Demons from the Past

Aldric cracked open an eye upon hearing the sound of walking. He looked to his right to find Blackwing at the entrance of the cave. It was still dark out so he was either looking at the stars or looking out for danger. Aldric got up and walked over to him. The night sky was beautiful, still, it was the middle of the night.

"So," Blackwing looked at him, "where did you live after you got here?" Blackwing lowered himself so Aldric could climb on his back. Blackwing walked back inside the cave and ran back to the entrance and jumped, extending his wings. They were in the sky in no time. The ride didn't take so long, Blackwing landed in some sort of ring on the top of a mountain, with a massive nest in the middle of it. "So you lived here? Okay, but how did you find me?" Blackwing shrugged and flew back up, Aldric holding on.

They were directly over Ponyville now. "Hey, drop off here." Aldric said, making Blackwing land in front of the library. Aldric got off and walked over to the door. He turned the handle which was locked. He crouched down and pulled out a lockpick. The lock was picked and the door opened and Aldric walked in.

Aldric look around and noticed Spike sleeping on the ground next to some books. Aldric picked him up and settled him on the couch. Aldric beckoned Blackwing inside. Blackwing stepped inside, only for his talons to clack across the floor. Aldric looked at Spike who muttered something. Blackwing stepped across, more cautiously than before.

"Okay, you are going to stay here while I close all of the blinds." Blackwing looked at him, confused. "It's a prank. We're going to scare the living shit out off them." Blackwing nodded and got into position. Aldric stepped over and closed the blinds.

Aldric didn't know how long he was waiting. "Spike! Why is it so dark in here?" Twilight said. He smiled and heard Twilight's hooves clop over to the windows and opened them. The sun crashed inside the library.

"AHHHHHH!" Spike screamed, falling over his tail. Twilight looked behind, scared. She saw red eyes and a dark mass. She felt something grab her shoulder. She screamed also, teleporting to Spike and grabbing him.

"Hahahahaha!" Aldric fell over laughing, Blackwing began to caw and fell over also. Twilight still couldn't see him that well so she still held Spike behind her. "Twilight, Spike, it's me, Aldric. Oh, and Blackwing is here too. We were playing a prank on you two." Twilight saw them and her scared expression turned to angry.

"You call that a prank! You scared us! A prank isn't supposed to be scary!" Spike stopped shaking and looked over Twilight's shoulder, spotting Blackwing. Blackwing looked him straight in the eyes. He snapped open his wings. Spike hid behind Twilight again. Aldric put his hand on Blackwing, making Blackwing's wings shut closed. "How did you even get in? The door was locked!" Aldric pulled out his lockpicks. "Oh... lockpicks." She looked them over and decided to walk over to Aldric. "Spike, let's go." Spike walked over to Twilight, avoiding Blackwing. They walked through the door.

"You don't think we overdid it, do you?" Blackwing shook his head. "Still, I think Spike will see you in his nightmares. Come on." They walked through the doors and into the street. All of the ponies looked at him, backing away. Blackwing looked at him. "Yeah, they are scared I might eat them, or something, I don't know." Aldric said, looking into the sky. They soon noticed all of the ponies were running over to a spot in town. They looked at each other and shrugged, following the ponies.

They found where the ponies were going, a small wagon was in the middle of town. They walked through the crowd, which was easy considering they stepped away from him. They stopped behind Twilight and the others.

"So, Twilight, what is happening here?" He asked her, looking at the wagon. She looked behind to see Aldric and Blackwing. She shrugged and looked back at the wagon. "Hey Blackwing, doesn't that wagon look familiar?" Blackwing looked closer at the wagon, which suddenly opened up to reveal a stage. "Never mind."

"Welcome, mares and gentlecolts! I am the famous Great and Powerful Trrrixie!" Fireworks went off to reveal a blue pony with a giant wizards hat. "That's right ponies! The one and only Trixie! Tri-" she stopped looking at Aldric. She began to step back.

"What? Never seen a human before," he said, mockingly, "don't worry, you aren't the first." She started to look irritated. "What? Still speechless?"

"How dare you mock the great and powerful Trixie! Trixie will not be mocked!" He groaned, she was talking in third-person. He wanted to kill her just for talking like that. He breathed in and out. Blackwing nudged him and looked into the sky. Aldric nodded and got on him. "Yes! See how it runs from the Great and Powerful Trrrri-EEEP!" Aldric sword flew right past her, embedding itself in the stage. He got off Blackwing and walked over to it, pulling it out.

"You know Trixie, that blade could've gone into your face and I would've preferred that, but I'm a nice guy, so how about you shut the fuck up." He said coldly to her. He sheathed the blade and remounted Blackwing. They took off and went back to the mountain.

