A/N: Warning, this may and probably will contain spoilers for Rise of the Equestrian Empire. I you are reading that and do not want any spoilers then don’t continue. If you are going to keep reading remember that anything that happens in this story may not actually happen in Rise of the Equestrian Empire.
Far From Home
-Chapter One-
A War in Distant Lands
The year was 1056. The Equestrian Empire was growing stronger by the day. After fifty years of almost non-stop war, Equestria had firmly established its borders. To capitalize this strength, a Crusade was called. The goal was to expand north to capture or recapture the lands north of the border.
Thirty years later the Crusade was in full swing. Involving half of all Imperial Equestrian forces, eight million soldiers. The Crusade was one of the largest military undertakings Equestria had ever implemented. It involved nearly six hundred different legions. From the Gryphonic Legions from the conquered Gryphon kingdoms, Rainbow Dash Legions, Rarity Legions, AppleJack Legions, and so on and so forth. But all of them pailed in comparison when deployed alongside the most lethal and deadly Legions. The Death Legions. Trained from childhood for nothing other than war, emotions were all but stripped from their minds. Existing only to survive their hellish training so that they may die for the Alicorn Emperor of Equestria. They hailed from what was formerly known as Germaneigh, now called Krieg.
During the first few years of the Alicorn-Emperor's rule almost all of Germaneigh rebelled nearly systematically. The loyalists were pushed back to Marelin, the capitol. They requested aid, and received only the following as a reply.
‘Resist with all means at your disposal, engage the enemy, punish their treachery and emerge victorious -- whatever the cost.’
To this end, the commander of the loyalist forces declared that Germaneigh would belong to the Alicorn-Emperor or no one. He ordered the gathering of all of the loyal Imperial mages. With their combined power they unleashed a magical scourge that unleashed unmeasurable levels of destruction. The rebels were decimated, unprepared for such an attack. While the loyalists were safe inside the capitol. Germaneigh was declared not worth saving by Imperial surveyors and observation of the area pulled out. The lands of Germaneigh were turned to pulverised ash, barely anything survived, but the stuberness of ponies to live knows no bounds.
For the next twenty years the remaining loyalists counter-attacked the rebels from the capitol and slowly retook Germaneigh. Soldiers who were raised in the ash covered wasteland of Germaneigh were trained from birth for military service. Their minds and bodies were purposefully broken to be rebuilt to become the perfect soldier. Emotions were stripped from their minds, weakness was perdged like a disease. Any who were seen as weak didn’t survive, the brutal training regime killed them without mercy.
After twenty years of some of the most brutal fighting ever seen by pony eyes Germaneigh was finally returned to the Imperial fold in the year 1026 and renamed Krieg.
Though Krieg was returned to the Empire the shame from it’s rebellion was not gone. Krieg had nothing to offer the Empire, it’s lands were utterly decimated from the magical scourge, food could not be grown, trade could not be done. So the citizens of Krieg gave the Empire the only thing they possessed, themselves.
Out of these scorched lands came the famed Death Legions, heralded for their self-sacrifice and devotion to the Emperor, Imperial generals quickly capitalized on deploying these legions. It is within one of these Legions that we find our protagonist.
750 Kilometers North of Canterlot
11:00
Legionnaire 117366298-6657932475 stood in formation, the heavy rain pelting him like thousands of slingshots. Today they were to assault the enemy city, if it could be called that. The constant bombardment from the artillery had turned it into all but ruble. But it was soon to be the Emperor's ruble, and that was all that mattered. Legionnaire 117366298-6657932475 checked over his gear one final time. On his body he wore the Lorica Segmentata. On his head he wore the standard Legionnaire helmet with one modification, on the helmet was a face-plate. Completely unmarked or special in any way. Everyone in the Death Legion’s wore one. Signifying the truth of who they were. They were no one, nothing. They were numbers on a sheet, tools of the Emperor's will. To be used up and cast aside per his wishes. They were nothing but dead men, walking.
On his right hip he wore the gladius, on his left, a pugio, or dagger as some called it. Held in his left hand was his shield, the scutum. Painted with the traditional colors of the Death Legions, a skull with iron coloured wings on a plain of grey.
