Chapters The Witch King Rises Again
"Mal? Amar Angmar?" (Where? Where am I?) Angmar awoke on a rock platform. As he got up he looked around and felt his armour and his blades. Wait what? He hasn't been able to feel since.... Angmar realized that the voice in his head that had been there for longer than he could remember was gone. The voice telling him what to do, when to do it. The voice of his master. He could think for himself again. He could feel his power. He looked over his body. He has all of his armour (including his helmet), his cloak, his long sword, short sword and morgul dagger. Everything he had gone into battle with. Oh right, the battle, the one he lost. Angmar realized what this meant. He can't go back now. He would be killed for his failure. He would have to make his way where he was now. He looked up into the sky and saw that it wasn't the night sky he remembered from middle earth. It seemed less filled with darkness and more with a calming solemn feel. This feeling disturbed him. He had grow use to the violence and the fear in the night sky, it was a time when he and his brothers could roam free. Angmar was so entranced by the night sky and his thoughts that he didn't notice the black stallion walk up behind him. Angmar turned to see a stallion he recognized as his own. It was pitch black with some armour and its eyes glowed red. Angmar realized that he was getting nowhere by just standing there. He mounted the horse and looked around to find a path. He has happy to have his ring of power with him, it allowed him to see in the dark and use magic without a staff. He spurred the horse, his boots were sharp enough to do so without spurs. They went down the path. Looking off the mountain he was on he could see that the path would lead to a forest and past the forest were; a small town, a frozen wasteland with a tower he could make out, and a desert. He opted for the town. In the distance he could see another mountain, and clinging to the side of that mountain was a castle, a large one at that. Perhaps he could speak with the rulers of this land. He spurred the horse again and the sped off down the mountain.
Twilight awoke from a nightmare, a cold sweat forming on her face. This was a nightmare like no other, and she remembered it completely.
There was mist everywhere, it had white and black swirls here and there but it was mostly grey. She was simply standing there between two creatures. One of them looked like a ghost but the species it once was, she couldn't tell. It had a face that looked wise and all knowing but far to old for it to be alive. The other was terrifying. It was clad in black armour and over it was a cloak. She couldn't see it's face but she could tell it was staring at her through the eyes in its mask. She looked forward only to find a ring materialize in front of her. It was a gold ring with what she assumed was a diamond inlaid in the gold. She looked closer at it and heard a voice, an evil voice. She looked away as she saw the two creature take arms. The ghost with a single longsword and the wraith with a longsword in one hand and a short sword in the other. They began to advance on her. She could hear them talking in a language she didn't understand. The ring began to spin. She tried to back away from the evil, but too no avail, she couldn't move. The two bipedal beings charged at her, their robes trailing behind them, and as they were about to clash with her in the way of their strikes. She woke up.
She could not go back to sleep, not after that. She got up and walked downstairs to see if she could find a book to tell her what those things could have been, when she heard a knock at the door. She walked over to the door and opened it.
"Princess Luna?" Twilight asked somewhat confused at her presence.
"Twilight how many times must I ask you to just call me Luna?" Luna replied with a smirk.
"Oh, right, Luna. What brings you hear?"
"I was searching through some of the bad dreams that our subjects were having when I cam upon yours. I looked deeper and entered it, careful to remain hidden. I saw what was happening in your dream and it frightened me. It wasn't even my own, and I knew it was a dream. So I came to see if you would like some company, and knowing you, help you find out what your dream meant." Twilight motioned for Luna to enter, she did. They both sat down and Luna went to make tea. With tea, they began to discuss what they saw when more knocks came to the door. Twilight rolled here eyes and apologized to Luna who simply laughed it off.
"TWILIGHT!!!" Pinkie screamed as she burst into the library.
"Ugh, what Pinkie?!? It's midnight and I was having a discussion with Princess Luna!" Twilight said annoyed.
"I had my Pinkie sense again! It was the one where I know when a new pony comes to town! But it was WAAAAAAAAY stronger, and I was wondering if you had any bad dreams lately?" Pinkie said this as if it was obvious, Twilight had her jaw slacked.
"Y-Yes I had one just now, that's why Luna is here." Twilight replied.
"Okie-dokie then have fun you two!" Pinkie bounced out of the library, the door closing behind her.
Twilight was about to take another sip of tea when she heard an all-too-familiar gasp coming from outside."Ugh, what now?" Twilight sighed. Luna looked puzzled and followed Twilight out of the library to join Pinkie. What they saw shook them to the core. In front of them, upon a huge stallion with facial features that could only make it barely resembling that of a pony's, was the wraith Twilight had seen in her dream. It was looking down at them through it's mask and she could see from the armour that it was ready for a fight. Although she couldn't get herself to move, she simply stared at the creature, and to her relief it turned away and continued to ride the black stallion through the town it seemed to be looking for something. She looked at Luna who was still gawking at the creature, she seemed just as terrified of it. Twilight knew she couldn't just let a creature from her nightmare simply walk around without being sure it wouldn't hurt anypony. "Uh. E-Excuse me?" Fear gripped her again as the stallion stopped and the creature's head turned. She fears that she just made the greatest mistake in her life.
The Witch King Rises Again
Angmar had been going through the forest, he looked down at the animals who resided in it. The looked at him in fear, the ran when he had passed. He took no insult from this, he knew what he was, he was the darkest of the dark (aside from his master). He wasn't disappointed with what he was, he had asked for it after all. He didn't hate Sauron, he respected him. Angmar had made a deal with Sauron, he wanted power, Sauron needed a commander. That was their deal and Sauron became a mentor for Angmar and the nine ring wraiths. He had learned secrets that were forbidden to be known by the elves. He had been taught how to use magic with and without the help of a staff. He deserved to be feared, and he had grown accustomed to it.
When he cam to the end of the forest he looked around and saw what looked like a cottage. It was completely dark inside but he could see that there were many animals in there and around the house. He focused power in his ring and brought it up to his face. He used his magic to locate any elves, humans, or the new nuisance known as hobbits. None. There no point in pillaging this place, if he planned on continuing, there was no point in angering the owner without reason. He simply continued while watching the animals shrink away form him. Looking back to the path he saw the town he had seen from the mountainside. It looked abandoned. There was no one outside, even in the towns he had raided, there had been at least someone outside guarding (or drunk). Was this town abandoned? There wasn't any sign of a battle, so how could it be? He used his spell again that allowed him to find any threats. None. Could his magic have failed him over the time he was asleep? Or was this town simply deserted? He contemplated until he heard a large gasp that sounded feminine. He looked down to see a small pink horse, he didn't know why he thought it was a horse seeing as how it had a much different appearance to his steed. It stood there, jaw going far to close to the ground for him to make sense of it, and wide-eyed. He looked back at it for about half a minute until a door behind it, that lead into a tree, opened to reveal another one of these 'horses' but it was purple and had a horn and wings. The new one immediately copied the pink ones face, following that one was another but it was more to his liking. The last one was a dark blue shade with a horn and wings but had a mane that resembled the night sky and flowed with what he assumed was a spell cast on her, and she too embraced the baffled expression the others shared. Angmar hadn't found the maker of the voice so he turned and continued on think about what had just happened. after walking for about a minute he heard a voice.
"Uh. E-Excuse me?" The voice was definitely a female voice and he turned so that he could face his addresser.
No one had joined, the only ones out were still the three horses and himself. The one in the middle had regained some of it's composure and was facing him now. As he once again glared at her, he could see sweat building up on her fore-head and her pupils shrink. Angmar had a feeling, a bad feeling, and he hoped that he was wrong. His prayers were unanswered as the winged unicorn opened her mouth.
"Uh.... Wh-Who are you?" Angmar felt what was left of his heart sink at seeing this. I am insane, excellent. He thought. He knew that if he spoke they wouldn't understand him. But he was taught to be able to understand the language of theirs. He dismounted, and began a slow approach to the three horses. As he neared them he took in details. The pink one was the smallest, the blue one was the largest and the purple was in between. The pink one didn't seem to have anything special about her, but something that intrigued him was the fact that the closer he got, the straighter her mane became. How odd. He returned his gaze towards the purple one until he was standing tall in front of her. He was tall for a human and when he had turned he had grown a bit. She only reached about his waist and the blue one only got to his stomach. He glared at the purple one and finally he decided to answer her question.
"Ash rag un Angmar, GOTH de nazgul!" (I am Angmar, LORD of the ring wraiths.) He watched their reactions, he had straightened his back and raised his fist to his chest. They had seemed to back away from him at this proclamation, but the blue one seemed to have a different reaction. He assumed they were all female judging by the gasp from the first and the question from the second. The blue on had her mouth clenched, was sweating bullets, pupils smaller than he thought possible and was slowly retreating away. The other two seemed to notice also.
"Princess Luna? What's wrong? It didn't speak in any language we know." The purple one said. At least Angmar now knew what the blue ones name 'Luna' .
"It-it-it speaks the language of the beasts! This is impossible that language is only known to myself and my sister! It died over three thousand years ago! There were very few who knew of it's existence! The words alone could break ponies, bend them and bind them!" The purple one and the pink one looked back at him.
"Y-You mean that this is something that should be long dead, knows an ancient language that nopony knows, said language can conquer countries, and it was in a nightmare I had?" The purple one said with fear audible in her voice.
"Yes Twilight that appears to be the case." Luna said. "And I assume you want to know what he said?"
"I think I have to know, and how do you know it's a he?"
"It said 'I am Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul'..... I am unsure of what a 'Nazgul' is." Luna looked at Angmar with a questioning look, but the fear was still in her face.
Angmar had reached back for his longsword and almost had a grip on the hilt when the pink one who had been quiet while this was happening suddenly popped up, her mane returning to it's puffy state. She gasped again.
"THIS MEANS THAT WE CAN HAVE AN AWESOME 'WELCOME-TO-PONYVILLE-AND-LIFE-AGAIN-PARTY' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is going to be awesome!!!" The pinkie one was bouncing with glee. And the three of them were looking at her with one word on their faces (and shadow glare).
"WHAT?!?!" they all said in unison, Angmar speaking in Black Speech while they spoke in English.
