearby open vault and close it, securing my safety for the moment.

Turning to the loot inside, I was astounded. There was gold everywhere. Coins, bars, jewelry, all of it together forming a small hill, and at the top of the hill lay my prize.

The Sapphire Stone.

It was beautiful, and it was my escape, my freedom, my future.

It was mine.

I walked up to it, and grabbed it coventantly. It was the real thing. The instant my flesh made contact I could feel my whole body stinging, like millions of pins were stuck in all at once. I nearly dropped it then, I wanted to drop it, yet my hand disobeyed me and stayed firmly grasping the idol. I could feel the thing forcing me to hold it, to use its power, and as time went on, the pain faded away and instead was replaced with a feeling of… power.

I felt as if energy was flowing into my body from the idol, and it felt good.

I needed to use this energy, I needed to cause pain to something, I needed to…. I needed to get vengeance on those damned ponies.

They locked me up, they planned to kill me, now they would see the error of their ways.

I heard them, so many of them outside the vault, they had someone breaking through the wall evidenced by the beginnings of the metal of one of the vault’s wall melting. They would open it soon, and it would open up to their death.

I wanted their blood.

My body was shaking in excitement, I didn’t know why, I never thought this way before.

I never sought out causing others pain, but now, it was the only thing I wanted.

As the melting continued to the point where a small hole had formed, the metal dripping down the wall, I thought of the spells I had read about in the book I had stolen.

Aiming at the pile of gold, I concentrated on using this power to force everything in front of me away, extending my right arm as if to push as my left clenched the idol hard, the veins of the hand popping out clearly.

The magic felt so natural, and using very little power I created a wave of raw force that sent hundreds of the gold coins flying, resulting in many of them impaling themselves on the back wall of the vault.

Smiling, I turned back to face the wall the guards were melting. With a majority of the wall now red hot and a good chunk of it melted away in the formings of what could've been turned into a door, it didn’t stand a chance against my power. Pushing with as much energy as I dared use in one shot, the wave of energy hit the wall, shooting molten metal at the unsuspecting guards behind it while also forcing the rest of it to peel open. The screams of guards hit by the metal rang in my ear, like a serenade.

The hole had now been forced open so much so that I could walk through. And as I did, I surveyed my work. Guards were panicking, rolling around, scratching themselves with their hooves to get the metal off, a couple of the closer ones already died, their faces and bodies now spotted with thin cooling splotches of metal.

Nearly twenty other guards stood backed up, distraught at the sudden loss of some of their comrades, while others tried to help save the others.

Too bad for them, it was time for my fun.

My body began acting almost of its own accord, using my hand to send shockwaves through the ranks of the guards, sending multiple of them slamming into walls, crushing their bodies. Unfortunately some survived, having softened their own falls with wings and by landing on the bodies of their comrades.

The remaining guards finally got the idea to attack me, what a mistake for them. As they charged, I sent a shockwave through my hand at each and every one of them. Sending them all flying back with speed that broke their bodies through sheer force, leaving the remains of most of them as little more than mush.

Some feeling in the back of my head wanted me to throw up, to feel disgust, yet that voice was killed quickly as well.

I was free, and I was enjoying myself. Their pain was my joy.

With this thought I stepped out of the building, and began walking toward the wall of the city.

I wanted to try more spells, so as some straggler hero guards decided to charge me, weapons out, I instead imagined the force of the push spell I had been using as having an edge, and swinging in a flat line like a sword.

Then, with a cutting motion of my arm, a ripping blade of wind extended out, reaching out to the guards and cutting clean through them. Their bodies split in half where they stood, their parts falling to the ground, and making my smile became even bigger.

This is what heaven must feel like.

Continuing my walk out, I finally reached the wall, and continued along the edge until I reached the gate once again, and began my trek back down the mountain. I had finished all I needed to do there.

Maybe I could fight Celestia and Luna later, when I was better, but right now I needed to find a place to hideout and train my magic.

______________________________________________________________________________

Celestia watched him walk away from the balcony of her bed chambers.

Somehow he had escaped his prison.

Somehow he got in the vault.

And then there was nothing she could do but tell her guards to stop confronting him, let him escape.

Maybe if she had been faster she could of saved the thirty-five that had perished at his hands.

She had already seen thousands of death, yet each one always stung the same.

She hated death, she hated war, they were the only things she could justify hating.

She knew she could easily overpower the one named Keith, she could incinerate him instantly, he was unskilled at magic, he was a novice but with newly granted extraordinary powers.

It was like a novice jewelry maker going straight to crafting with the most expensive materials. The jewelry would be rough, easily breakable, and easily overshadowed by a master even with the most inferior materials.

But the product would still be expensive.

And that price to pay would be innocent ponies if she fought here. A battle in any city would be the absolute worst case scenario.

And so she had to force herself to just watch him leave.

Wait until he goes far enough away from civilization on his own.

Celestia would try to bring back normalcy to her ponies for now, grieve the losses, and repair all that had been broken.

But, her anger had been fed. A once dying ember now growing into an inferno.

She hated him the death Keith brought, the pain and suffering he would create.

He had to be stopped, restrained, encased in stone, banished to the depths of the world.

Celestia swore it, she would see him stopped before he caused more damage..

Author's Note

Well here's my first "official" fic

Love to hear any feedback people have, or see any grammar mistakes I missed.

New chapters coming soon I guess.

Expect much Villainy.

-ConRad

Chapter 1
View Online

Fallen From Grace

Chapter 1

I stood on the edge of a canyon that ripped through the everfree forest, gazing down to the distant bottom where water flowed. The canyon continued for as far as I could see in either direction, its stone grey walls well eroded and pocketed with caves.

As soon as I had left from Canterlot I had gone into the everfree. I don’t know why I distinctly decided on the everfree, but for some reason, I felt like it would be able to hide me for now. After coming into the forest, I had begun searching for a proper area to set up a base for a good portion of the beginning of the day, preferring perhaps stone to shape into a base or caves to mold into my liking.
Well, here this canyon had plenty of each.

Surveying the opposing wall of the canyon, I was quickly able to find a place that I decided would do for now. From what I could see, it was definitely wide and tall enough to fit a decent sized house, and probably extended further back quite a distance. Plus, with all this stone around, I was certain I could expand the cave outwards in order to fit my liking.

Content with my choice, I then turned my attention to gaining a way to get there; looking around at the trees that surrounded me, I had an idea.

Using what I was now calling my 'wind-blades', I was able to cut down a tree and have it fall so that it connected the two sides of the canyon, making a bridge over it, and directly above where the cave entrance was. Then, cutting off a long enough vine from another tree, I tied one end of it to the tree, while the other end I threw down the canyon.

Following this, I used the vine as a rope and began descending awkwardly with one arm, the other hand still holding the Sapphire Stone. Using this method, I was able to get myself to the point where I hanged directly in front of the entrance to the cave. After some swinging on the vine, I was then able to jump into the cave.

Looking around at what the cave I had settled for, I was a bit underwhelmed. It was, well, it had some potential.
But still, it was a cave.

Grey stone was everywhere, various stalactites and stalagmites were hanging all around, while the floor itself was uneven with cracks everywhere.

Not gonna lie, the thought that I was just going to settle for just living in a cave like this didn't sit well with me. It provided isolation, yes, a place to practice my magic until I decided to return to the surface and return my attention to the ponies, but it was missing, well, everything else a home would.

Then I thought, perhaps I could first turn this place into something... more fitting. I had magic on my side.
Plus it was on my agenda to learn earth magic.

So I began like that, drawing power from the statue and using it to mold the shape of the surrounding rock to the point where it looked clean-cut, as if it had been mined out of the earth.

Repeating this process and getting better at it over time, I continued transforming the cave into what was a rectangular hole, atleast twenty yards wide and ten yards high, continuing on for nearly sixty yards, at which point I decided it was good for now.