Legionnaire 117366298-6657932475 looked up from his gear as a trumpet sounded. The signal to advance. As one, the formation marched forwards. Legionnaire 117366298-6657932475’s Cohort was assigned to follow the battering ram and assault the enemy position directly from the gate. Ordinary soldiers would have been terrified. The gate was where the highest amount of estimated casualties were placed. In the narrow space the formation could be pelted with numoris projectiles, and the cramped corridor meant that it could be held as a check point. But these weren't ordinary soldiers.
To reach the gate the cohort would have to cross a wide open space, prime real estate for enemy archers.
“Testudo form!” The tribune shouted his order. On his orders the soldiers inside the column raised their shields above their heads, while the Legionnaire’s on the sides and front leveled their shields verticity to the ground. The cohort was now protected from small scale missiles. They didn’t do this out of a sense of self preservation, they did it simply because if they died now they couldn't die when it mattered.
Inch by inch the Cohort moved towards the gates. They had taken a few casualties, as the bodies trailing behind them told. Eventually they reached the gate. 117366298-6657932475 couldn’t see anything from his position. The heavy rain fall engulfed his senses. His world consisted of the dull gleam of his comrades armour, the sound of heavy rainfall on shields. He heard the dull ‘thump’ of the ram hitting the wooden gate. Eventually he heard a sharp ‘crack!’. The gate had broken, they were through.
“Move forward!” 117366298-6657932475 heard someone order. 117366298-6657932475 and his fellows complied. Keeping their shields up they rushed into the breech.
A hail of death met the oncoming troops. Enemy archers had been placed to fire directly into the narrow opening. Arrows were fired at them from above, through small holes in the mortar, as well as large stone, hot coals, boiling oil, fecal matter and hot tar. But it did not stop the Death Legionnaires. Nothing stopped Death Legionnaires other than death itself. Seeing that they were about to push through, the enemy committed their melee troops. The two sides met on the precipice of the gate house. The barbarians threw everything they had at the advancing troops, but try as they might they couldn't stop them.
117366298-6657932475 found himself in the very front. His entire right arm was raw from hot oil being poured on it. But 117366298-6657932475 pressed on. 117366298-6657932475 raised his shield to block a downward blow. Stopping forward, he stabbed his attacker in the stomach. He fell to the ground, crying pitifully and he held his intestines in his hands.
“Mercy please!” He begged as 117366298-6657932475 looked down at him. Without hesitation, 117366298-6657932475 simply stabbed him in the throat.
That was the moment that the enemy broke. They turned around and fled. If 117366298-6657932475 was a more emotionally liberal person he would have sneered at them. Cowards and heretics, they truly did not deserve to live.
“Move up to the walls! Clear them out!” 117366298-6657932475 heard someone order. 117366298-6657932475 hurried up the steps that lead to the walls. When he reached the top 117366298-6657932475 met a door. With his comrades behind him, he used his shield to break down the door. It took awhile, but eventual the lock broke. Inside 117366298-6657932475 saw a dozen or so ponies, working as hard as they could to throw anything and everything down onto the Death Legionnaires below trying to get through the gate. Without a thought for his own safety he rushed in. Leaping forwards, he stabbed one in the stomach. Stepped out with his left foot, spun around, and slashed another across the back. 117366298-6657932475 Then smashed his shield into another, knocking him to the floor. 117366298-6657932475 then stomped on the ponies head, breaking the neck and smashing the skull. 117366298-6657932475 looked to his right to see a pony charging him. 117366298-6657932475 swung his shield around, smashing the metal rim against the pony’s skull, the force of the blow split the pony’s skull open, blood and brain matter flew through the air. To 117366298-6657932475’s left a barbarian charged him with an ax. 117366298-6657932475 was able to block the blow. The blade of the ax bit into the wood but halted at the shields meta core. Immediately 117366298-6657932475 stepped forward, swung his gladius and cut into the barbarians arm. The cur stumbled back, screaming in pain while he clutched his arm. Without pause 117366298-6657932475 lept and stabbed him in the chest, giving off a sickening ‘crunch’ as the barbarians rib’s were crushed and cracked.
Now 117366298-6657932475’s comrades had entered the room and it became seething mass of struggling bodies.
After the gate house was cleared and secured a pegasi messenger was sent back to the main army. The rest of the Legions pressed into the city using the captured gate. Many non Death Legion officers questioned the tactic of using only one avenue of approach. But their protests were quickly silenced.