"Why Pinkie?" Twilight said perplexed.
"What? He's new here!" I wanna make him feel welcome so he doesn't go back to helping Sauron!" Pinkie said innocently.
Hearing his previous masters name and the reaction Pinkie had on him, Angmar was for once in his life at a complete loss of everything.
They were all so wrapped up in confusion that none of them saw the rainbow blur rush towards Angmar's head.
It collided and put a dent in his helmet, Angmar was knocked off his feet and thrown into the wall of the tree. He was still concious and only one thought occupied his mind at that moment. 'I am going to fuck that thing up' .
Rainbow Dash was flying along, she couldn't sleep, something kept her awake. When she heard a voice like a thousand whispers talking in a language she didn't know she knew she had to find it. She had searched Ponyville and found a large black thing that Twilight and Luna looked terrified of but Pinkie was giddy about something. She figured that whatever it was, it wasn't good. She dove as fast as she could without making a sonic rainboom and hit it in the side of it's head with a loud CLUNK . Then it crashed into Twilights library, oh crap, she's going to hate her later. She looked over at it and she was surprised, a kick that hard should have blown it right through the library and completely destroyed the helmet it was wearing. Oh well it wasn't going to hurt her friends. She was proud of herself and was awaiting her praise.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!?" Both of the princesses yelled at Rainbow.
"I stopped the..... whatever that is from hurting you guys!" Rainbow retorted.
"HE wasn't going to hurt us, well he hadn't tried to anyway." Twilight sighed at her friend.
"Oh... well sorry about that, but after that kick I gave him, I doubt he will be up any-WHOA!" Rainbow was interrupted by an invisible force grabbing her wings and pulling, hard. She looked over with tears in her eyes from the pain and saw him, getting up , and the dent in his helmet popping back into place with a metallic sound. He climbed out of his crevice in the wall.
"Nar-thos!" These words hit Dash hard, she didn't understand, but hearing the voice from that thing in front of her terrified her she knew that he was angry, and she made a big, no scratch that, huge , mistake.
Angmar lifted his hand towards the cyan winged horse and used his magic to hold her (from the voice) he decided to make her truly fear him, and to do that he needed to break her. He held her wings and pulled he stepped out of his wooden cell. "Nar-thos!" (No sack). This was a very high insult among the orcs and by the look on her face it did the job of instilling a general sense of terror. Using his magic he forced the wings to pop out of their sockets with an audible and satisfying pop. The cyan one had tears streaming down her face at the pain and was about to say something when Angmar threw her into the tree making a hole as deep as his in the wall. "Lul Gijak-Ishi!" (Flowers in the blood) He walked over to where she was in the wall and pulled her out by the back of her mane. He saw she had a bloody nose and many bruises. He looked into her eyes and she looked into the darkness that was Angmar. After a moment of listening to her sobs and her pleas, he put his arm out to one side and dropped her next to her friends. Angmar had enough by this point and walked away. He could feel their fearful gazes in the back of his head. Seemingly out of nowhere, his steed materialized and he mounted it. He headed back to the forest, perhaps he could deal with his new-found insanity there and find a hobby. Re-animating the dead maybe. But first he planned on making a place he could call his own. An abode that he would have no shame in calling his own. For that he would need the mountains, and a lot of magic.
The Witch King Rises Again
Angmar watched as his tower took shape. He recognized the design of the tower he was creating. It was similar to Isengard, but only the tower. Instead of bothering with a wall (he was on a mountain side so it didn't seem necessary) he decided to extend the caverns within the mountain with some of the iron. Then added more structures on the side of the mountain and attached them to the main tower with bridges. It was a fortress that he knew none who valued their lives would dare approach. At least without an army behind them, and that's why he made sure to leave enough excess metal to have golems at the ready in hollowed out inlets in the walls that were in every hallway. This was a place he could live in. Without Sauron he could do whatever he wanted, he didn't have to listen to anyone. He is the witch king. He had been able to create an army and a fortress within his first week of being in a new world, or his creation of a world due to his possible insanity. At least those irritating ponies wouldn't try finding him if they saw this new abode. He hoped anyway. He had made sure to make the top of the tower an easily accessed place that Alduin could reside. Using his staff he set up wards to warn him of any who came near or in his castle.
He was admiring his work while sitting in the throne he had made in one of the main halls of the tower when his wards were triggered. He delve deeper and found that it was only one being. 'WHAT?? What idiotic whelp would dare enter alone?!?' He stood up and began to search for the disturbance with his magic. He searched and searched where the ward had been triggered and down the hallways. Nothing, he went over his wards and found nothing wrong with the wards. 'Something's off.' As he was walking away from his throne to go and find this disturbance himself, black smoke began to swirl between him and the door to the room. After a second the smoke dispersed to reveal a grey unicorn with a black mane and a crystal on his flank. Angmar could only sigh of irritation. 'Why is nothing interesting able to muster the courage to face me?'
"Greetings creature." The unicorn said with a smug smile. Angmar simply stood there silently watching the unicorn with a slight feeling of confusion. "I see you aren't one for introductions. So I will make this easy for your simple structure. I want you to be in my army of darkness. With your magic I could rule this feeble and pitiful land and turn it into the empire it could be!"
'Oh great another dark lord who wants minions to take over the world. Well this time He at least doesn't have anything to offer me, or else he wouldn't be asking for my help. Maybe I can teach this worthless whelp some manners then maybe present his corpse as a message for those intolerable ponies to stay away.' With that in mind, Angmar began to laugh, it started as a sinister chuckle, and grew into a full on cackle, sounding terrifying with his distorted voice from the constant exposure to dark magic.
The unicorn was slightly confused at this new turnout, but he eventually matched his laughter. Angmar only laughed more from this. He figured that this unicorn probably thought that he was agreeing with him. Angmar regained his composure and simply clicked his fingers. The unicorn immediately stopped laughing as he heard the click, and turned to the walls to see five golems on each side that he thought were statues walk out of their indents and bring their swords into a ready position. The unicorn turned back to Angmar.
"What is the meaning of this!" Angmar watched the horn of the unicorn turn into a curved red crystal.
"Voglogat glob." (Reducing the filth) Angmar raised his hand grasping the unicorn in his magic, lifted him over a circular pattern on the floor and sending him through the foot thick metal enjoying the pained yells of the unicorn breaking all of his legs, the metal screeching due to the sudden pressure and it's new hole that Angmar would repair later. The last thing he heard before he descended through the hole was the sound of six different voices screaming.
Twilight had gone to follow the ghastly figure when the morning came around and Luna had left to inform her sister of what had conspired that night.They had searched for the better part of the day when they got to the mountain that was across the Everfree from Ponyville. They were about to turn around when the saw a shine coming from somewhere near the top of the mountain. Twilight called her friends over and they all gasped at what they were seeing. A castle was flowing into existence. They quickened their pace and went up the mountain path. It had taken them a while before the reached a large, black, iron door, The door itself was menacing. She looked at her friends and they all looked unnerved about the door also.
"We need to find him, who knows what he could do." Twilight said still surprised about the sudden castle.
"Well, we know it can use magic without a horn." Rainbow said, getting her ass handed to her still wasn't sinking in totally with her.
"And it grow fortress's." Applejack added.
"And stand it being so barbaric." Rarity joined in.
"A-a-a-a-and has a DRAGON!" Fluttershy screamed while pointing to the top of the tower. Sure enough there was a dragon flying around the tower.
Their jaws dropped again. They rushed inside as fast as they could when it reared its' head to them. Surprisingly it had been unlocked. 'Is he expecting us?' Twilight thought, and quickly dismissed it. It couldn't know we were coming. So why are the doors unlocked?' Twilight went through some scenarios and could only think of one. That somepony else was already there. She shook her head to get rid of that idea, and continued through the halls with her friends. They had been searching for a little while when the came into a large room and heard voices and laughter above. It was the laughter that made blood freeze in her veins. She recognized both of the voices. The fear in all of them spiked when the heard a voice that they all knew.
"What is the meaning of this!" That had to be Sombra, and he was yelling with all his strength. More laughter and the heard ten clunks of metal hitting metal. And a moment later Sombra burst through the floor, legs broken and heavily bruised and battered. They screamed. Then Angmar followed the beaten unicorn, intending to end it. Twilight used her magic to move Sombra out of the wraith's way before his body became mush.
"SOMBRA, what are you doing here! You were destroyed back in the Crystal Empire!" Twilight shrieked as the unicorn was nearing unconsciousness.
"Stay back, weakling!" Sombra tried to keep his powerful voice but it was more of a wheeze than anything.
Twilight turned to Angmar and felt the familiar sense of fear she had when it had first arrived. "W-What do you want with him?" Twilight asked Angmar. "Umm- and can you please speak like us?" Twilight wondered if now was the time for demands, it wasn't.
Angmar was impressed by Twilight, well, to an extent. She had asked him to do something without to much fear in her voice, bravo. Angmar decided it would help them all, so he searched his mind, searched for a way he could learn how to speak their language and not just understand it. His ring gave him his answer, if he raked one of their minds then he could absorb their ability to speak as well. He looked over the ponies and decided that the one that originally intruded should be the one to go through the torture, it was probably going to burn this 'Sombra's' mind. Angmar didn't care though, Sombra had tried to put himself above the witch king! This should be fun.
He pointed his hand to Sombra who visibly shrunk his broken body. Chains erupted around the unicorn and bound him to the floor. Angmar swiftly walked to the unicorn and knelt by him and put his right hand on the bound unicorn's head. None of them dared stop him, and the one that tried couldn't due to broken bones and chains. Angmar searched through Sombra's memories listening to the screams of the unicorn, he found the memory he was looking for and took all that he could from it. Angmar wasn't done yet, he was going to teach this pony a lesson he will never forget. He pricked every memory the Sombra had, creating screams of pain from the unicorn, he found some information in magic and the way that the royalty system worked and how he had come to power and lost said power and tried to retake it, and fail. It was entertaining to see this 'all powerful' unicorn fail and be denied the power he tried to obtain. For good measure, Angmar went through the memories again to look for anything that he missed (and torture the broken unicorn further). After about an hour of scouring Sombra's mind he released the pained mind. He heard a gasp for air come from Sombra as he released the chains. Angmar stood and faced the rest of the ponies.