Returning to the front of the cave, I then decided it needed a proper entranceway, and so, I spent some time then forming the front of the cave into three gothic looking arche-ways. Taking a step back after finishing it, I was pretty damned proud.

Granted, I still needed doors for them, plus a better way to get down here from the forest, not to mention all the furniture I could use.
But it was a start.

______________________________________________________________________________

I sat down in my new lair, back against the wall near the entrance. Outside the cave I could easily see the sun setting down in the far reaches of the canyon, casting the evening sky into a deep blood-red inferno. This inferno was then also cast all over the canyon, reflecting off the grey stone and water down below, giving it all this pinkish tinge. It was a pretty sight, at least.

I took a breathe in, then deeply sighed.

Following the creation of the start of my base, I had spent a good reminder of the day trying to create fire with my magic. It took me awhile to get used to it, but now I was at the point where I could shoot a decent amount of flames out of my hands, which were evidenced by the new scorch marks covering parts of the wall.

I could clean the up later, in fact, no, I didn't really have to, I was the only one here. I was alone, free. Those damned ponies couldn’t arrest me anymore. I could just stay here basically, a shut in from this abomination of a world I had been flung into.

Then again, I was bored already from doing this.

I seriously needed to find something to do, just 'build base and train' was easily now looking a bit too tedious for me. Maybe it was the fact that I always had this tendency to want instant results and gratification, and now realizing how much work I had in front of me for so little reward. It just got me uninterested in this lifestyle.

What was my end goal actually right now? Just learn magic? That was boring, not to mention I already knew some magic, so I could technically say I had that basically completed.

Maybe first thing I could accomplish is get some food though, I thought, I had basically spent most of the day building this area and training my magic.

Going to stand up, I pushed off both of my hands, when I realized something.

Why couldn't I let go of the Statue?

It’s not like I never noticed it before, its just that its a fact that has always been at the back of my mind, like it was repressed.
Standing up, I decided to try and remove it, for the sake of seeing if I could at least. It made no sense for me to be unable to remove it, it was a stone that was storing a large mass of magic, nothing else.

With that thought, I began to try and remove it, grabbing the statue with my free hand and attempting to pull it out of the grasp of my other hand, yet the harder I pulled, the less I saw point and doing it, to the point where I just let go of the statue with my second hand.
I just lost the will to even try to question it.

Why would I want to let go of the Statue?

It was my source of power now, with it the ponies couldn’t stand to face me

Maybe instead of doing what I was doing I should instead be hunting for some food.

Yea, hunting.

I needed food, and maybe while I was at it, maybe I could go slaughter something for the sake of entertainment. Maybe that was all I needed to do to figure out what my goal.

I could feel it arising again, that inexplicable lust for blood I held felt so strongly back in Canterlot.

It was like I was being driven to, no, I only wanted to cause pain and suffering.

Yes, this was what I wanted, and I take what I want.

I stood up, pausing for a brief second before walking outside.

Strangely enough, it had felt almost like I was not alone for a second there.

I dismissed the thought shortly after though, and resumed my ascension into the forest.
Outside the entrance to my home, I had created a stone staircase jutting out of the wall of the canyon and leading to the forest above earlier in the day in between my training. Climbing up these steps, I quickly arrived up top. By this time the sun had continued setting to the point where the sky was fading to a deep blue as the last vestiges of light faded were snuffed out by the encroaching darkness.
I had my goal now, I could feel it driving me on as I took my steps over the tree log bridge and into the forest on the other side of the canyon. I was hungry, and had a deep growing want.

I had to use my magic on living things again.

That joy, that bliss, I wanted it again. I was an addict already, that high from only a day ago having been in no way close enough.
The magic coursing through me, stemming from the statue, it demanded to be used.

My hunger needed to be sated. Destruction had to be wrought.

The hunt was on.

______________________________________________________________________________

I had did it, the chicken laid at my feet, charred and finally dead. It hadn't taken much, it was pretty easy actually. Well, there was the whole fact that I had basically just spent the past ten minutes putting out a large inferno I unintentionally started throughout the forest while chasing the chicken down after it fled from my first shot of fire at it, spreading flames as I went along for the sake of the entertainment it gave me.

But in the end I had got the chicken, and that's all that mattered. Never mind the trail of ashes that led to where I was now standing.
Ravenous with hunger, I quickly tore the chicken apart, the meat still steaming with heat, and began eating it. Somehow through the excitement and realization of the fire I spread, my thirst for destruction had died, yet my actual hunger was still there.
Well still there for a little longer until I finished this.

But that thirst for destruction, it had been euphoric feeding it, watching the forest surrounding me burning in my wake. Somehow, simply doing that satisfied it.

It was the weirdest thing, I thought.

But that’s when I heard it, the rustling of bushes, pawsteps crunching towards me.

I froze, half-eaten chicken leg still in my mouth.

Slowly beginning to stand up, I began to hear the low accompanying growls to their step, though it was completely unlike the ones of a wolf, it was deeper, with the decidedly almost woody undertone.

Now standing straight up, I turned my head around to looked for signs of them. One, two, three sets of eyes, nearly completely surrounding me.

Predators, furthermore one’s that must’ve thought the territory I had hunted on was theirs.
They would need to be taught that that was no longer the case now.

The three of them walked out from their cover of foliage, knowing they were spotted, yet they still must have believed the had an advantage in numbers and perhaps were capable of taking me down. Once they fully emerged, I finally realized why their growls had sounded off, they were constructed of wood of all things.

Well, that was just another reason why this would be fun for me, I learned fire spells this day. Now, I had another chance to use them on something that wasn’t a chicken, and would likely be prone to be easily damage by it.

Quickly going into a fighting stance, I began once again pull magic from the statue, but it for some reason not giving the power I wanted as easily as it usually did. It was a curious thing but I paid it no mind, being in my current state.

With the power I managed to gather, I ignited the air around my hand, encoating it in flames ready to incinerate the first wolf that pounced. Then, using the free hand that held the statue to point around at the wolves, I issued a taunt:

“So, who wants to become my campfire the most?” Oh dear lord that was shitty.

Thank god the wolves can’t understand me, in fact they’re too busy staring at my statue reverently to even pay attention to my shity one-liner, thank god for that.

Wait a minute.

I moved the statue around in the air, their heads moved to follow it. At the same time, as if connecting the fact that me and the statue were one thing, they completely dropped the threatening attack act and sat down, looking at me, their tails wagging and growl instead turning into the normal breathing of a dog.

Okay, what the hell? Since when did this freaking statue make all the wolves my friends.

I looked at the statue again: Two blue dogs encasing a blue crystal.

Well, I guess it makes sense, I’ve seen weirder.

Approaching the largest on the three, I extinguished my free hand and offered it to the wooden wolf, he just ‘smelled’ it before going ahead and ‘licking it.’

I’m pretty certain a gap between sticks didn’t count as a nose, and a wet leaf didn’t count as a tongue, but what the hell, they were wolves made of wood and I had just befriended them.

I don’t even know what to say.

______________________________________________________________________________

The wolves followed me home.

They followed me home.

I guess that meant they had accepted me as the new alpha-male or something, I don’t know how wolf family things work, and call it weird though, but I just had this gut feeling that I should trust them. Somehow I was convinced they wouldn’t just maul me in my sleep.
It was nearly pitch black by the time I got back to my home, guided only by the light of the moon.

Arriving at my “house”, I once again crossed the tree log bridge and went down the stone stair, and those wooden wolves, they just followed me unphased. I even tried to shoo them away before crossing the bridge, yet they just instead kept following me.

Well, I figured if they’re so determined to follow me, why the hell not? If nothing, I’m certain wolves made of wood might just make some great company.

Then again, now that I think on it, there’s bound to be another fight between me and those damned ponies. They imprisoned me and planned to kill me, they needed to learn a lesson, especially those damned princesses, taking me for a fool.