When they landed Aldric spoke. "Yes, I know that I was over-reacting but I don't care Blackwing." Blackwing was stunned, his rider has changed much over the time they were separated. Blackwing nudged him and sat down. He unhooked his blade from his belt and set it aside. He laid back against Blackwing, sighing. "I wonder when they're going to find us." He said, closing his eyes.

Down back at town, everypony was stunned. That thing just threatened to kill a pony without a second thought. Twilight and the others were running over to find out where they had gone.

"Rainbow, fly up and try to find them!" Rainbow nodded and flew higher. She looked around but only saw a mountain in the distance, she flew over to it because it was the only thing around. She landed on a ring and saw Blackwing, sleeping, with his wing covering Aldric. She took one step forward and cracked a couple of twigs.

"Hello Rainbow, I understand that you and the others are here to scold me about scaring all of the ponies and almost killing one, but to be honest, I don't give two shits, so you can run along now." Aldric said beneath the wing. Blackwing lifted up his wing and stretched it, closing it again over Aldric. Rainbow looked down and then back to him. She shrugged and went back down.

"Is he up there Rainbow?" Twilight asked her. Rainbow nodded to the question. "Okay, let's go up. Rainbow, can you lift me and the others?" Rainbow nodded and grabbed Twilight and flew up. She dropped off Twilight and went back down to get the others. "Aldric! What were you thinking! You could've killed her!"

"I didn't though, so you can go back down and back to town because I don't want to listen to you." Blackwing's wing wasn't covering Aldric anymore so she could she him making movements with his hands. She was about to say something when another pony landed behind her. She looked back to see Fluttershy, shaking from being up so high. "Oh, I see you are bringing the entire posse up, well whoop-de-do." He finished, twirling his finger. Blackwing began to toss and turn so Aldric began to rub his head. It calmed Blackwing. "Now leave, Blackwing has trouble sleeping when people are talking." He stopped looking at them and began to rub Blackwing's back. Blackwing relaxed and fell back asleep.

Twilight was about to say something when Fluttershy grabbed her leg and shook her head. Twilight looked between them and sighed, giving up and teleported back down with Fluttershy. Rainbow was about to lift up Applejack when she appeared in front of them.

"What? Why are you back here if I just took you up there? Also, I thought you couldn't teleport!" Rainbow exclaimed, annoyed. She let go off AJ and walked over to her. "Huh? Why?"

Twilight fiddled with her hooves a bit. She was embarrassed that she gave up so easily after making Rainbow do all that work. She was about to say why when a deafening roar happened. They all looked at each other and then to town.

"That came from Ponyville." Pinkie said, walking back towards town. "They could be in trouble! Let's go," she sprinted back to town. They all were a little weirded out, Pinkie was being mature. Then what she said clicked into place and they sprinted to town. Above on the mountain, Aldric and Blackwing heard it too.

"I would say a bear.... a really big bear," he said, squinting at the town. "Come on, let's see what caused that." He swung himself onto Blackwing and flew over to the town. He looked down to see a shimmering coat, coated with stars. Then it leaned back and he saw it was a really big bear. "Interesting, looks like its fur is covered in stars... look at that." He then dived off of Blackwing onto the ground. "So," he started, the bear turning to him, "what's this then? Why you attacking, star bear?" He heard someone scoff behind him.

"It's an Ursa Minor, not a star bear." Twilight said, backing away from the bear. Aldric looked back between the two. He couldn't believe it, the Ursa Minor, a constellation in a living form, and it was attacking the town. He just wanted to ask how it got here or why is it attacking, but he couldn't and drew his sword.

"Well then, Ursa Minor, why are you attacking this town, huh? Why," he said, looking at the bear. It only snarled in response and charged him. It swung his paw at him, only for Aldric to impale it. He cried out in pain and swung his other paw. Aldric pulled out his sword and backflipped out of the way, making the Ursa hit his own paw, causing a shockwave that shattered windows. "What? You gonna cry to your mommy now?" What he just said suddenly clicked into his mind. "Wait.... you're an Ursa Minor, so if you're the Minor, where's the Major?" The ground rumbled beneath his feet. He snapped his head back and saw it, the Ursa Major, charging him. It him him, sending him flying across town.

"Mister, wake up!" His eyes snapped open, darting left and right. He pushed himself up only to be pushed back down. "No, you have three broken bones and a concussion, you must rest." His eyesight was still a bit blurred so he couldn't see who was helping him. He healed himself and stood up, seeing the pony. "No, you must rest, Princess Celestia will stop the Ursa." She was a white pony, with a cross for a cutie mark. He snarled and swung his body to the side of the bed.