"You will hold your tongue in my presence whelp." Angmar pointed to Twilight. Angmar liked the way he spoke their language as he would his own, with the voice of a thousand souls.
They all recoiled when he spoke. "Y-You can speak Equestrian!?" Twilight said even more fear in her voice from the scene of torture and the newly gained ability that Angmar had.
"Of course I can, coward! Why else would I bother to learn you language, if not to speak it?" When Twilight didn't answer he continued. Tell me then 'Princess' Twilight, why would you protect this worthless infidel? Angmar had learned that if they had both wings and a horn they were counted as royalty, so he added venom to the word.
"I-uh-I--" Twilight didn't know, she didn't like Sombra and Angmar knew that. "He doesn't deserve to die. He had been destroyed as a result of uncontrollable magic. He deserves to face trial." Twilight began to levitate what was left of the unicorn over to her and the other five. "He will come with us."
"Pray tell, how will you do that? As long as he is in my castle, he is under MY jurisdiction. I will make you a deal, leave him and I will let you leave, try and take him and you will be stuck here until you give him up or you die. Angmar finished just as he made his ten sentinels jump from the hole in the ceiling and landed one at a time and created a barrier between him and the seven ponies. Angmar levitated himself so that he hovered above and behind his guards. "Now, choose."
Twilight looked at her friends for advice, they had none to give but the looks on their faces told her that they all were afraid of what could happen. Twilight bowed in defeat. Looking back a Angmar, head still down, she said. "Alright. You win." Twilight began to float Sombra towards Angmar.
"NO!!" A silent Sombra finally spoke up, his now normal horn glowed red and in a flash he teleported away.
'Oh, they can teleport, I hadn't put up any wards against that kind of magic.' He thought to himself. He growled at Twilight. "It seems our deal might need to be altered, due to recent events." As he spoke he wove transportation spell-inhibiting wards around his castle.
Twilight tried to teleport away with her friends but the wards Angmar had just put down prevented her. She once again lowered her head. "What do you want?"
"I want that sack of scum here in my deepest and darkest dungeon room slowly dieing by my hand! But I feel I cannot get that from you, no iron in your veins. I want you to tell me when you find him and where he is. I will be sending scouts throughout your land to track him and if any so much as touch them they will be killed on the spot! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!"
Twilight could tell that it was very, no insanely angry with this turn of events. This was going to be the only way she would likely get her friends home safely. "I will send guards to search for Sombra, but I must ask you to not simply kill him. This has to be handled in a more civilized manor, we can compensate for whatever this loss may cause you."
Angmar paused. "If you speak the truth, then fine! But I promise you I will one day find him in my dungeons, and he will beg for his life! Angmar swung his hand at the doors to the room. "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."
The six of them scurried away, Twilight tried to hide the fear in the speed she was walking from him, but was in an all-out run by the time Angmar shut the doors behind her.
Angmar then proceeded to fix the hole he had made, and get the golems to clean the blood.
The Witch King Rises Again
Angmar was brooding while wandering the shadows of his halls. His last encounter with the ponies hadn't ended well. 'For them.' He thought. They were weak, pitiful even. They would not find mercy in him.
'Really now?'
Angmar stopped dead in his walk. 'That voice.....' He hadn't heard that voice since.....since..... 'Since this damn ring came to my finger.....' This world is full of surprises...... His mind shoved that small spark down into the bowels of his mind, hoping to remove what it was before he fully remembered. It seemed to work, the voice was little more than a memory. He wouldn't let it come forth again without cause. He continued walking through the halls, grumbling to himself when an idea graced his mind. He was going to just use some of his guards to scout the land, but a memory from the one they had deemed Sombra told him of something even better. They had creatures known as 'Timber Wolves' that seemed to carry a large amount of fear wherever they went. Angmar needed more minions anyway, so why not make some interesting ones.
He sent mental commands to some of his basic guards to bring some of the excess iron he had fashioned into large bricks when he had finished with the castle and stored the lower storage sections of his fortress, along with the other unnecessary metals. They retrieved ten of the many and took them to the courtyard of his fortress. Not long after he had arrived he had dismissed the guards and Alduin joined him. Angmar looked into the dragon's eyes and found they reflected much of himself. Its' mind was created from his after all. He turned to look at the ten blocks. Ten, seems to be his 'lucky number' as the hobbits and men would say.He found no solace in the saying though, it was simply convenient for him. He extended his arm to the ten iron blocks in front of him, staff in hand. Channelling the magic within the crystals, he turned the iron to liquid. Holding the image of the timber wolves in his mind, combining it with his knowledge of the beasts the orcs rode on scouting missions, the wargs. He shaped the iron in front of him, moulding the liquid with his magic into beasts the orcs wouldn't dare touch. Much like his elite guard, they began to take shape with the paws and legs first, slowly the metal snaked its way up the hardening bodies. Angmar didn't pour any of himself into the wolves like he did with his sentinels, they weren't expected to be in sword combat after all. But he did give some manner of intelligence to them, he also distinguished one of them to be the pack leader by using some silver. It took longer than he had expected to make the scouts. Angmar had put more creative effort into them then he had intended. 'They are going to be my representatives in this world until I reveal myself. I don't want to give them the wrong impression. Angmar reasoned, chuckling in his mind. He looked upon his newest creations with pride. They were the size of the wargs, but had the features of normal wolves. Well, normal, massive, iron wolves. Angmar was proud of his work. Now though, was not the time to stand by admiring his own prowess.
"Go my servants. Find he who would control ME for his own purpose. Bring that excuse for a king to me!" Angmar moved to where he could see the town he had originally visited and moved his gaze around the landscape. He watched as the wolves ran out of his fortress and down the mountain. He made sure to give the pack leader enough of a magical construct that would replace its' brain so that it could simply be given a task and order the rest of the pack in finer details. Stealth wasn't really Angmar's forté.
No matter. Someone will find Sombra, and he will know his fury. Whether the 'princess' likes it or not.
Twilight was unsure of how to feel, but how else could she feel, other than afraid? First a new creature shows up, claiming it is the 'Lord of the Nazgul' whatever they are, then when attacked shows that it is far more powerful than anything other than an alicorn should be. When she had gone into the forest to find it and see if it was friendly, and would accept an apology, she saw it was able to build an entire castle within the time it took her to walk to the mountain it had fled to. And when she entered, she found Sombra, likely trying to strike a deal with this 'Nazgul', and being punished for some reason. Now she walks up the castle grounds, those of the princess not the lord, and wondering what to tell them. Sombra was returned, and also has an enraged bipedal wraith after him who was powerful enough to create a fortress in less than a day, bend a dragon to his will, and throw Sombra through a foot of solid iron breaking all of his legs and screaming, reading his mind to learn to speak their language (but Twilight figured it was for a much more 'tortuous' reasons) and commanding her to find him so he may face punishment. Twilight realised that she was getting closer and closer to the doors that held the thrones. She stood outside the doors, the guards wondering why she didn't open it, or ask them to. She composed herself, took in a breath, and prayed she could retell the story without falling to fear by simply reliving the memories. She released some magic at the door and they opened to the princess of the sun and moon sitting on their thrones talking about something. By their facial expressions, Twilight could guess what about.
As Twilight walked up to them with her head low the princesses noticed her and stopped their talk. "Why hello Twilight. How goes the dealings with this creature?" Celestia asked with genuine curiosity.
Twilight took a deep breath. "Has Luna explained what she saw?" Luna nodded. "Then... I guess I will start after that........"
.......
"....... So now it wants Sombra, and says that he will be sending out scouts ,or something, to make sure we don't hide him, or to look where we won't I suppose." Twilight concluded, and looked back up to Celestia, something she hadn't done since she got into the throne room. "Celestia, I have always had you for guidance when I needed it, so I ask you now. No. I beg you, please, tell me what to do. I don't want to risk lives for somepony as dark as Sombra, but I know that whatever this is has no care for life and it feels wrong just to give Sombra to it, if it means his death." Twilight sat on her haunches and began to sob. This thing will kill many to see its' goals achieved and won't feel a twinge of pain towards what it had done. "I don't know what to do...."
Celestia seemed at a loss for words. She never really needed to gamble with lives, Discord only wanted fun, Sombra wanted slaves, Chrysalis wanted to feed her people. This thing wants to kill, as if lives were simple toys, ones that could be broken, replaced, built and thrown away. Celestia took a deep breath as she looked out one of the windows. Her thought was interrupted by a guard bursting through the doors.
"Princess Celestia! He's here! He's here!" The guard lowered his head panting.
"Who is?" Twilight asked. Although she had a very suspicious feeling.
"It's-it's Sombra! He seems badly injured and is requesting sanctuary from some ghost-like creature! What should we do?" The guard, Twilight and Luna all looked up to Celestia. She paused in deep thought.
"The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few." She looked around at the ponies, watching the realisation of what she meant sink into their faces. "Twilight, send word to this Witch King, tell him we have him detained and he is requested at the trial. He can be in any position he wants during the trial." Celestia stood up and began to walk for the door and towards the courtyard where Sombra should be. "I will take care of our guest."
The Witch King Rises Again
Alduin could see the golden carriage coming from the white city towards his master's castle. Two of they horses were pulling the chariot while the purple one with wings, the one he recognised from the group that entered the fortress not too long ago, was in the back watching him as she grew near. Alduin remembered his master's commands, "I am not to kill them should they approach, He will deal with them." This one is bold, perhaps this one has news of the hunt. Alduin remained atop the tower looking down as the carriage landed in the courtyard. The purple one stepped off her golden chariot and motioned for the two others to leave. They looked to each other and nodded to the purple one. Must be their superior. They then left the same way they arrived. Alduin watched as she walked towards the doors to the fortress proper, going past the stone statues he didn't recognise but his master seemed to take great care in carving them out of stone. The statues were of nine figures. Eight of them looked like his master, but had no armour or defining features, each of the figures was fighting something. Many were creatures that were armoured instead of cloaked like his master. The eight simple ones were arranged in a manner that provided a path going between them to the doors at the end of the path was the last statue, it was of his master, Angmar. He was standing tall with the hilt of his sword in his grasp, the tip of the sword was touching the ground. Unlike the others, Angmar's wasn't fighting, simply guarding. The pony was studying each of the stone figures as she walked by them. She reached that of the master, and stared. Hmmmmm how curious, I will have to ask the master about this one when he is finished with her. The pony turned to go around the statue and went to the doors. Alduin was able to tell that she was sending glances up to him on top of the tower every now and again. The pony knocked her hoof on the door. They slowly moved open to let her inside, likely the master wants her in his throne room if they are going to talk. Alduin returned to his regular sky-watching when the pony was removed from his gaze. He thought to himself how his master would deal with this nuisance, especially because she interrupted his slumber.