With these thoughts, I sat down on the floor of my house, with my back against the wall. The wolves then took it as a sign, and laid down next to me.

This day had been fruitful. Made a base, discovered some magic and made some friends somehow.
Sitting here next to my new wolves, I began to drift off to sleep off to sleep, somehow ignoring that I had these living piles of sticks sleeping next to me too.

Eventually sleep overtook me.

_____________________________________________________________________________

I stood there, the darkness around me. It covered everything thickly, looking almost tangible. As if I were to put my hand out and grasp it, I could pull it, move it.

I could hear the sounds of clopping hooves on hard ground, encircling me, each precise step following the same slow repeating pattern perfectly, like the constant ticking of a clock. Not once did a step fall out of sync.

I could only stare forward, observing the inexplicable darkness and hearing the sounds. I knew I was not restrained, instead I was just enraptured by the void spread in front of me. It felt discomforting, as if it knew every secret I could ever contain, as if I were on trial for existing and the punishment was eternal torment.

That’s when the darkness and sound faded, and through the veil pierced a bright and nearly blinding light. I blinked. When I opened my eyes once again I was now in a garden, one that looked familiar.

Then I realized it, I was now in the Canterlot gardens.

Blink.

I could then see them, every soldier who had died, in that same garden. All lined up in front of me. Burned, disfigured, decaying.

Blink.

It was a street now, a funeral procession. Hundreds of ponies lined up, all in black. The sky overhead was thick with rain clouds, the first raindrops only just dropping. Everything was silent save for the the rain hitting on the ground and the sounds of crying. I could see the hearse, drawn by a multitude of guard ponies.

Blink.

I now saw myself, killing each and every soldier, again. Reliving the actions I had committed from their own eyes.

Each death displayed individually.

Every second of it.

Every funeral.

Every death.

They displayed continuously, speeding up, the area around me changing every second, each death, each funeral, all of them cycled through.

Then I heard her whisper.

“Reconcile, give yourself up”

I wanted to answer her, but my body would not obey me, my eyes glued to each and every death that flashed before my eyes.
Then she herself appeared in front of me, walking through the scenes that were flashing by as if they were a fog.
She looked at me, regarding me with nothing but the utmost disgust.

Walking up to within arms reach of me she continued her disapproving glare for a few moments, before continuing to state:
“Until you give yourself up, these same scenes will be all you see when you sleep, In Fact maybe We’ll also have you relive the final moments of the ones you slaughtered personally, see every single life that you destroyed from their view. See their families, their friends.”

She began circling me at this moment, continuing on her talking.
It was then I began to hear a low growl in the background, coming from all sides, but from the way Luna was acting, it was as if she couldn’t hear it as she continued.

“And if that is not a encouragement, perhaps I can think of something better” She continued, the growling in the background now growing continuously louder.

“It is commonly believed that you cannot feel pain in a dream. That’s false, I have the power to make it reality.” Luna stopped her trotting in front of me once again, facing me, smiling almost, as if sure her sentence would be the one to end me.

In an instant, she was screaming bloody hell, as a giant wolf black as night with glowing blue eyes had jumping and latched on her neck, generously drawing what should of been blood but instead a liquid that glowed a light blue and was now getting all over the giant wolf and the surrounding area, including myself.

I myself had barely registered the attack, it happened so fast, but now that it was in full swing, I jumped back, in shock and now able to control my body.

Luna continued her screaming, sounding like death itself, and flailed her body around in an attempt to throw the wolf off.
After a few moments, the wolf finally let go of her, before quickly and near silently moving into a position between me and Luna.
Breathing heavily, with the light blue liquid generously spread everywhere and still gushing from her opened neck, Luna recomposed herself and casted a spell. After a flash, her neck was healed and she was whole once again.

Simply looking at the wolf with an air of what couldn’t been less than complete hatred, Luna then turned her gaze between the two of us a few times before stating:

“This is not the last time we shall see each other, beast”

Then she simply vanished from sight in an instant.

I’m certain she wasn’t addressing the wolf.

______________________________________________________________________________

I woke, sweat covering my body and my breathing heavy. Looking around and trying to calm down, I realised that I was inadvertently clutching the statue with both hands now, holding it close to my chest.

The three wolves that were around me stayed exactly where they were, yet each of them had their eyes wide open, glowing yellow and staring at me, contrasting with the near pitch black of the early hours of the morning.

Then I realized something else, the jewel in the statue was glowing, giving off a faint deep blue tinged glow.

‘What the hell is with this statue.’

Author's Note

World and character building galore.

Expect a certain character reveal soon and the building up of actual villainy.

I still don't know how long the average chapter is going to be, probably longer than this but shorter than the first I'm thinking.

See any grammar errors be sure to let me know

Otherwise, I'll see you guys in a few days for the next chapter

-Conrad

Chapter 2
View Online

Fallen From Grace

Chapter 2

I barely slept for the remainder of last night, I had trouble falling asleep, instead opting to mostly just watching the gem glowing eerily in the cold darkness of the early morning hours.

It unsettled me, I could remember the dream.

Oh how I remembered the dream, Luna, the wolf, the blood, all of it.

And the screams.

If somehow I fell asleep again before the breaking of dawn, it must of been a dreamless sleep, because time had passed me by in a blur, and soon the night had ended and the sun had began its rise, slowly lighting up the vast sky and canyon outside. But I still laid here in the near complete darkness from the shade my cave provided me. Here I was still sitting next to those three wooden wolves, their yellow glowing eyes staying open, watching me.

I didn't want to trust them, yet maybe they were the ones that ended in my dream somehow.

They were wolves and Luna had been driven off by a wolf.

But there was the inconsistencies, the black fur coat and glowing blue eyes the wolf in my dream had been not at all like the
wooden structure and unsettling yellow eyes these beasts had.

Even so, if it had been them, that was all reason I could have to now trust them fully.

I reached out to pet one of them with my free hand, the flesh of my hand rubbing against hard and splintered wood. It was a weird feeling for me, yet the wolf acted as if he liked up, moving his head against my hand in a very dog-like fashion before closing his eyes, making it as if he was going to sleep back to sleep. After this happened, I stopped my petting.

As if a switch had been hit, the two other wolves then followed the example of the first shortly afterward, closing their eyes and settling down.

The sun had continued its rise, slowly encroaching into the darkness of my home and dispelling it.
Still tired as hell from my interrupted sleep, I could already tell that this day was going to be tiring as hell.

______________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle looked around at the area of ashed wreckage that had torn through the everfree.

Ash, burned foliage, and at the end of it all was the remains of what had been a chicken.

She recorded all of it down in her notebook. Every single last detail of it all.

Any patterns the ashes made, the residual magic still hanging in the air, even the bite marks on the chicken. She recorded it all with her trademark zealously she had towards anything newly discovered.

Well, save for the chicken, she decided that it didn't need as much studying as everything else, mainly due to personal reasons. Although the bones did prove that “Keith” was a predator.

The more information she had on him the better, because this could become it: the moment that would define the rest of her life as a princess.

She had responsibility now, and one of them was defending Equestria, defending her friends.
She would make Celestia proud. She would track the villain, confront him with her friends, and subdue him.

….

But what if Celestia would have wanted her to tell her first? What if something went bad without the elements of harmony? What if she succeeded just for Celestia to be disappointed in her because-

Twilight breathed in, then she breathed out.

She could figure this out later, she had a job to do now in getting as much info as she could.

______________________________________________________________________________

After finally getting completely up, I ended up spending a good amount of the rest of the morning out in the area above my home, playing fetch with one of the wolves with a stick.

Another one of the wolves just continued to sleep in the sun, while the third went in the woods and did.. something.
I'm not sure what that thing he was doing just was, although it was later revealed nearly hour later as he proudly strutted back to where I was carrying a rabbit in his maw.