"The Princess may be coming, but the town will be destroyed before she gets here, I need to stop it." She tried to push him back down but he pushed her off. He put his hand to her neck. "I'm sorry," he said, knocking her out. He walked over to the window and saw he was three stories high. "I've jumped off higher," he said, diving out the window. Aldric looked around, patting himself down. A piece of wood flew past, nearly taking off his head. Aldric looked to the the Ursa Major, stomping around. Aldric teleported next to it. "HEY! STAR BEAR, COME AND GET ME!" Aldric yelled, making the Ursa stop. She looked to her right to see him, the thing that hurt her baby. She stood on her hind legs and let out a bellowing roar. "Yeah, yeah, roar all you want, it won't stop me from kicking your ass!" The Ursa and Aldric looked at each other, straight in the eyes. She slammed down back onto four legs, shaking the ground. He backpedaled a bit, making it charge. He dashed through the town, drawing her away.

"Is that... Aldric?" Rarity asked, hiding behind a barrel. Applejack nodded and looked back to town. "What is he doing? No matter, we must find the others." She and AJ ran to find them.

Aldric was standing in the middle of a plain. "Here we go," he said, spinning around. "Much more space, plus they don't need to haul your body from Ponyville now." The Ursa reared up and slammed back down. "Yes, yes, that won't work on me." Ursa pawed the dirt with her paw. Aldric realized he had no sword with him. "Oh, this is interesting," he said, igniting his hands with fire, "oh well, at least Blackwing and I will have something to eat." Out of the corner of his eye he saw six ponies running towards them. He flicked his hand, creating a massive bubble, blocking the ponies. "Now that there are no more distractions, let's fight."

The Ursa made her move first, charging him. His boots ignited, using the fire to launch him to the air. He was now hovering, using the fire to keep himself up. Throwing a fireball at her, he burned her fur. She howled in pain and swiped at him, it connected, sending him flying across the bubble. Slamming on the bubble, he slid down. Hearing something behind him, he turned around, seeing Twilight and the other trying to get in. Winking at them, he turned around just in time, diving out of the way for the Ursa to smash into the wall. The Ursa shook her head, turning to look at Aldric only to get blasted by ice in the chest. Staggering, she was able to avoid the next blast, snapping her teeth at Aldric. Jumping back, he tripped over a root, falling over. The Ursa saw this and reared up.

"Well, this is going to hurt like a bitch." Aldric said, getting pounded by two massive paws. She lifted them up again and did it again, and again, and again. The ponies watched, horrified. Some pegasi wings flapped over them and they looked up. It was a chariot, being flown by Royal Guard. It landed, Princess Celestia got off it and looked at them. Twilight rushed over to her.

"Help Princess! Aldric is in trouble!" Twilight shouted, then turned red with embarrassment for her outburst. Celestia looked confused, then saw the bubble. She ran over to it to see the Ursa continue to pound the ground. "Can you break the barrier?" Her student asked her. She nodded and light up her horn. The barrier began to falter, then she was knocked back. They ran over to her.

"That barrier, it won't break... it is bound in some kinda dark magic, meaning until one of them dies... it won't break." Celestia was scared, more of how Aldric was even alive. Then the pounding stopped. The air turned cold. They looked at the bubble and saw something that they would never forget. Inside was the Ursa, pinned by straps made out of fire. Aldric was floating, pure hatred in his eyes.

"I WILL NOT BE KILLED BY SUCH AN INSOLENT WELP!" He yelled, in a voice far more demonic than his normal one. Celestia and the others began to step back. Then he began to glow, a dark reddish glow. "Sun Pillar." The ground began to shake, cracking beneath the Ursa. A massive beam of fire appeared, right below the Ursa. She began to shriek and howl in pain, then the bubble broke but the spell continued.

"Get behind me," Celestia said, forming a bubble. The pillar kept going up and up. Then it stopped, forming a massive ball of fire above the Ursa. Aldric landed on the ground and snapped his fingers, the ball of flame dropped, hitting the Ursa. The flames blew past Aldric, striking Celestia's barrier. She strained to keep the flames out but was able to. When the ash settled, she lowered her barrier. The ground was scorched, making the circle where the fire didn't scorch it seem out of place. They spotted Aldric, who began to walk towards them when he fell over, glowing white. Aldric clenched his teeth, hissing in pain. Twilight stepped forward but Celestia extended her wing, stopping her.

"Run," he said, barely enough for them to hear, "I have too much extra magic and I need to release it." Still they stayed, fearing for his life. "RUN NOW OR YOU WILL ALL BUUURN," he screamed, glowing brighter. Celestia's horn glowed and she teleported them back to Ponyville. He released another Sun Pillar, far larger than the last. He could feel his skin melting away. Howling in pain, the pillar lasting a full minute before it ended. Aldric blacked out.