Angmar was sitting atop his throne when he felt his wards being prodded, it awoke him from his magically induced slumber. It is a state in which he can focus purely on his minions and see what must be done to keep everything in check. His wolves had begun scouring the frozen land after the search of the forest bared no fruit. He searched the mind of Alduin and found that it was that princess Twilight. This had better be good, for her sake. He thought.
'You really must find better ways to have those who follow you take care of everything without you.'
That voice again. Angmar didn't hold back when he shoved the voice back down, it didn't resist. He used his magic to prevent it from coming back up, until he allowed it of course. He didn't feel ready to face the memories that accompanied the voice. He waved his hand and opened the doors between him and the pony. Eventually she showed up at the other end of his throne room.
"Explain yourself. Why have you interrupted my slumber? Good news I trust, for your sake." Angmar asked raising his head
Twilight continued walking up to him until she was at the steps to his throne before speaking. "Princess Celestia has asked me to inform you that we have Sombra in custody.... The trial will begin when you are able to attend. Celestia has given you the choice of which position to take in the trial. This includes all of the possible positions." Twilight was barely able to keep her eyes level to where Angmar's were.
Angmar let out a low grown. "Hmmm, not how I would do it, but it will have to do.... For now." Angmar stood up and began to descend the stairs. "Where is this trial being held?"
Twilight removed a rolled up piece of parchment from her bag, and read aloud. "The trial is to be held in Canterlot, within the castle courts. You will be directed there once you reach the city." Twilight moved out of the king's way, while putting the scroll back in her saddlebag. "Do you know when you will be available?"
"I will be leaving now, I will allow you to teleport away and prepare for my arrival I will require iron blocks and a temporary residence in this 'Canterlot', I will prepare to depart. Now get out of my sight!" Angmar waved his hand and lifted the teleportation wards. Twilight noticed the lift of the wards and left with a purple flash. Angmar left to arm himself and sent some mental commands to Alduin. 'Meet me in the courtyard. We have business to attend to.' He was answered by a mental nod from the dragon. Angmar proceeded down into the depths of his castle and entered a large room he hadn't found a use for until now. He grabbed his staff that was slung over his shoulder and began to create magical bindings and gateways. Runes were carved into the stone floor, each one of the many glowing a faint blue in the dark room. He arranged the runes in ten different circles and carving circles around them. He grasped his staff in both of his armoured hands and slammed it into the ground in front of him. A blue wave erupted from where it impacted the ground and collected in each of the ten circles. The magic created pools within the circles, becoming black with blue tendrils swimming in the darkness. The blue glow given off by the ten portals bathed the large room with eerie light. Angmar continued by moving ten of his elite guard, which now reigned in about twenty sentinels, to the room to prepare. Angmar linked the portals to a talisman he was fashioning out of some silver. The talisman was a flat ring that had a four inch diameter with the same runes engraved in the outward face, he forced some of the magic into the space within the ring. The ring's runes began to glow the same blue and another pool was formed in the ring. He examined his work, the ten portals on the ground were easy enough with his staff, but getting a sustained portal in such a small space and flat as the ring was something he could be proud of. His requested sentinels came into the room and stood by awaiting orders. Angmar ordered one of them to jump into the nearest portal to test his system. It did, and materialised beside Angmar with a blue mist coming from its' metal body. Excellent! This will prove most valuable in times to come, I have no doubt. He thought to himself with excitement. Angmar instructed the ten sentinels to position themselves around the ten portals and await his command. He walked out as they did as ordered. He still had much to do if he was to complete the role he had planned for himself. If what the princess was saying was true, then he could have whatever position he wanted in the trial. Angmar thought about this while he walked through the lower halls of his keep. He was never good at making decisions, especially if it was of something such as this. He wanted to be left alone in this world of madness, yet he wanted revenge on that so called 'King of Crystals', as Sombra had referred to himself within the confides of his mind, for trying to bend him to his pathetic will. With that in mind, he couldn't simply choose judge, jury requires multiple individuals for it to not create uproar, so that left one position of power he could take, and be proud of. I wonder if they will even know what and executioner is in this dreadful place? He mused to himself. And of course, if he was going to perform the role of bringer-of-death, then he might as well look the part. He continued down his maze of halls until he got to the deepest room in his fortress, it was where he had found the dragon's skeleton, and where the gold and jewels remained. After some searching with his magic, he found something that would suit his needs, apparently some of the iron that was down here was unable to be moved via the iron golems because of some enchantments upon the metal itself. Angmar went over the enchantments and found that they were nothing of great value, it was likely to be used as a ceremonial purpose because all he could tell from them was that when moved at a certain speed, it would create a deep purple trail behind it. Not useful, but could be used to his advantage, a nice fear factor if nothing else. He was getting tired from the exertion of using so much magic but he figured he could do a few more things before resting. He shaped the enchanted metal into the best instrument for death, at least by human expectations. It was a large scythe, the shaft was a s tall as him and made from another blackwood spear that was left in the room and the blade extended about a foot above his head, the blade was double sided and had the pattern of many skulls between the sharp edges. Perfection. He found his creations to be amusing him more and more. He erected some training statues for him to practice his swing with the massive blade. He took a careful swing at the first one to get a feel of its' weight. It cleanly cleaved the statue in half from head to toe. Another swing, another split statue, this one horizontally. Another, another, and another. Angmar was satisfied with the blade and his abilities with it. He was pleased with the effect given off by the blade when it was swung also.
He was ready.
He traversed his halls back to the courtyard, the weight of his shoulders becoming more and more apparent as he walked. He would need to rest, and soon. Perhaps during the flight? No, to much happening, need to remain focused on the task at hand. He decided he would simply tell them to postpone the trial whilst he slept. He arrived at the doors to his keep, and walked out them to the courtyard. As instructed, Alduin was waiting for him to give orders. Angmar climbed onto Alduin's back and onto a saddle he had made earlier for him. The dragon had the sense to have it put on before he got there.
Alduin asked across a mental connection. "What is our heading Drog?"
"To the city of 'Canterlot', I shall have my revenge on that meat-sack! Perhaps their elders could see my point of view. Maybe we could even strike a deal, I get left alone, I don't kill them? Your thoughts?"
"An intriguing plan Drog, although from what I have seen of them, I have doubts on their reaction to your proposal."
Angmar mentally scoffed. "Perhaps they will be less than willing, although, I expect them to require some....convincing."
Alduin accepted his master's answer and took off. Angmar had one hand on the saddle, securing himself, and the other holding the scythe in a pose that would make it easy for him to strike at anything around him. The flight would not take long, less than an hour at best, but that was no reason to let his guard down.
The flight was going well, the forest was behind them and the town he had originally visited was just passing beneath him. The city of Canterlot was coming closer and closer, he was preparing his magic for transporting his guards when he arrived. At long last the city borders had past underneath. The ponies wouldn't be able to notice him yet unless they were looking. Time to fix that.
One quick mental command later, and Alduin let out a roar that would have deafened and petrified any who were in his close proximity. He assumed it got the message across when he saw ponies leaving their home to gawk at him, aswell as guards scrambling to their posts and sharing glances with me and Alduin. As I passed over the outer wall over Canterlot I instructed Alduin to land in an open area, and so we did. Ponies swarmed around us in panic. We simply continued towards the castle in a walk/crawl, which is all that Aduin could do with his body structure. Eventually guards surrounded us and I told Alduin to stop.
"Halt in the name of the princesses! You will--" The guard in front of him called out.
"YOU will speak when spoken to you dimwitted inferior!" Angmar replied, remaining atop Alduin.
The guard was surprised and gained some anger in his voice. "You would be wise to hold your tongue creature! Now, you will drop your weapons and--"
"Drop my weapons?! And give them to the likes of some idiot grunt?! HA!" Angmar said examining his scythe, drawing his armoured finger against the edge of the blade.
"GRUNT?!? I will have you know that I am captain of the royal guards! And now I demand that you listen to your superior!"
"Last I checked LORDS have guards, such as captains!" He finished with a snap of his fingers. He used the magic in his staff to summon the ten sentinels awaiting him. They all appeared at his level, causing them to hit the ground with ten loud thumps. All of them in ready positions after standing up from their short fall. Angmar then levitated himself off of Alduin's back and landed on the ground, allowing the dragon to rear his head back to look more imposing. His power was nearly drained, he would need to be careful with the engagement.
The captain was taken aback by the sudden appearances. "Tell your guards to stand down and you will all be treated fairly. You have trespassed, caused panic, and used teleportation magic in a non-legal fashion in this case, bringing troops into the city! I can promise a fair trial with the princesses if you stand down NOW! Or else we will be for--"
"SHINING ARMOUR, YOU WILL STAND DOWN AT ONCE!" A voice that Angmar didn't recognize boomed from above. Both Angmar and the now-identified captain looked up to see another alicorn, this one was white though, with a rainbow-esk mane that was flowing. She didn't look to happy with the guards, but when her gaze turned to Angmar her face turned to one of worry. She lowered herself to the ground to stand between Shining Armour and Angmar. "Lord Angmar, I presume?"
"Princess Celestia I presume?" He replied flatly, his rage at the captain's insolence faded slowly.
"Correct. We have prepared a room for you, but we were not expecting a dragon to be accompanying you. I shall send word to have a place set out for it to reside while we discuss. Would you be alright with being escorted to the castle by myself and these guards?"