Weirdly enough, he just gave the rabbit to me, looking at me expectantly, with neither him nor any of the other wolves making motions to eat it, let alone looking interested in it.

Seeing no harm in eating it, as I was getting hungry again, I quickly cooked the rabbit with my fire magic before picking it apart and eating it.

Strangely enough, when I offered pieces to the wolves, they all just look disinterested in it.
Maybe they don't eat meat? I mean, they are sorta made of plants, it makes sense I guess.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Signed: Your faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle" Spike finished, speaking each word he wrote aloud back to Twilight.

Thankfully, he had somehow convinced her to send the letter to Celestia, and that not pursuing Keith immediately would not result in the world as they knew it crumbling down around them.

She didn't have her "moments" as much as she used to, but the stress still got to her, and he always would be there to help her.
"Alright Spike, now its time to gather the girls up!" Twilight said, opening the door, waiting for Spike to follow her out.

And follow her Spike did, although he did think it was not a good idea to go chasing after him. Nevermind that he surprised him that one day in the library.

No way did he scare him, Keith just caught him off guard, thats all.

But still, he had did quite a number on Twilight, and even gave Rainbow Dash a minor Concussion.

And with a frying pan of all things.

Maybe he should invest in one for himself...

______________________________________________________________________________

I was slowly getting more and more bored.

I'm just sitting here, on the edge of the canyon, legs dangling down over it. Not the most safe position I guess, but then again was inviting three wolves made of wood into my house safe? How about setting out to steal an apocalyptic artifact from the home of the literal goddesses of this realm?

Yea, thought so.

By this time the sun had risen to the apex of the sky, and was baking the forest below; it was too hot to do much besides lay around and practice a bit of magic. Maybe if I still had those books I had stolen I could instead be reading them again.

Granted I still had the one on artifacts, but you can only read over a book so many times before it just stops interesting you.
Maybe if I hadn't decided to hide my books before leaving I could be reading the magic lesson book but now with the ability to do everything in it this time. But no, I ended up hiding my books and campsite so well when I left that even I couldn't find them now.

Ridiculous.

Those books exist for a reason, you know, so you don’t have to rediscover an entire field of magic in order to use it, because someone else already did. Like the fact that I eventually decided to try and learn lightening earlier today, but it did not work out, for I had not in the slightest clue how to do it, evidenced by the fact that all my previous attempts have just either resulted in fire or a whole lot of nothing.

Besides more of the basics, it was starting to look like my magic career began to reach its apex.

Upon hearing growling and yelping from behind me, I turned my head to looked at the wolves.

One of them was still sleeping in the sunlight, the other two were play fighting, one of them currently holding the disconnected leg from the other one in its mouth, while the first one was trying to get it back.

The wolf literally stole it’s friend’s leg.

These things got weirder every second.

Turning my attention back to my brooding, I decided to try to once again try to figure out how to use lightning, again.

Holding my free hand out in front of me, the attempts at casting electricity began anew.

______________________________________________________________________________

Celestia finished reading Twilight’s letter.

She quickly wrote a response using the paper and quill on her nearby desk, urging Twilight to avoid direct confrontation, and to perhaps wait for Celestia herself to come with them.

It’s not that Celestia didn't believe in them, quite the contrary. The friends had saved Equestria together on multiple occasions before, even facing against opponents that were infinitely more powerful than Keith.

Then again, they mainly faced off against enemies that were instead trying to take over control of the nation, rather than Keith’s goal which only seemed to be obtaining magical power.

Plus, before the friends had the Elements of Harmony in their possession as well.
Even so, Twilight was now a Princess as well, proof enough of her competence in overcoming any threat to Equestria, with or without the Elements.

Celestia reminded herself that she had to give Twilight faith, she wasn’t the vulnerable student she once was.

Besides, it was certain that they would do fine, even if they confronted Keith, she knew it.

With that thought she ignited her response with the green flames of the delivery spell.

Now it was just a game of seeing what the friends did.

______________________________________________________________________________

Twilight finished reading Celestia’s response to the rest of the gathered Elements of Harmony.

“Well girls, what do you say?” Twilight said to the assembled group of her closest friends “Do we go after him?”

After a good moments pause, Rainbow Dash replied: “Well duh, first he comes here, steals from Applejack and you, before attacking us with a frying pan, THEN he goes and steals a stone from Canterlot. We can’t just let him like not go punished.”

“I agree with Rainbow, this ‘Keith’ feller is just a no good varmint.” Applejack added in.

“I too, agree with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, this brutal ruffian deserves no less.” Rarity chimed in.

Twilight turned to the remaining two ponies:

“Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, do you two have anything to say?”

“Weeee-el, since you asked, I was at first disappointed by the fact that I wasn’t able to throw him a welcoming party, but I thought maybe he just needed some time to think over why he was such a big meanie to you and Rainbow, but then I learned he got caught in Canterlot try to steal but he broke out, so I thought maybe I could try and help him stop being a meanie by throwing him a ‘happy breaking out of jail day’ party, but then he went and did all those mean things, and so I’ve decided that I shall not throw him a party until he makes up for what he’s done.” Pinkie Pie finished, her face looked stern and assertive.

Rarity nearly fainted from the severe cruelty Pinkie Pie’s words held.

“Well, I don’t think we should go after her.” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice.

“Fluttershy, c’mon, I mean seriously he eats chickens, what if he ended up eating one of your friends?” Rainbow Dash responded, getting excitable at Fluttershy.

“Well thats not a problem, many of the animals I care for are also predators-” Fluttershy started before she was interrupted again

“Not to mention all those guards ponies he harmed”

“But he must of been-”

“Not to mention those vegetables and books he stole”

“But I just think that maybe-”

“Plus the fact that he went and stole the Sapphire stone, the same one Daring Do worked her awesome butt on trying to secure.”

The friends stopped and looked at Rainbow Dash with various look, mostly being ones of ‘Are you serious?’.

“What?” Replied Rainbow Dash, looking around.

“Nothin’ Sugarcube” Applejack said before turning to face Fluttershy

“Now Fluttershy, we all agree that this Keith needs to be caught, except for you. Do you really want a murderer out on the loose?”

“Well no, but”

“Exactly, suger cube, you don’t.” Applejack said before turning to Twilight

“Twilight, I think this means we all agree we should go after him.” Applejack said, turning to her friend.

______________________________________________________________________________

A SPARK! I GOT IT! FINNALLY!

After untold hours of working on it I finally managed to create a measly spark of electricity that had arced instantly between his hands.

Now I just had to repeat the same procedure as before, only this time with more power.

Untold hours of trying would now pay off.

My hand cackled with energy, sparks coating it, arcing between my fingers and palm, giving off a distinct hum all the while.

It was glorious, the epitome of power, pure electricity, it was perfect. Now, I just had to cast it.
Shifting my body and standing up to look more epic, I moved my hand out, palm facing the opposing side of the canyon, imagining using my magical power to shoot the electricity out.

With the great boom of thunder, my lightning shot out of my hand, and with power that would make Zeus envious, my bolt struck.

Well, it struck the ground right next me, in fact the bolt was pretty small when I think of it, and it was completely vertical. I think it made one of the wolves stop sleeping and put their head up, probably worried I’d gone crazy.

That was pretty anticlimactic.

But, it was a start, I’d just have to keep trying casting it different ways until I got one that worked.

I’d get there, eventually.

Proud of my progress so far, I turned to face my three wolf companions, eager to perhaps convince one of them to go catch another rabbit for me to cook.

Getting up, I walked over to the three of them before beginning to poke one of them.

“C’mon, Tobi, wanna go catch Master another nice plump rabbit?” I asked as I prodded the wolf that had gotten me my rabbit earlier in the day.

Oh, guess I should mention I named them: Tobi, Mizzy, and Chrissi.