“Move move move!” A Tribune shouted, urging his men onward. 117366298-6657932475 followed. They ran through the streets. The enemy fleeing furiously, trying to get away from their attackers.
“Halt!” The Tribune shouted. 117366298-6657932475 complied immediately. Up ahead, just in sight in the heavy rain and fog, was a formation of the enemy. The Legionnaires gathered around the Tribunes position. The Tribune looked like he was trying to decide what to do.
“IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR! GLORY FOR THE FIRST MAN TO DIE! CHARGE!” The Tribune shouted at the top of his lungs.
“FOR EMPEROR!” The Legionnaires shouted, charging the defending enemy. In the enemy ranks, fear and terror we ever present. Many ducked behind their shields and some tried to backpedal away.
The two sides clashed together with the power of a primal force. men clashed together, blood flowed freely, the screams and the moans of the dying and the sounds of battle. 117366298-6657932475 fought. Though his arm was blistered and partially melted he would not give up. The day 117366298-6657932475 gave up was the day he died.
All through this did he never once feel fear. Fear was something he had never known, never learned. It was an emotion. And his drill instructors back in Krieg had literally beaten into him that emotions only got in the way of your duties on the battlefield. There was your duty to the Emperor, nothing more existed or mattered.
After what would be later recorded as two hours of fighting, the enemy broke and ran.
“Let them run, they shall die anyway. Clear out the buildings, leave none alive to bear the seed of heresy!” The Tribune ordered. On that order the Death Legionnaires moved into the near by buildings, exterminating any life that dwelt within their walls.
117366298-6657932475 kicked down a door. Entering the house made of crude mud and wood. 117366298-6657932475 saw a small family huddled around each other.
“You are found guilty of heresy. The punishment is death.” 117366298-6657932475 told them without any emotion whatsoever. Upon hearing this the male, presumably the father and husband, charged at 117366298-6657932475. 117366298-6657932475 Simply stabbed him in the throat. The stallion fell to the floor, clutching his neck. 117366298-6657932475 looked back at the mare and filly.
The mother held her child in her arms tightly. Tears running down her cheeks. The mother turned away, putting herself between 117366298-6657932475 and her foal. Without a thought of hesitation, 117366298-6657932475 stepped forward and stabbed the mare. She screamed in pain as she collapsed on the floor. Blood running from the stab wound in her back and stomach.
117366298-6657932475 rolled the mare onto her back. The foal was still alive, crying in its mother's dead arms. Without so much of a second of consideration, 117366298-6657932475 killed the crying foal.
It continued on like that for hours. Kick down a door, search the building, find the inhabitants, kill them without mercy. It was as routine as sharpening a sword. Until…
117366298-6657932475 kicked down the door of the building he would soon clear out. The room that 117366298-6657932475 had kicked the door into was plain. It had a simple wood floor with animal pelts laying over it. in the center was a hearth surrounded by chairs and tables. Off to the side was a few wooden frame beds. Near the beds there was a descending staircase. Seeing that the rest of the house was empty, 117366298-6657932475 marched to the descending staircase. The staircase went down for about seven or eight feet. 117366298-6657932475 assumed it led to a cellar of some kind. Without pause 117366298-6657932475 kicked the door down.
If 117366298-6657932475 was capable of feeling emotions, he would have felt overwhelming and utter hate at what he saw. For there, inside the cellar, was a shrine to Nightmare. In the span of a heartbeat 117366298-6657932475 shot forward and stabbed the closest heretic. Pulling his sword out of her he spun, and severed the spin of another worshiper of the Ruinous Powers.
The other heretics began to stand up. Stepping forward 117366298-6657932475 kicked one of them between the legs. He doubled over and 117366298-6657932475 stabbed him in the back. The other heretice charged 117366298-6657932475 screaming fanatically in a tongue that made ears bleed. 117366298-6657932475 couldn't pull out his gladius in time.
The heretic bowled him over. The two landed on the ground in a heap. On instinct, 117366298-6657932475 raised his forearm. Luckily for him to. The heretic had drawn a crude dagger and had tried to stab him. With a burst of strength 117366298-6657932475 threw the heretic off of him. The heretic landed dazed, which bought 117366298-6657932475 enough time to draw his dagger and slam it into the heretics chest. After a few moments the heretic stopped moving.