"Do you enjoy the prospect of their heads being severed from their shoulders?" Angmar asked, retaining his flat tone with his distorted voice.
Celestia seemed to take the hint and sighed. "Then follow me. I shall lead you to the castle and to your quarters."
The Witch King Rises Again
"The trial will need to be postponed, I require rest. I have overused my magic." Angmar had been following the princess for some time, they were now nearing the castle in the center of the city. Ponies were shying away from the wraith and his guards. As they should.
Celestia had been feeding him facts about the land and how 'Harmony has always been best!' But he didn't care, he simply needed to listen, find a way to make the ponies fear him too much to look for him, but not enough to try and attack him (constantly at least, he didn't mind the odd adventurer). By the looks of things, he could do this by simply existing, judging by how the ponies were acting. Celestia was confused by his question. If what he was saying is true then he shouldn't be walking! He shouldn't even be standing right now! Especially from what Twilight said about his magical capabilities. Celestia took a closer look at Angmar, his shoulders (or what she assumed was his shoulders) were far more relaxed than the description, aswell as his head seemed to hang slightly, and he was putting most of his weight on his large scythe. "That can be arranged, I'm sure Twilight, Cadence and my sister will not mind. Might I inquire as to what caused such a drain?"
"I was interrupted from my slumber when Twilight Sparkle informed me, what happened next is not of your concern, then I made my weapon." Angmar motioned to the scythe with his free right hand. "You will uphold your promise I assume? I would hate to have created this for nothing."
Celestia took another look of confusion. "How could such a weapon be used in a court! Unless..." Realization slowly crept onto her face. "Y-you can't be thinking of being the," She seemed to struggle with the final word. "executioner. "
"You are correct I'm not thinking of it" Celestia relaxed a bit. I am going to be it, I am in the best position to perform this role, and I would hate to leave this place without a proper contribution."
Celestia understood now, Angmar was using the ponies fear in his favor, by allowing him a position of power Celestia had guarantied the outcome of the trial. Celestia was using that promise as a way to judge as to what kind of character Angmar was, judge would have told her of a brash, arrogant character. A place in the jury would have meant that Angmar wasn't too serious about him wanting Sombra dead, so she would have a chance to save his life. But executioners haven't been used in thousands of years, yet she knew that this was the best place for him, given his description. Now she knew what kind of 'thing' he was, he was intuitive, crafty, manipulative...many traits he shared with Sombra, although with more patience, the one thing Sombra lacked for victory. Angmar knew that if he chose a deciding role, then he would get pestered for it, if he took this role however he could use fear to change the outcome to his will. This was a commander.
"W-we haven't used nor needed executioners in centuries, is it possible you could pick a different position?" She asked with pleading eyes in her sad expression.
"No, trials require a reason to be feared, and so do I. So I expect a place that matches my own skill set, and needs." And not easily swayed Celestia figured.
She sighed. "If you must. Then I will respect that, even though the practice has been abandoned, I suppose in age-old conflicts, age-old solutions must be considered. Even if they are...distasteful."
Just then, an orange and blue-maned Pegasus pony who she recognized from the crystal empire, but couldn't remember why. He walked right up to Angmar and glared at him. "Hey!" The pony said.
Angmar didn't stop walking, but pushed the pony aside with the end of his scythe. The pony wasn't finished.
"Get back here! You threatened my date!" Ah, now she remembered. This was Twilight's new coltfriend.
Twilight looked around at the cafe she was in. Not very many ponies were there, mostly due to the fact this was a very high-class place and had many high-classed ponies (the stuck-ups, Applejack tended to call them). After her visit to the separate universe where she had met Flash Sentry (bipedal...thing version, she never really asked what they were when she was there), but when she came back and met the pony counterpart, she had some feeling for him. So when Flash asked her out to this date, she accepted without a second thought. Flash was sitting opposite her, going over a training mishap during one of his first sessions, apparently trying to balance another pony on a spear wasn't the best way to pass the obstacle course. Twilight wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying though, her mind was torn between him, and him . Flash and Angmar. From what she knew of Flash, he was protective, bold, but he was clever and resourceful. From what she knew of Angmar, he was powerful, cruel, foreboding, a master of magical control and a commander. In their own ways, they reminded her of her brother, one of them was more of a conversationalist though, and the other a leader, respectively. Twilight shook her head slightly and blinked.
'No, no more thought about that. I'm on a date! Focus!'
"So, what have you been doing with your new 'duties' lately?" Flash asked the slightly distracted princess.
"Hmm? Oh, well, Sombra came up to that castle doorstep yesterday." She replied nonchalantly.
Flash dropped the glass in his hooves, spilling ice tea. "S-Sombra? THE Sombra? Crystal King Sombra? Tyrannical Slaver Sombra?!" A few patrons in the cafe turned to the couple. "What is he doing here?"
"At the moment, awaiting trial within the dungeons. When he got here he had all of his legs broken, internal bleeding, and severe exhaustion. That's another thing I had to do recently, I had to convince the being that did that to him to come here as well, AND Celestia decided to give him any place in the trial he wants! He could just be judge and say ' Off with his head!' and be done with it! Sometimes I wonder what Celestia is really thinking to have some brilliant plans, and others...not so much." Twilight replied angrily.
"..." Flash couldn't find words for this. "... What is this 'thing' that did this to Sombra? And what do you mean, it's coming here for the trial?" Flash was nervous for the answer to the second question.
"He called himself 'Lord of the Nazgul' but his name is Angmar. And I was asked to deliver the message that we had Sombra in custody. Sombra had entered Angmar's keep and was demanding something from Angmar, knowing him probably wanted Angmar as a servant or general, so Angmar picked him up with his magic and threw him through a solid layer of magically strengthened iron! That caused his injuries. My friends and I tried to peacefully take him away to face a trial, but he escaped. Angmar was furious, saying if we didn't agree to finding him we would never leave. So we agreed to look, and Sombra came right to us. So now he is coming here and is likely going to just condemn Sombra to death, because Celestia gave him the choice of any place, including the big ones." Twilight rested her chin on the table. A frown gracing her face at the prospect of her teacher and long-time-idol being scared into doing something so brash.
Flash however was almost fuming. Angmar had threatened his date! She had nothing to do with it! She was only doing the right thing! That is no reason to keep her there and be subjected to whatever horror reside in his mind! (Oh and her friends to, they're... important.) Just then, Flash's eyes were graced with the image of a tall figure, clad in dark armour and robes. A large scythe at it's side, swords visible on it's back along with a scepter. On it's head was a menacing headdress that left it's face to be just a dark shadow. Beside it was Celestia, looking around at various things while talking to the creature. The thing didn't seem to interested in whatever Celestia was saying. There were ten other things like the black wraith, but they looked like guards. Flash looked in the places where flash should have been showing on them, his knowledge of armour from being a guard helping, but he only found more metal. Flash took this moment to get up and give that thing a piece of his mind 'Don't mess with Twilight, or you mess with me!' he thought he would say, it seemed to be intimidating in his head. Twilight lifted her chin up when she saw Flash get up and begin walking for the door.
"Where are you going?" She asked following his eyes she saw Angmar. "WAIT! You can't talk to him! And trust me, I know what you're thinking, you're going to get angry about me being threatened! Just please let it go, for your own sake!" Her words fell on deaf ears however, as Flash walked out the door and right in front of Angmar.
"Hey!" He called, only to be pushed out of the way. Celestia glanced over to Twilight and gave an expression of panic. Twilight understood perfectly. "Get back here! You threatened my date!" Celestia took a few steps away from the raging colt and the ancient king, and closer to Twilight.
Angmar turned his head towards his challenger. "Your emotions are none of my concern. Nor are your relationships.Now leave you pathetic alai!" Angmar said turning his head back forward and slowly walking onward.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?" Flash said getting low to the ground and flaring his wings. "Well how do you like this!" Flash took off like a bullet towards Angmar. The Nazgul saw it coming though.
Time seemed to slow down for Twilight as she saw her coltfriend fly towards Angmar at a speed that would make Rainbow impressed. When Angmar turned faster, using the scythe as a pivot and punching his armoured fist into Flash's face with a metalic clang. Sending the pegasus straight into the ground with a thud. Angmar chuckled as Flash pulled himself out. Flash could feel the blood running down his face from his likely broken nose and glared at the wraith.
"I liked that very much you bagronk! Most entertaining." When Angmar was a few meters away from the angry stallion he turned back. "Now I give you one chance and one chance only, walk away." Angmar's guards were mentally sending messages to one another, choosing tactics for taking down the pegasus. The ten of them were surrounding the two. Leaving a space behind the pony to let him through if he decided to leave like Angmar had suggested.
"And let you get away with a cheap shot and insults! Not likely!" Flash said defiantly, readying himself for another jump. Angmar readying himself to beat the idiot to a pulp, literally.
Flash charged again. Angmar once again smahed him into the ground, but followed up with a kick to the ribs, flipping the convulsing pony onto his back. Angmar studied the groaning stallion and remembered what he did to the rainbow one who kicked him back in the village. An excellent idea suddenly made it's presence known to him as he eyed the wings that were splayed out on the ground. Planting the scythe in the ground with his left hand, he rose his right foot in the air above the left wing of the pegasus. He could see his eyes pleading for him to not, but his fate was decided. He brought his armoured foot down onto the wing joint, severing it from the main body, along with a delightful scream of pain coming from the not-quite-a-pegasus-anymore. Angmar walked over to the other side of the stallion and repeated the process, replicating the result.
Angmar made his way away from the crying not-so-pegasus, his guards following suit. Twilight gasped as she saw her date crying in a ball on the ground, cradling his lost wings. She rushed over to him and pulled him into a bloody hug, sending fearful yet hateful glares at Angmar. Twilight began going through Flash's injuries with her magic, broken ribs, broken muzzle, severed wings. He'll live, but will never fly again. She looked to Celestia with pleading eyes only to see she wasn't there anymore. Celestia was walking beside Angmar again.
"That was a bit excessive, don't you think? I can see why you fought back, it was in self defense, but I'm sure he would've stayed down after you kicked him." Celestia said, trying to bend Angmar into an apology with her puppy dog eyes.