Don’t ask why I made them all half-rhyme.

Seeing as Tobi was just being lazy and sleeping, I then decided to proud Mizzy, being the lazy wolf she was who had spent the entire day sleeping basically. I began shaking her a bit, trying to get her to stand up, but she basically ignored me.

Deciding maybe I’d get lucky with my third wolf, I went to shake them awake.

But, as I turned my attention towards him, I realized Chrissi had already gotten up, and was staring across to the other side of the canyon. That’s when he started growling, prompting the other two to get up from their sleeping and look over to the other side of the canyon, before beginning to growl too.

Following their gaze over to the other side of the canyon, I didn’t see anything.

About to stop them from growling at nothing, it was then I noticed movement on the other side of the canyon. A shimmer of purple translucent light removing branches in front of a band of six ponies who walked obliviously into the clearing before the canyon.

“C’mon girls! The spell is getting strong now! He must be nearby!” Said Twilight.

Thats when Rainbow Dash noticed me, and with an instant look of hatred on her face, she alerted the rest to where I was.

They just all stared at me, some with faces of determination and hate, others with the look of a deer caught in the headlights.

I just stared back, the wolves next to me doing the same while maintaining their growl.

My anger rose to a whole new level.

They had the tenacity to come to my home?

I couldn’t control myself nearly, my blood boiling, I wanted their blood, they needed to suffer.

And so, I fired the first shot, slicing my hand through the air and casting my ‘air blade’ spell that barreled quickly through the space
between us, set to hit the group dead center, and hopefully provide a quick end.

Twilight saw it coming, quickly conjuring a spell, she teleported the six of them to the other side of the canyon, barely twenty yards away from Keith.

As soon as they landed, the Timberwolves at his side began running at them, barking their intent to do them harm.

Very quickly, Twilight issued orders to her five friends

“You guys handle the TimberWolves, I can deal with Keith”

Then, not wanting to have her friends protest, she teleported to the other side of Keith

‘All I have to do is get that statue out of his hand’ She thought, as she began to prep her first spell.

My wolves went after the five other ponies as Twilight Sparkle teleported away.

Fine, I was confident that my wolves would be able to hold those five off, now I only had to deal with the princess.

Turning around slowly, I faced Twilight Sparkle, my face involuntarily turning into a large grin from the upcoming prospect of fighting. I could feel the shudders, the waves of energy pulsing through my body originating from the Sapphire Statue. It loved to be used, I knew it, and the pleasure the fighting gave me ensured there was no backing down.

Still smiling at the princess, I spoke to her:

“What an honor, having you visit me all the way out here. Hate to end it so fast though-”

I quickly moved my hand out of the way of the beam originating from her horn. Enraged, I began yelling at her:
“You fired a freakin laser at me, and in the middle of a freaking dialogue? The hell girl, you just don’t do-”

I moved the Statue out of the way of her second shot.

“Okay, screw this”

With that I began running at Twilight, my hand coating itself with magical flame. Expecting her next shot, I dodged her volley and followed it by jumping at her, hand full of fire and heading straight to punch her square in her jaw.

Only to have her teleport another ten feet back, and fire another shot.

Dodging it, and enraged, I extinguished the flame around me hand and instead casted a wind blade at her. She dodged the rip in air by flying above it and then followed by changing her direction and flyed at me, her horn letting out several rapid fire lasers at me.

Infuriated, I jumped back out of the spot I had been, and casted a wave of power at her, hoping to push her out of flight and mess her up. Instead she casted a shield spell over herself, deflecting the push.

Then I broke.

With a scream of rage I began casting spell after spell at her: Fireball, push, blade, fire, more fire. The whole effect started creating a fog of ash and dust between us, as I began running at her, continuously casting spells at her the whole time, her shield deflecting each in every one.

Then I got close enough to her to do it; using my magic push as a way to propel me up, I jumped up before casting the spell underneath me, sending me flying at Twilight.

In an instant I collided with her shield, and phased right through it.

Catching Twilight off guard, I collided with her mid-air, before managing to force her underneath me as we began obeying the laws of gravity.

We both fell like a rock, me landing on Twilight, causing her to cry out in pain as we collided with the ground. Pulling my arm back, I coated my fist with flames once more before punching Twilight on the snout, breaking it and creating a continuous stream of blood from it, pulling back my hand, I was then stunned by Twilight teleporting away from underneath me.

Damned pony, just give up already!

Standing up, I looked around before spotting her above at least twenty feet, charging a spell.
I went to once again jump at her, when her horn let out a small white flash.
And she spoke a single word:

“Boom”

Everything around me ignited in magical flames, every spot on the ground she had shot her lazer at now exploding in a fiery display a purple force. My body was hurled between the waves of energy, like a ragdoll, each one sending an arc of energy coursing into my body, making it seize up and stop moving. As the waves ended, my body stopped its forced flailing and fell to the ground, completely limp.

I could only stare defenselessly as Twilight landed upon the ground and began walking up to me, a smile on her face.
I screamed internally, trying everything to get my body to move, yet it would not obey me, my entire body beginning to feel as if it were solid stone.

“I’m surprised that it worked actually, a remote detonation spell combined with a laser spell and a paralysis spell, quite the combination if I do say so myself” Twilight said, walking up next to my limp body, looking nothing but prideful.

“Now then, first to deal with that Statue and then with you.” Twilight began, using her telekinesis, she force pulled the Statue out of my limp hand, before setting it down a distance away from me.

“Now, all we should have to do is release the magic that has been stored in here, and the Statue should be rendered useless” Twilight said, half to herself and half to me, the glowing of her horn indicating the beginnings of a spell being casted.

I could move my fingers a little bit now, every part of my mind willing me to get moving, to get the damned statue back!

Twilight’s horn descended towards the statue.

I internally said every curse I could think of.

The horn connected to the Sapphire of the Statue, the spell flashing into the statue.

Twilight stood back, expecting something to happen.

A moments pause, still nothing.

Looking frustrated Twilight began casting the spell once more.

Then the howling started.

It began with my wolves that had been fighting the other five ponies, they stopped where they standed and began howling, the ponies whom they had been fighting before hand just standing around in confusion, still in the positions they had been in order to fight the wolves. Then, like a wave, more howls came, from all over the forest, a crescendo of noise echoing through the canyon to a deafening volume as hundreds of voices raised to the sky, as if every wolf in the forest heard the cry and joined their voices to it.

Running at Twilight, the five other ponies quickly caught up, Applejack yelling at Twilight over the howling in order to be heard:

“TWILIGHT, WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO!”

“I DON’T KNOW APPLEJACK, THIS SHOULDN’T BE HAPPENING!”

Then the pulsing of the statue began, as if reacting to the howls, the jem began glowing dark blue, making the space around it begin to seem almost darker, slowly extending across the area as if a cloud had begun to cover up the sun.

The statue pulsed faster, beginning to look as if it were now violently vibrating in the air. It was then that cracks began appearing across it, quickly spreading to cover the entire object.

Then it exploded, projecting its thousands of pieces in every direction, leaving behind only a floating orb of complete blackness. Then the darkness began pouring out, coming from the orb and endlessly flowing like a thick oil, sludging as it hit the ground and began taking shape.

First the paws, then the legs, then the body, all the shape of a wolf with a coat black as the void of the night.

Then its eyes opened, and they glowed a deep blue filled with an ingrained hatred of all that lay before it.

Staring at the ponies, the wolf then let out what was a mix between a bark and a roar, the ferocious sound of a predator that had been the death of countless prey before hand and would be the death of countless more. The effect was instantaneous, sending the ponies running for their lives, screaming their fright and nearly tripping over themselves as Twilight eventually managed to use a mass teleport, sending the six away.

I could only watch, unmoving as the wolf stood there, unmoving, the roar having the instantaneous effect of silencing the howling emanating from the forest.