117366298-6657932475 gathered his gear and left the house. Doctrine was clear. He had to find an officer with the rank of Tribune or higher and report his finding of the shrine and turn himself over for questioning.
117366298-6657932475 was in luck, if he could have believed in such a thing. A Commissar was in sight as soon as 117366298-6657932475 left the building he found the shrine in. 117366298-6657932475 marched up to the Commissar and stood at attention. He Would speak to 117366298-6657932475 when he had the opportunity.
“What is it?” The Commissar asked.
“Sir,” 117366298-6657932475 saluted “I am here to report my discovery of a chaos shrine.” 117366298-6657932475 reported without emotion.
The Commissar simply nodded. “I will gather flamers, you will show us where the shrine is.”
“Yes sir.” 117366298-6657932475 said curtly. He wasn’t sure what a flamer was but it wasn’t his place to question.
After a few minutes of waiting the Commissar returned, followed by two unicorns.
Unicorns. 117366298-6657932475 thought in some sort of surprise. Unicorns were a rare breed. Ever since an event known as ‘the purge’ where almost every unicorn in Equestria fell to heresy almost at the same time, there were few of them left. They were a dying breed. The two unicorns were dressed in long robes adorned with holy symbols of faith.
“Lead on.” The Commissar ordered. 117366298-6657932475 simply saluted and lead them to the shrine.
When they arrived at the shrine the two unicorns lifted their hands, and then shot flames from their palms. 117366298-6657932475 didn’t react.
When the room that contained the shrine was thoroughly engulfed in flames the two unicorns stopped.
“The shrine of heresy is destroyed.” One of the unicorns said through his low hood. The Commissar nodded.
“Very good. You have my thanks priests.” The Commissar told the two unicorns. they nodded their heads in thanks and left.
“Well, what is it?” The Commissar asked 117366298-6657932475.
“Sir, I must turn myself over for question of possible heresy. I was exposed to the foul signs of Disharmony.” 117366298-6657932475 told the Commissar monotony.
“True, so I guess that makes you a heretic.” The Commissar told him. If 117366298-6657932475 had any emotions, he would have felt utter and crushing shame.
“Yes Sir.” 117366298-6657932475 said.
“Well I guess that just means you’ll have to repent, by dying in battle for the Emperor won’t it?” The Commissar asked, though it was more like a statement.
“Yes sir.” 117366298-6657932475 said, a little more hopeful if such a thing was possible.
“Good, then go. We are still only an a beach head and have barely begun to penetrate into the city, besides I highly doubt that a Legionnaire of your experience could be corrupted simply be looking at symbols of Disharmony. Go, and redeem yourself in the eyes of the Holy Alicorn-Emperor.” The Commissar ordered. 117366298-6657932475 gave a quick ‘sir’ before rushing off to join in the assault.
The fighting was brutal. Often the Imperial attackers would have to climb over piles of bodies to advance. But advance they did. 117366298-6657932475, joined by his comrades, pushed the barbarians back. Many times they turned to face the Imperial Legions, clogging the streets and alleyways with the dead and the dying. 117366298-6657932475 moved through the burning streets, the ground was littered with dead bodies and blood flowed like a river.
It took five days of on and off fighting for the Legions to reach the citadel. 117366298-6657932475 was part of the final push. After slaughtering a group of barbarians that the enemy had deployed as a delaying tactic. 117366298-6657932475 hobbled through the archways of the barbarian citadel. It was surprisingly made of stone. 117366298-6657932475’s arm had only grown worse, he had refused to leave the fighting to get it checked. It was likely to be amputated after the battle. He had also taken an arrow to the ankle, the cause of his limp, as well as an uncountable amount of minor wounds. His armour was chipped and scratched, covered with bodily fluids and scorch marks. The front of his shield was a mass of splinters and his helmet had been dented.
117366298-6657932475 and his fellows approached a door made of hardwood reinforced with iron.
“Charges to the front now!” Someone shouted. Soon a path was made as engineers brought up black powder charges to the door. The soldiers withdrew a safe distance while the charges were set.
“Charges in place, fire in the hole!” one of the engineers shouted as they ran to a safe distance.
A few seconds later the charges exploded and the door went up in smoke and flames. The Death Legionnaires didn’t even wait for the smoke to clear as they rushed headlong into the unknown. What they found disgusted them. There were no barbarian warriors, they were all dead. Their blood covered all surfaces of the throne room. Many of their corpses were impaled on pikes in the center of the room, where a robed mage was standing inside the foulest symbol known to ponies.