"No, he would have gotten back up and charged again. As you said, it was self defense. In self defense you must always make sure your opponent stays down, lest the return and manage to land a hit and harm you. I have already been taken off guard by one of those winged ones, I do not plan on having it happen again." Angmar stated, not even turning his head.
As much as she hated to admit it, Celestia couldn't argue with his logic. There have been many cases of ponies being attacked by creature and fighting back, but going a bit too far. Crippling the beast or killing it by accident. Self defense was understandable and expected when it came to threats. Celestia could only draw blanks as she led Angmar through the rest of the city, through the castle grounds and up to the room she had set up for him. She only noticed where she was when she got to the hallway with her room, Luna's room, and Angmar's room in it. She went up to the door marked with the symbol of a dragon in a diamond like configuration. Using her magic she opened the door and walked in, looking back to see Angmar looking around the room.
"This will be your room for the duration of your stay here. I chose this one so you will be close to my and my sister, should you request anything. Perhaps after you get some rest you could join me and her for some tea and conversation. It would help smooth out some...discrepancies, with our characters. Maybe you would even share some of your experiences, we would be delighted to hear some tales, we could even share ours along with it." Celestia said with hope.
Angmar considered the proposal. On one hand, they would ask questions about his past, and he wasn't a fan of talking about that. On the other, he would have a chance at making allies friends with the rulers of the land. "I will consider it further, but for now, I bid you good night." Angmar said, setting down his scyte against a wall near a finely carved dresser.
Celestia's posture suddenly perked up. "Excellent! I hope you do come, if you do, please go to my chambers. It is just down the hall with the yellow doors and the sun carved above it." With that Celestia left the room with a skip in her step.
'I knew he had something inside him, something he's burying. But it's comeing back out again, and the only way to make sure it does is to get him to talk about it. Now, I must ask Luna for a small favor while he sleeps.' Celestia thought as she walked to her sister's room.
The Witch King Rises Again
Angmar found himself in one of the many places he despised. A forest of spiders and Elves. A forest woven with enchantments meant to scare children away and drive men insane. The forest he had to walk through alone. He wasn't scared, he remembered the rules that had been set down within the forest and he was confident in his ability to stay the path and no more. He looked himself over. He had his great-sword, gauntlets and greaves, and his cloak. His headdress, battle armor, extra weapons and horse were nowhere to be seen. He looked back to the forest and gave a ghostly sigh before walking in with his fists clenched. Any creature who saw him walking through the dreadful forest would have either thought he was mad, or knew to stay away. An air of malice followed Angmar as he walked down the twisting, broken path.
He continued for what seemed like hours to the With King, the constant temptation of veering off course to see that falling branch, the breaking of a twig, a howl in the distance. He ignored them all until he heard a familiar voice.
"Please just listen to me!" The voice was distant, but sounded like it was coming for everywhere.
Angmar's head darted around, looking for the familiar voice. A voice he hadn't properly heard in four thousand years, yet the speaker was as clear in his mind as ever.
He debated whether he should chase the voice or ignore it like he had done so many times before. He drew his sword, keeping it off to the side he continued down the path.
"Please just listen to me! I can help you, even if you do not enjoy my company, you have to admit I have always been right. Even now, one of them is trying to get in. I cannot keep this private for long, and I would prefer what I need to say be said in confidence."
Angmar stopped dead in his tracks. The voice was clearer now, even though it sounded distant and all around. He could hear something he never thought would be coming from that voice. Desperation. The trees to his left shifted on their roots. They moved aside to reveal a path made of tree roots in the form of a walkway.
"Please, go through the path, I will guide you."
Angmar looked to the path and back to the main trail. He jumped at what was now surrounding the old trail. Shadows were dancing behind trees, along the trail and simply floating through the air. Dark magic he recognized from Middle Earth. Magic he knew all to much about. He looked back to the makeshift walkway. He could see rays of sunlight coming through the canopy and falling onto the path. To any other being, that would have looked like a path to paradise. To him, a being soaked in the shadows, it looked like it would skewer him with those rays of light. He looked back to the shadows, his shadows. He let out another sigh and went down the walkway, ignoring the sense of dread building in his mind.
The walk felt like hours, constantly being stung by the light getting through his tattered cloak, when it only took ten minutes. He got to a clearing in the forest. All the trees around the clearing making a solid wall, the canopy somehow was still over the clearing, even though there were no trees holding it. In the center of the clearing was a round table made from tree roots spiraling out from the ground to make a single leg in the middle. The table was at least two meters in diameter. Two chairs made the same way were on either side of the table and in one of them sat a man.
The man was old, very old. His tall silver crown and garments had a blue shine to them. His skin seemed to cling to his bones tightly. His elbows were on the table, his fingers wrapped in each other as his forehead rested on his knotted hands. The man opened his eyes and looked up to Angmar.
"I am glad you decided to talk." The man said lowering his arms. "I hear that you can learn a lot about a person by how they play chess." He waved a hand over that table and the table morphed from entwined roots to a solid table with a checkerboard pattern. The man waved his other hand and branches snaked down from the canopy and placed pieces on the board. The man had white while the empty chair had black. "Would you like to take a seat?"
Angmar hesitated for a moment, but slowly made his way to the chair and sat in it. "White moves first." He said resting his arms on the chair's.
The man smiled warmy. "Indeed. Pawn to G3." The pawn in question moved the space without him touching it.
"Pawn to B6." The pawn moved and Angmar looked at the man. "You said you wanted to tell me something?"
"Yes, I did. It can wait though. If I simply told you, you wouldn't listen. If I give you something to think about, it may sink in. You should know better. Knight, F3."
"So this is what you've come to? I cannot say I blame you. We know each other better than we would like to think, don't we. Bishop to B7."
The man chuckled. "It seems you haven't dulled like the others did in the millenniums past. It is a shame they had to fall so far. Bishop to H3."
"Pawn to D6. They have, regrettably. I have tried to tech them better, but they would not listen beyond the orders to kill or burn." Angmar could feel his voice become less distorted with every move made.
"What are your plans with that grey one, Sombra? Pawn to B3."
"You know my plans as well as I do. Knight to A6."
"Yes, but why are you so bent one having his head? Besides, it's good to say them out loud. That one...what's his name...oh, never mind his name, that pegasus that attacked you, any plans I haven't seen for him? Bishop to C8."
Angmar chuckled. "After all this time, you still make bad moves. Queen to C8. As for that nuisance. I will strike him down should he become so bold again." Angmar could hear faint violin music in the background.
"You seem to be holding back with them, why is that? Bishop to A3."
"The ponies? They are more annoying than an actual threat. Celestia seems too trusting, Twilight annoys me to no end. The others that were with her are just afraid for themselves. I have no quarrel with them, yet. Queen to H3."
"Yet, indeed. That one that I told you about, the one who is trying to get to us, she has entered the forest. I can see her trying to stay true to the main trail, although in vain. I trust you already figured out what is happening? Knight to E5."
"Of course. I am dreaming. It has been to long for me to be in a true slumber, that it feels different than the waking world. Who is this one who tries entering my mind? Knight to B4."
"I have not grown powerless in my absence. Her name is...Luna, yes Luna. She is another princess. Although, terribly misinformed. You know what this forest does. Dream world or not. Knight to C4"
Angmar sighed. "Not ANOTHER one! One can only have so many rulers! Yes, I know the forest. 'Whether it be the land of the living or that of the dead, the forest will claim all of those who do not stay where they must tread.' All who have been through the trees no of the rhyme..." Angmar shook his head and sighed again. "I am assuming she is trying to find her way to me? Pawn to G6."
"Right again. Shall I send the spiders for her?" The man looked from the board to Angmar with a look of concern.
Angmar thought for a minute about what to do. "Yes, but do not send them to kill or capture. Scare her to us. Your move."
"Ah, yes, my apologies. Not all of us have had the benefit of dark magicks keeping our minds in check. Pawn to A3."
"Those powers are as much mine as they are yours, you simply haven't indulged as I have." A scream was heard in the distance, followed by the screeching of the giant spiders. If he could have smirked, it would have been plastered on his face. "She'll be here soon enough. Will you be staying for the inevitable?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Besides, this world is mine. Either way, she will be doing most of the questioning. We might as well continue our game while she does." Just then a hole opened up in the wall of trees and a blue alicorn fell through and quickly backpedaled from the spiders trying to get into the closing hole. the spiders retreated before their limbs were severed. She fell to the ground panting.
"Knight to F6." Luna turned to the voice. Angmar and the man simply continued with their game. "Your friends are still as vicious as ever."
The man chuckled. "I'll send them your regards. They take pride in their work, quite odd for spiders. Perhaps we should deal with our uninvited guest?"
"Of course." Angmar turned away from the game and looked at the princess. "Luna I presume?"
Luna was surprised by Angmar knowing who she was. "Uh, yes. I am princess Luna, keeper of the ni-"
"Your title means nothing in my mind. Unless you would like to get better acquainted with the spiders, I suggest you get to the point."
"Bishop to B2."
"Knight to E4." Angmar said without turning his head.
Luna was slightly frustrated with Angmar's comment on her title. "My sister, princess Celestia, asked me to watch your dreams. This is... different to what I expected from one such as yourself."
"Oh really? Well then, would you prefer something like this?" Angmar turned back to the game as black crystals started growing around Luna in the form of an arch. "Step into the light." The inside of the arch became a solid wall of light. Luna looked cautiously to Angmar as he turned back to his game. She swallowed her fear and walked into the light.
The first thing that greeted Luna when she stepped out was the stench. It smelled of rot and decay. She could hear yell and roars in a language she hoped to never hear again, but it was muffled by the others so she couldn't gain any meaning to the words. Her vision cleared and revealed a large black castle made from iron and areas glowing an eerie green. She flew up to get a better look. The castle was in a canyon of some kind, the rocky surfaces preventing and entrance other than the main gate, or a lethal fall. Coming through the main gate were thousands of bipedal things. Each one wearing iron armor that covered most of their faces. Large iron swords that sent a shiver down her spine hung either on their backs or hips. Many were holding torches to see through the dark of the night in the canyon. She heard a roar coming from the castle and turned her attention from the warriors to it.