The the wolf then turned its head, and looked directly at me, its deep blue eyes boring into my soul, seething the very feeling of fear, that of a predator on the hunt.

If I could of ran away I would of. If I could of screamed I would of. Yet, my body still lay motionless, paralysed upon the ground and unresponsive to me.

The wolf turned its body to me, slowly walking to where my body laid.

I could feel its unnatural gaze, across my body, as the wolf came to stand directly next to me.

All I could do was stare at it, fearing what it would do and completely at its mercy.

Author's Note

Well, here's chapter two.

As always, any critique, criticism, or grammar mistake you have/see, I would love hearing them!

Otherwise, I'll see you soon for Chapter 3.

Also, If you haven't seen it already, Keith has been featured in a massive cross-over fic called "The League of Humanity," you should go check it out and totally graffiti the comment section with stuff like "Keith is best villain ever" because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside

Chapter 3
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Fallen From Grace

Chapter 3

Sometimes something happens that's so ridiculous that there's is no way you are able to react to it.

That's what I was feeling right now.

The sun was beginning to set in the distance, slowly covering the land in shadows, yet I stayed laying here, half due to the remaining effects of the paralysis spell, half due to the fact that a gigantic wolf made out of shadows was literally sleeping half-way on me.

That's all it did after it scared the ponies away, it walked around me a bit before settling down and laying next to me with one of its legs and a part of its body draped over me.

Just ridiculous.

Even if I had full movement of my body, there's no way I'd make it out safely.

I could move most of my upper body at this point, but the fear was I'd stand up and be forced to awkwardly wobble away from the wolf with legs like stone if I decided to take my chances at getting away.

I strained my neck to bend up and look at the wolf once again, it was still asleep.

I didn't want to risk waking it by moving, but that was the only way I was getting out of here.

Then again, it was do something or wait around for the wolf to wake up...

That's when I realized my wooden wolves were watching the scene from the treeline.

My wooden wolves! They could somehow help me, that or distract this wolf long enough for me to get away somewhere. There was no way I could take this thing on without my gem anymore, but they could last a bit, hopefully speaking.

With this thought I began calling out to the wolves.

"Tobi! Mizzy! Chrissy! pssst, come on help me out here!" I yell whispered to the wolves, lightly tapping the ground with my hand for emphasis.

For the most part they seemed to ignore me, instead choosing to stare at the giant wolf that sat halfway on me.

Well I guess they're scared or something. Leave it the goddamn wolves to be too scared to help me.

Freaking useless puppies.

I slowly pushed myself along on the ground, ignoring those wooden wolves, they weren't any help to me. Doing this I was slowly able to inch myself away towards freedom.

Progress was slow, but it was progress none the less. My body slowly moving away from underneath the wolf's paws and body.

And then, somehow, I gradually was able to work it to the point where my body was mostly free. The wolf for the most part didn't seem to notice as I forced the transfer of its weight from atop me to the ground, the only part now remaining atop me being it's paws.

Moving my hands, I gently grabbed the limbs and slowly lifted them up off of me, then awkwardly shifting the remainder of my body from underneath them, I laid the paws back onto the ground gently. With that, I was now in the clear.

Another victory for Keith, as always.

With that, I stood myself up on shaking feet, and decidedly flipped off the three wolves who were still watching me. I didn't need those assholes' help.

With that, I was clear, now I just had to leave before the wolf waked up and go on to find another artifact to steal, I did it once, I could do it again.

With that optimistic outlook, I took my first step forward towards my next objective.

Within seconds I was laying on the dirt, my face making itself acquainted with the ground.

Goddamn Twilight Sparkle and her paralysis spell, and those damn wolves, I could swear they were laughing at me at this point.

I pushed myself up with my arms, spitting some leaves out of my mouth along the way.

I stood back up, my legs shaking more now, feeling still like stone.

Okay, breathe, I can do this. Just one leg, in front of the other. Following this mantra, I took my first step forward again, lifting my right foot and extending it.

I made it, my legs still feeling frozen and shaking, but I made it.

Okay, now the next step. With this I began taking the next step, lifting my left foot and placing it in front of the right.

I fell over again, my face once again meeting with the dirt of the ground.

And damn those wolves, I could hear them laughing now. Freaking assholes, why the hell don't they help me with this.

I lifted myself up off the ground with my arms once more, looking furiously over at my wolves, I prepared to tell them to stop laughing and help me.

Looking at the wolves, I saw that they weren't laughing, they were still intently staring at the wolf who I had just escaped.

The same wolf that was now laughing.

It was a feminine laugh, yet gave off the distinct flavor of only coming from the pain of others.

Well shit.

I blame the wooden wolves.

"Please keep going, I'm enjoying this" The wolf said in a raspy yet feminine voice.

Okay, don't freak out. I'm just being laughed at by a giant wolf made of shadows while my legs are practically paralyzed.

With all the courage I could muster, I spoke out, still lying on the ground save for my upper body which was being held up by my arms.

"N-no, I'm uh fine just staying here" I said, my voice nearly shaking, while I still laid there, facing away from her.

"Oh, well that's a shame, the fun is in the chase" She said, obviously knowing what I was feeling.

Okay, breathe, there's no way I can run, I just have to keep to distracting her by talk for... however long it takes me to get out of this situation.

Easy.

"Oh yea, the uh chase, yea, so uhm, fun" I said, trying to scramble how the hell to distract her.

Of Course leave it to me to agree that being chased by a predator is fun.

"Glad to see you agree with me, mortal." She said.

Damnit it all to hell. I slowly turned my head in order to look at my wolves, giving them a pleading look to try and save me, but no, their stare was still focused on the beast behind me.

I tried making some discrete motions at them, trying to get their attention, yet their gaze remained on the wolf behind me, the same wolf that then spoke up.

"Don't even think that it's a possibility, mortal, what do you think prompted them to follow you?" She asked, taking an almost serious tone, yet one that still felt like she was about to pounce and maul my face off any second.

"Uhm well... My amazing skill at using magic?" I asked, almost hopefully.

She let out a small chuckle before continuing "You mean my amazing magic? And above that maybe the fact that I made them?"

"Huh?" I intelligently retorted, showing nothing but the utmost skill at figuring things out.

"Ugh, didn't think you were this dense." She said, almost in mock drama "All the magic you've been using didn't come from the statue, it came from me, infact the statue is technically just a prison for me." She continued, before turning her tone into an accusing one "You're just a small little human who decided they can try and use my magic, I just went along cause I thought it would be fun."

"So, this whole time I've just been using your magic" I said, almost unbelievingly, still facing away from her and partially lying on the ground.

"Indeed, master detective, now then, have anything to say relating to what you have done?" She said, accusingly.

My mind, instead of answering just went blank. I got myself into this crap. Standing up from where I was and still looking away from her, I almost went to speak when she instead started.

"Not a single thing?" she said, her voice continuing on now taking a turn into becoming friendlier "Because, I may perhaps allow you to use it once more, if you beg."

"Wait, seriously?" I asked, at this I turned around to face her expectantly, instead I was faced with... well she was gone.

Thats when her voice started up once again, this time right behind me, almost speaking right into my ear.

"You want power, I want something similar, but I also want to remain on the low-key." She said as I turned my head to face her, but instead she began talking into the other ear, staying hidden.

"The ponies had no clue I was trapped in that statue, I want to kill and maim, but they have ways to beat me, but you on the other hand, they don't know you, if you just use my powers to do my goal, then its the same to me."

I thought over the proposition, for a moment before asking one question.

“You said your only goal was to kill and maim?”

“Yes, what do you think was driving you on your little blood fest? And that was very satisfying to me, if I do say so. Just supply me with that level of constant bloodshed and my powers are all yours to use.”

I pondered this for a moment. On one hand, I could have all the magic I could ever want once again, and possibly even a teacher for the small price of a steady stream of corpses. That or I deny her and risk having her kill and maim me instead.