The eight pointed star.
“So at last the Emperor's slaves come before me.” The robed pony proclaimed as he withdrew a book from his robes. “But you are too late to stop us.”
Without further ado he began chanting in a language that made ones ears hurt.
Having waited long enough 117366298-6657932475 and his comrades rushed into the room, charging the foul heretic.
“Your bravery will going you nothing fools! I shall rip the very flesh from your bones!” The robed pony shouted maniacally before pointing to the charging Imperials and lightning flew from his hands. Dozens of legionnaires went down in an instant, their flesh literally being ripped off of their bones. But 117366298-6657932475 never faltered, even as his comrades were being torn apart all around him. There was no fear, no hesitation, no trepidation, no doubt. He was going to slay this foul heretic even a the cost of his soul.
The one charging next to 117366298-6657932475 suddenly exploded in a shower of bones and flesh as psychic forces ripped him apart and sent 117366298-6657932475 tumbling to the floor from the shockwave. 117366298-6657932475 tried to stand up but an almost unbearable pain racked his body, sending him into spasms. Some kind of magical or psychic attack must have hit him. His sight grew darker as he heard with greater clarity the heretic laughing as he tore the Legionnaires to shreds like the madpony he was.
And then it was quiet,the butchery apparently over.
“Idiots, this is all that awaits those who oppose the power of Chaos.” The heretic mumbles before turning back to his blasphemous ritual. At those words something stirred inside 117366298-6657932475, long forgotten emotion welled up inside him. Even as the pain tore him inside out, he found determination flooding through him. No! This is not how it would end. The Ruinous Powers would never win, as long as there were those willing to fight its evil.
With monumental effort 117366298-6657932475 rolled over onto his hands and feet. Even as the heretical powers continued to press down on his tortured body like the hand of a god. 117366298-6657932475 stubbornly forced himself back onto his feet, scutum and gladius clenched tightly in his hands. Slowly he pushed one foot forward, then another, and another, and another! With sheer willpower he pushed onward, getting closer and closer to the heretic who had turned his back on the slaughter he had committed.
The heretics goal became clear as the very fabric of reality before him shimmered before ripping apart. Foul energies spilled out like oozing blood from the wound of reality. That madpony was seeking to open a portal to the Flow! Step by agonizing step 117366298-6657932475 edged closer to his quarry, until he stepped into the blasphemous circle drawn on the floor. Only then did the heretic realize 117366298-6657932475’s presence. He spun around and beheld the approaching soldier with shock and fear.
“That’s not possible! You shouldn’t be able to stand!” He shouted in panic and disbelief. 117366298-6657932475 stayed silent, edging further and further towards the heretic.
“Wait!” The foul heretic shrieked, “Stop, I never wanted to call upon the dark gods! I know their evil, but your Empire forced my hand! Cease now and I’ll end the spell and never use it again!” He shrieked pitifully.
His pitiful attempts to save his life were ignored and 117366298-6657932475 leveled his gladius with the heretic. The pain was almost unbearable, nearly forcing 117366298-6657932475 to his knees. He was forced to use his shield as a walking aid.
“If you interrupt the ceremony now the Flow will claim us both! Do you understand me! You will be dragged into the realm of deamons to be picked apart by it’s denizens! You will never join your precious Emperor in the afterlife!" The raving madpony was now screeching anything he could think of to buy time. But 117366298-6657932475 was deaf to his words of warning.
“So be it.” was all 117366298-6657932475 said on the matter. His voice as dead as his comrades. Then with titanical force of will, plunged his gladius into the heretics chest, straight into his heart. The portal crackled with now unrestrained energy, tendrils of energy reached out to draw the sorcerer into its maw, taking his killer as a bonus before closing itself.
117366298-6657932475 wanted to fight back, but he had not strength left. His task was done, he was content with what he had accomplished, and accepted what cruel fate awaited him on the other side in the realm of madness.