She wished she didn't.
Coming from within the walls cam a beast she never thought could have existed. It looked like a dragon but with a far longer neck. It had armor on it's head and down it's neck. Instead of scales it had grey skin. It's talons were unnaturally large and it's head was longer than she would have thought normal for dragons. It hung off of a tower and roared in her direction. It leapt off and started flying towards her. Luna started panicking as the beast flew closer and closer, allowing her to see the sheer size of it, and the rider.
Luna was shocked to see a being much like Angmar was in his dream, but looking like he was ready to go to war. She moved out of the way before it hit her, and flew in place for a minute watching it fly off with Angmar on its' back. She wanted to run from the monstrous things. Go back her bed and forget ever being here. But something was keeping her there. She felt herself moving without her approval. She was following the army without knowing it. She couldn't take her eyes off of Angmar, no matter how far away he seemed, she could see him clearly. She followed for what seemed like moments, but when she looked back at the castle it was on the horizon. She looked back to Angmar to see him on the ground in front of the army on a large plain.
She landed beside him and looked over the army. Somewhere along the line another army must have joined, she assumed. There were creatures and warriors that weren't clad in iron. There were huge elephant creatures with two pairs of tusks, they had wooden structures on their backs with more warriors. She looked back to Angmar, who was still on the dragon-beast. He was looking forward. She followed his gaze to see another army and a city she didn't see before. The new army was mostly made of bipeds on ponies, but the ponies were larger and had longer faces.
'Wait. That wasn't there before, time distortions, me being pulled along. This is a dream! But it's to real to be just a dream. Perhaps....a memory.' She thought to herself. 'That's why none of them are noticing me!'
The monster Angmar was riding reared up and gave a deafening roar. Luna just was able to barely able to take off to avoid the charging horde. Luna watched from the air as Angmar took to the skies while the armies clashed against each other. The ponies being slaughtered and the riders falling after. The battle raged for minutes and Luna could tell that somehow the riders were doing better than the iron clad warriors. The riders were able to kill while atop the ponies and when their mounts died, they could continue on foot. The others, many died when the elephants fell, others went from swords. She watched as Angmar swooped down from the sky and crushed a group of them while others jumped out of the way.
Then another swooped down, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another.
Eight more of the things came down from the sky, each carrying another like Angmar. The eight new one shrieked and all of the warriors covered their ears one way or another. Luna tried desperately to cover her ears with her hooves, but when she tried it didn't do anything. She tried to fly away, but she couldn't move, her wings had stopped working. She felt herself plummeting to the ground while she fell into darkness.
Luna woke with a start. She could hear a faint noise. It took her a moment to realize what it was.
Violin music.
She looked up quickly only to have her neck grasped and her body lifted off of the ground, to the eye level of Angmar. She looked at the abyss of a face with fear, remembering the shriek and the monsters that resided in that darkness. She felt fear. She felt like a foal in front of an angry demon.
Through her stupor she was able to croak. "What...are...you?"
Angmar chuckled and tilted his head slightly. "I am a nightmare." Luna could hear clicking and trilling noises coming from behind them and the sound of branches creaking. Angmar walked to the new hole in the clearing wall and tossed the scared princess into the waiting horde of spiders. "Pleasant dreams, princess."
"Your illusions are still as good as ever."
"Indeed. Queen to H1, checkmate."
The Witch King Rises Again
You Spend too Much Time on the Web
"Don't forget...some things must never be forgotten. The shadows hunting me...I must hurry. My name is Luna, I live in Equestria at... at... Canterlot Castle. What have I done? This is insanity! Don't forget, don't forget. I must get out of here, focus! My name is... is... I am Luna." Luna was talking to herself, reassuring her as she stumbled through the cursed forest. Her voice sounded odd, like there were more voices behind it, she payed it no mind as she simply wanted to leave.
She had her fair share of nightmares and helped others through them, this was beyond her control. She could tell it was a dream, and she usually was able to decide when she would wake. Something was keeping her from her own abilities, and that terrified her.
She had barely escaped the spiders with only one major wound, in her side, there was a gash where a spider had tried to bite her. Many smaller wounds were bleeding through her coat, but none of them hurt like the gash. She assumed it was the venom from the beasts. She wondered why they would do that to her. She likes spiders, spiders are under appreciated, spiders eat bugs. Spiders are nice, right? That's why she turned the bowl of fake-spiders into real-spiders! Everyone should like spiders! Spiders don't grow big, except for that one time she was bored. Spiders don't try to eat ponies like her, except for that one time when the mosquitoes were bad and she was bored. Spiders don't have that potent venom, except for that one time she was in charge of military testing...and she was bored. She could hear them screeching behind her, finally catching up to the wounded princess. Luna heard a branch break and she fell over unconscious. She wondered if you could even fall unconscious in a dream. Apparently so.
She 'woke' with her head pounding. Luna could feel many of the cuts she had were no longer there, but the big one wasn't gone, along with a few of the more severe. She groaned as she moved her head around, trying to get even slightly comfortable on the stone floor.
'Wait, floor?' Luna thought as she opened her eye, ignoring the pain in her head.
She looked around the room and recognized it, mostly anyway. The walls were grey stone blocks with a red carpet going through the center of it. Walls she could have sworn were white. She looked down the large room and saw cracked and broken windows with rain outside. Windows she could have sworn were stained glass murals. The ceiling had holes in it that were letting the rain in and the only light came from the lightning outside and what little light came from the moon.
Realization came to her as she looked closely at one end of the room, three thrones sat at the end. The one in the middle was cold iron with a menacing design, the one to it's left was ruined gold the previous shine gone, cushion torn and tattered and the back had a massive hole, the one to it's right had the back cut on an angle going up towards the iron one and was made of silver, the cushion was blue and on it sat a dark tiara, much like the one she wore. Luna tried to remember what it meant, but it escaped her, she simply knew she had to leave, now, before whatever brought her here came back. She hoped to her sister that it wasn't the spiders.
She looked to the other side of the room to see two large double doors. One of them was completely blown off of it's hinges while the other was barely hanging onto it's last. She limped to the doors and peered through them. Spider webs littered the ceiling of the long hallway. The walls were made of the same material as the throne room, but the walls seemed closer together. She stepped fully through the doors and saw that the walls were closer together, which didn't make sense considering the doors were the same size as the throne room. She looked back to the doors and immediately backpedaled, much to her side's dismay.
The massive doors had changed to a single large wood and iron door. Here eyes went wide and her pupils went to pinpricks, she could hear shuffling and growling behind her. She turned slowly and nearly vomited at what she saw. There was an alicorn behind her, at least six meters away. It was as tall as Celestia, it's coat was a dirty tan, it had bands of some kind of material tightly around it's body, where it should have had a mane and tail there were scorch marks telling her that they had been burned off, one of it's front hooves had three long claws coming from beneath the flesh and making the hoof bleed where it stood. What disturbed her however was the face, well, half, of the face. The top half was (mostly) intact and looked disturbingly like Celestia. It's eyes were held open by black stitches, and the jaw was completely gone, the skin pulled back and attached to the neck.
She stared at it and it stared back for what seemed like eternity, her vision flickering and her brain drawing more and more paranoid conclusions as she looked at it. It suddenly started running at her, filling her mind with a terrifying noise that she would never forget. As it got a mere foot away and it's claw getting ready to strike her...it vanished. Poofed into dust...Just...Poof. She looked down at the floor, tears welling up in her eyes, where the alicorn used to be, and where the dust was now seeping into the cracks between the bricks in the floor.
Luna was ready to break down and run when a cold wind blew through the hallway, making her jump as it blew open a door. Luna looked down the hallway to the end door which was now open. She slowly made her way to the door, watching the floor as she contemplated what she had done to deserve this.
The door seemed to move to meet her as she walked by some trick of her mind. She held her breath as she nudged the door open. She was beyond relieved to be back outside, not a spider in sight.
It looked like the castle hedge maze, but the walls looked like they were leaning towards her, trying to watch her as she stood. She limped forward into the entrance. When inside the maze, a hedge closed behind her.
She could only go forward now, so she did. She couldn't tell what was happening, she was making turns here and there, she was making stupid observations about the murder of crows that was perching itself atop the hedge walls, taunting her with their freedom. She was even hallucinating! Thinking there was a large, blue, glowing, cup-shaped trophy on a pedestal down one of the mazes ways. So when she felt her back left leg unable to move, she froze from fear.
She slowly turned her head to look at what had stopped her 'progress' and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it. It was just a root that had gotten snagged around her hoof. She lifted her hoof from the root and continued walking, not noticing the sounds of it slithering back.
A moment later, more popped out from the hedges. Tons of long roots started snaring her, slowly dragging her closer to the ground. Her mind went into a panic and she tried to get away. She would get a leg out, then ten more would grab her and hold her tightly. She tried to use her magic again, but it still wouldn't respond. Her wings flared out when she panicked, and got wrapped up as well. He body went rigid as her stomach hit the ground, her mind trying to guess as to what was going to happen to her. More of the roots took hold of her, going around her body and neck, forcing her chin to the ground. She looked up and was able to see a single root poise like a snake in front of her. She looked behind her and saw two more doing the same.
She had a pretty good idea of what was happening now.
Luna tried struggling again, but the roots were keeping her in place. She opened her mouth to scream, and that's when they struck.
Luna jolted from the floor, and drove her nose straight into a wall with a loud clang.
She slowly slid down the wall and back to the floor, groaning the entire way. When her stomach felt the cool metal beneath it, she dare look up. The room she was in was rounded, the walls made of metal and a solid white substance Luna couldn't identify.
'Celestia said something about a material like this.... What was it? Plastic I think.' She thought.
The room had a white table in the middle with chairs. Her head was still spinning and she was still mulling over what the roots would have done to her should this 'dream' of hers continued for a few moments longer, so she didn't notice the spilled food or large red patch on the table.
When she finally did, she backed away into a wall. That's when she knew her torment wasn't finished yet. She heard the faint sound of many legs coming closer to her. She looked around and her ears swiveled. She found the noises coming from one of the doors in the room. She backed away from it, placing the table between her and her new heart condition.