I looked at where her voice was, and once again she disappeared.

Okay this was getting a bit annoying.

“First things first, before I agree to anything, can you stop avoid my eyesight, and second, shouldn’t we first exchange names before signing a pact?” I said, looking around for where-ever she disappeared to.

“Well, for the name, you can either refer to me as ‘your greatness’ or ‘Vera’, whichever you prefer, as for seeing me, fine, I guess since you’re implying that you agree to the contract, I will allow you to gaze upon my greatness.” With that the shadows transferred in from of me, coalescing into a vague form that slowly took on the general shape of a human female, complete with the glowing blue eyes she had as a wolf.

I just stared at her for a moment.

“Don’t you like? I thought you would, seeing as you’re all alone away from your species, plus these ponies never heard of your kind before, so now I think taking the form of your kind would now be even scarier than that of a wolf, seeing as you agreed to my plan.” She said, ending it with a bright white sociopathic smile that completely clashed with the rolling shadows that made up her human form.

I just kept staring at her.

I’ll admit it, she was creepy as hell, and so I let her know.

“You look creepy as hell.”

“Why thanks deary, now then, about those powers, mind keep your body completely flaccid for a second here?” She said as she quickly extended her hand towards my face.

Reacting involuntarily, I tried to move my head back away from her, but was too slow to stop it from connecting. In that instant of contact, her whole body dissipated and flowed into me, making my vision go blue and swirl for a second before returning to normal.

I just looked at where she had been beforehand, dumbfounded.

“Did you just…. go inside me?” I asked, almost not expecting an answer.

‘Figuratively, yes’

I just didn’t know what to think at this point, then again, if she controlled the statue, maybe she technically was like this the whole time?

Okay, just calm down, get used to it, this is how my life will now go, with a passenger along for the ride. Even with this attempt to calm down, I couldn’t help but feel completely freaked out.

One step at a time.

______________________________________________________________________________

I sat, back against the wall, wolves sitting across at the opposite side of the wall, after being told by Vera that I needed to act as the Alpha now and sleep alone.

Plus those wolves were ass-holes and didn’t even think of helping me out.

Outside the sun was beginning to set, I had spent most of the remainder of the day getting used to the fact that there was the freaking equivalent of a goddess of the hunt in my head right now and planning with said goddess what I should do next.

Tomorrow would be a big day: get revenge on some ponies who had both seen Vera’s true from, for how little time it was, then conquer the world.
It was a simple yet ingenious plan.

Plus it paid the blood debt I would owe Vera for a little bit.

At first I was hesitant, but at this point that feeling was dying faster and faster. It was like I was slowly getting more okay with slaughtering some things for the heck of it, strange as that sounds.

Adjusting myself in order to try and fall asleep, I finally decided to ask Vera the one thing that was still bugging me.

“Hey Vera?” I asked out loud, feeling a bit silly about it.

‘Yes?’

“...Why did you fall asleep on me?”

‘.......Have you ever tried sleeping while being trapped in a gemstone?’ She replied

“Well no, but-”

‘Exactly, its literally impossible.’

Well, that settled that…

Adjusting to become more comfortable, I went to sleep for the night.

Author's Note

Apologies for shorter than usual chapter and longer than usual wait, I had to devote more time from this to writing this silly little essay that was worth only a quarter of my grade. Woe is me.

Anyway, I also failed to meet my goal of at least one blatant scene of action/violence per a chapter, for that I apologize as well.

As always, please leave a comment if you spot any grammar mistakes/ have something to say.

The next chapter shall be way longer hopefully and following that one chapter releases may speed up once again. But until then, cya next time!
-Conrad

Chapter 4
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Fallen From Grace

Chapter 4

It was nearing midday, and the sun graciously beamed upon the emerald fields that lay directly outside the fair town known as 'Ponyville'. It was an innocent place, with small children playing and running around while their parents stood off to the side, deep in discussion on some odd piece of gossip from the day prior.

Yet I didn't hear a word of it, nor did I frankly give any interest towards it. Not the gossip, and not the fillies. They posed no interest to me. I was after something different.

Revenge.

Six ponies had attacked me at my home, and now they were back at their own. I had decided that I should return the favor to them.

Backing out of the bush I had watched the ponies from, I went a safe distance into the forest before beginning to walk through it, keeping the town to my right side as I continued.

Walking through the dense foliage, I paid very little mind to the amount of noise I made as I got further and further away from where the fillies were playing.

Moving a branch out of my way and stepping past it, I inadvertently ended up on a trail that led straight into the town.

Realizing I was no longer hidden, I quickly jumped back into the foliage like a scared rabbit. After a second, I poked my head out and looked around to make sure I hadn't crossed into the sight of some pony.

The coast was completely clear as far as I could tell. I felt a bit silly for the whole scene I had made, but I preferred that to giving my prey the knowledge that I was coming.

Letting out the breathe I had unintentionally holding, I looked down the path to the point where it entered the town proper. As it went in, it looked as if it transitioned into what could of passed as the main road of the town until it reached a large circular building in what seemed to be the center of the town, far off in the distance. From my guess it was probably the town hall.

Feeling safe, I decided to sit down and think over my plan.

'Simple, right, just go in there as night falls, find the ponies that came after me and end them, simple as that. I get revenge, and I fulfill the blood demanded by Vera.’'

A predatory smile crept onto my face as the voice of Vera suddenly invaded my mind.

'Of Course there's no harm in a little collateral damage, all these damn ponies are the same, it'd be fun.'

'Yea fun, guess so, as long as we get those six dealt with it doesn't matter what we do on the side.'

'In fact when we deal with those six, what's to stop us from just continuing on to the rest of the town?'

What could stop me though, honestly? A goddess of predation in my head and her unrivaled power at my command. I simply needed to get into the town to fuel her and we’d be set.

This town would just be a stepping stone for me. The sacrifice Vera demanded for her power, that was all this was.

I dropped down to a sitting position, my back against a tree not far from the path. Stretching out, I got comfortable, waiting for the night to come, and reluctantly closed my eyes.

I would need to rest now in order to prepare for this fun filled night.

___________________________________________________________________

Twilight turned around to face spike, the five other elements of harmony behind her as she spoke out to him

“Alright spike, read out the letter back to us”

“Okay, here goes” Spike said, quickly clearing his throat before continuing on.

“Dear princess Celestia,

Sorry, but yesterday we might of went into the Everfree forest after Keith and we might of attacked him and when we attacked him we might of broke his statue which caused a giant blue scary wolf monster to appear. We ran-”

“-We didn't run from that thing, we uh… retreated from it, it wasn't scary.” Rainbow dash suddenly interjected.

Spike simply looked at the girls, unconvinced “Right……” He then scribbled the word out before replacing it with the new one and continuing on with the letter.

“We retreated in a completely not scared fashion away from the wolf and now find ourselves back in Ponyville. Again sorry, could you please tell us what you want to do now,

Again sorry,

-Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie pie.” Spike finished, looking back at Twilight expectantly.

“Alright girls, I think that sounds good, Spike….. go ahead and send it” Twilight said, sounding as if she dreaded sending the letter.

Spike promptly rolled the parchment up before breathing out his green flames to consume it and transport it away.

In seconds the letter was gone, and in its wake left the friends in the room uncharacteristically quiet.

“So…. now we just wait?” Rainbow asked, her voice full of uncertainty.

“Ah don’ see why we don’ just go back there an’ fight that Keith feller again, we beat him once we can do it again, doesn't matter if’n there's a wolf there or not, we just got scared willy by it, but now that we know it there, it won’t be suprisin’ us no more.” Applejack stated, looking to the rest of the group for confirmation.

“I’m sorry dear, but I can’t say I’d agree to going after that ruffian again, we still have no clue what that dreadful looking… thing that came out of the statue can actually do. I say we just wait for Celestia’s word back” Finished Rarity.