Falling, that was all 117366298-6657932475 felt. Just falling through an abyss but never reaching the bottom. He did not even bother to open his eyes. Knowing that there would be no logic to this ocean of madness he had been dragged into. Screams of agony and howls of joy echoed all around him. Sounding like kilometers away yet only a few inches from him at the same time. He fell into the abyss, falling for eons but at the same time only seconds. Deamons swarmed around him. Vile things licked, pawed, and touched him. Sending shivers of disgust down his spine. He could not fight these immaterial beasts, but he would deny them the pleasure of hearing him scream.
They circled around him, coming closer and closer. He could not escape and they savoured the meal to come. ‘here it ends’ he thought grimly. He relaxed his body, readying himself for the claws and fangs that would sink into his flesh. Only, they never came. 117366298-6657932475 suddenly felt some kind of force tugging him, away from the deamons if their screams of outrage were anything to go by.
More denizens of the Flow tried to claim him, but he sensed that the force pulling him away was moving far too rapidly for the deamons to catch him. Soon the nightmarish sounds of the flow were drowned out then snuffed out all together. Only now did 117366298-6657932475 dare open his eye’s.
He was no longer inside the raging inferno of madness that was the flow, he assumed anyway. He was now flying through a tunnel, the walls of the tunnel squirreled with every kind of color imaginable, the most dominant one appeared to be a gold-yellow. At the end of the tunnel there was a light. It 117366298-6657932475’s mind it could only ever be one thing, the Alicorn-Emperor reaching out to save his servant from the maw of disharmony, to finally be at rest. ‘Peace at last.’ 117366298-6657932475 thought as he closed his eye’s, embracing the end of his mortal existence.
Instead of being greeted by the father of all Pony Kind and to join him and the other Alicorns in eternal Harmony, 117366298-6657932475 was thrown roughly into stone. Despite his pain tolerance he let out a slight groan. Never the less, he was alive so with pain flooding his senses he stood up and opened his eye’s.
Without warning the Tree of Harmony began to glow and vibrate. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and even Pinkie Pie took a few steps back. Celestia and Luna’s head’s snapped to look at the Tree. They felt it. An almost unimaginably powerful mind was bending the power of the Flow fully to its will, using the Tree as a conduit. The two elder Alicorns could sense the massive amount of magical energy gathering. There was a spark, a flash of lightning, and then a portal opened. Not a second later a… something flew from the portal, landing on the stony ground.
The something groaned as it hit the ground, signaling that it was alive. The creature stood up on its hind legs. A biped. Celestia thought with intrigu. There weren't very many bipedal creatures in Equestria. Diamond Dogs were only partly bipedal, and the only reason Spike could stand on his hind legs was because his baby-dragon bones were soft, though the idea of calling a dragon’s bones soft, at any age, was almost laughable.
On closer inspection Celestia realised that the creature was wearing armour. Overlapping plates covered almost every part of the creature's body. It was badly scratched and chipped, cover in black scorch marks and what looked curiously like dried blood. The most unnerving part of the creature was the helmet. The head was completely covered. An unmarked face-plate covered the creators face, having only two eye holes to let Celestia know that was where the face was. One did not have to have as much experience as Celestia to guess what the creatures occupation was. The armour he wore told of an intelligent and advance civilization. Meaning that this wasn't just a discovery, it was also first contact. Immediately Celestia straightened up, becoming the eternal monarch that she was.
“Greetings.” Celestia said to the creature.
117366298-6657932475 looked at his surroundings as he stood up. Before him were eight quadrupedal creatures. Some had wings, some had horns, some had nithor, three had both. And there was their faces. Something about their faces was eerily familiar yet at the same time still unknown. He racked his brain trying to figure it out before putting the train of thought aside.
First thing first, are they hostile? 117366298-6657932475 didn’t know for sure but his life long training kicked in and he assumed a defensive position. He didn’t know what these creatures were, some kind of new xenos maybe? Mutants, tainted by the Flow? 117366298-6657932475 didn’t know, all he wanted to do was lie down and rest Wait! What! Lie down and rest? A Death Legionnaire never lies down and rests! Not when there are enemies of the Emperor present.
But try as he might 117366298-6657932475’s eyelids continued to descend over his eyes. He became drowsy, struggling to stand.
“Greetings.” 117366298-6657932475 heard someone say. It didn't matter, a moment later he fell to the floor, unconscious.
The ponies could only stare in shock as the creature passed out in front of them. For several seconds there was silence. Until Rainbow Dash broke it
"Lyra is going to have a fit!"