The noise continued and she started hearing some all-too-familiar screeching. Her breath picked up as she looked around frantically for an escape.
She tried one of the other doors in the room. It was stuck.
The sounds got louder.
She tried using her magic again. It wouldn't respond.
Louder, it now sounded like it was only a few meters away behind the door.
She mustered all of what was left of her strength and bucked the door. It dented, but was nowhere near large enough to try again.
She was trapped.
Again, the horrid screeching and growling got closer and she could tell it was just outside the door. Luna's last hope was that the door would be as sturdy and secure as the others were.
Sadly, it was not.
The door slid open and in came a massive spider. It was different from the rest though. This one was solid black and had chitin instead of brown and hairy. It didn't have any eyes she could see, the head was smooth and seemed to stretch back like a crest.
It moved its' fangs away from its' mouth, showing its' snarl and screeched again at her.
She fainted when a smaller mouth came out from the main one, she barely registered the weight on her face, or the slimy sensation snaking down her throat.
When she 'woke' again, her surroundings were very different. The walls were covered in a black substance that resembled the chitin on the last one she encountered. She couldn't seen anything in the room, no doors, no oddities, nothing other than the patterns on the chitin.
She stood up weakly and her hoof brushed something.
Luna jumped back and looked at the only other thing in the room. A pale spider-esk thing with a tail was on the ground, completely still. She walked closer to it and lightly poked it with her hoof.
Dead.
She only got as far as to breathe a sigh of relief before a massive pain erupted from her barrel. She collapsed to the ground panting. The pain came again, this time pushing outwards. She could feel her ribs bend from the pressure, but they held.
The pain came and went over the course of a few seconds, but they felt like eons to Luna, each time getting more and more painful to the point of her bawling on the floor. Finally she was given some respite by the pressure increasing to her breaking point.
Literally.
She looked down to her chest as blood poured from a wound in her barrel and a screech was heard.
A spider, the same colour as the one that she found dead, was covered in her blood as it tried to crawl out of her. She could feel it scramble around in her chest, but couldn't bring herself to move, she was frozen at the sight of the creature.
Its' eyeless head turned to her and it stared. There contest ended when it wailed again, and brought its' second mouth into view.
That was all she could take.
Luna woke with a scream. She looked around, holding her slightly-wet-from-tears pillow tightly to her chest, and noticed she was back in her room.
She wasn't going to take any chances though. She tried her magic, and found she was in fact awake. She sniffled and had to fight to not let tears run down her face and vowed never to try going into Angmar's dreams again.
She replaced her pillow and settled back down, noticing the uncomfortable wet patch just a little further down the bed. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she quickly got out of bed and she proceeded to burn her entire bedspread, she didn't need Celestia knowing she'd wet her bed.
When the ashes were cleaned she went to her bathroom. Luna looked herself over in the mirror. She had tears in her eyes and evidence that they had already fallen from them, her mane was hanging limp by her side and her coat was matted from sweating. All in all, she had to admit it was a fitting look for what had just happened.
She was about to walk back into her room when something descended into the view of the mirror. It was as large as her head, had eight legs, too many eyes, large fangs, was hairy, and was right behind her .
Never before had she screamed so loudly, and never before had Celestia woken up from a large explosion from that particular hallway, and never before had Angmar laughed his ass off.
Celestia ran into the hallway and saw her sister stamping at a large red smear on the floor, crying her eyes out. Celestia noted the large hole in the wall leading to Luna's bathroom, but decided her sister needed more attention than the wall.
"Luna! What's wrong?! Why, are you crushing what I think may have been something?"
The Witch King Rises Again
Angmar had reached a place in the mountains he could use. It was an opening between two peaks in the mountain, it overlooked the small town the forest and the frozen plains. Looking around he could also see the castle on another mountain clearly in the daylight. Usually he would have hid from its heated rays, but he had nowhere to hide now, that's why he was there. There was a small problem though, he needed magic to be able to build a castle of his own, and a lot of it. He would need to have a staff to do it within the day and some golems to help with the resources. Near him was a cave. It was a large cave that he could enter with ease. Angmar focussed the magic in his ring and began to search for anything he could use too make a staff or minerals he could use for golems. The cave was deep,very deep. It went through the entire mountain. Angmar found what he needed for at least ten iron golems that would be strong enough to be soldier as well as workers. That was only what was just around him, he could feel what was deeper in the mountain, metals in enough surplus to make a force capable of occupying the entire mountain, or make a fortress that was twice the size of Isengard. He began weaving a spell that would extract the metal from the walls around him. He watched as liquid iron flowed from cracks in the cave walls, lighting up the dark cave. The liquid separated into ten different pools, all equally spaced around him. Angmar moved his arm forward with his palm facing down and his armoured fingers looking like claws ready to kill. The metal began to form, it began with the feet and knees, and eventually built upwards. After a few minutes, Angmar looked upon his new guards. They were kneeling to him. Each of them was a knight in ornate armour. Their helmets had no openings, because they used spells that were held in runes on the armour to see.
"Nagraufom, bujars." (Rise, sentinels.) As he said this their head came up in unison, followed by them standing they were all ass tall as Angmar and they had no differences between them. Angmar was proud that he managed to do that, he hadn't needed to make golems in decades, and was glad he still could do it with relative ease. He looked upon his sentinels and saw each had a longsword on their back, a crossbow and a dagger. He gave orders for two of them to stand guard outside of the cave, four of them to search ahead, and the last four to escort him. They obeyed and took formations. The four that were scouting ran down the tunnel and Angmar continued after them, walking and collecting the metal from the walls.
He had been walking and keeping tabs on his guards through their 'eyes'. His scouts had found nothing of note but were nearing a large pair of iron doors. He mentally instructed them to wait by the door for him to arrive. He quickened his pace, eager to see what lay behind the doors but still amassing a tidal wave of metal behind him. He reached the doors and the four knights, they had their swords raised and in a ready position facing the doors. Angmar neared the doors and took in the details, with his eyes and his magic. They were very ornate, thick, were about twice as tall as he was and had massive locks on them. He could tell that they hadn't been opened for at least a thousand years. Angmar ran his fingers around the carvings, and listened to the clicks of the locks releasing from his magic.
He had felt all of the carvings and all of the locks had been removed. The doors were sealed for so long for a reason, and he was going to find out what that reason was. He placed a hand on each door and pushed them open. The room is massive , could easily put the halls in Sauron's tower to shame. There were piles and piles of gold, the room was made the same way the doors were, to last. Angmar didn't look at the gold though, he didn't notice that he could make the best staff in existence with all the jewels and gold in the room. No, he had his ghostly eyes set on one thing, a thing that he never thought to see, on top of the center gold mound was a skeleton of a dragon . No wonder it had been locked away, the gold was probably there to lure it into their trap. The once-dragon had two hind legs, looked like it would have been very bulky in the chest (somewhat like a large hound), wings and claws that would be used to walk as well. Angmar thought for a moment then made a decision. I could have a dragon again. He decided that would be his best option given the circumstances. But he couldn't do it in this room, there was no where the dragon could go if he resurrected it. He ordered his sentinels to dismantle the skeleton and bring it out to the area he would build his fortress. They gave him a bow and began to take away the old corpse. Angmar began to take the iron and the more sturdy and less valuable metals and put them into his liquid mass. He now had more than enough to make a tower and a surrounding wall. He used his magic to send the metal back through the tunnels and await him. He turned back to the mounds of precious metals.
There were many things in the room, including old spears. He used his magic to find a suitable one, he found one that had a blackwood shaft. He broke the head off of the spear and flattened the broken end. He lifted his hand to the top of the shaft and began to use magic to attract silver to him, it liquefied instantly. Silver began to puddle at the base of the shaft and form around it. It solidified at the bottom making a silver base, and continued to make six strips of silver going up the shaft. As the silver streaks neared the top Angmar used his magic to obtain proper gems. He found three small oval pieces of onyx and put them near the top of the staff, the silver formed around them to include them in the design. Then he looked for a jewel he could use for the conduit. 'Perfect'. He thought as he found a jewel buried under a pile. It was andradite, it was a gem that was formed into a more angular shape than what most jewels were carved into. It looked like a cube with the edges smoothed off and corners cut off. he placed it (with one of the flattened corners down) on the top or the liquid silver that was waiting. The silver began to form around the gem, when it had finished it revealed all the jewels on the staff being guarded by a silver dragon. The main gem was being held by the dragon's claws while the onyx was being held by its' tail. To him, it was perfection. He remembered that it must be held with the same hand that has his ring, so he held it in his right hand and decided to start testing it by pouring as much magic as he could muster into it. The conduit gem began to emanate a green glow within, and as he poured more and more power into it, it began to glow brighter and brighter. He used the staff to manipulate the silver at the base and head to carve runes in the silver so that the power in the staff never needed to be replenished, but couldn't give its' power to him, so if he got injured he couldn't us the staff to heal himself, but he figured that he could use the ring for that. The power coming from the newly made staff was enough to rival his, but he was tired and depleted from putting so much of himself into it. He looked back at where the dead dragon was, to see that the last piece was being moved, the skull. Angmar followed the skull as it was taken out by one of his sentinels.
When he saw the rest of the skeleton he saw that the golems had placed the pieces so it looked like it was lying on it's stomach. Angmar began his spell weaving. Knitting the bone back together by creating tendons and muscle tissue. Restoring the brain of the beast, with some modifications of course so it would obey him, and the skin soon followed. Then scales and horns and spines ans the intricate details that made it his dragon. There it was before him a fruit of his labours. The dragon was as big as his old one, but much more intimidating that an eel-like dragon. No this one was fierce and foreboding. He needed a name for this new dragon.
"Alduin." (World Eater) He said out-loud. It fit, and the dragon responded with a raised head in a proud gesture. He liked it. Alduin it is then. Alduin gave a roar that would have been heard from there through the frozen wasteland. It was a roar of triumph.
Celestia's tea was interrupted by a roar, a roar that shook her. She was then interrupted by her sister, Luna, barging into her study panting.
"Sister! There is something, very,very wrong!" Luna collapsed after that.