“Yea, Keith may be a meanie and all and that black wolf might be an even bigger one, but I think Rarity is right” Pinkie pie said.

“And with Fluttershy that makes it to over half of us wanting to wait.” Twilight said conclusively.

“uhm, I didn’t actually say any-”

“And that means we should just wait now for Celestia’s word back” Twilight finished, not even noticing that Fluttershy had spoken up.

“Well it just don’ feel right, waitin’ around while this Keith feller is still out there.” Applejack replied defiantly.

“Well dear, do we actually know if the beast that came out of the statue didn’t just up and turn on Keith?” Rarity pointed out.

“Well no but that doesn’t make up for the fact that our plan is to just sit around” Rainbow Dash interjected.

Spike then gave off a loud belch, the resulting cloud of pure indescribable horror that was his burp given physical form descended from his mouth before condensing into paper.

He went to grab the paper out of the air, but Twilight rudely intercepted in with her magic before he could.

He sent an annoyed huff in her direction.

“Alright girls, listen up.” Twilight said, getting the rest of the group’s attention.

“Dear Twilight and friends,

Luna and I shall come and help you apprehend Keith. As for what came out of the statue, well we shall answer that question when we arrive. Expect us within the hour.

-Celestia”

“Well ah guess we could wait a little bit if the princess themselves are coming to help take out this feller” Applejack said, firmly convinced.
And so they began waiting.

___________________________________________________________________

I couldn't fall asleep.

As much as I tried, I simply could not. It had been nothing but muggy and hot as hell for the entire hour I had decided to spend upon beginning to rest in preparation for tonight. Of course that led to me being unable to get comfortable, let alone fall asleep.

I wanted to fight these damn ponies in the dark of night. Not because I thought I couldn't take the entire town at once, its just that it’d be a lot easier picking them off one by one under the cover of darkness, I’d have to kill some of them discreetly to feed Vera in order to get more power from her in order to move on to higher level targets. Then, I’d simply fight those six damned ponies to the death.

Yet at this rate, I’d be killed off by boredom before the night even fell.

“Well what did you expect, leaving the house while it was still morning? For it to suddenly to become night when you arrived?” The annoyed voice of Vera spoke up.

Amazingly she was able to get bored as well.

“Well you’re not helping even in the slightest to make it go any faster” I furiously whispered back, still not used to speaking to a voice in my head.

“Well then alright, let’s do something to pass the time then” Vera replied.

“Okay then, what do you suggest?” I said, unintentionally raising my voice up to a normal speaking level.

“....We could hunt something” Vera said, saying it like it was the best damn idea in the world.

“Well aren't we trying to rest up for a giant ‘destroy all in our path’ attack tonight?” I said, shooting down the idea.

“Well its mainly you that needs to rest, I most certainly would be completely fine.” Vera said, almost proudly.

“This coming from the she-wolf that just fell asleep atop me…” I deadpanned back at her.

“Oh shut it. How ‘bout we hear your ingenious plan to waste a couple hours away with” Vera replied viciously.

“Alright…” I said, going into thought for a moment. “How about that one word game?”

“What.” Vera replied, uninterested.

“You know, the one where I say a word and you say the first thing that comes to mind.”

She didn't reply.

“Oh come on it’ll be fun, I’ll even start. Hmm… How about water, okay, and now you say the first thing that comes to mind.” I blabbered on.

She again didn't reply.

“Oh come on, now you’re being a sorry puss and not responding, it’s easy why-”

“Would you please shut the hell up” Vera curtly interjected.

“Wow, the hell just got stuck up your-”

“No, shut up and listen, don’t you hear the clopping of hooves.” Vera said, shushing me quite rudely.

But sure enough, I did hear the distant clopping of hooves once I stopped talking. Clopping that was slowly getting louder and quite furious, as if several ponies were clopping together and making their way towards me, clopping the whole time.

“Well shit, we’re right next to the path, this was dumb.” I whispered, slowly getting up and ready to dart further into the forest.

“Wait!” Vera yelled to me. “Hold your hand out, I’m gonna cast a spell.”

I did just that, and sure enough my hand started to glow a dark purple.

“Alright, now touch your chest” Vera instructed.

I did as I was told, and like a candle being snuffed out, the second my hand connected to my chest, my entire body instantly blended in with the surroundings plants.

“Nice, a camo spell” I whispered to her appreciatively.

“Be quiet or our prey will hear us” Vera berated.

“Sorry” I whispered solemnly, as the clopping of hooves came closer.

Soon enough a group of six mares walked right past me with two alicorn princesses leading the way.

‘Well, looks like my house is about to be host to some uninvited guests.’ I thought to myself.
“We could still probably beat them back to it” Vera offered.

‘Wait, you can hear my thoughts?’ I asked.

“No I’m just randomly saying stuff.” Vera sarcastically replied, before then adding on “Always could and always will be able to.”

I mentally slapped myself for talking to her out loud the entire time, before then asking: ‘Then why’d you keep letting me essentially talk to myself?’

“I really don’t see any issue..” Vera replied.

‘Ugh, fine okay, let’s focus on the ponies then.’ I thought to her.

“We could go back home and deal with our ‘guests’, or” Vera stated matter-of-factly.

‘Or’ I replied.

“Or we could just go into the now undefended town and slaughter everything.” Vera spoke, excitedly.

‘I think I like option two better, requires less work and more fun’ I replied, a grin adorning my face due to our combined excitement. ‘Plus it’d be easy feeding to you there.’

“Eh” She stated matter of factly. “Either way I’m guaranteed at least some blood”

‘Well then let’s, no time like the present for fueling my blood magic’ I stated matter-of-factly as I stood up.

“It’s not blood magic, its just magic that I demand to be paid for in blood and murder because that simply how I feed.” Vera replied, almost defensively.

‘I don’t see any difference nor why it would really matter, they’re both just a way to get magic to me.’ I replied as I walked towards the edge of the forest.

‘Either way we got a town that is missing its defenders’ I said, poking my head out. ‘And that means easy pickings’ I finished as I stared out towards the town I would now be able to lay waste to. Open, barren, and left completely undefended.

Save for the forty-some pegasus guards I saw circling over top the town plus countless unicorn and earth pony guards that were patrolling the streets.

‘Damn it, they left soldiers’ I stated, disappointed.

“We can take them” Vera added, almost absent-mindedly.

“That or we could go after the house guests.” She then added.

Making my mind up, I stepped out of the forest and on to the dirt path, ready to go and ruin the day for some ponies.

Author's Note

Warning: This author's note contains a bunch of rambling on about stuff relating to the story

Well sorry for that impromptu hiatus.

I simply had a lot going on and sorta lost interest in writing this story. Therefore I didn't write for it since I simply was not interested.

It's funny cause this was written for Lohav, and I managed to get the twelfth story submitted there, for anyone who cares about those sorta facts. Then the group exploded. I think it reached over 200 stories at some point, and that made me sad cause they all focused mainly on some guy in cos-play being teleported with a magic artifact.

If you couldn't tell, I went a slightly different route.

Either way I may be officially breaking the ties between that group and this story. Mainly because the old group for some reason was deleted and I'm too lazy to do all the joining into the new one. Plus I sorta felt like my story was an oddball in that group, but oh well.

On another note, I intend to change the coverart because I drew that myself and therefore it looks hideous to me. Secondly, I may change the name. Mainly because there is another story titled "Fallen from grace" and it did a bit better than mine so I feel obligated to do the gentleman thing and rebrand. So be warned.

As for writing this story, I hope to be able to write some more in the few days I have left in summer. Funny, I finally get the interest to write more for the story just in time for summer to end.

Also thanks to all the people who liked, Favorited and commented. I felt a bit bad for sort of abandoning this story because of you guys, but that lasted like five seconds.

-Conrad